When we first begin our jeans journey with Japanese dry selvedge denim, we inevitably notice that the jeans will fade over time, giving you that coveted worn look, personalizing your style with characteristic fades. This is the main reason why the fading of Japanese denim is loved by so many people around the world.
However, there are so many different preferences. Some denim lovers prefer to keep the original indigo color without fading for a long period. In addition, sometimes raw denim jeans with fading will look great, for example, a smart casual style (blazer or shirt combination with dark raw jeans without fading).
It is immediately necessary to clarify that it is impossible to completely exclude the possibility of fading. Indigo is by definition an unstable colorant and eventually, it will lose color in „places of friction“. Some jeans may take longer to fade, but in the end, the results are always exquisite.
Background
As is known, various types of cotton can be used to produce denim, the yarn can be twisted more or less, different dyes can be used, and different methods of dyeing yarns can be used.
Typically, a cotton thread with a longer fiber is less twisted, hence the dye penetrates deeper into cotton fibers and the color itself will be more stable. Fading jeans from a raw material will be quite slow and vice versa: the filament of short fibers is twisted much more tightly, only the top layer is stained with such filaments, hence faster fading.
The most common way of painting yarns is rope dyeing. With this method of staining, the core of the yarns will, in any case, remain unpainted and sooner or later fading will be noticeable.
A rarer and much more expensive method of staining is hand painting (the so-called Awa Shoai method).
The second method consists of manually painting the strands with natural plant indigo. The process is very time-consuming and painstaking. The cycle of staining and drying is repeated many times until the thread gradually receives a saturated indigo color. In this case, the thread stains almost through and fading on such jeans will manifest itself very little. However, these are very expensive jeans and they are produced by various manufacturers very rarely.
Examples of jeans with slow fading
Now let’s give some examples of denim which will get fading very slowly. If you want to preserve the original indigo color as long as possible, it is worthwhile to have several pairs of similar jeans in the wardrobe and wear them alternately. In this case, the manifestations of fading will be minimized.
Studio D’Artisan
One of the patriarchs of Japanese denim, Studio D’Artisan company has in its collection a classic 100-series. Denim of these genies has a smooth smooth texture. The thread itself is painted very deeply. The SDA jeans have beautiful contrasting fading, but it is slow enough. Therefore, if you wear several pairs of these jeans and rotate them, you can preserve the original indigo color long enough.
STUDIO D’ARTISAN
SD-107 SUPER TIGHT STRAIGHT
At the moment this SDA bestseller. Jeans with a narrow cut, a low fit and a slightly narrowed form of the leg. Denim has a density of 15OZ and an even texture.
STUDIO D’ARTISAN
SD-103 15OZ TIGHT STRAIGHT
These jeans are made from exactly the same denim, though they have a straight, wider cut. These jeans have one feature. If you choose this model in a smaller size then they look like a narrow cut; with large sizes, this style looks closer to regular-fit.
Momotaro Jeans
The company Momotaro Jeans has a very extensive collection of jeans, consisting of several series. The denim series Cooper Label is made of the longest and softest fibers of Zimbabwean cotton. Accordingly, the dye penetrates deep enough, which gives a very stable color. Jeans of this series are very tactile and comfortable to wear. The original color of indigo is kept long enough.
MOMOTARO JEANS
G017-MB COPPER LABEL14.7OZ DEEP COLORED SELVEDGE DENIM TIGHT STRAIGHT
Jeans narrow, straight cut and low fit. These jeans will sit almost like a „second skin“. An excellent choice for people with a slim figure.
MOMOTARO JEANS
G017-MZ „COPPER LABEL“ 14.7OZ SELVEDGE DENIM TIGHT STRAIGHT ZIPPER FLY
The same model comes with a zipper instead of buttons.
MOMOTARO JEANS
G019-MB ‚COPPER LABEL‘ 14.7OZ SELVEDGE CLASSIC STRAIGHT
Jeans for fans of a straight wide style.
MOMOTARO JEANS
G003-MB COPPER LABEL 14.7OZ CLASSIC INDIGO WIDE STRAIGHT BUTTON FLY
This is the same relaxed style, but here we use denim with a lighter shade of indigo.
MOMOTARO JEANS
G004-MB COPPER LABEL 14.7OZ CLASSIC INDIGO SLIM TAPERED BUTTON FLY
A straight, modern, versatile style that is great for different types of figures and fits well with different clothes.
Skull Jeans
For most models, Skull Jeans uses a denim woven from cotton Pima. As you know, this is a very long fiber. The dye penetrates them deeply. These jeans have an even denim with a deep indigo color. Fading on these jeans appears quite a long time. You can wear these jeans for a long time, keeping the original color of indigo. Jeans are made of sanitized denim, while the shrinkage here is minimized and there is practically no leg twist.
In addition, Skull Jeans make their jeans underscored laconic with a minimum of the most necessary details. What makes jeans of this brand an excellent choice for smart casual style.
Jeans straight, narrow cut and low belt line. Feature – a relatively spacious thigh.
SKULL JEANS 5010XX 6X6 14.5OZ SLIM
Jeans straight, narrow cut with a low beltline and a tight fit in the thigh.
Somet
Somet is an excellent example of excellent fashion jeans, with stylish and fashionable styles and a magnificent elaborate fit. In this case, these jeans have all the necessary details, for which we sincerely love the Japanese denim.
These jeans are also sewn from a smooth flat denim. Threads are painted indigo very deeply. Therefore, you can also keep these jeans with the original indigo color for a long time. As a very nice bonus, Somet uses gold accessories for his jeans.
Also worth noting is that it uses a sanitized denim with minimal shrinkage.
SOMÉT 1820130030 13.8OZ MEN’S WRITER’S ’08 (INDIGO)
Jeans with medium belt height and slightly narrowed leg.
SOMÉT 1520230003 13.8OZ MEN’S BASIC STRAIGHT JEANS
Model of these jeans with a low fit and straight cut trousers.
Conclusion
Of course, you can’t completely exclude fading if you wear jeans all the time. Here, it’s just a question of when your preferred jeans will lose color, making it an excellent choice for creating a traditional classic look.