Denim

Warp-faced textile

Are you interested in learning more about fr denim? Contact us today to secure an expert consultation!

Denim fabric dyed with indigo Denim fabric dyed with indigo and black dyes and made into a shirt

Denim is a sturdy cotton warp-faced[1] textile in which the weft passes under two or more warp threads. This twill weave produces a diagonal ribbing that distinguishes it from cotton duck. Denim, as it is recognized today, was first produced in Nîmes, France.[2]

Denim is available in a range of colors, but the most common denim is indigo denim in which the warp thread is dyed while the weft thread is left white. As a result of the warp-faced twill weaving, one side of the textile is dominated by the blue warp threads, and the other side is dominated by the white weft threads. Jeans fabricated from this cloth are thus predominantly white on the inside.[3] Denim is used to create a wide variety of garments, accessories, and furniture.

Etymology

[

edit

]

Denim originated as a contraction of the French phrase serge de Nîmes ('serge from Nîmes').[4][3]

History

[

edit

]

Denim has been used in the United States since the mid-19th century.[5] Denim initially gained popularity in 1873 when Jacob W. Davis, a tailor from Nevada, manufactured the first pair of rivet-reinforced denim pants. The popularity of denim jeans outstripped the capacity of Davis's small shop, so he moved his production to the facilities of dry goods wholesaler Levi Strauss & Co., which had been supplying Davis with bolts of denim fabric.[6]

Throughout the 20th century, denim was used for durable uniforms like those issued to staff of the French national railways.[7][better source needed] In the post-war years, the Royal Air Force issued olive-drab denim coveralls (colloquially known as "denims") for dirty work.[8]

AMC Gremlin with Levi's trim and upholstery

By the 1970s, denim jeans were such an integral part of youth culture[9] that automobile manufactures, beginning with American Motors Corporation began offering denim-like interior finishes.[10][11] (Because denim cannot pass fire resistance safety standards,[12] indigo-colored spun nylon or vinyl was used,[13] with contrast-stitching and copper rivets helping to sell the effect.) A Levi's-branded trim package debuted with AMC's 1973 model year. Similar packages were available from Volkswagen from 1973 to 1975 (the "Jeans Beetle")[14][15] and from Jeep from 1975 through 1977.[16]

Creating denim

[

edit

]

All denim is created through generally the same process:[17]

1. Cotton fiber is spun into yarn
2. The warp yarn is dyed, while the weft is left white (usually)
3. The yarns are woven on a shuttle loom or projectile loom
4. The woven product is sanforized

Yarn production

[

edit

]

Traditional denim yarn is composed entirely of cotton. Once cotton fibers are cleaned and combed into long, cohesive lengths of similar-length fiber, they are spun into yarn using an industrial machine. Throughout the creation of denim, washes, dyes, or treatments are used to change the appearance of denim products.

Some yarns may substitute an elastic component such as spandex for up to 3% of the cotton, the woven form of which (typically called 'stretch denim') may have a elasticity of up to 15%.

Dyeing

[

edit

]

Denim was originally dyed with indigo dye extracted from plants, often from the genus Indigofera. In South Asia, indigo dye was extracted from the dried and fermented leaves of Indigofera tinctoria; this is the plant that is now known as "true indigo" or "natural indigo". In Europe, the use of Isatis tinctoria, or woad, can be traced back to the 8th century BC, although it was eventually replaced by Indigofera tinctoria as the superior dye product. However, most denim today is dyed with synthetic indigo dye. In all cases, the yarn undergoes a repeated sequence of dipping and oxidation—the more dips, the stronger the color of the indigo.[18]

Before 1915, cotton yarns were dyed using a skein dyeing process, in which individual skeins of yarn were dipped into dye baths. Rope dyeing machines were developed in 1915, and slasher or sheet dyeing machines were developed in the 1970s. These methods involve a series of rollers that feed continuous yarns in and out of dye vats. In rope dyeing, continuous yarns are gathered together into long ropes or groups of yarns – after these bundles are dyed, they must be re-beamed for weaving. In sheet dyeing, parallel yarns are laid out as a sheet in the same order in which they will be woven; because of this, uneven dye circulation in the bath can lead to side-to-side color variations in the woven cloth. Rope dyeing eliminates this possibility because color variations can be evenly distributed across the warp during beaming.[18][19]

Denim fabric dyeing is divided into two categories: indigo dyeing (Indigo dye is a unique shade of blue) and sulfur dyeing (Sulfur dye is a synthetic organic dye and it is formed by sulphurisation of organic intermediates, this contains nitro or amino groups). Indigo dyeing produces the traditional blue color or shades similar to it. Sulfur dyeing produces specialty black and other colors, such as red, pink, purple, grey, rust, mustard, and green.

Weaving

[

edit

]

Denim under a microscope. Selvedge identifier visible in white at the interior of a pair of jeans

Most denim made today is made on a shuttleless loom[20] that produces bolts of fabric 60 inches (1,500 mm) or wider, but some denim is still woven on the traditional shuttle loom, which typically produces a bolt 30 inches (760 mm) wide. Shuttle-loom-woven denim is usually recognizable by its selvedge (or selvage), the edge of a fabric created as a continuous cross-yarn (the weft) reverses direction at the edge side of the shuttle loom. The selvedge is traditionally accentuated with warp threads of one or more contrasting colors, which can serve as an identifying mark.

Although quality denim can be made on either loom, selvedge denim has come to be associated with premium products since final production that showcases the selvedge requires greater care of assemblage.[21]

The thickness of denim can vary greatly, with a yard of fabric weighing anywhere from 9 to 32 oz (260 to 910 g), with 11 to 14 oz (310 to 400 g) being typical.[22]

Uses

[

edit

The company is the world’s best fr-treated fabrics supplier. We are your one-stop shop for all needs. Our staff are highly-specialized and will help you find the product you need.

]

A denim "trucker" jacket, introduced in the early 20th century, and since the 1960's, one of the most well-known products of denim cotton.

Denim is frequently used for a wide array of consumer products, including:

Art

[

edit

]

Denim has been a medium for many artists. At least one artist, Ian Berry, uses old or recycled denim, exclusively in crafting his portraits and other scenes.[23]

Worldwide market

[

edit

]

The dyehouse at the White Oak Cotton Mill, in Greensboro, North Carolina. The Cone Mills Corporation, which owned the mill, was formerly the world's largest maker of denim.

In 2020, the worldwide denim market equaled US$57.3 billion, with demand growing by 5.8% and supply growing by 8% annually.[24] Over 50% of denim is produced in Asia, most of it in China, India, Turkey, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.[citation needed]

Globally, the denim industry is expected to grow at a CAGR of over 4.8% from 2022 to 2026, with the market value expected to increase from $57.3 billion to $76.1 billion.[25]

See also

[

edit

]

References

[

edit

]

To many, the invention of denim and the American brand Levi Strauss & Co are one of the same, but there is an untold tale to this textile – one that begins in France. Below, read up on the history of denim along with photos from Les Ateliers de Nîmes, a denim brand that makes modern clothing with traditional weaving techniques.

In the heart of the sun-drenched town of Nîmes sits a private mansion with a wrought-iron ramp that used to bear a coat of arms with the initials: JA. Although the letters have long been torn off, the legacy of 17th-century industrialist Joseph André, who brought the city international fame as a silk trade pioneer and creator of Serge de Nîmes (the French term from which the word denim is thought to derive) – remains.

First worn and popularized in mainstream culture by American icons such as James Dean and Marlon Brando, much of the world associates the invention of denim with the US. However, it was the weavers of Nîmes in France who first created this sturdy fabric – albeit by accident! It would be a mishap that would change workwear, then fashion, for centuries to come.

They were striving to replicate jeane – a hard-wearing cotton corduroy being crafted in Genoa, Italy in the 16th century. While attempting to reverse-engineer this in-demand cloth, the weavers of Nîmes eventually ended up creating an even more durable material: denim.

To make this cotton twill textile, a horizontal weft thread was passed under at least two vertical warp yarns. These warp yarns were later dyed in indigo, while the weft thread remained white. This process, still in use today, is what gives denim the iconic characteristic of being blue on one side and white on the other.

Over the years, this technique for making denim became codified, and the textile came to be referred to after its town of origin: Serge de Nîmes (twill from Nîmes) or Bleu de Nîmes (blue from Nîmes).

How denim spread throughout France – and eventually Europe and the rest of the world – is a matter of debate. The most common theory is that many of the weavers were French Protestants, forced to flee during the religious conflicts of the 16th and 17th centuries. Many settled in foreign countries and resumed the trade; some even crossed the Atlantic. 

From here, the history of denim blends into its most popular incarnation: blue jeans – born from a partnership between a tailor named Jacob Davis and the owner of a wholesale textile house, Levi Strauss. 

Davis, who would come to be credited as the inventor of blue jeans, emigrated from Europe to America and ettled with his wife and children in Reno, Nevada. There, he opened a tailor shop and began producing hard-wearing outdoor goods such as horse blankets, wagon covers and tents. 

Levi Strauss was a German national who came to San Francisco, California during the 1853 Gold Rush to expand his family’s business. The company specialized in importing fine dry goods, clothing and textiles – among which was denim, direct from France. Making the most of the “gold fever” prosperity sweeping the country, Strauss opened a store on Sacramento Street. Soon after, a Reno-based tailor became one of its regular customers…

At that point, Davis was working with mining companies who were in need of hard-wearing trousers that could withstand harsh conditions for their workers. In Strauss’s imported denim, he found the ideal material. In 1872, Davis and Strauss founded a partnership that would give birth to a legendary fashion style.

Previously a workman’s cloth, denim entered into mainstream culture in the 1950s, and today, you would be hard-pressed to find a more widely recognizable fabric.

Jeans have been tightly woven into the fashion canon ever since. Anthony Dubos and Guillaume Sagot opened Les Ateliers de Nîmes in the center of the old town a few years ago. Inspired by the history of denim’s birthplace, the pair designs and makes modern clothing with traditional weaving techniques, bringing the story full circle. 

The history of denim is like many cultural icons: it is global, took complex routes, relied on many ingenuities and began with a certain je ne sais quoi.

All photography © Les Ateliers de Nîmes

Want more information on heat proof fabric? Feel free to contact us.