Religion : Denim

Jeans have transcended boundaries of time, economies and fashion proclamation. They have reached iconic status in spite of existence of constant change in fashion forms. Denim is worshiped all around the world irrespective of nationalities, boundaries or religion. Its difficult to find a town around the globe where at least one person is not wearing denim. Denim isone of the most versatile material and fashion trends which have not faded ever since it came on the fashion canvas. Though the perspective of lenses to viewit in different forms have vary over the years, but the base of denim haveen capsulated the excitement of people around the globe. The fashion world has conceptualized Denim in all forms possible, be it a pair of skinny jeans to goon a date, a mini skirt for the pub hour, a denim blazer to add the professional touch or a denim capri for the holiday spree, you can never go wrong with the denim. This article is dedicated to all the denim lovers, taking a short trip down the memory lane and exploring the versatility of current denim trends.

History

There are different proclamations among the-researchers as far as the origin of the fabric and name is concerned. It is said that a fabric called serge de Nimes, was known in France and England prior to the 17th century. This fabric was made of silk and wool, but denim has always been made of cotton. To add twist to the tale there was also another fabric known as jean which was fustian cotton, linen and / or wool blend.Jean was very famous and imported into England in large quantities during the16th century. By the end of this period, jean was being produced in Lancashire.

During the 18th century jeans key fiber were changed to only cotton which was then utilized to make mens clothing due toits durability after many washes. Since then denim has been woven, used and discarded; made into upholstery, pants, found in art forms, top stories of celebrities, antique stores and archaeological digs; worn as the fabric of hard, honest work and as the expression of angry rebellion; used for the sails of Columbus ships in legend;and worn by American cowboys as well as a symbolic expression. In 1969 a writer for American Fabrics magazine declared, Denim is one of the worlds oldest fabrics, yet it remains eternally young and I am in complete in sync with thewriter.

Types of Denim Fabrics

Denim provides a huge ground for applying creativity at its best in terms of styles, fibers, washes and colors. Even though denim was initially cotton based today vast varieties of denims are available which have been equally embraced and celebrated with much enthusiasm by the fashion and textile world.

Organic Denim

This is the newest revolution in the denim world. The material is dyed and washed with natural products such as wood, coal, jam,earth and yoghurt. The jeans made of organic denim are inspired by the work wear of the 1930s and also apparently the Bauhaus artistic movement. Sugar cane and Cotton are used to make organic denim. Sugarcane fibers contain essential amino acid enzymes necessary to fuel and rejuvenate other bodies.

Stretch Denim

Stretch denim is approximately 98% cotton and only 2% Spandex to create the loved stretch. This material with a slight combination of Spandex gives ease of movement together with wonderful and stylish fit. It also gives support for the trouble spots such as, thighs and hips for the females. The fashion industry has caught the rage of strength denim specially the female segment with skinny jeans causing rave in the fashion arena.

Ramie Cotton Denim

Ramie is a plant fiber which reduced the wrinkles adding a silky luster to the fabric. Ramie is added to the denim material as the material itself cannot stand on its own. They are available in variety of combinations with a wide price variance.

Poly Denim

This material is light weight, bit dressier and has polyester blends which wash and dry easily, they are generally used for the pantsuits. The target markets are older people.

Chemical Denim Washes

There are three types of chemical washes bleaching, enzyme wash and acid wash. Bleaching encompass use of sodium hypochlorite or KMnO4 in the washing process which may or may not make use of pumice stones. Enzyme wash is an environmentally friendly wash which involves the application of cellulose. Acid wash involves the use of Pumice stones which are soaked in solution of sodium hypochlorite or potassium permanganate. The garments are tumbles using these pumice stones which results in uneven bleaching in white and blue color.

Mechanical Denim washes

Mechanical denim washes include stone wash and micro standing. In the stone washing process freshly dyed jeans are put in a special kind of washing machine which is loaded with pumice stones in order to get a soft hand and desirable look. The pumice stones vary in terms of shape, weight; hardness and porosity which helps create different effects on the washed jeans. Sand blasting is one type of micro standing which is blasting an abrasive material through a nozzle at very high speed on specific area of the garment to give a rough, used look. Another type of micro standing includes hand sanding and machine sanding.

Trends

Skinny Jean

Skinny jeans ever since it made appearance are being embraced by fashion divas. Skinny jeans are perfect for a trendy girl making an ideal statement every time you make a appearance with your skinny jeans paired with high heeled pumps. Grey skinny is making an appearance again. Skinny jeans are tough, racy and eye catching. It gives the feel of comfort together with making an absolute impression which wouldnt dwindle that easily.

Premium jeans

Premium jeans are synonymous to designer jeans which have the coolest cuts, embellishments, designs and hottest labels. For example brands such as True Religion, Paige Denim, Chip & Pepper and Seven can be termed as premium jeans.

Acid Wash and Grungy Jeans

Acid wash jeans did not pick up in 1980s but after being featured in Vogue Japan, acid wash jeans are making a come back. The faded look gives them a retro look which is very modern at the same time.

Skinny flares

Recently the style icon worshipped by millions, Victoria Beckham was spotted in skinny a flare that comes in stone bleach.

Catwalk Trends

At the recent New York Fashion Week denim shorts took the centre stage. Diesel designer send male models down the catwalk in denim shorts. Diesel says they took their inspiration from life and apparently the light blue denim on show at the Spring/Summer 08 collection shown at New York Fashion Week is intended to recall the color of summer sky. On the other hand Formula one was the source of inspiration at the DSquared Spring 2008 Catwalk Show in Milan where the models being split into race crew and race drivers. The crew models were wearing faded, aged looks overalls whereas the drivers depicted a more glam look by teaming dark and shiny denim with dark and shiny leather jackets. In the other part of the world at Paris colors were being splashed on the denim canvas where the Paul Smith's Spring 2008 catwalk show spotted range of jeans from white denim, through faded and paint splattered sky-blue denim to smarter looking dark blue jeans.

Fan following

Over 300,000 individuals, 160 organizations, 87 businesses, 54 cities in Los Angeles signed up for the Denim day in LA for the Rape prevention education on 25^th April 2007. Denim is such a rage that it can be used to promote social causes. Yahoo recently released a list of the Top 30 most searched for jeans; an interesting fact to observe was to see the rank of red monkey jeans above Lee jeans. The top ten searched jeans on Yahoo are as shown below:

Seven Jeans

True Religion Jeans

Red Monkey Jeans

Lee Jeans

Lucky Jeans

Diesel Jeans

Levis Jeans

Evisu Jeans

Wrangler Jeans

Guess Jeans

Dedication towards denim religion is enhancing with each tick of the season and we hope denim will only get younger with passage of time.

References