Denim, an all time classic, is reworked and reinvented each year, adding a twist to the staple, be it something out of the ordinary or alternatively a look that’s making a comeback from the past, just like some which are revisiting us now. Moving away from making it look more contemporary, creative minds throughout the apparel chain are clubbing their efforts to make denim look old and nostalgic, as vintage and retro hits the industry with a bang. Be it the textile mills who are processing the yarn and the fabric differently, or the exporter who is looking at vintage styles and surface techniques that can be constructed, it is also the consumer in the end who is experimenting with putting together their denim wardrobe in long gone styles…
Manufacturing it Vintage…
While indigo remains the classic shade of denim for the love of the 1980s and retro fashion, acid wash and stone wash in denim, that became really popular then, will be seen in abundance as the key techniques in 2014 with more and more of colours now being washed out. With the recession bringing back a refined love for all things old in the fashion industry, it was the recently popularised thrift shops displaying the 1980s vintage acid wash denim jackets in their windows that made the masses adopt acid wash shorts, acid wash skirts, vest, and other acid and stone wash items as well, not only in blue but in shades of neons, bright pastels, or solid black for a ‘mall punk’ effect as well.
Dipped in chlorine or some other product that removed the top layer of blue denim being the most traditional methods, leaving the jeans looking white with blue undertones is now refined by manufacturers and designer who are developing new ways to achieve the look with destroyed coating treatments, colour bleaching effects and using extra weight denims. While the stonewashed denim is more blue than indigo, and has subtle fading from being washed with pumice stones or enzymes, the look is more suited for trendy silhouettes rather than an all denim look.
Spiro Specialties, based in Tirupur and manufacturers and suppliers of specialty chemicals for Textile industries, is one of the companies that is at present receiving a lot of queries from denim players to achieve this look, for which they are providing a special chemical called the ‘vintage wash’. “This particular chemical takes off the brightness from the denim once washed, making it dull and look abraded. The final product therefore appears to be distressed and well worn, and it seems that the denim has been washed 50 times at least,” says S. Srikanth, CEO of the company. Especially popular for the indigo colour, and for the youth market, the company’s clients generally produce for the European market, which in future will see an increased popularity of vintage denim all over.
Taking a cue from the ‘whitened’ trend, while it is all faded, near to a whitish shade of blue, it is the worn and the weathered vintage jeans that are also making its trendy rounds on the shelves of fast fashion retailers. Rips or frayed spots and raw edges, add to the aged look of the denim which remains versatile in all seasons. More so, it’s the pale vintage look that is promising for the Spring-summer 2014 season, easily achieved through the use of low concentration indigo for a pale shade, and toward a grey cast blue for men. Supporting the trend, Achyut P. Jasani, MD, A3 Colour Chem says, “We offer a chemical called ‘grey cast’ to the industry, which now works as a much better substitute of sodium hypochlorite. Imparting a milder tone to the denim, which looks more washed and old, the chemical washes off the blue colour of the denim and turns is into a light shade of grey, which is a raging demand in the youth market today, especially for teens. Without affecting the strength of the yarn and denim, this chemical is eco-friendly and feels better against the human skin as well”.
Constructing it Vintage…
The most classic piece that is making vintage big for the upcoming seasons is the jean jacket that floated in fashion from the 1950s through the 1980s, used to show the rebellious side of the wearer’s nature. Every subculture has found a way to adapt denim jackets to their genre, from punks to preps and cowboys to hippies. Yet again embracing today’s generation, even celebrities and rock-stars alike have their pictures taken everyday wearing some variety of a jean jacket in its entirety or with the sleeves cut off turning into a vest, becoming a rising favourite of fashion conscious people as well. The key to this trend is imparting a raw feel with heavy denim weight champions in 13-15oz, and also to make the jackets boxy and structured.
Making their way to the into a number of runway collections and denim brands signalling a return of this daywear classic, while Diesel Black Gold kept his version of the same clean and dark, DSquared2 shattered all preconceptions completely by pairing their over glamorous rockabilly evening looks or layered under women’s tuxedo jackets. Retailers however are taking a duller and classic approach to the style, by keeping it strictly stuck to vintage archives.
Apart from the jacket, exporters while constructing their product are also looking at giving special washes themselves, in order to control the fashion of their garments in-house. One such company is Fashion Globe, based in Bangladesh, working exclusively for buyers like Pull & Bear and Alcott, that is experimenting with a lot of different washes in their own washing factory, and is recently exploring the technique of ‘oil wash’. Md. Nazmul Kabir, MD of the company said, “Washing is the most important thing in denim, on which women’s fashion for us is based today. Our oil wash is a kind of a garment dye that imparts a very garage kind of a look to the design, which is somewhat rugged and looks old and dirty. As the end appeal is worn out and used, the fashion element is certainly very vintage which will make it big in the coming seasons”.
Wearing it Vintage…
Promoting the trend, one of the biggest fashion influencers, DKNY, taking the iconic classics from the 80s archive for inspiration, presented denim for FALL 2013-14 and beyond, with Donna Karan commenting, “I love the human body, I’m always inspired by all shapes and forms of the body, it’s so sculptural.” Showcasing a collection which had some key elements of the 1980s the pieces included play of proportions, super-skinny jeans, sculpted body-con styles, oversized truckers and graphic leopard prints, along with an architectural dress constructed from herringbone denims and bonded neoprene panels – all in denim!
First made a rage by the great Elvis Presley in the 1950s, was the double denim trend, opted for by him for slightly different shades and textures of denim. Known as a look which can be both a fad and a disaster in fashion if worn wrongly, double denim is all about dressing up in denim from head to toe. An iconic fashion statement of the 80s and the 90s, double denim is once again reinvented in clean, fresh and modern ways where the trend no longer symbolises a pair of jeans and a matching jacket. Instead, it is chambray shirts, cut-off shorts, layering of different denim shades and plays on silhouettes. The Paris Women’s F/W 13 Runways saw designers like James Long and Marques Almeida having their own unique version of thistrend, in their all blue collections, whether done though patchwork, fraying the edges, printing to break the moment of colour, differentiating the upper torso from the lower through light and dark colours and also a play of techniques.
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