todd shelton

If you’re not familiar with Selvage denim, here’s a quick breakdown.

Simply put, true selvage denim is made on old looms – used in denim production before the 1970’s. After the 70’s, denim mills began modernizing their machinery to reduce variations and speed production. The old selvage looms became obsolete in modern mills.

The word selvage comes from “self-edge” – the edge of the denim will not unravel and is used in the garment. You can spot a selvage jean by looking at the outseam. Notice in the photograph above, the white edge with red thread, this is the “self-edge” of the denim. A non-selvage jean will have a cover stitch on these edges to keep the denim from unraveling.

What makes selvage denim desirable? It’s the variations created by the old loom technology that gives selvage denim its character. The more variation, the more unique the denim (you see the variation on the denim surface). Selvage denim is half the width of modern goods and the old looms run much slower, this makes selvage denim more expensive.

Today, denim aficionados will say the Japanese are the leaders in high-quality denim. The story is that when American denim mills were modernizing in the 70’s and 80’s, the Japanese bought their old denim looms and shipped them back to Japan. The rest is history.

But America still has one century-old mill that kept their old looms. Making beautifully unique denim. World-class, artisan denim that cannot be duplicated by modern machinery.

We hope you found this article helpful.  Would you like to view our denim collection?