It might be time to start developing an emotional connection with your pants. Raw denim jeans are wholly untreated before being put on shelves, and they’re gaining in popularity, especially on the east coast.
It might be time to start developing an emotional connection with your pants. Raw denim jeans are wholly untreated before being put on shelves, and they’re gaining in popularity, especially on the east coast.
“We’ve absolutely seen a spike in sales. There’s a lot of demand. I’d say at least 85% of what we sell is raw denim, at least for the men’s side,” said Patrick Inskeep of Need Supply Co.
While the jeans themselves are totally untreated, no aspect of owning and wearing raw denim goes without careful thought. Recording the dates on which you wash them (if you choose to wash them at all!) is required, storage methods are meticulously planned out, specific detergents are used, and some people put them in the oven or freezer in the interest of increasing their longevity.
For most, raw denim is an investment – most pairs of raw denim jeans cost between $100-$300 – based on sentiment and function. As you wear them in, you leave your personal signature through the way the fading pattern emerges.
It’s easy to get a sense of pride in your pants (no, that’s not a double entendre, you sicko) as you wear them.
Personally, when I bought my first pair of raw denim, I retired all my old pre-washed pants and wore my raws most days of the week. It’s easy to feel sentimentally attached to your jeans if every memory formed in your immediate past was made while wearing the same pair.
My pants have been with me through football games, bar crawls, riverboat gambling trips, and then some. The comfort, quality, memories, and personality are what make raw denim so worth the price tag.
Anthony Lupesco, owner of Shockoe Denim, said there are two big appeals to wearing raw denim.
“One is respecting the origin of where jeans come from. I think there’s a big heritage movement which goes back to classic American clothing, and jeans are the quintessential American product,” Lupesco said. “For me, the main appeal to raw denim is that they’re truly your own. You and me can start out with the same pair on the same day and six months later they’ll look totally different. I think that’s the most appealing thing.”
In Richmond, Need Supply Co. sells a variety of brands, and Inskeep said their roots are actually in denim.
“This company was actually started selling denim. The original owner, Chris, recently celebrated our 18th birthday and he did nothing but deal with like vintage Levi’s. It was just kind of a natural expansion,” Inskeep said.
Down in the Bottom is Shockoe Denim, the Mecca of Richmond selvedge.
Lupesco grew up around apparel manufacturing and opened up his shop with the desire to make the best jeans in America. Shockoe Denim’s jeans are entirely hand-made, and each pair takes about two hours to make. You can even get a pair of jeans completely made-to-measure based on your body.
Lupesco and Shockoe Denim made their way up to New York earlier this year for the Liberty Fashion Fair, a gathering of all sorts of denim producers to showcase their stuff.
“It was really cool. The first day of the show was the first day that really big snow storm hit. But what was cool about that was we got to tour around and meet everyone who was there. It was super cool to see other guys who do stuff really similar,” Lupesco said.
“I think we all have some value to add to each other. And any time you can learn something, you definitely gotta jump on that opportunity.”
Some brands are dipping into the novelty aspect of raw denim, with everything from glow-in-the-dark to scratch-n-sniff jeans. But Lupesco said Shockoe Denim likes to keep it simple. Their production process is akin to an art form, and they let me witness where their jeans come to life.
And don’t worry, just because heat and humidity are on their way to town, doesn’t mean it’s time to hang up your jeans for a few months! Most raw denim is between 12 and 14 ounces per yard of fabric meaning they can still be light in the summer heat.
Shockoe Denim has an even lighter weight jean, which is currently flying off the shelves for them.
Need also has jeans from brands like Naked & Famous that are as light as 10 ounces.
