The Graysey Story - Highs and lows of creating our Jeaks.
So it seemed like a simple task. Sew some tracksuit fabric into a pair of jeans? Shouldn’t be too tricky! “Boy, were we wrong!” We checked the market and to our knowledge this had never been done. Great! We started our search for denim factories in the UK and quickly realised that there were very few, with very limited wash facilities. One factory owner we spoke with laughed and said ‘You can’t mix denim with other fabrics!” Apparently another client had tried that last year and failed. Another told us that indigo dye from the denim would permeate any fabric put with it. “Hmm... this was not good”. So we reached out to denim factories in other parts of the world. We found a few that were willing to work with a start up and open to giving our concept a try. Months later and with every stretch fabric we tried out absorbing the indigo dye, we were getting nowhere. Fabric consultants we conversed with were doubtful it could be achieved but as time went on, we gained more knowledge of what might work.
We felt dispirited but knew we had a great idea and we were not ready to give up. There must be a way. Our breakthrough came when a contact we were talking to rediscovered a fabric they had sitting in the warehouse that had been made but not ever used. When tested with denim, it didn’t take on the dye. “Eurika!” We had finally found the fabric that was going to enable us to make our Jeaks ™. We were really excited!
Over the following three months we worked closely together to modify the fabric until it was perfect to use for our unique stretch panels. Now to find a factory to put the product together…
We felt dispirited but knew we had a great idea and we were not ready to give up. There must be a way. Our breakthrough came when a contact we were talking to rediscovered a fabric they had sitting in the warehouse that had been made but not ever used. When tested with denim, it didn’t take on the dye. “Eurika!” We had finally found the fabric that was going to enable us to make our Jeaks ™. We were really excited!
Over the following three months we worked closely together to modify the fabric until it was perfect to use for our unique stretch panels. Now to find a factory to put the product together…
