The Graysey Story - Sourcing Denim
THE DENIM
Having never made anything with denim since my fashion degree final show (apart from having hems turned up) I had a bit of a steep learning curve! I read many articles by denim aficionados and had some training from an industry expert. I trawled textile shows and spoke to many suppliers. I spent hours in a couple of well known London stores checking out all the jeans they had and trying them on to see which kind of weight and finish we would want to use. I learnt a whole new vocabulary, feeling buoyant as I slipped words like atari, bar tacks and enzyme wash into any conversation involving denim. It took a while, but I finally felt that I had a decent knowledge to move forward and try to source the ideal denim to work with our stretch fabric.
We ordered a vast array of samples from Turkey, France, Italy and Portugal. Many shrinkage & wash tests were done as we ploughed through, trying to find the right one to use.. We finally sourced a Turkish denim from a supplier in the UK which worked well with our other fabric and moved forward to doing ½ legs. We finally had a denim and wash we liked and were now ready to move forward to sampling. Join us tomorrow to see how things were not as straightforward as we thought!
Having never made anything with denim since my fashion degree final show (apart from having hems turned up) I had a bit of a steep learning curve! I read many articles by denim aficionados and had some training from an industry expert. I trawled textile shows and spoke to many suppliers. I spent hours in a couple of well known London stores checking out all the jeans they had and trying them on to see which kind of weight and finish we would want to use. I learnt a whole new vocabulary, feeling buoyant as I slipped words like atari, bar tacks and enzyme wash into any conversation involving denim. It took a while, but I finally felt that I had a decent knowledge to move forward and try to source the ideal denim to work with our stretch fabric.
We ordered a vast array of samples from Turkey, France, Italy and Portugal. Many shrinkage & wash tests were done as we ploughed through, trying to find the right one to use.. We finally sourced a Turkish denim from a supplier in the UK which worked well with our other fabric and moved forward to doing ½ legs. We finally had a denim and wash we liked and were now ready to move forward to sampling. Join us tomorrow to see how things were not as straightforward as we thought!
