DENIM GUIDE How to wash and distress your jeans the unsophisticated way
Back in the days Blue jeans have been around since the 1800s, when they arose out of a need for stronger and more comfortable workwear for gold miners in California. Back in those days, the process of distressing the jeans was a natural part of everyday life, and the story of each wearer was permanently recorded on each pair of denim. Abrasion patterns, locations of wear and whiskering, stains, and creasing were all telltale signs of what each pair had lived through. But let’s face it, most of us don’t work in gold mines anymore, even though we still want our jeans to somewhat look like we did. The process of recreating
those authentic looks is neither easy nor quick. The majority of work that goes into aging denim is done by hand and requires both knowledge, craftsmanship, and experimentation. Over the following pages you’ll find five tips on how to distress your jeans the unsophisticated way in order to make their story a little bit more interesting. If you don’t feel like doing it yourself, jump straight to page 12 and check out our Elvine no.1 jeans: Sophisticated jeans for unsophisticated behavior.
1. Plan ahead There is no right or wrong way to wash and distress your jeans. Let each pair evolve as a result of your personal creativity. With that said, we advise you plan ahead before you get medieval on your jeans.
2. Accelerate the aging process When it comes to denim, it is not always advantageous to look the youngest. Scrape or rub the surface of the fabric in order to make the denim look worn and aged. Rocks, stones, sand paper, or other tools can be used in the process.
3. Use bleach
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Bleach is a chemical used to make denim fade. If you don’t have any bleach at home, many hotels, motels, health clubs, and fitness centers have public pools containing chemical disinfectants such as chlorine bleach. Simply dip your jeans in the pool or even better, take a swim with your pants on.
4. Soften up Before specialized denim laundry companies started using volcanic stone for stone washing garments, rocks, plastic, shoes, and just about every other material was used to wear down and soften denim during the laundry process. Why not try washing your jeans with a pair of rubber boots to soften them up?
5. Get creative Getting a unique pair of jeans requires a certain amount of inventiveness. Here’s an idea: Try twisting and pulling your jeans through a traffic cone in order to get the right tear marks. If you don’t feel like doing all this yourself, turn the page and check out our Elvine no.1 jeans instead.
no.1 Blue Resin All Elvine jeans are made of 100% cotton. The fabric is right Hand Twill (RHT) denim which can be recognized by the upward direction of the diagonal twill on the face of the fabric as it runs from lower left towards upper right. If that doesn’t make much sense to you, let’s just say it is known to have a flatter and smoother surface compared to other twill fabrics. To compensate, our Blue Resin has, among other things, received a resin treatment that gives a 3D-effect to the denim.
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Denim: 100% cotton, 12,5 oz Weave: 3/1 RHT Treatment & wash: Resin, crush, scrapping, rinse wash, destruction Trims: Coppar buttons & rivets Label: Brown fake leather Sizes: Width: 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 34, 36 Length: 32, 34
no.1 Vintage Wash Wearing your jeans to get a vintage look takes a lot of time, and distressing them yourself takes a lot of work. Why not make it easy for yourself and let us do it for you? Take our Vintage Wash as an example. They have been treated with nine different methods, such as organic enzyme washing which is a more environmentally sound way to stone wash jeans, leaving the finished jeans stronger than those broken down by traditional stone washing. So you don’t have to.
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Denim: 100% cotton, 12 oz, deep indigo Weave: 3/1 RHT Treatment & wash: Whiskers, scrapping, pintuck, tie, enzyme wash, bleach, spray, destruction, tint Trims: Antique silver buttons & rivets Label: Brown fake leather Sizes: Width: 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 34, 36 Length: 32, 34
no.1 Mid Wash One of the exhausting treatments our Mid Wash jeans have to go through before they can rest in a store close to you is called whiskering. Whiskers are pre-fabricated creases that create a broken-in and worn look in the crotch area and back of the knees. Some upset parents of teenagers have argued that these so-called whiskers draw the eye’s attention to the crotch area (and that the name whiskers refers to pussycats) when they actually just gives the appearance of aged denim.
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Denim: 100% cotton, 12,2 oz, some slub effect Weave: 3/1 RHT Treatment & wash: Whiskers, scrapping, enzyme wash, bleach, spray Trims: Antique silver buttons & rivets Label: Brown fake leather Sizes: Width: 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 34, 36 Length: 32, 34
no.1 Heavy Vintage Wash If you followed our tips and advice on the previous pages, you’ll end up with something like this. But you will have to scrape and rub the front and back to make the denim look worn, bleach them in the pool to make the denim fade, wash them with rubber boots to make the denim softer, twist and pull them through a traffic cone to get the right tear marks, and then you have to do it all over again a couple of times. Or you can choose to buy our Heavy Vintage Wash jeans.
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Denim: 100% cotton, 12,5 oz Weave: 3/1 RHT Treatment & wash: Whiskers, scrapping, pintuck, tie, enzyme wash, bleach, spray, destruction, tint Trims: Coppar buttons & rivets Label: Brown fake leather Sizes: Width: 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 34, 36 Length: 32, 34
Contact & distribution
Elvine AB Järntorget 2 S–413 04 Gothenburg Sweden Phone : +46 31 556 960 Fax : +46 31 556 961 Email : info@elvine.se Export Manager Mattias Edenholm Direct: +46 31 857 448 Cell: +46 73 370 35 80 Email : mattias@elvine.se www.elvine.se
Finland
Norway
Element Wear Oy Slottsgatan 11 a 1 20100 Åbo Finland
Fuel Fashion Birkebeinerveien 21 2316 Hamar Norway
Phone : +35 8 20 750 0393 Fax : +35 8 20 750 0399 Email : stefan@element.nu
Phone : +47 90 99 51 60
Denmark
Italy
Menta Clothing Sandvångsgatan 3 216 15 Limhamn Sweden
Red Page Via delle pesche 721 470 20 Pievesetina Italy
Phone : +46 704 92 86 74 Fax : +46 40 982 149 Email : johnny@menta-clothing.com
Phone : +39 54 74 15 163
Germany
Austria
Kemner Distribution GmbH Weender Landstr. 1 37073 Göttingen Germany
Kemner Distribution GmbH Weender Landstr. 1 37073 Göttingen Germany
Phone: +49 (0) 551 500 83 12 Fax: +49 (0) 551 500 83 78 E–mail: andy@kemner-distribution.de
Phone: +49 (0) 551 500 83 12 Fax: +49 (0) 551 500 83 78 E–mail: andy@kemner-distribution.de
Switzerland
France
Kemner Distribution GmbH Weender Landstr. 1 37073 Göttingen Germany
Agent: Showroom Jvfashion 6 Rue Braque Entree B, 3 étages 75 003 Paris France
Phone: +49 (0) 551 500 83 12 Fax: +49 (0) 551 500 83 78 E–mail: andy@kemner-distribution.de
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Email : roy@streetlife.no
Email : g.hq@redpage.it
Phone: +33 (0) 6 72 31 56 08 showroomjvfashion@gmail.com
The Netherlands
Russia
Lexson Brands BV De Roy van Zuidewijnlaan 2 / 4 4818 GB Breda The Netherlands
Fashion Trade 21-32 Sivtsev Vrazhek side-street 119002 Moscow Russia
Phone: +31 (0) 76 5223186 E–mail: maarten@lexson.com
Phone: +79 (0) 3000 60 80 E–mail: krotov561@gmail.com
Spain
Belgium
Silver Moon Concept Fuencarral, 39 ˚ 1 izqd 28004 Madrid Spain
Lexson Brands BV De Roy van Zuidewijnlaan 2 / 4 4818 GB Breda The Netherlands
Phone : +34 657 627 344 Email : cecar@silvermoon.es
Phone: +31 (0) 76 5223186 E–mail: maarten@lexson.com
Credits: Art direction & design by Jesper Larsson, photos by Olle Knutson Hjertén shot on location in Gothenburg. Includes definitions of denim terms from the book Denim Design Lab by Brian Robbins.
Elvine AB Järntorget 2 S–413 04 Gothenburg Sweden Phone : +46 31 556 960 Fax : +46 31 556 961 Email : info@elvine.se Export Manager Mattias Edenholm Direct: +46 31 857 448 Cell: +46 73 370 35 80 Email : mattias@elvine.se www.elvine.se
ELVINE MÄND may not be known by a lot of people, but her legacy and name is embroidered on the behinds and across the hearts of many. Elvine worked as a seamstress in Estonia during the Second World War.When the Russians invaded, Elvine made a run for Estonia’s neighbour, Sweden. In 1975, Elvine’s daughter gave birth to a boy named Daniel Mänd, who would revive Elvine in a whole new way. Daniel grew up in the outskirts of Gothenburg, and quickly became one with the streets and its graffiti culture.With the opening of his own street wear store, Daniel realized what it was he and his friends weren’t able to find in the clothing industry. He wanted to create something that came entirely from him and Gothenburg’s unrefined street culture, but made in the tradition of his grandmother. Wanting to reach people from the street, Daniel found inspiration in his everyday life, and more importantly, in his friends. It was about having a good time and bringing his community closer together. And somehow, the founder had become the very essence of his own brand.The unsophisticated boy from the streets became obsessed with quality and sophisticated craftsmanship. Daniel’s life on the streets merged with his grandmother’s functional legacy to create a new kind of Elvine: Sophisticated clothes for unsophisticated behavior