The Future of Vintage Denim Finishing

Since the invention of Denim Fabric two centuries ago, there has been a huge evolution in its use, becoming in the last 70 years a lifestyle must have in everyone's closet. A fashion token that one cherishes despite its age and mirror of your personality.

Nowadays there are thousands of variations; weight, dye on the warp, color, and composition of the weft, stretch, and so on, fitting the industries and market's evolving needs. Every denim piece that goes for sale has much more process than before, trying to simulate wear patterns and trends, designers research across the globe. The unique way that denim fades gives a lot of room to play and almost every brand has a solid design team working on seasonal collections, choosing the right fabric, fit, and finish. It is hard to believe that all that started with the first stonewash in the 1950s, that a number of people and organizations have claimed to have invented. The initial reason was to soften a really tough & raw fabric and make it more wearable. But soon it became fashionable and more processes were added to fade color and simulate wear & tear effects like sandblasting, sandpaper, chlorine, potassium,... the list is long. All these techniques took little care of the workers & environmental impact, nobody was bothered either.

This gave birth of the modern concept of industrial laundries around the world, hiring millions of workers to perform a completely manual process. Both Brands and laundries came into a coordinated workflow in order to fill the gap between design and production. Many laundries started development centers to transform the Brand's targets into first samples, using the available techniques at the time. As the technology evolved they got smarter, more efficient, and were able to reduce production costs, in part automating these processes. Also in the last 20 years, a more & more growing conscience of workers and environmental impact is visible in Consumers and Brands. New technologies are born honoring this philosophy of green fashion like recycled fabrics, ozone, micronization, bio-friendly chemicals, and especially laser treatments that not only have a lesser impact but also improve efficiency.

The modern industry tries to implement these technologies in small doses but struggles to get the desired results. The reason is very clear: they still try to do things the old way, designing and developing as before but fail to translate into modern reality. The gap between design and production has grown. The Brand won't acknowledge that they need to update their design thinking and start to consider the high potential and possibilities of these new technologies at their first creational process.

Some of the old techniques are already banned like Sandblast, others are to follow in the near future as governmental restrictions increase and consumer demand mandates. We do not realize it, but the future of the denim industry relies upon the early adoption of these tools & methods from the initial stages of design and development, reinventing a new coordinated workflow and understanding the real full potential of this new reality.

Laser designers across the world hired by laundries, struggle to comply with the Brand's Desing standards when they actually should be developing and creating new concepts and more natural effects with or at the Brand's design team.

Fabric Mills should be aware of this new reality and come up with more laser, ozone, or micronization friendly fabrics to ease the development process.

Chemical companies should bet on more sustainable products and standardize them.

Laundries should commit themselves to become more efficient through sustainability.

Consumers and Brands should be aware of the Environment and praise themselves when doing so.

It is in our hands, the professionals of this industry, to change this, accepting that there are new ways to do things!

“And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.” - Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist