Selvedge Denim - Your Forever Pair of Jeans – Bombay Shirt Company

1. Selvedge Denim - Your Forever Pair of Jeans

2. KORRA X SELVEDGE DENIM Raw selvedge denim is the most pristine, natural and durable state of the fabric. We use selvedge denim as it suits Korra’s values of giving our customers high-quality, customised, personalised denim wear. In the 1950s, selvedge denim was replaced with processed denim as the former is made on shuttle looms and takes longer to produce than denim made with modern projectile looms. Fast fashion required fast production, so selvedge denim took a back seat to mass produced denim.

3. Korra is bringing selvedge denim back in vogue. We love using this fabric because of the artisanal manufacturing process that is used to make selvedge denim. Shuttle looms that produce selvedge denim use a technique of weaving where the shuttle (a small wooden device) travels back and forth horizontally across the loom, setting the interior weft yarns in a continuous strand while interlacing with vertical warp yarns. While travelling back and forth, the horizontal weft yarn secures the outermost warp creating a self-edge on both ends of the fabric. The result is a compact fabric that is durable and long lasting. The word selvedge comes from ‘self-edge’ as shuttle looms produce only one-yard-wide rolls of tightly woven fabric that come off the loom finished. The edges of these rolls are self-finished and it’s why selvedge denim doesn’t fray or unravel giving it a longer lifespan than processed or fast-produced denim. You can recognise a pair of selvedge jeans by its rolled cuff that has a white stripe with coloured thread running across the seam. A pair of Korra jeans is made with selvedge denim that’s made with sustainable fibres like organic or better cotton, and we also use fibre blends like hemp, recycled elastance, modal and tencel to offer our customers variety. We’re all about made to order, custom clothing and we choose to work with selvedge denim as it's the perfect fit for our brand and everything Korra represents.

4. A PERSONALISED TOUCH If you’re looking for a pair of jeans that is truly you, try Korra’s Raw Selvedge Denim collection. Unlike mass produced denim that is pre-washed, pre-faded and pre-softened, selvedge denim fades and ages to reflect the unique lifestyle of its wearer. Korra’s selvedge denim jeans take a while to break into as they’re not pre-washed or pre softened. As you wear them, they take on the shape of your body and lifestyle. Selvedge denim creases and fades to reflect the wearer’s daily habits and body language. Even the color fades organically and according to how you wear the jeans.

5. Our Korra Selvedge Denim collection is for people who want a pair of jeans that carries their personal imprint. It’s also the best choice for people who believe in slow fashion as a pair of selvedge denim jeans lasts a decade or longer.

6. THE VARIOUS FORMS OF SELVEDGE DENIM The selvedge denim for Korra jeans is sourced based on weight, fibre composition, colour and wearability. If you’ve made the conscious decision to invest in selvedge denim for the first time, or if you’re a repeat customer, here are your choices: • For the Die-Hard Raw Denim Lovers These jeans come in darker shades of denim and are on the heavy side — between 13-16 oz. Open compact weaves give this denim a rugged texture. • For the Modern Gent A blend of classic selvedge denim with linen, recycled elastane, hemp, modal and tencel fibres. At 11-12.5 oz, these jeans are lighter and softer than raw denim and have more lustre. • For the Avant-Garde These jeans come in unique shades of indigo and grey that are dyed using mineral colours or fast-fading indigos.

7. For the Geographically Inclined Post WWII, the world moved from shuttle looms to projectile looms but Japan stuck to using shuttle looms for superior-quality selvedge denim. The world’s best selvedge denim is still made in Japan and it’s where we source Korra’s selvedge denim from. We also source from Italy, known for making high-quality denim since the 80s and 90s. Closer to home, we source from Indian manufacturers, too. India has a rich history of handwoven textiles and still uses traditional techniques to weave high-quality denim.

8. USEFUL WASTE The shuttle looms that produce selvedge denim are a rarity as is selvedge denim. Our made-to-order, custom selvedge denim jeans are tailored consciously to create minimum waste. We try to use every inch of selvedge fabric that we source and our design process reflects this. A pair of selvedge denim jeans is cut and made from a single piece of fabric and around 85% of the fabric is used for the jeans. A signature Korra selvedge jeans trademark can be found on the right backpocket — we utilise 6 inches of what would have been wasted selvedge denim to reinforce the pocket bag at the bottom. The 15% of leftover selvedge denim scrap is used to create bags for packaging and we collect completely unusable scraps of threads and fabric from the shop floor and recycle them into denim paper. When you buy a pair of Korra’s raw selvedge denim jeans, you become a part of the slow fashion movement that values personal style over mass-produced and mass-worn trends.