Denim is a durable textile made from cotton using a twill weave, historically dating back to 17th century France, with its widespread use sparked by mining needs in the 1800s and later cultural influences in Hollywood. The manufacturing process involves multiple steps, including yarn spinning, dyeing, weaving, and finishing to prepare denim for garment production. Recent advancements focus on sustainability and innovation, including new dyeing techniques, performance denim, and smart finishes, adapted to evolving consumer preferences and environmental concerns.

2. Denim and Its Origin
• Denim is basically a sturdy, durable textile made out of cotton
fibers using twill weave.
• It is typically used in apparel manufacturing, but, it also finds
alternate usage as application based textiles in seat covers,
mobile cases, insulation textiles, etc.
• In denim fabric, the weft yarn passes under two or more
warps.
• The warp yarns in this fabric are typically dyed in indigo and
the weft yarn is white, which gives denim fabric its traditional
blue color.

3. Denim and Its Origin
• The word ‘denim’ is derived from the French word “serge de Nimes", a name
given to a fabric that originated from the city of Nimes.
• Denim fabric’s usage dates back to 17th century. In the 1800s, the need for
strong lasting fabrics for mining workers led to the origin of this fabric.
• Levi Strauss (businessman) and Jacob Davis (a tailor) came together to invent
the denim pants, which were made from durable fabric and reinforced with
rivets at high-pressure points to further elongate its life.
• In the 1930s then, Hollywood’s cowboy movies brought denim fabric in vogue.
In the 1950s, denim became an expression of rebellion for the younger
generation.
• The rest is history, now, when denim fabric is no more of just an expression, but
an essential part of everyone’s closets.

4. Denim fabric manufacturing process
• The process starts with cotton harvesting, ginning, and processing into
bales. Bales then are separated into small tuffs, which then go into
carding. Carded cotton is then converted into slivers, which go into
spinning machines that form yarns out of these slivers.
• Part of this yarn is then dyed, traditionally in chemically synthesized
indigo dyes to give it the blue denim shade. Dyed yarn is then ‘slashed’
by coating it with sizing to make the threads stronger and stiffer.
• The dyed yarn and the white yarn are then woven into the final denim
fabric, where blue threads form the warp, which is packed closer than
the weft of the white thread to give the fabric more blue shade.

5. Denim fabric manufacturing process
• Once woven, this fabric is ready for finishing processes like removing
loose threads, lint removal, and skewing. The resultant fabric is then
rolled into fabric rolls ready for shipment.
• At garment stage, this fabric is stacked in layers and cut into desired
patterns, which are then sewed depending upon the design
requirements. The sewed garment is then sent to prewashing or stone
washing as required.
• Prewashing is done to make the denim softer, using industrial
detergents. While the stonewashing gives the garment the sought
after faded look. Sand or chemicals are also used in washing process
to create the worn-out appearance as the design demands.
• The finished pair is the packaged as per packing requirements and
shipped.

6. Advantages and qualities of denim as a fabric
• Denim fabric is mostly used for its strength and durability properties.
• Traditionally, denim is woven with solely cotton, however, when blended
with polyester, shrinkage, and wrinkles in the fabric are reduced.
• Addition of lycra adds stretchability to the fabric. This fabric is poor in color
fastness, and its thickness often makes it comparatively difficult to maneuver
in sewing operations.

7. Patents in denim
• The first patent for ‘Blue Jeans’ went to Jacob W. Davis, jointly with Levis
Strauss & Co. on May 20, 1873. The patent was specifically for their
copper rivet fasteners used for denim pants.
• In 2017, Nike patented its “architecturally reinforced denim”. The fabric for
denim under this patent have moisture management properties, stretch
material and garment will have performance zones to make the denim
attractive to extreme athletes like skateboarders and BMX riders.

8. Recent advancements in denim
• the recent trend of athleisure has resulted in a decline in denim demand
globally. A new brand called Acynetic is in line with this wellness movement,
and is offering a line of denim consisting of knitted separates and
outerwear, where indigo yarn is combined with spandex through a circular
knitting machine, resulting into zero seams and more comfortable wear.
• Invista has brought in a new knit denim technology, known as Lycra Hybrid,
which is promised to further improve on the amount of stretch and comfort
traditional Lycra could offer.
• Apart from that, Lycra’s dualFX, extremely stretchy denim, and bi-stretch
denim are also some innovations in this direction.

9. Recent advancements in denim
• VSEP has long been used in sanitation and filtration processes. This
technology is now used in textile industry, where a vibrating
membrane is used to remove indigo dye chemicals from water
bodies, and reverse osmosis results in water clearing.
• On the lines of sustainable fashion, biodegradable synthetics and bio
elastomers, man-made alternatives for cotton, hemp or linen in the
form of lyocell, and Refibra are some examples of raw materials that
are being used in denim to seek for a more sustainable alternative to
raw materials.
• Performance denim, where fibers like Cordura, Kevlar, and Dyneema
are used with cotton to add strength and comfort to the garment.

10. Recent advancements in denim
• Instead of powder indigo, a Crystal Clear dyeing technique has been
developed by Artistic Milliners and DyStar, in collaboration with G-Star,
which can save a significant amount of water, use almost 70% fewer
chemicals and is also salt-free.
• Smart finishes like foam coatings, ozone finishing, ammonia finishing,
etc. are also being used.
• Smart denim that can connect to phones and other devices are also
being manufactured, while the use of AI in denim designing being
researched.
• 3D-Printed Jeans, Laser Finished jeans, ozone washing, etc. are also
some innovations being used in the denim industry.

11. For more insight into this topics, visit
www.stitchdiary.com