Denim

Denim originated as a contraction of the French phrase {{lang|fr|serge de Nîmes}} ('serge from Nîmes').{{cite web|url= http://inventors.about.com/od/sstartinventors/a/Levi_Strauss.htm |archive-url= https://archive.today/20130101191510/http://inventors.about.com/od/sstartinventors/a/Levi_Strauss.htm |url-status= dead |archive-date= 1 January 2013 |title= Levi Strauss - The History of Blue Jeans |first=Mary| last=Bellis |work=About.com |date=19 May 2014 |quote= "Levi Strauss had the canvas made into waist overalls. Miners liked the pants, but complained that they tended to chafe. Levi Strauss substituted a twilled cotton cloth from France called "sergé de Nimes". The fabric later became known as denim and the pants were nicknamed blue jeans." |access-date=25 August 2015}}

{{Globalize section|date=January 2024|US}}

Denim has been used in the United States since the mid-19th century.{{cite news|url= https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-17101768 |work=BBC News |title=How jeans conquered the world |date=28 February 2012 |first=Stephanie |last=Hegarty |access-date=25 August 2015}} Denim initially gained popularity in 1873 when Jacob W. Davis, a tailor from Nevada, manufactured the first pair of rivet-reinforced denim pants. The popularity of denim jeans outstripped the capacity of Davis's small shop, so he moved his production to the facilities of dry goods wholesaler Levi Strauss & Co., which had been supplying Davis with bolts of denim fabric.{{cite journal|title=Fashioning the historical body: the political economy of denim |journal=Social Semiotics |date=1 June 2010 |issn=1035-0330 |pages=293–308 |volume=20 |issue=3 |doi=10.1080/10350331003722851 |first=James B. |last=Salazar |s2cid=144304564}}

Throughout the 20th century, denim was used for durable uniforms like those issued to staff of the French national railways.{{cite AV media|url= https://static.cnews.fr/sites/default/files/styles/image_640_360/public/uniformes_sncf.jpg?itok\x3depxgXmHa |title=Uniforms |website=static.cnews.fr |access-date=9 September 2023}}{{Better source needed|reason=Citation is a picture that is used in an article about new denim-colored uniforms, not denim fabric (https://www.cnews.fr/france/2014-12-18/un-nouvel-uniforme-pour-les-agents-de-la-sncf-696682)|date=September 2019}} In the post-war years, the Royal Air Force issued olive-drab denim coveralls (colloquially known as "denims") for dirty work.{{cite book |title=RAF Little Rissington: the Central Flying School 1946-76 |author1=Bagshaw, R. |author2=Deacon, R. |author3=Pollock, A. |author4=Thomas, M. |publisher=Pen and Sword Books |date=2006 |isbn=9781844153817}}

{{expand section|with=a paragraph discussing the rise of denim's popularity during the 1950s and '60s|date=May 2023}}

File:1974 AMC Gremlin with Levi’s option at 2015 AMO show 1of5.jpg with Levi's trim and upholstery]]

By the 1970s, denim jeans were such an integral part of youth culture{{cite web |last=Strohl |first=Daniel |title=American Flava: the Levi's Gremlin press release |url= https://www.hemmings.com/blog/2007/06/30/american-flava-the-levis-gremlin-press-release/ |work=Hemmings |date=30 June 2007 |access-date=30 September 2019 }} that automobile manufactures, beginning with American Motors Corporation began offering denim-like interior finishes.{{cite web |title=Even AMC cars were hit by the blue jeans craze of the 1970s |url= https://www.metv.com/stories/these-vintage-hornets-prove-even-cars-were-hit-by-the-blue-jeans-craze-of-the-1970s |work=MeTV |date=16 August 2017 |access-date=30 September 2019}}{{cite web |title=1973 AMC Full Line brochure |url= http://oldcarbrochures.org/United%20States/AMC/1973_AMC/1973-AMC-Full-Line-Prestige-Brochure/slides/1973_AMC_Full_Line_Prestige-06-07.html |website=oldcarbrochures.org |pages=6–8}} (Because denim cannot pass fire resistance safety standards,{{cite web |last1=Stopford |first1=William |title=Top 10 Obscure Special Editions and Forgotten Limited-Run Models: AMC Edition |url= http://www.curbsideclassic.com/automotive-histories/top-10-obscure-special-editions-and-forgotten-limited-run-models-amc-edition/ |publisher=Curb side classic |date=27 September 2015 |access-date=30 September 2019}} indigo-colored spun nylon or vinyl was used,{{cite book|url= https://archive.org/details/jeepcolorhistory00stev |url-access= registration |quote= AMC offered an optional Levis package in 1975 CJ denim-like vinyl and matching canvas top. |pages=[https://archive.org/details/jeepcolorhistory00stev/page/101 101]–102 |title=Jeep Color History |first=Steve |last=Statham |publisher=MBI Publishing |year=2002 |isbn=9780760306369 |access-date=30 September 2019}} with contrast-stitching and copper rivets helping to sell the effect.) A Levi's-branded trim package debuted with AMC's 1973 model year. Similar packages were available from Volkswagen from 1973 to 1975 (the "Jeans Beetle"){{cite web |last=Torchinsky |first=Jason |title=A Pantload Of Jeans-Themed Cars On The Anniversary Of Levi's Patent |url= https://jalopnik.com/a-pantload-of-jeans-themed-cars-on-the-anniversary-of-l-508937868 |publisher=Jalopnik |date=20 May 2013 |access-date=30 September 2019}}{{cite web|url= http://www.jeansbeetles.com/chronologieenglish.htm |work=Jeansbeetles.com |title=Chronology and Descriptions |access-date=21 August 2015}} and from Jeep from 1975 through 1977.{{cite web |title=1977 Jeep Full Line brochure |url= http://oldcarbrochures.org/United%20States/Jeep/1977-Jeep/1977%20Jeep%20Full%20Line/slides/1977_Jeep_Full_Line-28.html |website=oldcarbrochures.org |access-date=30 September 2019 |page=28}}

All denim is created through generally the same process:{{cite book|last1=Chauncy|first1=Barbara|title=Denim by design|date=2011|publisher=Krause Publications Craft|isbn=9780896895980}}

1. Cotton fiber is spun into yarn
2. The warp yarn is dyed, while the weft is left white (usually)
3. The yarns are woven on a shuttle loom or projectile loom
4. The woven product is sanforized

Traditional denim yarn is composed entirely of cotton. Once cotton fibers are cleaned and combed into long, cohesive lengths of similar-length fiber, they are spun into yarn using an industrial machine. Throughout the creation of denim, washes, dyes, or treatments are used to change the appearance of denim products.

Some yarns may substitute an elastic component such as spandex for up to 3% of the cotton, the woven form of which (typically called 'stretch denim') may have a elasticity of up to 15%.

Denim was originally dyed with indigo dye extracted from plants, often from the genus Indigofera. In South Asia, indigo dye was extracted from the dried and fermented leaves of Indigofera tinctoria; this is the plant that is now known as "true indigo" or "natural indigo". In Europe, the use of Isatis tinctoria, or woad, can be traced back to the 8th century BC, although it was eventually replaced by Indigofera tinctoria as the superior dye product. However, most denim today is dyed with synthetic indigo dye. In all cases, the yarn undergoes a repeated sequence of dipping and oxidation—the more dips, the stronger the color of the indigo.{{cite web |last1=Bojer |first1=Thomas Stege |title=How Denim Is Made: Indigo Dyeing |url=https://www.denimhunters.com/how-denim-is-made-indigo-dyeing/ |work=Denimhunters |access-date=2 September 2019 |date=16 December 2016 |archive-date=3 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190903003208/https://www.denimhunters.com/how-denim-is-made-indigo-dyeing/ |url-status=dead }}

Before 1915, cotton yarns were dyed using a skein dyeing process, in which individual skeins of yarn were dipped into dye baths. Rope dyeing machines were developed in 1915, and slasher or sheet dyeing machines were developed in the 1970s. These methods involve a series of rollers that feed continuous yarns in and out of dye vats. In rope dyeing, continuous yarns are gathered together into long ropes or groups of yarns – after these bundles are dyed, they must be re-beamed for weaving. In sheet dyeing, parallel yarns are laid out as a sheet in the same order in which they will be woven; because of this, uneven dye circulation in the bath can lead to side-to-side color variations in the woven cloth. Rope dyeing eliminates this possibility because color variations can be evenly distributed across the warp during beaming.{{cite news |last1=Mercer |first1=Harry |title=Rope Dyeing Vs Slasher (Sheet) Dyeing |url= https://www.denimsandjeans.com/denim/manufacturing-process/rope-dyeing-vs-slasher-sheet-dyeing/3117 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20161012171205/https://www.denimsandjeans.com/denim/manufacturing-process/rope-dyeing-vs-slasher-sheet-dyeing/3117 |url-status=dead |archive-date=12 October 2016 |access-date=2 September 2019 |work=Denims and Jeans |date=19 May 2011 |via=Archive.org}}

Denim fabric dyeing is divided into two categories: indigo dyeing (Indigo dye is a unique shade of blue) and sulfur dyeing (Sulfur dye is a synthetic organic dye and it is formed by sulphurisation of organic intermediates, this contains nitro or amino groups). Indigo dyeing produces the traditional blue color or shades similar to it. Sulfur dyeing produces specialty black and other colors, such as red, pink, purple, grey, rust, mustard, and green.

File:Джинсовая ткань (изнаночная сторона).jpg

File:Full Count Selvedge ID.jpg

Most denim made today is made on a shuttleless loom{{Cite book|last=K W Yeung|first=Yan Li, L Yao|title=The China and Hong Kong Denim Industry|year=2003|pages=11}} that produces bolts of fabric {{convert|60|in}} or wider, but some denim is still woven on the traditional shuttle loom, which typically produces a bolt {{convert|30|in}} wide. Shuttle-loom-woven denim is usually recognizable by its selvedge (or selvage), the edge of a fabric created as a continuous cross-yarn (the weft) reverses direction at the edge side of the shuttle loom. The selvedge is traditionally accentuated with warp threads of one or more contrasting colors, which can serve as an identifying mark.

Although quality denim can be made on either loom, selvedge denim has come to be associated with premium products since final production that showcases the selvedge requires greater care of assemblage.{{cite book |last1=Cadigan |first1=Erin |title=Sourcing and Selecting Textiles for Fashion: Sourcing and Selection |date=13 February 2014 |publisher=A&C Black |isbn=978-2-940496-10-5 |page=55}}

The thickness of denim can vary greatly, with a yard of fabric weighing anywhere from {{cvt|9 to 32|oz}}, with {{cvt|11 to 14|oz}} being typical.{{cite web |last1=Rubin |first1=Ellen |title=The Denim Weight of Jeans |url= https://www.unsustainablemagazine.com/the-denim-weight-of-jeans-guide/#:~:text=While%20there%20are%20no%20official,type%20of%20clothing%20being%20made. |work=Unsustainable |access-date=28 May 2023 |date=24 April 2022}}

File:Jean jacket.jpg

Denim is frequently used for a wide array of consumer products, including:

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• Clothing
• Aprons
• Boots and athletic shoes
• Capri pants
• Cloth face mask
• Dresses
• Hats
• Jackets
• Jeans
• Jeggings
• Overalls
• Shirts
• Shorts
• Skirts
• Sneakers
• Suits
• Accessories
• Belts
• Handbags (purses)
• Tote bags
• Wallets
• Furniture
• Bean bag chairs
• Lampshades
• Upholstery

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Denim has been a medium for many artists. At least one artist, Ian Berry, uses old or recycled denim, exclusively in crafting his portraits and other scenes.{{cite news|url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-44198953 |title=Artist creates works in denim |date=23 May 2018 |work=BBC News |access-date=29 June 2018 |language=en-GB}}

File:Dyehouse, White Oak Cotton Mills. Greensboro, N.C, by H.C. White Co..jpg, North Carolina. The Cone Mills Corporation, which owned the mill, was formerly the world's largest maker of denim.]]

In 2020, the worldwide denim market equaled US$57.3 billion, with demand growing by 5.8% and supply growing by 8% annually.{{cite press release |title=Global Denim Jeans Market Report 2022: Market to Reach US$76.1 Billion by 2026 - U.S. Market is Estimated at $15.1 Billion in 2021, While China is Forecast to Reach $15.5 Billion by 2026 |url= https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2022/02/08/2380630/28124/en/Global-Denim-Jeans-Market-Report-2022-Market-to-Reach-US-76-1-Billion-by-2026-U-S-Market-is-Estimated-at-15-1-Billion-in-2021-While-China-is-Forecast-to-Reach-15-5-Billion-by-2026.html |work=GlobeNewswire |date=8 February 2022 |access-date=22 March 2022}} Over 50% of denim is produced in Asia, most of it in China, India, Turkey, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.{{cn|date=November 2023}}

Globally, the denim industry is expected to grow at a CAGR of over 4.8% from 2022 to 2026, with the market value expected to increase from $57.3 billion to $76.1 billion.{{cite web |title=By 2026, the denim market expected value will be $ 79.1 billion |url= http://www.technofashionworld.com/denim-market-by-2026/ |work=Techno Fashion World |date=5 January 2022 |access-date=22 March 2022}}

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• Chambray
• Denim Day
• Dungaree
• Gabardine
• Lee National Denim Day
• Western fashion

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{{Sister project links|denim}}

• [https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/riveted-history-of-jeans/ Riveted: The History of Jeans] at PBS's American Experience

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Category:Cotton

Category:Jeans

Category:Woven fabrics

Category:Symbols of California