Ande Whall Grifter Update

It has been more than a few months since I started wearing my custom Ande Whall jeans (Grifter model). This is a photo update of the jeans after 1 machine wash and dry to show off the Cone selvage denim and Ande Whall construction.

















Interesting right back pocket shape that became apparent after fading.







Ande Whall Website

A Gift of Jeans by Roy Slaper



One of the great pleasures of working for a historic mill like Cone is being able to meet people like Roy Slaper. This post is a small introduction to Roy and the jeans he wishes were perfect.



There is a talented metalsmith in Oakland, California who has been perfecting his denim sewing skills the last few years. Although Roy Slaper is quite good already he insists on practicing until he can consider himself to be in that unique class of denim designer-tailors expert in patterns, needlework, materials, and a thousand other nuances in crafting jeans. Such is the way of a true lover of denim who will forever be fascinated by all matters indigo and so will never call oneself a master of the subject.

I too count myself in this group of life-long denim students and have been exchanging peculiar ideas with him for many months. When I decided to leave my station at Cone my wonderful colleagues there commissioned a jean for me with Roy, who knew exactly want I would want (something with all the loom chatter intact like deadstock vintage).





As I am wearing the jean and typing this post I am still perplexed by how he managed to get it to fit right in one shot.



All crucial details are on point.











Selvage belt loops. And yes it does have a raised ridge between the stitches.



Some would stop at selvage beltloops but Roy quietly sneaks in selvage back pockets via busted seam joining 2 pieces.



And then he puts in selvage busted seam pocketing using an undyed organic cotton twill. When you hold up the jeans the selvage seams of the pocket bags and the back pockets line up one in front of the other.



He incorporates the loom chatter that naturally occurs in denim woven on vintage American selvage looms.




The fabric is full of unique, uneven character that by today's quality standards would be called defects. But using the word defect to argue against the beauty of certain loom chatters is akin to using higher fabric consumption as an argument against narrow selvage denim. The arguments make sense but love is blind. Besides, a broken fill here and there is nothing compared to the yarns destruction during industrial stonewash and sandblasting. This is how unwashed workwear came back in the day.

And maybe one day, sooner rather than later hopefully, Roy will finally let the general public enjoy his denim creations. Until then he will be perfecting his craft and acquiring amazing sewing machines like the Union Special 43200G bulldog hemmer, Union Special felling machine, and Reece 101 buttonhole machines that he have already.

A very special thanks to my friends at Cone Denim.

The Future of American Made Denim

Many of us in the Denim world have been watching as the options for American made denim have steadily decreased over the past few years. The steady demand for higher profit margins, lower costs, and the rapid advancements in quality from Mexico, China, and India have all contributed to the gradual migration of denim fabric and garment production away from our shores. At the end of 2008, we’re beginning to wonder, will US made denim exist for much longer? We all hope the answer will be yes, but there have been alarming signs this year that future of American denim mills is in jeopardy.

With the news that Belgian producer UCO shut down its US operation earlier this year, that left only a few key players in the American-made denim business. These include Denim North America, Mount Vernon, American Cotton Growers, and Cone Denim.

The oldest and largest of the remaining denim producers is the legendary Cone Denim, founded in 1891. In November Cone announced a series of layoffs at their famous White Oak plant, which has produced some of the best US made denim since 1905. Cone continues very successfully to expand its overseas ventures, such as their China operation and a new plant in Nicaragua. However, the market for its higher priced, US made, wide and selvage denims is now indelibly tied to the volatile Premium Denim market. It remains to be seen if demand for high quality, American made denim can sustain the operations of the White Oak plant.

Earlier this month the parent company of Cone Denim, ITG (International Textile Group), announced a further consolidation of their businesses, effectively merging Burlington Worldwide with the Cone Denim division into a single integrated business. Fiber2Fashion reported:

“We are moving to the next level in ITG’s evolution as a global provider,” said Joseph L. Gorga, president & CEO of ITG. “Our strategic initiatives over the last couple of years have focused on globally expanding our capabilities, which today span across China, Vietnam, Nicaragua, India, Europe, Mexico, and the U.S.

“Combining our apparel resources into a single business provides a simpler, more robust platform to leverage our strengths and offer customers greater support within a more flexible, cost-competitive structure.”

See the full article here

Let us hope that Cone Denim and the remaining American made denim producers can weather the current difficult economic environment and carry on the legacy of this uniquely American product.

American Shuttle Looms

This scan is taken from a 1904 Draper Company publication. The now-famous XX denim used on the original Levi's 501 production were woven on Draper looms at the Amoskeag Manufacturing Co. In fact, Levi Strauss & Co. historian, Lynn Downey, notes that the denim from their "first waist overalls came from the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company in Manchester, New Hampshire, on the East Coast of the United States." ("A Short History of Denim," Downey).

In as early as 1904 the Amoskeag Manufacturing Co. owned 1261 Draper Northrop looms (this does not even include other models of Draper looms Amoskeag had; please note not all Draper looms were used for making denim but to the extent of my research evidence most or even all denim looms at Amoskeag were from Draper who practically had a monopoly in loom-building at the time in America).

Today you can see the Model E at Cone Denim in Greensboro, North Carolina. I have not received full clearance to publish detailed info and media but here's a teaser.





Lynn Downey and LS&CO's "A Short History of Denim" (PDF Alert)

Cone Denim Website

Tom McKenna Named President of Cone Denim

Reports are coming in that Tom McKenna has been chosen to be President of Cone Denim. McKenna, who succeeds John L. Bakane, has been with Cone since 1981 when he began as a sales representative in their New York office. In 2004 he served as President of Sales and Marketing.

Source: News-Record.com