Together with our restless friend and denim professor Brandon Svarc we created a special 'Free Spirit Selvedge'; a 14.6oz Unsanforized Japanese Selvedge Denim made from 100% Cotton. The surface of the denim is hairy and uneven and has the look and feel of a handcrafted fabric.

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To achieve this texture, irregularly shaped short slub yarns were used in combination with low-tension weaving techniques on special vintage shuttle looms in Japan. To preserve the natural hairiness of the denim, the fabric does not go through the typical sanforisation and finishing processes. That process involves ‘singing’ and anti-skewing, which creates a cleaner fabric with less shrinkage. The process also necessitates more fabric.

This 'loom state' fabric however will shrink and twist over time: a true sign of vintage style denim production. We advise to go one size up with the idea that these jeans will 'shrink to fit'.   

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The interior weft yarns are a natural ecru cotton, while the exterior warp yarns are dyed in natural indigo using a special dip and dry method called rope dying.  With this method the cotton yarns are dipped into a vat of indigo, then pulled out to dry. This process is repeated over and over again until the desired color is achieved.

What makes this process so special is that the yarns are never left in the indigo vat long enough for the dye to penetrate to the core of the yarn.  As a result, layers of indigo are caked on top of one another covering just the outer edges of the cotton yarn while leaving the core un-dyed. Over time, these layers will fade away revealing a range of indigo to ecru hues underneath. 

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For this collaboration we used the iconic 'Weird Guy' fit by Naked & Famous, a standard tapered fit with a comfortable waist. The leg tapers down from the knee to the bottom hem.

The jean has a special limited edition, heavy weight co-branded leather patch and is limited to 60 pieces. The Naked & famous x Tenue de Nîmes jeans are sewn in Canada in the family owned Naked & Famous factory and come with a special 'Free Spirit' pocket flasher. 

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