With their complex, almost purple hue, the Levi’s
1880 jeans show one interpretation of natural indigo,
but the possible variations are infinite. Stony Creek
research chemist Summer Arrowood sometimes turns
up for work in a distinctly modern pair of Gustin jeans
(a San Francisco-based brand founded eight years ago),
with a heavier, more turquoise denim. Many other
brands will launch jeans dyed with Stony Creek’s indigo
over the next year, while mills in Asia and Europe have
also committed to using the distinctive dye. It’s
impossible to generalise about the final look of all the
products that use Stony Creek indigo, but overall this
is denim that will ‘crock’ more slowly, demanding hard
work before they wear in – which is probably the one
retro aspect of the whole process.
Sarah Bellos’ vision of denim as a product that
epitomises a modern America, rather than the mythical
country of the past, is gathering momentum. Many
new US-based boutique labels, from Tellason and
Imogene + Willie to 3sixteen and one-man operation
Roy Slaper, have built up a committed following over
the last decade, while industry giant Levi Strauss seems
to have executed a significant turnaround. Still, there is
pressure from cheaper imports, which has resulted in
Cone closing its US denim mill in North Carolina andto scale up,’ says Bellos, ‘to show that natural indigo
can be produced consistently, and at the volume to be
used in the denim industry. But also with traceability,
so you can visit the farm where it’s grown.’
Indigo is extracted from its plant leaves using warm
water, rather like tea, with the resulting liquid reduced
in huge vats. The factory is infused with a warm, leafy
smell, along with a smoky hint of tobacco: a benign
start for an evocative substance that adds a unique
complexity to the denim it ends up dyeing.
Given that Levi Strauss was the company that first
created blue jeans as we know them, it’s appropriate
that one of the first pair of jeans dyed with Stony Creek
natural indigo is a painstaking replica of an 1880 pair
in its archives – the XX model that predates the 501.
The cut and construction of the replica mimics
precisely that of the original pair, nicknamed ‘Stumpy’.
The most challenging aspect of the revival was
replicating the original yarn. Paul O’Neill, senior
designer at Levi’s Vintage Clothing, worked in
collaboration with leading yarn expert Allen Little,
director of product development at innovative fabric
mill Cone Denim. The natural indigo was a vital
finishing touch. ‘The colours and the shading are
quite unique,’ says O’Neill.
Intelligence