Trashion - Rough and Tumble

August 21, 2017 Jill Lawrence

So, lets look at finishing of denim and garment outside the realms of tearing them apart. This means adding colour and worn in attitude stopping short of destruction.

What we try to achieve is a garment finish that begs the question - am I an original or a beautiful replica? We employ myriad techniques before dry or wet tumbling of 3D creasing, crushing, tagging, finishing garment edges with grinding and finally zinc oxide tinting and bleaching at strategic points of the garment. Sometimes even experts are fooled!

Unusual textured denim forms a perfect base to create a real worn in vintage garment. Although the 3x1 twill is the original denim fabric followed by the 2x1 lighter variant, piques and dobbies can be made to achieve the appearance of old miners' worn out clothing having become much coveted gender neutral garments in today's world of vintage denim hounds.

Iron oxide finish techniques achieve the original appearance of dirty denim - we take this to a higher creative level of actually burring holes in the garment as well as emulating the effects of scorch marks with black dye or holes to reveal orange weft looking like scorched holes.

Super creative garmenting design with old or new jeans creates new styles, helped by the use of all the rough and tumble, colouring and bleaching effects available to our experimental drive.

Lets use the jean in another context - it's fun, it's denim, it's Trashion!

Trashion - Wear it, Tear it, Rip and Repair it

August 14, 2017 Jill Lawrence

Tearing and shredding is incorporated into fashion jeans as part of a new original design not just to emulate vintage but to create fresh originality using denim as the vehicle. No other fabric looks as good frayed and destroyed as denim. Shapes are wide to allow the shredded threads rooms to breathe.

Composite Image ©TheDenimEye L: Demi Denims

Head to toe denim has never had it so good. Each piece having a life of its own due to post make creative finishing.

Strategically placed laddered holes combine with pigment printed messages and laser finish effects. Mix and layer the effects of destruction and message.

Centre: ©Christopher Shannon Right ©Xander Zhou

Bleach plays a big part in this new ripping and repairing trend which helps to take Trashion into top end fashion with a price tag to match. The cost of destruction finish is as much if not more than the cost of the original garment itself..

Luxe repairing with lacing, zippers and bleach patched holes combine with old crinkle effect denims. New and old effectively mix as well as 80's black with indigo combo.

Worn out faded vintage ticking stripes plus brilliant indigo patched real vintage jacket are worn with pride alongside massive engineered holes with grinding at edges to prevent haphazard fraying. Stripes both old and new are enjoying another day in the sun.

L-R: ©Brain & Beast, ©James Long, ©Christian Dada — L-R: ©Brain & Beast, ©James Long, ©Christian Dada

By contrast geometric patching and piecing and Mondrian image pigment printing plus crazy messages have become a part of Trashion shifting the trend into a more strictly contrived and less down at heel style.

Trend Direction: RIPPING AND SHREDDING

May 26, 2016 Jill Lawrence

Close Up - Repairing and Distressing Combine

MiH Phoebe Jeans show original shibori hand dyed indigo cotton through the customised holes, adding special interest to the trend of ripping and repairing.

Creative patching gives the ripping and shredding a reason to exist. This can be customised at home making your jeans totally personal.

Below is an intriguing printed jean from AG. The jean is made from a non denim high stretch undyed fabric. All the effects are digitally printed including the reverse and face sides twill effects. The ripped and patched areas are also part of the digital print as are the fly, pocket and waistband both front and back.

TREND: Ripping and Shredding

May 2, 2016 Jill Lawrence

Hand-made, hand-destroyed, torn and shredded. Make every item unique. Show the torn edges, and the body beneath. Layered pigmented textures, nubby yarns and drawn threads create added texture. Deconstructed frayed jeans combined with a frayed artisan scarf edge is a feature - a scarf for the legs. No longer is ripping and shredding regarded as ugly or tatty, it is now an artistic creative take on the worn-in appeal of the jean. The DIY jean makes a personal lasting statement in a world of fast "off the shelf" fashion.