Raw Cut - Issue No. 009

One of the questions we get asked most is, "Where do you get your denim?"

The answer isn't nearly as simple as most people think.

Buying denim is easy. Finding the right denim isn’t. The mills we want to work with already have waiting lists. The fabrics we love disappear. Sometimes a conversation takes months before anyone even agrees to send a sample.

That's life when you're a small workshop chasing exceptional denim instead of simply buying what's available.

We've been talking with Mount Vernon since the Draper looms first made their way to Trion. Our hope is to eventually develop a proprietary fabric with them. One that carries the spirit of the Cone Mills denim we've loved for years, while becoming something entirely its own.

American-made selvedge is finally rolling off those looms again.

That takes time.

Restoring historic looms is one thing. Bringing them back into full production is another. Good cloth isn't woven overnight, and neither are the relationships behind it.

Frankly, that's exactly how we'd want it. The people bringing those looms back to life are doing something worth preserving, and we don't expect craftsmanship to happen on an accelerated timeline.

Good denim has always taken patience. We don’t see any reason to rush it now.

After White Oak closed in 2017, we partnered with Nihon Menpu in Japan and asked them to recreate the spirit of the fabric we'd been using.

They came remarkably close.

But close isn't the same.

Different looms. Different humidity. Different water. Different people tending the machines.

Remember when we talked about the terroir of a denim mill? That's real. A mill leaves fingerprints on every yard it weaves. Our Nihon Menpu denim has become something we value in its own right, even if supply is limited and new production continues to lag behind demand.

We still have a small amount of original White Oak denim.

Not much. Enough for one more meaningful run.

Once we finish developing a new straight-leg fit that's been quietly in the works, we'll cut one final production from those remaining rolls. After that, what's left will likely live on only in pocketing, small details, or future one-off projects.

We don't believe historic fabric belongs hidden on a shelf.

It belongs worn.

Beyond that, we're casting a wider net.

India. The Philippines. Anywhere we find mills run by people who care more about making exceptional fabric than making it quickly.

We're not chasing the lowest cost. We're chasing the right story, the right construction, and the right hands behind the loom.

Some of those conversations are too early to talk about publicly. Relationships like this take time, and a small workshop doesn't gain much by announcing every phone call before it turns into something real.

When there's something worth sharing, you'll hear it here first.

Every pair of jeans starts long before the first stitch.

It starts with the people who weave the cloth.

The mills that refuse to cut corners.

And the patience to wait until it's done right.

That's the work no one sees.

But it's where every great pair begins.

The first soak was supposed to happen this week.

Instead, The Rookie pulled the Fader off the hanger, put it back on...and quietly postponed the plan.

There's something about the moment raw denim stops feeling like cardboard and starts feeling like your jeans. Apparently, it's enough to earn one more week.

Here's this week’s dispatch.