UPSCALE - Containing Volume

It would be very easy to sum up the denims in this segment as being dominated by Tencel and Lyocel cellulosic fibres from Lenzing.    Yes, lightweight fluidity is essential for such big baggy denim garments which benefit from gathering, cinching, pleating and general volume controlling techniques.   Both Tencel and Lyocel denim blends achieve the requisite fullness and drapey denims better than any other but they must share the stage with mid and light weight 2x1 fineweave twills and 1x1 plain weaves all sporting the old oe x oe vintage looks, which wash down amazingly displaying the hi/low shade effects at the twin needle seams.  All of which lend an authentic appearance to what is in fact a fashion garment.

L: Martin Grant R: Photography and styling by Damian Foxe

Is it a fashion garment or is it jeanswear?   As long as it's indigo "Yes".    Again in blends of Tencel or Lyocel depending on whether softness or slippy drape is required work best for such voluminous shapes.  Creatively cinch at the waist and turn up the volume at the ankle or just let it all hang and flow.   Feel feminine in these oversizes indigos.  One cannot really call them all "denim" but as indigo they loosely fall into the category of romantic denims.

L-R: Steven Tai, Reberto Verino, Miu Miu

Volume does not mean big and ugly.  Lightweights in fluid denims can be contained with big belts, pleats and buttoned tabs emphasising the body and shaping where intended.

L: Photography and styling by Damian Foxe R: Fyodor Golan

Such baggy shapes are the antithesis of the currently ever popular skinny jean.   The current imaginative volume hugs the body in mid and lighter weight denims, warmer for winter when back brushed,  looking on-trend teamed with voluminous coats and wrapped up in the essential scarves.

UPSCALE - Big Shapes

Don't wash it - wear it raw rigid.    Advice for the new wave of giant shapes both in simple suitings, clean wide cuffed jeans and cinched big tops.    Indigo is obviously the foundation to this growing trend but natural dye colours with dark wefts are just as relevant.    

L: Martin Grant R: Wanda Nylon 

Clever cutting and experimental shaping has been made easier with raw rigid or raw comfort stretch denims.  The combination of starched denim ( in the right weight of course) with creative cutting and shaping sees the emergence of some amazing new garment ideas.

L: Beaufille Middle: Munthe

And of course when mid or lightweight raw denims have an element of lycra they are even more malleable and exciting to work with.   Some shapes may look a little crazy but creative drama in indigo jeanswear turns heads and fashion hearts.     Let's think about moving on from the normal bell bottoms to creating a cross cut "skirt" at the leg bottom along with a similar treatment to the sleeves.  Variations of the trucker jacket into coat options have not yet been explored to the full - there is still a long way to go with clever interpretations of this iconic denim jacket.

Giant shapes and creative forms must be emphasised with top and multi contrast stitching.  Twin needle seaming is normal for jeans but as with creative shape and giant forms this is being taken out of context and used for its own effect.   Flamboyance and drama are the effects that are striven for with this new wave of super dark raw look denim.

UPSCALE - Giant Weaves

Hand crafted massive 3D indigo bamboo "plaid".    Reimagined as a giant print or indeed as an indigo textile weave.   Don't you just covet it however it is translated?

Just as we thought the twill couldn't get any bigger - we now see the really giant twill.  The fabric weight is around 32ozs in cotton and yet because of the loose and open construction the jean is surprisingly comfortable.   Giant twills are more commonplace in wools for outerwear but here again their use in jeanswear has become more widely available.   Not as comfortable as cotton  for such coarse wool is scratchy against the legs.  Best kept to coats and jackets we feel.

R: Via Design

Sculptural shapes from VIA Design formed from 3D corded cottons have a life of their own as the body moves within.  Mixing cross and straight cutting creates a moving sculpture loosely called a garment.  Dramatic and exciting it has the "must have" quality associated with great design and even more so in indigo.

Really clever cutting and fabric manipulation creates art in the form of garments.  Cutting and patching stitched fabric bits of big cords creating tension and dynamism from a  sculptural top to a pleated and gathered bottom.    All one can say is it's "indigo WOW".

TREND ALERT - UPSCALE

By contrast to the market saturation of denims which all look the same we are seeing indigo denims which explode out of their constructions.  Size really does matter.  It is all about big scale, dramatic 3D weaves and haphazard denims that grab a finish when subjected to the rigours of the laundry.   Above we have a construction where the technique of "differential shrinkage" of the weft yarns have puckered the surface to create a haphazard ruched seerucker effect........ not intended for jeans but dramatic for tops.

Huge prominent twills that look like corduroy which pop out of the base construction allow us to see the weft valleys between the twill mountains and which react dramatically to the laundry treatments.  Inevitably such big twills come in heavier weight denims most suited to bigger shaped jeans and jackets.   Quilting is not a fabric we automatically associate with indigo denim but its use as indigo kimonos in japan is historically well known and lives perfectly alongside the big twill.    Both giant quilts and mini quilts, which emulate a 3D dobby construction, look fantastic in indigo allowing designers to be super creative with tops that accompany jeans.  The resurgence of the kimono jacket has helped this trend for giant constructions to flourish.

L: OFF WHITE

Giant patterns both printed onto and stitched into the garment lend themselves to wide cuts and boxy shapes.   Far from distorting a frame, however petite, the drama of both pattern scale and garment shape appears boldly new and eye catching.

L: Martin Grant

Massive shapes and big scale details shift from rave pants to flamboyant couture cuts.   Waists and midriffs become important to emphasise as a contrast to the oversize.  Some years ago the big cuff was first introduced by MiH jeans and has subsequently flooded even the mass market being logical when combined with wide bottom raw rigid jeans.    Such giant shapes and clever cutting calls for greater use of raw rigid or raw stretch denim.  Unwashed starched denim helps the sculptural form retain shape longer and of course wear naturally into your own bodily shape.   In fact for such enormous shapes in indigo denim there is almost never a need to wash the big jean!