denim hiarchy

[Blackplatano]

If there was a premium denim hiarchy. What do you think it would look like?

[artificialsky]

jesus.

probably the reverse of whatever you think it looks like.

[красный]

here are some reference points:

high: 45rpm, pureblue (refering to their high end models)

mid: most everything else we discuss here on superfuture.

low: STFs

trash: "premium" denim. i.e. true religion, seven, and other jeans >$100 only because paris hilton wears them.

[airfrogusmc]

I think it depends on what you're looking for. If you're looking for authentic 20s-30s I haven't seen anything the Japanese are doing thats more authentic than LVC. Also some of the Japanese companies over do their denim. Make it to heavy or to slubby as compared to original Levis from the late 40s and 50s.

[красный]

mm. forgot about the originals. in the hierarchy, they are by default God.

[Chicken]

yeah. you can't start talking about jeans without talking about the original 501s, including the one-pockets from the 1870s and the first five-pockets ever. they will always be the holy grails of denim.

but if you want to create a hierarchy in jeans made today, i think you have to first break them down into categories and decide what you're going to be judging them by.

for example, lvc 33 501s might be great for many replica fans, but they might be shit to people looking for what's more fashionable and slim fitting like diors, apcs and nudies. some people are looking more into craftsmanship (45rpms, pure blues) while some people are looking for something with more originality (onis).

i mean, it's a little bit like creating a hierarchy in cars. how are you going to decide if a porsche cayenne is above or below a mercedes slk? does it have something to do with model t ford, which is probably the holy grail here?

[derdankhund]

given everyone's replies, I think a superfuture denim hierarchy has been clearly established, but that seems loosely based on replicating levi's production standards, and producing heavy, slubby denim that will eventually produce a great fade.

There are huge differences in quality both within given companies hastily dubbed as celebrity trash, and between them. Some high end models from these companies have high standard of manufacturing quality, and some companies just flat out suck, from a quality and aesthetic standpoint. That being said, if you aren't looking for raw denim, many of the commonly lambasted designers on this forum put the majority of their time/resources/creativity into coming up with interesting/crazy/overthetop/ugly (depending on who you ask) washes. While these undeniably can't compare with the personalization of 45 rpm bespokes or your own raw pair after 2+ years, that doesn't mean they have no intrinsic value whatsoever. For most of the unitiated, these are the jeans that look interesting, and I for one try to both follow and set trends, depending on my mood. The anti-fit of my okinawas certainly never gets the compliments my slimmer TRs or D&Gs do...

i think what it comes down to is a hierarchy of personal taste, as there is a huge variation of preferences within this given small forum, and to objectively rank them is questionable at best. That being said, I would love to see how a variety of designers hold up to a series of stress tests, but I don't think anyone is willing to subject their uber-expensive denim to the torture this would entail

[Blackplatano]

by "premium" i mean top of the line jeans...not designer.

i thought that would be clear in this forum.

[Dick Danger]

[derdankhund]

I don't see how that would be clear in any forum. ALL 45 RPMs are premium in my opinion, as are other very high end designers, especially compared with many of the designers we've mentioned. Premium is a very relative term, whether comparing within a given designer, or between designers...

[startmeup]

jomon/ai-001>samurai>acne/nudie>levis stf>gap>kmart>tr>seven

[PG2G]

I wonder how Evisu No 0 denim compares to the jomon and ai-001.