Cashmere denim

[Marcus]

What's the deal?

[jdavis]

All of the cashmere denim I have seen has been a left-hand twill, which typically has a softer hand and better drape - a result of the fibers being twisted the same way (left) as the twill. Left-hand seems to be making a bit of a comeback, and I'm sure that 'cashmere denim' is more of a catch-phrase than 'left-hand twill'.

[frideswide]

Gee... my old Lees are suddenly 'cashmere denim' !

[jdavis]

Quote:

Gee... my old Lees are suddenly 'cashmere denim' !

--- Original message by frideswide on Oct 19, 2005 08:36 AM

ha pretty much!

[Marcus]

From what I have heard, a third of the material is actually cashmere.

[Geowu]

Kohzo has silk denim, kevlar denim, Japanese-paper denim, and many more interesting fabrics.

Too bad other brands don't do the same, and Kohzo is not that good style-wise.

[Phrost3]

Geowu, any idea where Kohzo denim is sold at in NY? I went to the website, but they didn't list any of the stockists in the NY area. I also agree they use a lot of different and unique materials for their jeans. It would be really interesting to see them in person.

[haptronic]

james jeans, are doing a jean for girls with a cashmere content. not sure of % but it def has cashmere.

[jdavis]

Quote:

james jeans, are doing a jean for girls with a cashmere content. not sure of % but it def has cashmere.

--- Original message by haptronic on Oct 19, 2005 12:02 PM

I'd be interested to see the %. I just checked several cashmere denim jeans and all were 100% cotton. But yarns that were a cotton/cashmere blend - THAT would be something... although I don't know how well it would wear...

[Geowu]

yeah, Von Dutch is also doing "cashmere" denim... jdavis, wouldn't it be illegal to say it's cashmere then, when it's actually all cotton?

don't know where's Kohzo ny store unfortunately..

[jdavis]

Honestly Geowu - on this one your guess is as good as mine. Perhaps they can get away with it on a technicality - that it feels 'soft like cashmere'.

[aempirei]

http://azaleasf.com/store/women/jpdamage/jpms.html

3% cashmere 34% wool 63% cotton.

da'mage is one of the only companies actually producing cashmere-containing denim

most product left-hand twilled cotton, which gives it a softer feel but does not contain cashmere nor even wool.

[haptronic]

yeah im a moron the james are lht and 100% cotton

[soultek]

saw a pair of blue blood specials a couple weeks ago. the denim felt slightly softer and had a different drape than 100% cotton denim. Couldn't say i liked them enough to justify the price. I think they were like 350$

[ringring]

I think any brand that advertises it's jeans as cashmere denim, then they should contain a percentage of cashmere.

The addition of a tiny percentage of cashmere is more of a marketing ploy, adding a certain lux aura to denim, and 'justifying' a hefty mark up in the process. Just like the plethora of knitwear that's cashmere-mix.

In reality, if the percentage is very low, the influence of cashmere's characteristics (softness, light weight, insulation) on the denim will be minimal.

Regarding Left-Hand twill - again much of this is marketing talk. Yes, in theory, LH twill is softer, all things being equal . However, other finishes will have a greater effect on handfeel, including enzyme/stonewashes (removing all the sizing/softening the fibres), fabric softeners (especially silicone softeners) and brushing (brushing the back of the denim will give a softer, warmer, hand feel).

Some of the softest denim I've ever seen have been neither cashmere-mix, nor left hand twill. For example the super-soft broken twill by Legler that several brands used about a year ago. (eg Juicy Couture Jeans).

Edited by ringring on Nov 30, 2005 at 11:53 AM

[baldy]

sorry for being such a denim noob, but can someone explain to me what the difference between left and right hand twill is and drape?

[Geowu]

Don't be sorry..

The following is a quote:

Left Hand Twill

This refers to the direction that the denim is woven. Left hand twill denim is softer to the touch than right hand twill, and was originally used by Lee denim. Now used by other denim companies such as 45rpm, Kunna, and Lee Japan. Left hand twill is easy to spot, as the weft threads appear to move upward and to the left as opposed to upward and to the right.

Right Hand Twill

This refers to the direction that the denim is woven. The opposite of Left Hand twill, this weave is much more common, as almost all jeans are woven with right hand twill. The weft (filler) threads will be visible in upward-right diagonal lines on right-hand twill jeans.

Broken Twill

Instead of the twill running to the right or left, broken twill jeans (traditionally considered the cowboy-preferred denim) contain no distinct direction of weave. The weave is instead alternated right and left - the end effect resembles a random zig-zag. Wrangler made the first broken twill jeans in 1964. Broken Twill was designed to combat the twisting effect that was a characteristic regular twill (and considered a 'fault' by many at the time). By going on both directions, the tension in the yarns is balanced in Broken Twill.

(end of quote)

I guess drape equals fit? I'm far from an English expert, so I could be wrong.

[haptronic]

Drape is the way a fabric hangs from the body.

A softer fabric will hang differently to a stiff fabric.

[jdavis]

It's been mentioned before as well - why LHT can be softer than RHT:

Most yarns used in denim production are left-hand (LH) spun. The yarns are woven into LHT / RHT / BT. In a LHT with LH yarns both twill and yarns run in the SAME direction, giving the fabric better drape and greater softness [***if everything else is kept at a constant***].

[Geowu]

Of course, there's a good reason why most denim are right-hand.

[baldy]

Quote:

Don't be sorry..

The following is a quote:

Left Hand Twill

This refers to the direction that the denim is woven. Left hand twill denim is softer to the touch than right hand twill, and was originally used by Lee denim. Now used by other denim companies such as 45rpm, Kunna, and Lee Japan. Left hand twill is easy to spot, as the weft threads appear to move upward and to the left as opposed to upward and to the right.

Right Hand Twill

This refers to the direction that the denim is woven. The opposite of Left Hand twill, this weave is much more common, as almost all jeans are woven with right hand twill. The weft (filler) threads will be visible in upward-right diagonal lines on right-hand twill jeans.

Broken Twill

Instead of the twill running to the right or left, broken twill jeans (traditionally considered the cowboy-preferred denim) contain no distinct direction of weave. The weave is instead alternated right and left - the end effect resembles a random zig-zag. Wrangler made the first broken twill jeans in 1964. Broken Twill was designed to combat the twisting effect that was a characteristic regular twill (and considered a 'fault' by many at the time). By going on both directions, the tension in the yarns is balanced in Broken Twill.

(end of quote)

I guess drape equals fit? I'm far from an English expert, so I could be wrong.

--- Original message by Geowu on Nov 30, 2005 07:06 PM

uhmm is that looking at the pant leg vertically or horizontally? im assuming its horizontally, because a pair i have a pair of 45rpm's that are distressed and noticeably softer that goes up and to the left when looking at it horizontally, while my other pair as well as most others of my jeans go the other way.

[adsurgo]

vertically.

[baldy]

how the hell can that be?? lolz. all my jeans that i just checked except for one go like this \\\\ when cuffing the pant. so are all my jeans left hand twill?

[jdavis]

Try it another way then:

Stand up with your jeans on and look down at your right thigh - if the twill line starts at your crotch and ends at your right foot you're looking at a RHT.

Hope this helps.

[adsurgo]

cuffing would reverse it dude.

[baldy]

ok i got it thanks

[geier]

http://azaleasf.com/store/women/jpdamage/jpms.html

3% cashmere 34% wool 63% cotton.

da'mage is one of the only companies actually producing cashmere-containing denim

most product left-hand twilled cotton, which gives it a softer feel but does not contain cashmere nor even wool.

I have a pair of these, as far as I can tell they're right hand twilled. They're much softer than any other pair of jeans I've tried that were soft, including a pair of Moschinos that are left hand twilled. I haven't checked the other 100% cotton jeans that were softer for twill direction since I didn't know it had anything to do with it, but the other jeans I found that were soft were part polyester. I'm not sure how much the cashmere has an influence, but I've found 15% cashmere 85% cotton sweaters that felt as soft to me as some 100% cashmere sweaters, so it might be that there isn't that much cashmere needed for the effect. I'm sure the wool has a strong benefit for the softness though. For small percentages, I've found a $1800 jacket that was 90% cashmere, 7% camel hair and 3% silk. Since Cashmere and camel hair are more prestigious than silk, I would assume that the 3% silk was for some benefit in the feel of the jacket, so it's possible the 3% cashmere in the JPDs was enough for some benefit as well. It is also quite close to the minimum amount of cashmere required in a product to be allowed to list it as containing cashmere.

It'd be nice to have a wool blend pair of jeans with no cashmere in them for comparison.

Of course, there's a good reason why most denim are right-hand.

What is the reason for that?

[xcoldricex]

random thing to join and post about, but interesting nonethless. pictures of denim? the link is broken

[geier]

I was on styleforum, nobody knew much about it there so I searched here.

I'll try to get some pics taken and upload them.