5$ selvage jeans in bagkok, how is it possible?

[juxtaposed]

after being on here quite a while and having read a lot about denim, i am really wondering and questioning myself: how the hell literally 5 mio. thais in bangkok wear fake lvc's and big E's. where do they produce all this huge amount of selvage denim? and how can they do it so dirt cheap? we've been told that producing selvage was more expensive since shuttle looms and all that blablabla. therefore its retail is more expensive. but in bangkok, (which has by far, the worlds highest density in selvage denim. (every other guy wears selvage. forget tokio.) the fakes are sold for 5$. even if they are fakes nonetheless they are selvage. and quite good ones.

so is producing selvage really that cost intensive? i understand that there are labels that use more quality cotton and better dyes and so on. but can it be that all that selvage denim hype is just a smart marketing move?

[Cue]

probably because almost everything we buy that was made in Asia only costs $5 to make anyway

my cynical take ...

also remember, selvedge is just the edge of the fabric ... it can still be crappy fabric

[Flavorphoto]

Believe me, if you're in Bangkok, there's much better things to spend $5 on then jeans

http://www.flavorphoto.com

http://www.flavorphoto.com/blog

[juxtaposed]

yeah i know. i was just asking.

what would you do with 300 baht? i would get myself 5 portions of pat thai and for the rest i get pancakes and fruit shakes.

[Tarmac]

Cloth is cloth. It can never be that expensive, especially for cotton. Have you ever looked at a cotton flat bed sheet. Look at the edges - Sellvaushe! Its not that hard.

[haptronic]

most of the thai selvedge i've seen is fuzzy edged, i.e wide loom. therefore not the shuttle loom selvedge that is more expensive to produce.

[juxtaposed]

there is some fuzzy edged but if you the most raw denims are all shuttle loom selvedge. i know the difference. otherwise i wouldnt have asked.

[robobeng]

any chance of picking me up a pair in 34x34? ill pay you teice as much as you paid for them

[juxtaposed]

no i am sorry, i am back in europe again. i just wanted to ask the denimologists here (ringring, serge,spitzbrg, pault) how their production is done... are there tons of shuttle looms in thailand?

[docdoom]

Is this actually projectile loom woven denim then? Lee 101z, which i always presumed were real 'selvedge' (ie shuttle) denim. Made in poland.

[cheapmuthafukr]

looks like it doc... denim looks real good tho

[Teddy Boy Rocker]

it seems Thailand has quite a few old style shuttle looms....EVIL jeans was getting his redline selvage from Thailand for his 1937 501 repros and he was selling them for $95 so the material must have been very inexpensive. on a related note, EVIL is no more as the guy is being sued by Levi's for copyright infringement by using the arcuates on the back pockets so he got shut down.

[KNV]

Where in Bangkok can we source for such said jeans?

[docdoom]

Quote:

looks like it doc... denim looks real good tho

--- Original message by cheapmuthafukr on Oct 28, 2005 06:07 AM

im not really that bothered about it as i only paid 17£ shipped or so. However i just assumed they were 'real' slevedge. The denim is really streaky and slubby, yeah its quite nice.