Raw Denim & Selvedge Denim

What’s the Difference between raw and selvedge denim?

  • This is a typical question any casual denim lover asks. While they both refer to the fabric from the loom, the difference is both in the physical appearance and the process to produce the jeans.  Raw denim refers to the process where the fabric does not go through washes before sewing machine, whereas selvedge denim comes from a traditional shuttle loom, with closed edges to be outseams of inside the jeans’ legs.

 

Lessons to learn to become a denim head:

  • Learn about raw denim and selvedge denim. As a starter, it is common that you do not know of these terms: raw and selvedge.  We will make them crystal clear.
  • Raw denim has not undergone a washing and distressing process. It has not been shrunken nor stretched and feels totally rough and unforgivably stiff.  Its color is solid dark blue.
  • Selvedge denim, usually regarded of higher quality, can be easily spotted with a white strip, running down the long seam by the rolled or cuffed hem. It is often the product of old-fashioned weaving process for better quality but lowers in quantity.  It renders the jeans a cleaner and more finished look which is the reason for higher price tags.  Only a few makers are still making them like in Japan and the U.S.  Non-selvedge denim require sewing along the edges to keep it from unravelling.
  • Both selvedge and non-selvedge denim may be of raw denim, but more often than not does selvedge denim is pre-shrunken (not raw denim.)