Denim Fabric Directory

What Denim Is

Denim is a warp-faced twill: the warp yarns are dyed indigo and packed so closely that they form nearly the whole face of the cloth, while the undyed white weft shows mainly on the back - which is why jeans are deep blue outside and pale inside. The formal Denim Fabric Definition states the construction, and the companion resources on this page - the Denim Fabric Guide and the Denim Glossary - cover the fabric's types and terminology in depth. Indigo sits on the surface of the warp yarn rather than penetrating it, and that shallow dyeing is denim's defining behaviour: abrasion wears the blue away thread by thread, producing the fades that turned a work cloth into a fashion material.

The cloth descends from serge de Nimes - the twill of Nimes, France, that gives denim its name - and from the dungaree cloth of India, and its modern form was fixed in the 1870s when riveted denim work trousers were patented in America. For a century denim meant one thing: a heavy, stiff, all-cotton twill in a narrow range of indigo shades. The modern fabric is a family instead - weights from shirting-light to twenty-ounce heavyweight, stretch denims with elastane, colored and black denims, slub and crosshatch textures, and selvedge denims woven on vintage shuttle looms for the premium trade - all of it recognisably the same warp-faced twill underneath.

Buying and Specifying Denim

Weight is the first specification, quoted in ounces per square yard: light denims under ten ounces serve shirts and summer dresses, the classic jean weights run from about twelve to fourteen and a half ounces, and heavyweight denims above sixteen ounces serve the workwear and enthusiast markets. After weight comes composition - rigid all-cotton denim breaks in and fades personally, while a percent or two of elastane trades some of that character for comfort and shape retention. Shade, cast (the reddish or greenish undertone of the indigo), and finishing route follow: raw denim is sold unwashed for the wearer to fade, while most production denim is pre-washed, stone-washed, lasered or resin-treated at the garment stage by the Denim Jean Factories, with Pumice Stone the classic abrasive of the wash house.

Shrinkage is the specification buyers most often regret: unsanforized denim can shrink several percent in length on its first wash, sanforized fabric is pre-shrunk to a small residual allowance, and the difference must be settled before patterns are graded, not after garments come back short. Around this directory, the Fabric Directory hub covers the wider woven family, and the trade runs through the Textile Machinery directory, Clothing Industry Factories, Yarn Factories, Fabric Retail and Fabric Wholesalers, with the Fibers Directory and Fabric Definitions alongside.

Using This Directory

The listings below are the complete set for this category as Apparel Search carries it: fifteen mills across Pakistan, China, Bangladesh, Taiwan, Turkey, Japan and the USA, each linked to its own profile in the Fabric Mills by Name section. No listing has been added or removed. Denim is one of the directory's most international categories, which matches the fabric's economics: indigo dyeing ranges and heavy twill looms are capital-intensive, and the great denim mills supply jean brands on every continent. Industry readers also use Fashion Industry News, Clothing Industry Employment and Conversion Charts. When comparing offers, put weight, composition, shade and shrinkage results side by side before price - two fabrics both honestly called denim can differ in every one of those numbers. Thank you for using the Apparel Search Fabric Mill Directory.

Denim Fabric Mills Listed in This Directory

Photos