This Is Completely Twisted

The New Red Cloud R400 Denim Looks Like the Loom Had a Hangover – Find Out Why

Take a look at this denim. Is it right hand twill, left hand twill or broken twill? Well, in fact, it’s a reasonably hefty 17 oz. right hand twill, but you would be forgiven for thinking the loom had a hangover.

How This Twisted Denim Is Made

The distinct irregular look of the denim is achieved by a technique known as “twisted yarn.” The weft is your standard white cotton yarn. The warp is where the magic happens.

Instead of the run of the mill indigo dyed warp, the yarn is made up of both indigo dyed cotton and white cotton, spun together to make up a single strand.

The inside of the jeans, where you are used to seeing the white yarns in that distinct diagonal pattern, looks random due to the indigo threads spun into the warp yarn. On the outside, the effect is less stark but still noticeable.

The heavy nature and the suppleness of the extra-long staple Xinjiang cotton combine with the twisted yarn to create a denim with an almost three-dimensional texture.

Changing a Winning Recipe For the Better

This particular denim is from Red Cloud Co and is used in their extremely popular R400 jeans for the past couple of years. The denim has built up a name unto itself.

What you’re seeing here is the updated 2015 version of the denim. Mr. Raymon, the man behind the brand, is not a man to rest on his laurels. He has gone back to the loom and mixed up this already mixed up denim.

This time, instead of the warp being the twisted, it’s the weft. With an indigo dyed warp and a twisted weft yarn, the amount of indigo thread in the jean is increased. The result is fascinating. The denim back face is still irregular but with a little more regularity to it.

When Denim Challenge Our Perceptions

Coloured weft yarns are quite common these days and some brands do them really very well. Brands like 3sixteen with their specially developed Shadow Selvedge and the lovable nutters over at Naked & Famous with their “rainbow weft” allow us to add a little interesting variety in look and fade potential. The twisted yarn from Red Cloud adds another dimension to this notion.

It is great to see a brand challenging our expectations and perceptions at every level. Red Cloud have done this from its inception. It can be no easy thing getting out of the shadow of China’s reputation for shoddy clothing and practices. They have done it with gusto and continue to push the boat out in terms of quality and garments on offer.

The new R400 is available from Tuckshop & Sundry Supplies.