The proof is in the pudding! Matt puts his money where his mouth is and reveals his new raw selvedge denim project jeans in the latest Rope Dye vlog.

Let’s hear from the horse’s mouth, Matt what did you go for?

Drumroll Please!

I went for the Benzak Denim Developers BDD-006 Special No 1. 

But why this pair of jeans out of the, literally hundreds, if not thousands I could choose from?

Reason Number 1

Fit. They just fit me perfectly. All the information I gave you on how to find your fit is distilled into getting this pair of jeans. They are exactly what I was looking for and exactly what I need.

Reason Number 2

Denim. Again, all the preaching I did about denim weight brings me to these jeans. The slim (ish) fit, the medium rise, my lifestyle, where I am in the world and of course, my personal preference… all led me to a 14oz denim.

And there’s another little twist here woven into the story. This is the first proprietary denim that Benzak ever created.

Proprietary denim just means that it is a denim created by a specific brand for that brand along.

When a new denim brand starts out, more often than not, they will go to one of the bigger names in the milling industry to find their denim fabric. Maybe Collect or Kuroki in Japan or Candiani in Europe you used to see White Oak in the US till the money men shut it down.

Those are a few of the names you will recognise and are commonly associated with the finest quality selvedge denim.

So, the new denim brand will pick out a denim from the mill’s selection of “standard” denim, that is, fabrics which are woven and held on stock. These are fine denims and can come in a plethora of weights, weaves, hues and hand (the feel of the denim to the touch). The only issue with this is, any brand can have these denims.

The Undiscovered Country of Denim Fading.

As a brand grows and matures, it is a rite of passage to create it’s very own denim fabric. This is Proprietary denim. There’s an interview with Lennaert Nijgh of Benzak over on rope dye about just this process… I’ll put a link in the description.

Anyway, that was a long-winded way to say that this is brand new denim. and these jeans are part of the first run using this denim… that is the kind of thing that I just love!

Reason number 3.

Along with the perfect fit (for me), and the brand new denim, these jeans have all the geeky things that us denimheads just freak out over.

Now, I am not going to get too heavy into the specifics, simply because Lenn is over next week and we are going to sit down together and he’s going to take us through these details. But man! there is nothing in these jeans that leaves me wanting…. well, maybe one thing… but that’s just me being fussy.

This brings me to reason number 4.

And this is where I genuinely hope I don’t ruffle any feathers or offend anyone. Cause this could be seen as favouritism. But hear me out, guys.

Lennaert , the founder of Benzak, and I are close personal friends. We’ve been mates since I was just getting into raw denim and Benzak the brand was made up of only a handful of jeans styles.

TL:DR

A Matter of Meaning

This is where it could be seen as a little wishy-washy and sentimental but guys is the heart of raw denim. A pair of raw denim jeans is a garment with meaning. What starts off as a pair of jeans like hundreds if not thousands of others becomes yours and yours alone. You remember putting your hard earned cash down for them, you remember where you bought them, with who and why. You remember the story behind each stain. You have watched these jeans fade and they come along with you on each and every adventure.

So to all the other jeans brands out there. Guys, don’t be pissed at me. I love your jeans, I love what you do. You know that… and it was a really, really tough choice but this particular pair just ticked so so many boxes. It had to be.

Not Sponsored!

I should probably take this time to say that this is in no way a sponsored post… Lennaert did not give me any money for this… I put down my hard earned cash for these jeans and anything I say or do in regards to them is just my personal opinion.

More Trouble Brewing!

With that said. I have been alluding to the first essential step when you get your new jeans and to be honest, this might get me into more trouble than anything else with the die-hard denim guys out there.

That’s for next time, cause I have harped on at you long enough now.