Parties or Funerals! Jeans Are Forever!!

Parties or Funerals!      Jeans Are Forever!!

Odd to see someone, unmindful of age, gender, geography…..who doesn’t wear jeans.  Doubtful if anyone’s wardrobe will be without the denim fabric. Guys and Gals walk in jeans, talk in jeans, dance in jeans,  sleep in jeans…. Because it is durable? Material is thicker? Fashionable? Just casual? Feel privileged? Cute & Comfy? Stretchy & Sexy? Low maintenance?...... Could be any number of reasons? Or no reason at all? Just wear jeans!

A little more than an inquiring mind to pursue the details about the most preferred casual wear that will always be in vogue, led us to meet  Mr. B.J. Saiswarroop, General Manager, Zovi, Bangalore. 

Excerpts from the jeanterview:

Why jeans the most popular casual dress all over the world, cutting across gender and geography, reason and season ?
Jeans( layman's term), now  popularly known as Denims(technical term) is perhaps the best clothing mankind ever asked for, its for all seasons, no geographical undertone; more worn-out and it gets that much more fashionable and valued more as well, I’ve never come across any other fabrication that can most certainly be compared to an antique piece.

Do you see jeans as a mere casual wear or more than a fashion statement?

It depends on how you want to fashion your way with a Jean ..it can blend into both easily !!

 “Never wear  jeans for a job, no matter how casual the job is”.  Tropical spots do not help relish formal clothing for obvious climatic reasons.  On the contrary, they don’t present pleasant and also look over-dressed.  Why not sport a semi-casual attire? How about a nice-collared shirt with well-pressed jeans?

While denims have been associated  quite a bit with Friday dressing, personally I would want to wear it all the time, fortunately for me have always been associated with an organization that doesn’t dress formal, may be a clean look on the jean with a white shirt could be an ideal way of semi formalizing the office wear and accept it as an offshoot of  formal wear, extending this with an odd coat almost covers for a suit! it’s the thought process that has to change. Mostly, some section which I would recommend perhaps a little out of the box would be for school children, you can these days get a stretch denims which will make the life of playing children comfortable and yet can manage all the wear and tear!

What is your take on fashion in today’s scenario?

Whatever one’s comfortable wearing becomes fashionable as long as they can carry themselves with what they are wearing.

How was “jeans” accepted as an universally acceptable casual wear?

It dates back when the coalminers in the west took it outside their functional work place.   It became popular once this got out of and became a household overall suit and provided so much a protection first and it was long lasting too.  

What could be the percentage of jeans market compared to other casual wear? Do you see any competition to wearing jeans?

I haven’t seen another fabric developed which even comes close to a jean thus far, so it just stands out as the fabric you can die for when it comes to your wardrobe.  I would rate the jean market as a whole to a good 30-40 % in the Apparel world and its growing further with all the R & D happening  with it subjected to  variable washing all over the world.

“The longer you wear or the less washed, the more character and attitude they acquire”.

This argument is a little subjective as I would like to believe its horses for courses as an example in cold countries, it protects from the chill especially as a bottom wear, you can use it as a sustainable source and save water [ on a lighter note!!]  Out in India our summers are harsh, although we could still pull up a denim to quickly venture out ..esp.. if you are a man, I would still recommend to wash it after about 2 /3 alternate usage. As well as my earlier comment too, as they say with age you get wise, the denims mature with age dishing out.

Can you briefly tell something about the types of jeans – say, like classic fit, straight fit, skinny leg….?

As the world evolved and took the fashion alongside, different fits with stretch peppered in, gave denims another lease of life, it thus captured the imagination of all the contemporary designers who idolized denims and dished out another ensemble on its way to popularity.

Do you have jeans types for different seasons/geographic/climatic conditions?

Yes jeans/Denims come in different thickness, and functionality to cater to all the differential seasons, denims can come with a thickness starting from 3/5 ounce to one that gets up to 16/17 ounce, the heavier it gets its translated to more than a casual wear/trouser in particular…as we all know the jeans from its birth….there are drift moisture managed denims, there are denims which stretch 2 way/4 way too …denims that are bruised and battered which ends up eventually on the fashion podium.   

Recently I came across a pair of jeans (Levi’s) costing US$ 46,000/-.  Can you throw some light on the significance for such a staggering price tag?

I know for a fact that a polo tee in one of the L Capital-managed-high-end-store in Delhi costs about Rs 26k …in our Bangalore Levise stores the highest pair of jeans that I have seen is around Rs 14 k …..all of these prices make no sense so far as the material going in is concerned…perhaps some gold or diamond could be studded in place of the common rivets on the jeans, else it could just be a fashion statement made subtly and something which has a unique selling point as far as its attestation is concerned, it could have been signed off for a super model or perhaps a signature line with some popular actor statesman, politician  …..when people are rich enough to own a Picasso, I wun shudder to think in the recent times that  a pair of jean costing as much as $ 46 k would be a master piece, however that’s the way it works…I guess.     

How is the global market share is distributed?

Global market share is distributed in terms of tiering of brands and designer labels…say for instance Levise, Lee, wrangler are the primary denim brands with every other brand falling suit ..I can put a rough figure of  the first 3 capturing @least 60 % of the world market share and the rest filling in as an approximate measure.

How does washing, shrinking and bleaching makes an impact on the fabric?

Washing accomplishes shrinking  and is the integral part of the Jean. It’s the world of washing that does jeans the way it turns out to be ….in fact all of this started off with the indigo dye which under different wash conditions gives out hundreds of shades with most of the times is so typical that it cannot be duplicated no matter what sort of scientific recipe one would give it, Bleaching is also a part of the wash process where you would want a jean that is typically worn out of the indigo dye and renders the jean colorless. 

Are all jeans of the same basic quality? Why are they priced so differently?

The basic quality of the Jean is attributed towards its weight to start of and the kind of weave that it hold, the prices come in different simply because of the wash, which is the biggest value addition and of course the fit which people symbolize with ….I for one can swear by the Levise Fit and till date, while I have experimented, have not seen another brand that fits as good as a Levise. 

How will you be able to tell a fine-quality denim from a lower-quality denim?

Everything about a denim is determined by the wash it carries no matter what the weight of the fabric is.

What if you don’t want to spend a lot of money on a pair, but you still want a quality product (of course you are ready to compromise on the brand)- what characteristics that you would look for when you are buying the jeans?

I would first think about the fit as far as am concerned, after which I would look for the feel of the denim ..i prefer it nicely washed down and with  a soft hand, then I would perhaps look at the shade that it bring in …I prefer a gradual washed down effect to  the one which has too many patches and looks really busy when you wear it, secondly I don't think I can carry off the one which has too many finishes on it. 

Why some designs fade very fast?

Fading is part of a deal in denim, every denim is made to fade after a few number of washed and further more as part of its complete life cycle, some designs perhaps fade faster than you like it because it might not have been washed out effectively during the first stage of its transformation.

How can you help a common person identify a good pair of jeans from a duplicate one?

This one is not that easy, because theses days the knock offs [ duplicates are so well made]…however there are a few points where you want to look into like the zipper finishing and the belt loops on the outside and the finishing on the inside upper back as well as the pocket bags [ which are normally compromised by the fakes]….the rivets carrying the logos as well as the brand  patch at the back are give aways if you observe well enough.

When you say jeans, you instantly think of denim blue; why other colors didn’t become prominent?

That’s because indigo dyes which make up for the typical blue could not be replaced by any other color for long till another form of direct dyes were found out, after which all kinds of colors started to flow in

How is the export-market for Indian manufactured jeans?

The brands have typically made country of origins a mere pushover simply because the processes of making a denim all over the world with a particular brand is the same, the only difference is perhaps the price that is determined by the cost of manufacturing, else denims/their fits all over the world with a particular brand will be the same.

When you wear tight jeans (ladies in particular), squeezing into tight pants – does it cause numbness or leave a dark impression or any nerve compression or any abdominal discomfort due to ill-fitting clothes?

Tight fitting clothes do suffocate the skin to a large extent, however science has prevailed and technology has made life easier typically in the form of breathable fabrics where the air movement eases the skin and  renders the wearer less discomfort, and with stretch fabrics coming in skin tights  became more popular and they also made a fashion statement with the additional SLIM persona which typically would divulge  women’s curves.

Do you think that garment industry can initiate that jeans be projected as a better, clean and professional formal wear?

More than the garment industry I would think the fashion industry will yet change the name of the game in denim…there were so many occasions when we did sign off that denims will loose its sheen and will fade out….on the contrary our thoughts had to fade out as the denims always came back with a bang and dominated the fashion like no other fabric/style quotient does.

What can be the best match for denim-blue jeans trouser – shirt or tee?

My typical all time favourite which still looks classy and chic on a man …WHITE SHIRT AND A BLUE JEAN !!

What is your estimate as an average price for a good  pair of jeans (in us$)?

Typically a Jean starts off from $28 and ranges up to 70 dollars for a high end on a upper middle class level, however in all dimensions one should get a nice brand of jean for about 40 dollars !!

Last, what is the best alternative to jeans?

If not a jean pant …I would still prefer a jean short !!! ….guess there’s no particular replacement for denim …@least I perhaps wun see in this lifetime of mine, if there comes one I did be completely surprised and shocked ,,,,,STILL….yet  I would go for a denim.

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Mr.Saiswarroop has been with the Apparel industry for about 18 years now.  An industrial engineer, Mr.Swarroop had earlier worked as Product Development Manager with Nike Sourcing India Ltd. for 14 years and has wide exposure in inherent garment product knowledge and has widely travelled.
He has also managed teams of various categories of business units within Nike, product commercialisation that includes product approvals, starting from development, costing and getting the product buy ready, testing processes, managing the best lead times; in the recent responsibility also managed sports graphics tees, across all Nike categories NFL [national football league] and track and field products.