If you grew up drinking chocolate milk, you probably remember it. The cold glass, that rich brown color, the red and white striped straw.
That image became a blueprint. What if that exact color lived inside a pair of raw denim jeans, and what if the fabric itself was made using milk?
That's the Chocolate Milk Selvedge. Milk protein fiber derived from casein, blended with cotton, woven into a 12.5oz Japanese selvedge. It reads like a dark indigo at first glance, but flip the cuff and there it is. That familiar chocolate brown weft.
The Fabric
We started with an actual glass of chocolate milk as the color reference, and dyed the weft yarn to match as closely as we could.
Casein is the protein that gives milk its white color. It can be extracted, processed into a liquid solution, and extruded into fibers. The result, when blended with cotton, is something noticeably softer with a subtle silk-like surface. There are technical claims around milk fibers like moisture management and antibacterial properties, but honestly, what drew us to it was simpler than that. It's a unconventional, interesting material that happens to feel and look great.
The final blend is 77% cotton, 23% milk protein fiber, woven with a dark indigo warp and a chocolate brown weft at 12.5oz.
The Details
The leather patch is hair-on-hide cow print with the logo embossed into it. Tactile, a little unexpected, and an obvious nod to where the fabric came from. The cow print continues inside on the pocket bags.
Then there's the straw. Rather than a standard stripe on the selvedge, we twisted red and white yarns together to create a spiral along the edge, closer to the actual thing than a flat stripe ever could be. It's a small detail that requires a different construction, but it was worth it.
Specifications
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12.5oz Japanese selvedge denim
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77% cotton / 23% milk protein fiber (casein)
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Indigo warp / chocolate brown weft
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Twisted red and white selvedge edge
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Hair-on-hide leather patch
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Cow print pocket bags
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Made in Canada
Release
The Chocolate Milk Selvedge drops April 2 at 11am ET in Super Guy, Weird Guy, Easy Guy, True Guy, Strong Guy, Super Girl and True Girl.
Online and in-store at nakedandfamousdenim.com and nakedandfamousdenimnyc.com, and through select retailers worldwide.
