Chestnut Dyed Japanese Selvedge Denim

We worked with an artisan Japanese dye house to develop our own natural dye derived from real chestnuts. Chestnut dye has been used for over a century and can yield a spectrum of colors from a yellowy pink to a dark red brown. Chestnut extract makes a good dye due to its natural tannin content. Vegetable tanned leather uses tannins from leaves, bark sometimes chestnut bark to turn animal hide into supple, durable leather. Dry, grippy red wine is called tannic due to the tannins in the grapes. That’s also why red wine stains so well.

For the Chestnut Dyed Selvedge we dyed the interior weft yarns in chestnut tannins to give the denim a warm earthy undertone. The exterior warp is rope-dyed in indigo and will chip away to reveal the white core of the yarns.

The jeans are sewn with chestnut-colored thread to bring out the brown weft, finished with a chestnut full grain leather patch, a copper metallic selvedge ear, copper rivets and buttons. Woven on vintage Japanese shuttle looms, this selvedge denim is a classic 12.5oz, perfect for all year wear. Cut, sewn, built in Canada.