We use selvedge denim woven on shuttle looms at Collect Mill in Okayama, Japan.
Designed to replicate the weight, texture, and fading characteristics of denim from this era, Étienne produces vintage replica jeans and jackets that honour the original garments.
This denim is woven on traditional shuttle looms, ensuring an authentic, tight selvedge edge and a fabric that softens and molds to the wearer over time, just as true vintage pieces would. Each article is constructed with period-correct techniques, paying homage to the durability and spirit of early workwear.
COLLECT DENIM selects COTTON USA, a trademark that stands for superior, sustainable, durable cotton. The US is one of the world's largest cotton producers, supplying stable, high quality cotton through large, fertile soil and high-technology farming systems, with an industry-wide commitment to sustainable production.
Indigo blue is denim's most attractive character, created by a distinctive dyeing method, rope dyeing. Bundled yarn, twisted like rope, is soaked in an indigo vat and passed through it repeatedly; the indigo oxidises on exposure to air, dyeing the yarn a deepening blue with each pass. COLLECT DENIM works with SAKAMOTO DENIM, a partner with eco-friendly dyeing systems that reduce water, chemical, and CO2 use.
COLLECT DENIM's weaving factory sits next to JAPAN BLUE CO., LTD's head office, running nine TOYODA "GL-9" vintage shuttle looms, released in the 1980s. There are no replacement parts left for them, two broken units are kept purely for parts. Vintage shuttle looms produce a true selvedge edge, made by the reciprocating motion of a shuttle carrying the weft yarn, originally there to prevent fraying, now the symbol of vintage denim. They run at roughly a third the speed of modern looms, but a modern loom can't be hand-tuned the way a shuttle loom can. That control over warp tension and weaving speed, set by a craftsman, not a switch, is what gives the fabric its character.