A Complex And Time-Consuming Process
The production process to create a pair of jeans is quite complex, and time-consuming. Before a pair of jeans lands on the shelves at a retailer, many steps took place on forehand. In the ‘The Denim Manual‘ book by Fashionary they dive more into this topic, but let’s highlight the main steps in a nutshell.
The Steps Of Producing A Pair Of Jeans
The first step in the whole process of creating a pair of jeans or clothes starts when a designer has an idea in mind that he or she wants to realize. They will start with a sketch or drawing to get their idea on paper or computer. Most people use existing clothing styles as a reference for the fit, fabric, and details. Then, they send out their design ideas to a pattern maker. This is someone who translates the rough ideas into a pattern that is needed to create the first sample. A graphic designer translates this into size sheets with all the correct measurements for each size, details, and so on.
The factory that’s in charge of doing the sampling can make the first sample to see if the idea of the designer is executable. The sample is a good reference for the designer to check the fit of the jeans, and to see how the fabric they selected works with the design.
When the sample is approved, most of the time after tweaking it multiple times, the fabric cutter can cut out the final pattern on the fabric. All the cut-out elements of a pair of jeans are now ready for the sewing machine operator. An average factory can produce in around 15 minutes one pair of jeans. After this process, the buttons, rivets, labels, and back patch can be added to the jeans. When a pair of jeans needed a (vintage) washing, the wash treatment can start. With a raw (unwashed) pair of jeans, this step isn’t needed of course.
After this step, the inspection department will do the quality control as they will measure everything, and check if there’re no mistakes made during the process. The final step is the finishing department where a finishing worker is responsible for the last stage: ironing, thread cutting, trims, and embellishments. The jeans are now ready to pack and ready to ship out to the designer or brand so they can start the sales.
Once again, this is just a quick insight into how it works to produce a pair of jeans. It is quite a time-consuming process as it’s not that easy to get your ultimate pair of jeans made. Most of the time you need a lot of trial and error to achieve your ultimate pair that is exactly what you had in mind in the first place. But, when you are satisfied with the outcome, you’re ready to go. Ready to conquer the world with your brand and hopefully a lot of people will start wearing your pair of blue jeans.
The Perfect Denim Guide
‘The Denim Manual‘ by Fashionary covers a lot of the process and will learn you a lot too. There book is a perfect guide when you’re stepping into the denim industry, but also for people that are already more experienced. Here’re a few sample pages that are related to this topic.
You can get your copy of ‘The Denim Manual’ by Fashionary here.
