Someone was telling me the other day about how spot on I am when it comes to trend hunting and just knowing what’s cool, rad and excessive in the world.

This is one of the many reasons why I started two websites a while back. You probably have not heard of them, one is Trend Hunter, and the other one is The Cool Hunter.

Yeah, they’re alright, probably not my best work though.

So let’s just catch something that is popular overseas but not quite so well known here.

It’s something called dry or raw denim and you won’t find it at any regular store. Dry denim is completely untreated and unwashed denim. The denim is dyed, and no water or chemicals touch it afterwards. The jeans are presented raw and it is up to you, the wearer, to give them character and wear lines.

There are no pathetic, fake wear lines on them and each pair will wear to it’s owner, based on the things they do, the lifestyles they lead and the people they bang.

Many people mistake dry denim with a regular pair of denims, such as your standard, non worn Levi 501’s. While these denims might seem as though nothing has touched them and they are raw, they are not. You can have a pair of 501’s forever and they won’t wear like a proper pair of dry denim jeans.

At the moment dry denim is not quite popular amongst the South African crowd but I think it will gain momentum. I think the main thing is our modern day culture of quick satisfaction. We want everything now, and will pay for someone in a factory to sand our jeans down and add chemicals to them to achieve the worn in, vintage look.

But a small crowd of enthusiasts are tired of wearing a pair of jeans that look exactly the same as the other person in the club. They want their jeans to reflect their personal life and are opting to buy dry denim, and wear it in themselves.

Dry denim is a process and for the first six months (If you wear your jeans every day) you are not allowed to wash them. If you wear them less frequently, you wont be able to wash them for longer. Some say dry denim should never be washed, just aired. I’m part of that crowd.

The longer you leave them before you wash them, the better they will look.

If you are looking for dry denim in Cape Town, the best place to look is Loading Bay in Hudson Street (Click HERE) or Fabiani (Click HERE)

Loading Bay offer the Blue Blood brand of dry denim, while Fabiani carry the sought after G-Star Raw range, the ones which I’m currently sporting. JP of The Loading Bay in Cape Town has recently launched a stand alone BlueBlood store in Cape Town, sitauted at Shop 104, Riebeeck Square, Bree Street, Cape Town.

Raw denim not only reflect your lifestyle, but they are kinder to the environment because no extra chemicals are used to age the denim, and you also very rarely (If ever) wash them.

You all know that at SLXS I don’t recommend anything that I have not personally tested and approved, and once again I will not let you down. I’m telling you now that buying a pair of proper dry denim jeans will completely change your life. You will never buy another pair of denim jeans again. They are expensive, but then again, so is cocaine.

You’re looking at dropping at least R2000 on a pair, but it goes right up to around R5000 for a pair of true dry denims. But look at it this way:

If you only wear your jeans once in your lifetime, they will have cost R5000 to wear. Wear them twice and they have only then cost R2500 for each time that you have worn them. Wear them for only a year and they have only cost you R13 to wear them each time! And who only wears a pair of denim jeans 365 times? No one! We all wear our jeans more than that.

Pair your dry denims with a pair of Converse All Star High Tops (Around R300 – R350 at most stores. Got mine at Street Fever in Canal Walk), and a black or white t-shirt and you’re all set to rock out.

One of the best resources on the internet to check out how dry denim wears in is MyNudies. Nudies are a brand of dry denim, and were once available at Woolworths in Cape Town, but no longer. The type of wear on your dry denims is also affected by what you keep in your pockets,so you will see noticeable fading around wallets and cellphones, such as this photo I found:

Dry denim jeans are only available from the finest stores in Cape Town. Try Fabiani and Blue Blood. The G-Star Raw range of denims from Fabiani kick a serious amount of ass, and I’d recommend them.

Sean Lloyd

Editor