There are some things in denim that feel almost untouchable. Raw selvedge is one of them. For years, we’ve believed in leaving great denim alone. Letting the fabric break in slowly, the indigo wear naturally. Letting time do the work.

So deciding to wash a selvedge denim felt like a big decision.

Not because washing denim is unusual. But because washing a fabric this good comes with risk. You can lose the depth in the indigo. You can flatten the character out of the weave. You can soften something to the point where it stops feeling special.

That tension is what made this project exciting. Because if we were going to do it, it had to feel worth doing. It had to still feel like selvedge.

Everything started with Kaihara.

One of Japan’s most respected denim mills, based in Hiroshima, known for producing some of the cleanest and most balanced selvedge denim in the world.

The fabric already had what we were looking for:
- clarity in the indigo,
- structure in the weave,
- depth in the yarn,
- enough character to respond well to washing.

Kaihara denim ages properly. The indigo sits on the outer layer of the yarn through rope dyeing, meaning the fabric evolves gradually rather than fading flatly all at once. The shuttle loom construction keeps texture and movement in the cloth. Even before washing, there’s already life inside it.

That mattered to us.

Because the wash shouldn’t need to create the character. It should reveal what’s already there.

We also knew this project would only work with the right wash partner.

For years, when we explored washed denim, the only real option was sending the jeans to Italy. And the more we thought about it, the less comfortable we became with that process.

The fabric would travel from Japan to Wales. The jeans would then be shipped to Italy to be washed. Then shipped back to us again to finish. It never fully sat right with us. If we were going to introduce washed denim into the range, we wanted to find a way of doing it that felt more considered and lower impact from the beginning.

That’s what made finding LaundRe so important.

LaundRe is a next-generation denim finishing facility, designed to deliver high-quality
washes with significantly reduced environmental impact. Built in London, they combine
advanced technology with responsible processes to minimise emissions, water use and
chemical impact at every stage.

There are advantages to being small here. The quantities we make are within their capabilities, which means the process can stay collaborative and controlled rather than industrialised. We’re able to test, adjust and refine things properly, rather than forcing the denim through a system designed for much larger production runs. That relationship mattered to us.

We didn’t want heavy abrasion. We didn’t want aggressive bleaching. We didn’t want the denim to look overworked or artificially aged. The aim was restraint. Not to make the jeans look old. Not to imitate years of wear. But to soften the fabric slightly, open the indigo carefully, and create something that felt easier from the first wear while still holding onto the depth and honesty of the original cloth. Combined with energy-efficient drying and low-emission systems, every step is carefully managed to deliver a soft, beautiful fade with a lighter environmental footprint

That balance is harder than it sounds.

We knew quite early on that if we were going to wash a selvedge denim, we didn’t want to sit in the middle. It needed to feel intentional.

This is the lightest wash we’ve ever produced, and that was part of the appeal.

There’s something about a lighter indigo that changes the feeling of a jean entirely. It feels more open, more relaxed, less rigid from the beginning. The fabric softens earlier, the drape appears sooner, and the denim settles into the body differently from the first wear.

But going lighter only works if the foundation underneath is strong enough. That’s why pairing this wash with a 15oz Kaihara selvedge felt important to us. The weight of the fabric gives the jeans substance and longevity, while the wash allows them to move and fall more softly than you might expect from a denim this heavy.

Visually, the result feels easier. A softer blue. A more relaxed drape. A lighter, more open tone to the indigo. But underneath that, the integrity of the selvedge is still there. That balance became the whole point of the project. Something that carries the durability and depth we care about at Hiut, but approaches it in a softer and more wearable way.

There would have been a safer option here. Leave the denim raw, stay within the expectations of traditional selvedge, and avoid the risk that comes with washing a fabric this good. But that was also what made the project exciting.

It changes the starting point of selvedge denim without losing the reason people love selvedge in the first place.

Because once you start washing selvedge, there’s a fine line between opening the fabric up and losing the qualities that made it special to begin with. Too much washing and the indigo loses its depth. Too much softness and the fabric loses its integrity. Too much processing and the denim stops feeling honest. The challenge became one of restraint.

How little could we do while still changing the experience of wearing the jeans? That question shaped every decision, from the weight of the fabric we chose, to the wash level itself, to the partnership with LaundRe and the processes they used.

You still get the depth of rope-dyed indigo, the durability of a heavy Japanese selvedge, and the way the fabric continues to evolve with wear. But you also get something that already feels easier from the beginning. Softer in movement, more relaxed in drape, and more immediate to wear day-to-day.

Still selvedge. Just approached differently this time.