Leather belt denim "12.5oz Hickory Stripe selvedge"

Denim is a particularly durable, robust cotton fabric, best known globally as the primary material for the manufacture of jeans. Historically, the name is derived from the French phrase "serge de Nîmes," which translates to "fabric from Nîmes." In this southern French city, the coarse fabric was originally produced for workwear before it began its worldwide success story in the 19th century through Levi Strauss in the USA.

Denim is currently experiencing a real resurgence; it is the timeless color, the great evolution of the fabric, which develops a fantastic "fading" (signs of wear, patina) through wearing. For this, however, it should be raw denim. That is, an untreated, non-prewashed, or bleached denim fabric.

It is a tight-knit scene that celebrates and lives the lifestyle of raw denim.

For this, we have designed and created this exclusive belt. It is a piece of history and, above all, great craftsmanship that has gone into this belt. It is available with various "raw denim" fabrics from Japan. Selvedge denim and twill from Japan are considered worldwide to be the absolute premier class of jeans fabrics. The word "selvedge" is derived from "self-edge." It describes denim that is slowly woven on traditional, old shuttle looms. This creates a closed, clean fabric edge that does not fray and is usually recognizable by a colored inner thread (often red) when you cuff the jeans.

What makes the Japanese variant so special? While the American textile industry switched to rapid mass production from the 1950s onwards, Japanese manufacturers bought up many of the old looms and perfected the craft. Regions like Kojima in Okayama thus became the global epicenter for high-end denim.

This high-quality belt was crafted in 3 layers. First, a vegetable-tanned full-grain leather strap in 2mm thickness and 3.9cm width. The denim fabric was glued onto this, then the whole thing was pressed into a mold in order to be able to glue the last layer, the side strips of leather, on straight. The adhesive used is a natural starch-based glue, which is intended only to fix the fabric and the side strips in place.

Afterward, everything was sewn together on our ADLER saddler sewing machine from 1928. The belt loop was made using the same principle and rounds off the whole thing. The hole reinforcement was hand-stitched with waxed thread using the saddle stitch, which makes the seam incredibly stable and robust. Edges polished.

We only use buckles or clasps made of stainless steel for this belt!

The vegetable-tanned leather was only lightly greased and thus develops a beautiful patina over time that perfectly matches the denim.

The fabric used here is a 12.5oz (oz = English abbreviation for ounces! It is considered fabric weight and means weight per square yard) Hickory Stripe selvedge denim from Japan.

The origins and the name! The fine longitudinal stripes are visually based on the old seersucker pattern. The name "Hickory" is derived from the extreme durability of hickory wood. Textile manufacturers advertised the densely woven twill fabric as "as strong as hickory wood" because of its toughness. Originally, the firm material was used as "ticking" for mattresses and pillowcases before it found its way into clothing.

The trademark of the railway workers: The fabric gained fame from the 1890s onwards as the unofficial uniform for train drivers, stokers, and railway workers. The characteristic longitudinal stripes served purely practical purposes:

Stain concealment: In the harsh everyday life on steam locomotives, workers were constantly exposed to coal dust, soot, oil, and grease. The tight blue and white striped pattern visually masked stains perfectly.

Cooling effect: The alternating light and dark stripes reflected sunlight better than pure dark blue denim. In addition, the fabric was usually slightly lighter (around 10 ounces) and airier than classic heavy denim, which made working in the hot locomotive cabs of the trains more bearable.

A companion for eternity and guaranteed NOT A MASS-PRODUCED PRODUCT!