Recently, a press release of Cotton County, Bangalore, called their denim collection "the second skin of the generation who always believe in wearing their attitude on their sleeves and the sense of freedom in their wardrobes". Whether it is the carefree student, the young working executive, the casual traveller or the quiet stay-at-home, denim appears to be the favourite choice of all. As a matter of fact, it appears to be the preferred fabric of many "oldies" as well.

Despite being the current rage and one of the most "in" as well as expensive among fabrics, denim is as old as the hills, so to speak!  The word 'denim' is said to have originated from the French name "serge de Nimes", a fabric produced in Nimes (in France) during the Middle Ages. In 1864, the word found a place in the Webster Dictionary in its shortened English version: DENIM. The word "jeans" was used for the rough fabric, made in Europe, used by sailors from Genoa in Italy. Denim trousers are also known as "dungarees", having originated from the Hindi word "dungri", a type of coarse cloth.

Interwoven with blue and white threads, denim was not originally created to constitute fashion wear. It was meant for making working clothes that was strong, long lasting as well as comfortable. During the 18th century as trade increased, the workers found it convenient to wear denim trousers. Denim was also used for making overalls worn by mechanics and painters. As they were ideally suited to the lifestyle of all hard workers, they were gradually adopted by miners, ranchers, farmers, railroad workers, and teachers as well. The fabric was not meant to be stylish. The main focus was on durability.

During the 19th century with the gold rush in California, the miners wanted strong trousers that would withstand a great deal of rough handling. In 1853 Leob Strauss started a wholesale business of denim clothes in California and produced them for the miners.  He later changed his name to "Levi". It was the first denim brand. Jacob Davis, a Nevada tailor, joined up with him. Strauss and Davis started producing copper-rivetted dungarees in blue denim. They dyed the warp yarn with blue pigment obtained from indigo because the colour was fast and did not get dirty easily. From 1894, the use of indigo was discontinued because by then they had already discovered and perfected a synthetic dye process.
Dungarees
In 1901, the US Navy authorised the use of denim outfits. By 1913 the denim dungarees were being worn by the officers as well. In the 1930s, it was the cowboys who made the denim trousers popular by wearing them in the movies and they became synonymous with "Westerns". But they were called "waist overalls" or just "overalls" until 1960 when Levi Strauss gave it its popular name of "jeans". In 1936 he added a little red flag next to the back pocket. It was the first label sewn on the outer part of a trouser. The 1940s saw the springing up of rival companies such as Wrangler and Lee who also produced denim jeans and became Levi's competitors for the international market.

Denim became popular with young people in the 1950s as a symbol of teenage rebellion, especially because of movies like Rebel without a Cause and The Wild One. It was equally popular with the hippies of the 1970s. During this period different kinds and styles of jeans were introduced, such as painted jeans, embroidered jeans and psychedelic jeans. By the 1980s there were designer jeans with many famous designers making their own styles with their own labels. And the sale of jeans went up and up!

A slight problem arose in the 1990s. The youngsters realised that the older generations, including their own fathers, were also in jeans! As they hated dressing the same way as their elders, they turned to other fabrics and other kinds of casual wear such as khakis, chinos, combat, carpenters and branded sportswear pants. If and when they wore denim it had to be in new cuts, shapes, styles and finishes so that it was very different from what their fathers were wearing!

After 2000, denim reappeared in a big way in the world of fashion and made its way to the designer catwalks with world famous labels such as Chanel, Dior, Chloe and Versace. Studded denim jackets, jeans, long skirts, pleated mini skirts and even shirts were heavily featured on the catwalks of Dolce and Gabbana, John Galliano, Mui Mui and Prada, to name just a few.

Today the pairing of "blue" and "denim" is no longer inevitable for we now have denim in tints of green, brown, orange, yellow, white, black, grey and other colours. And we have it in a variety of finish, such as Enzyme Wash, Sand Blasted, Semi Blasted & Scraped finishes, Grading, Tagging, Stone Wash Super Stone Heavy Wash, to name just a few. We also find denim in every possible form, including home collections such cushions, bed spreads, furniture covers, lamp shades and handbags. Although, going by sales, the choice of this season appears to be Cargo styled, semi-designed or basic designed vintage looks, the buyers of today have a huge selection and variety to choose from. Denim is now the  stuff of high-end designer wear. It seems to have succeeded in transcending age, economic and style barriers. The cuts, washes, embellishment and labels may vary with the trend of the moment, but the fabric itself has reached an iconic status.