Here we are ! It's time to introduce our women's capsule to you.
First of all, I wanted to thank everyone who wrote to support us , whether by email or comment. I didn't expect to receive so much encouragement, so thank you from the bottom of my heart!
There are still 2164 of you who have signed up to get news on these three pieces! A enthusiasm that gives us strength and confidence for the adventure that is this launch.
As you may know, at BonneGueule, we like to go into details and, if you have never read a launch article from us, it may surprise you.
Indeed, I want to give you all the keys to understanding our clothes, but also those of other brands. So there will be a lot of photos and explanations.
With this article, I asked myself the following question: what information would my friends need to buy jeans or a shirt? Then I wrote this article. That’s also the BonneGueule experience!
Let's introduce you to our jeans, our shirt and our jacket.
But first: a quick summary!
Our Candiani selvedge canvas jeans
Our Candiani selvedge canvas jeans
We start with a big piece, our very first women's jeans .
To fully understand these jeans, I need to explain 2-3 things to you first.
First of all, it is a selvedge canvas…
Understand a selvedge canvas in 2 minutes flat
Ah, “selvedge”…
This word is so sacred among lovers of workwear style clothing.
Maybe you've heard your boyfriend/fiancé/husband swear by that word...
Why is that ?
To put it simply, selvedge symbolizes the quality of a denim fabric made the old-fashioned way , on old, slow looms before they were replaced by ultra-modern machines.
In fact, there was a time when denim fabrics were woven on shuttle looms.
A loom.
The shuttle is this elegant wooden object that literally goes back and forth across the entire width of the roller
And it is these incessant back and forths which, on the edges of the canvas, form a woven edge on itself… a “self edge” woven edge…
Here you have the famous edging which symbolizes a whole philosophy of a durable material which develops a patina with the passage of time.
And that’s how the word selvedge was born. There are other edgings in other colors, but historically, red is the most common!
And this is not the only particularity of this canvas.
Since these are old machines, they weave much more slowly than today's air jet looms. Six times slower to be exact .
And this slowness means that the canvas presents some small irregularities, this famous unique grain specific to selvedge canvases. This is the whole soul of selvedge , this is what gives it personality.
But then, why aren't all jeans selvedge?
At a time when we needed sturdy jeans for crafting, making thick selvedge canvases was a necessity . And the shuttle looms, all located in the United States, were perfect in this role.
But when jeans became a more “fashionable” item of clothing, demand exploded. Jeans were needed in quantity, less expensive and requiring less strength.
This is where modern industrial looms arrived: much faster, weaving rolls of fabric twice as wide as a selvedge loom, with much finer canvas than selvedge.
At first glance, it is certainly more comfortable,
And this is how high-speed industrialization led to a decline in the quality of denim fabrics and relegated shuttle looms to the closet…
And anyway, no one needed jeans as sturdy as before.
More people ? Really ?
While shuttle looms were nothing more than vestiges of a glorious past, a few diehards refused to mourn the loss of a good old selvedge canvas, this pretty canvas that ages so well...
These people were Japanese who were keen on vintage and Americana . They are the ones who brought selvedge back to the forefront. And it took a lot of hard work to create a 100% Japanese selvedge canvas in the 70s.
But that's another story, which I already told when our Kurabo canvas jeans were released
Look at this beautiful red border! Now compare this photo with your classic jeans and you will see the difference!
In short, selvedge represents the victory of slowness, irregularity, but also robustness in the face of ultra-industrial denim fabrics without roughness, without soul and thinner (therefore less solid).
Our Candiani canvas is therefore a somewhat special mixture since it is composed of:
- 67% cotton
- 26% linen
- 4% elastane
- 3% elastomultiester
It is in particular this addition of linen – extremely rare in a denim fabric , I would like to point out – which gives this fabric even more irregularities and infinite nuances.
As we can see in this photo, this canvas takes the light beautifully…
As for elastomultiester, it’s a brand new fiber that allows the fabric to have quality stretch (I’ll come to that in a moment).
A canvas that will relax over time
Moreover, when trying on, the fabric may seem a little stiff, but don't panic, it will relax. It's a certainty.
It simply has to be done to your body. This is a step well known to denim purists.
This canvas will patina very nicely over time.
After half a day of wearing it, you will feel a clear added comfort , and after a week or two, it will be like a second skin.
The benefit of a raw canvas? This is because it will fade beautifully over the months that you wear it.
We really wanted to offer you jeans that become more and more beautiful as they age , and not the other way around.
I can't wait for the photos of your naturally faded jeans!
Candiani, an Italian supplier that produces selvedge
The Japanese are no longer the only ones doing selvedge. Candiani also produces it, but in his own way…
When we came to film Candiani, I was able to visit what I call "the treasure room": a huge room filled with several shuttle looms producing selvedge.
A selvedge loom, the kind of old mechanics that Candiani continues to use.
Moreover, as soon as you enter the room, the machines make a very particular noise, which is different from modern crafts, to the point that the son of the Candiani family made a piece of electro-rock music...
So I saw authentic shuttle looms, with the difference that Candiani had “pimped” them. I wasn't allowed to take a photo of it, but let's just say that Candiani mechanically modified each craft to preserve them and improve its reliability.
Gianluigi and Alberto Candiani, the father and son! Gianluigi has worked hard to bring Candiani fabrics upmarket. As for Alberto, he added an ecological dimension to the manufacture of the canvases.
We wanted a very beautiful selvedge, of course, but very comfortable. And that's good, because selvedge stretch is precisely one of Candiani's specialties , they were pioneers in this direction, even if it meant alienating some denim purists.
Their expertise in stretch is reflected above all in their mastery of "recovery", namely a stretch which returns to its initial shape once it is worn, and which does not create pockets everywhere.
And that's just ONE facet of Candiani's incredible work.
It's a great pioneering company in "clean" jeans and we actually went to film them to make a report (the only one in French):
There are still a ton of stories to tell you about Candiani: the family transmission, the technologies invented to recycle water, nitrogen dyeing, the biodegradable jeans project, the location of the factory in the middle of a park natural and the responsibility that falls to them to preserve this place…
To find out more, and to avoid making this article two miles long, I invite you to read Candiani's presentation where I recount my visit to their factory , at the time when we were creating our gray selvedge jeans.
Let's return to our canvas, and now talk about its weight.
Yes, a piece of denim weighs , and you will understand why it is important.
Understand the weight of a piece of denim in 60 seconds flat
You will see, nothing very complicated here and you will be able to impress your other half when you take his jeans in your hands.
What does a “13 oz” canvas mean for example?
This is the weight of the canvas!
Indeed, among denim addicts , we judge the thickness of a fabric by its weight, expressed in:
- "oz", the abbreviation of "ounce" in English, or "once" in French, which represents approximately 28.3 grams
- per square yard, also written "square yard". A yard is almost 1 meter, (91.4 cm to be exact). So a square yard is 0.83 m2.
For example, we write "13 oz sq yd", and by shortcut, we finally ended up writing just "13 oz".
Everything would be simpler if we talked about grams per square meter...
On our jeans, it is an 11.75 oz canvas, which has a very good compromise between flexibility and resistance!
So, among fans of selvedge jeans, we classify selvedge fabrics into three categories:
- "light" weights: below 11 oz , we consider that it is a light canvas, all things considered. In fact, compared to a non-selvedge canvas, it is much more resistant!
- “medium” weights: between 11 and 16 oz , very common weights among men, but which make the jeans not very pleasant to wear when it is hot.
- “heavy” weights: more than 16 oz . There, we enter another dimension, with jeans that are difficult to wear, especially when we approach 20 oz. For the record, seven years ago, I was able to touch and tell about my encounter with the heaviest jeans in the world , a 32 oz Naked and Famous!
If it's more solid, why not only offer jeans with thick fabrics?
Certainly a thick canvas offers deeper washes and wears less quickly but, as I said, it is also less comfortable on the first try. It takes a little time to “make” it, like a pair of new shoes.
Women's brands use too little selvedge fabric, even though it is a fabric with a great history.
And the rigid appearance, almost cardboard when the canvas is new, can frankly intimidate a novice.
So in a women's market, very few brands risk exploring this type of canvas.
These jeans are therefore 11.75 oz , so we are on a rather light fabric (and therefore comfortable), more suited to the season.
The more you wear these jeans, the more comfortable they will be.
How did we manage our first women's cuts?
This is a completely legitimate question! And I'll be honest: we mainly relied on the know-how of our workshops.
Whether it's our denim workshop or the one for our shirts, they manufacture clothes for many women's brands, including luxury houses.
These jeans have a semi-slim cut, simple and effective.
They are the ones who advised us on the gradation of sizes, or the refinement of our cuts.
And, of course, we had the women on the team try our prototypes.
That's it for our jeans, it was dense, but I hope you liked it. Now let's move on to the shirt.
Our selvedge organic cotton gauze shirt
For a shirt intended for summer, we chose a very summery fabric: cotton gauze.
During weaving, the crisscrossing threads are less tensioned than usual on the machine, which helps achieve that pleasant airy hand.
We turned to Maruwa, this Japanese supplier with whom we are used to working. We love it so much that we actually went to Japan to film it.
And what's more, the cotton in this fabric is GOTS certified . It is one of the most renowned labels which combines ecology and social responsibility.
The GOTS label in 30 seconds flat
Managed by the control and certification body Ecocert, the GOTS label is issued following an audit.
From fiber cultivation to dyeing stages and spinning, this label verifies:
- the respect of environment
- traceability of raw materials
- consumer health
- social criteria, such as salary levels or regularity of employment
If you want to know more, I invite you to read the general presentation of the label .
But back to our proudly GOTS certified cotton gauze…
To avoid having a transparent fabric, it is a gauze that is doubled, as if there were two cotton veils superimposed.
All the Japanese know-how is to have given a very soft hand , but with a few irregularities, and an authentic, almost rustic appearance .
Small nice detail: it is a selvedge gauze, therefore woven on old machines (hence the irregularity in the weaving) and the red border is clearly visible on the reinforcement swallow:
Why a cotton gauze shirt?
We can see the airy weave in this close-up. And, yes, the buttons on this shirt are all mother-of-pearl.
Thanks to its weave, it is one of the lightest and most breathable shirting fabrics available.
Of those who wore this material, this is what they say about it:
- it's a very airy material, I've even been told that you almost have the impression of wearing nothing
- it is also a very soft fabric, very pleasant on the skin
- it is a very versatile fabric, which can be worn in a very casual outfit with shorts or a skirt and sandals or in a more dressy outfit, such as with a blazer, raw jeans and ankle boots.
It's a shirt that can be worn soberly, by tucking it into your jeans.
And I confirm 100% everything that has been said since… I actually wore this fabric on one of my shirts a few years ago.
For my part, I loved this very airy fabric in summer, it is a garment very suitable for hot weather, a real pleasure.
A white shirt is a neutral canvas for wearing more original shoes.
What no brand tells you: how this fabric ages
As I said, it's a fabric that I know well and that I have put through the machine quite a few times.
Yes, the advantage of writing a long article is that I can also explain to you how the material ages, in complete transparency.
Let this fabric live!
Well… it ages very well!
At most, there will be a few tiny pills here and there, which are totally in tone with the Japanese hand of this fabric.
Just remember to iron the shirt well, and above all, after ironing, let the fabric “live”.
It's not a dull generic stiff poplin, the fabric will take shape when you wear it.
It's a fabric made for the sun.
I prefer to be honest with you: if you want a shirt fabric to wear only in formal outfits to go to work in an office, this may not be what I would recommend for a shirt.
Our olive Maruwa twill kimono jacket
Jeans, a shirt, and more than a third piece was missing to complete our first women's outfit.
This is a lightweight jacket with a kimono collar. Why this choice ?
Because I find that a kimono collar evokes fullness and serenity on a garment...
The pockets follow the stitching on the collar. And a belt is also provided with the jacket.
Then it's up to you to have fun!
On a jacket with a kimono collar, it was clear that a Japanese fabric was needed . And it should be olive in color because not only does it recall nature, but it is also so easy to wear with blue, white, beige, or gray...
A fabric from Maruwa (again!)
To tell you the truth, I love this fabric because it symbolizes for me this Japanese know-how that I love so much:
- it is olive in color and as I have been saying for years, the most beautiful olive colored fabrics I have seen come from Japan. They are very good at giving them a subtle “vintage” color.
- this fabric has a grain and irregularities, which gives it a real wabi-sabi look...
Wabi what?
Wabi-sabi! We've talked about it quite a bit on BonneGueule, it's a Japanese philosophy that we really like . She advocates a naturally imperfect beauty, like the bark of a tree or a few dead leaves on the grass. A natural, simple and sober beauty.
It's a very rich concept and to go further, I recommend this excellent book which can be read in less than an hour .
And it’s this whole concept that we wanted to transcribe with this fabric…
The trick is that there is a neppy thread used during weaving.
A neppy yarn? Don't panic, I'll explain everything to you...
This is a type of yarn that we already worked on last April. During weaving, this involves using a thread from which certain cotton particles emerge, which provides a nice texture.
Like selvedge, it is the kind of fabric that is rarely found in women's brands, even though it is a material that has soul and character.
In terms of quantities?
I'm going to be transparent with you: this is our very first test of women's clothing, so it was clear that we didn't want to put ourselves at risk.
So there is :
- 200 jeans
- 200 jackets
- and 150 shirts
Usually, we order much higher quantities, so there is a good chance that the flow will be rapid , but I repeat, we did not want to take any risks.
Because I tell you frankly: I have no idea of the speed at which the stocks will leave, I don't know if it will be in several weeks, in several days or... in several hours .
Little hint: with experience, I have noticed that when the presentation article generates more than a hundred comments in less than 24 hours, you should generally expect a rapid flow. So all you have to do is monitor the number of comments on this item while waiting for sales to open.
And that's not all ! The surprise continues: for each purchase of one of the clothes from this capsule in our stores, a bouquet of dried flowers 💐 will be offered to you. Cool, right?
How to get the 3 items of clothing from this women’s capsule?
Visit our stores in Paris 3rd , Lyon and Bordeaux or on our e-shop :
