Why are your jeans twisting?

For a lover of indigo canvases, the leg twist is far from being a problem.

Not to mention the success among purists of non-sanforized jeans: these jeans which have not undergone a stabilization process, in order to preserve their most authentic appearance possible, can shrink up to two sizes the first wash.

I'll let you imagine the leg size that the exterior seam will make.

An impressive shrinkage, to be used with experience and caution to adjust the piece to its size.

It is to respond to this love of the leg twist that some brands even play on sanforization to control the turn that the seam will take during production.

In this race for rotating seams, and to relaunch its brand, Levi's launched its Engineered range in the early 2000s, known for its spiral seams.

But the leg twist wasn't always considered that way. This is why many brands have already sought solutions which we will discuss further below. And the twist does not always only come from the very nature of the canvas.

You can absolutely end up with a leg twist without your canvas being a 38 Oz grail. This leg twist can also come from a manufacturing error, and in this case you will be right to complain.

For example, if the canvas was subjected to more intense tension on the left leg than on the right leg during assembly, the latter will twist more.

The same will apply in the event of an offset in the crotch seam: the direction in which the fabric of your jeans will be stretched when worn will differ from one leg to the other, creating a significant leg twist on one side. .

Sometimes, to speed up production, a workshop can also cut his bosses by piles of fabric that are too thick. This will create a slight offset in the cut of the canvas at the bottom of the pile, which will necessarily be felt in the placement of the exterior seams.

In certain production conditions, it is difficult not to miss a few centimeters on a cut.

These cumulative manufacturing irregularities are therefore often the result of negligence in production, or concerns about economies of scale to be able to compress prices.

The leg twist can therefore be found on basic quality jeans. Just like a high-end piece. In the latter case, production errors are of course rarer, and your twist will be more likely to come from the characteristic behavior of the canvas.

Entry-level brands do not hesitate to limit this trend towards the natural inclination of twill by combining technical and chemical processes to keep the material in place. Which results in less charming, but more stable denim. Thus leaving the leg twist to occasional errors in cutting or editing.

It was in the early 1970s that we found the origin of the massive elimination of the leg twist on jeans.

Brands taking on the Leg Twist

Until the 1960s, twisting jeans were as common as female riots at Beatles concerts.

But with the growing popularity of jeans, dissatisfaction with the leg twist has increased product returns enough to push brands to look for solutions.

The best known is the one used by the Wrangler brand in 1964: the “broken twill” which alternates “left hand” and “right hand” twill every two thread crossings.

Thus, the famous diagonals of the twill become a zigzag tangle which prevents the fabric from slanting in one direction or another.

Goodbye, diagonals that go into a spin.

During the 1970s, the inventors of Levi's developed a technique aimed at pre-twisting the canvas, so that it no longer moved after the jeans were assembled.

To put it simply, it involves biasing the fabric in the direction of its diagonal, moving one edge forward in relation to the other.

Thus, the intersection of the weft threads and the warp threads is no longer perpendicular, but it is pre-straightened with approximately 8% inclination: our dear fabric will therefore no longer try to straighten itself.

An extract from the patent filed by Levi's, showing the difference between twisted jeans and ones on which the method has been applied.

These methods are commonly used today, and often complement material stabilization processes such as sanforization.

Some brands even go so far as to tilt the seams during assembly in the opposite direction of the twist, so that they are parallel again when the leg twist has shown the end of its nose.

The final word: faced with a leg twist, what do I do?

As you may have noticed, throughout the history of jeans, the leg twist has been as idolized as it has been rejected.

While the phenomenon is natural and inherent to the charming nature of denim, it can also sometimes be the result of a construction error.

But now, you have all the keys in hand to be able to deduce for yourself the nature of your leg twist.

If your jeans have been over-stabilized and sanforized by a major brand, but the outside seam runs along the front of your shin, you have the right to ask yourself questions.

Conversely, if you have bought a Japanese beauty with a deep relief reminiscent of the origins of denim, it is completely normal for the material to move a little when moving the seams.

It's up to you to give these jeans their soul, whether through their wash or the way their seams will follow your calves. Remember, the beauty of these pieces lies in their imperfections.

But if you are the type who wants straight seams, you can:

• Direct you towards sanforized parts, limiting shrinkage to less than 5%.
• Check the position of the seams when trying on: are they symmetrical? Are they well aligned at the back? Do you notice any discrepancy in the crotch?
• Buy a piece in broken twill, which you can identify thanks to the famous zigzags on the back of the fabric.
• Ask in-store advisors who will be able to direct you towards any jeans designed to be less conducive to leg twisting.

Without forgetting our own jeans...

With artisanal selvedge denim, we're not kidding. So we went to pick him up there, at Kurabo and Kuroki, in Okayama prefecture in Japan.

We also have an ecological approach, with selvedge fabrics from Candiani, the cleanest spinning mill in the world, located in an Italian natural park.

And in terms of washing, everything is done with ozone, to respect the canvas as much as nature and the craftsman.