Indi

If you are fan of jorts, you may want to join the Facebook group, I Love Jorts!, which fawns, “Spreading like the sexiest plague to ever wipe out lameness, jorts are a potent mixture of denim and leg.” Those who disagree can retort by uploading their latest photo evidence to nojorts.com, an anti-jort website.

As you can see, jorts are a controversial garment, one that indiDenim will have to take a purely neutral stand on. The rest of you can duke it out…

For those jorts fans out there who prefer a little bit more coverage, there is a wide variety of styles to consider.

Jeremy Priven shows us how to rock a bermuda jort.

Cuffing can give your old jorts a brand new look.

Cutoffs will take you from jeans to jorts in no time flat.

And don’t forget one of the newest additions to the jorts family—“pockouts”!

posted by: danielle on August 12, 2010 at 10:22 am
filed under:Misc Musings
TAGS: jorts

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As much as we’re obsessed with everything denim, indi is all about customization. Consumers today expect increasingly more personalized products, customized to their style preferences and, when it comes to apparel, their bodies. In the world of customization there are two major camps: custom-made (i.e. a traditional custom tailor) and mass customization, which enables consumers to design their own individual products that are then manufactured on an efficient, massive scale, keeping prices competitive with non-custom products.

indi was recently approached by Custommade.com, a website dedicated to everything custom and specializing in artisan custom-made furniture and woodwork.  In the spirit of custom, we did an interview with Custom Made to share two perspectives of customization with you, showing the ins and outs of custom from different approaches yet with a fundamentally similar end goal: matching consumers with products that reflect who they are. We hope this interview will give you insight into indi, how this trend is evolving and where customization is headed in the future. Enjoy!

Question 1: What is your company all about?

indiDenim: indi is about changing the way apparel is sold. Traditionally, consumers have been expected to buy clothes that were made for the masses, not a unique garment specifically made to fit their bodies and style aesthetic. At indi, we believe in giving every consumer the power to design their own apparel and customize it to fit their unique bodies. We are also about making shopping a technologically-enhanced, seamless process. From the online visualization of our custom products to our completely automated systems for pattern generation and order processing, indi is technologically advanced throughout the consumer experience and behind the scenes.

CustomMade: President Mike Salguero’s words say it best! “In my travels I have come across some incredibly talented custom woodworkers, craftspeople and artisans who are unable to focus on their craft because they are running a business. Their dedication to their art is compromised by their need to divert attention to the marketing, advertising and sales of their creations. I wanted to assist these people and created CustomMade.com to help.”  We also believe that there are a ton of consumers out there interested in buying Custom, but they don’t know where to start…our site will help both makers and consumers to bridge the frictions that exist in this marketplace and will help them to get in touch with each other.

Question 2: How did you get your start?

indiDenim: Our “About Us” section of our site really says it best: “In our eyes, the way clothing is sold is an anachronism. The current system of mass produced, standard sized clothing is convenient for the companies selling the apparel, but doesn’t work all that well for a lot of consumers. We founded indi to change all that - rather than individual consumers of all shapes and sizes trying to fit into standard sized clothing, we think consumers ought to be able to get exactly what they want in a size that fits them.”

Read more here

CustomMade: Custom Made started with one artisan working out of his home fourteen years ago as an online community for woodworkers to come together and post their custom creations online. In 2009, co-founders Mike Salguero and Seth Rosen saw the potential such an organization had and purchased the company, gave it a new look and feel, and started to change the way custom was looked at by artisans and consumers alike. Within a year, a community of 350 woodworkers has grown to over 1,000 of the highest caliber woodworkers,metal workers, and glass workers in the world.

Question 3: What are some of the challenges you face as a custom company?

indiDenim: Fit is very personal, and understanding the perfect fit for our customers is definitely a challenge. Because we’re custom we set the bar pretty high in terms of fit, just like our consumers. In fact, we guarantee that if for any reason our customers aren’t 100% satisfied, we’ll remake their garment at no charge or give them a full refund. Although this can be challenging, we absorb these costs willingly, knowing that we instill confidence in our customers that the end result will be a perfect-fitting garment that they can always re-order, time and time again.

CustomMade: Our biggest issues right now are related to getting the right people involved with our company.. We currently have 25 people working full-time on this idea, but we need more. We are always looking for marketing, web-design and development, and salespeople.  In addition, we have a challenge of convincing consumers to buy custom.. You would think it is a no-brainer, since they can get something locally made, handcrafted, with 5x the quality for a similar price, but the big-box retailers dominate the advertising out there, so it is hard for the little guy to compete.

Question 4: What are your focuses/strong points at the present?

indiDenim: indi provides an ideal shopping experience for the tech-savvy consumer. Our Jean Builder lets consumers see a real-time visualization of their jean change as they pick every style feature of their jean. Consumers can also save their designs in our community vault, where consumers can share designs via social media networks and/or choose any jean from the vault, customize it to fit them, and buy it. We also save our customers’ patterns forever, allowing them to re-order the same pattern with or without adjustments and get a perfect fit, every time. In short, indi provides the most personalized, technologically-advanced experience available, making mass customization fun and easy.

CustomMade: We have a group of the best artisans in the country in the fields of woodworking, glass working and metalworking.  These guys and gals are being serviced by our website. We also bring in about 1 Million visitors a year and expose them to the idea of purchasing custom, which is fun and a challenge, but we feel that we do it well!

Question 5: What is your vision for the future of the company?

indiDenim: We intend to get to know our consumers more and more, developing more style content on our site that would interest our audience. We recently launched new style pages and a DenimWiki, packed with useful information on denim history, mass customization, a glossary of denim terminology, and more. We will continue to understand our consumers’ needs from a user experience standpoint, but also a product standpoint, always striving to ensure our patterns fit every consumer perfectly. 

CustomMade: We want to be the internet’s one stop shop for anything custom. We are not interested in the manufacturing, rather we want to get you the consumer in front of the right provider of custom services.

Thank you to Custommade.com for participating in this interview! Let us know your feedback and feel free to share your comments!

posted by: evan on August 10, 2010 at 12:26 pm
filed under:Misc Musings
TAGS: custom

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“According to a 2008 survey conducted by Mintel, a market-research firm, the most frequently worn size in America is a 14…[y]et plus-size clothing (typically size 14 and above) represents only 18 percent of total revenue in the women’s clothing industry.”

If the most common size two years ago was a size 14, how is it possible that total revenue from Plus apparel is only 18%? Shouldn’t there be more opportunities for clothing brands to serve literally the majority of women?

The article also defined some of the key dilemmas the apparel industry faces in designing Plus size apparel, which shed even more light on challenges for the end consumer:

“The most formidable obstacle lies in creating a prototype. If you already have a line of clothing and a set system of sizing, you cannot simply make bigger sizes. You need whole new systems of pattern-making.”

Unfortunately, most brands don’t do this. For the most part, clothing brands size up according to a much smaller, drastically different pattern than the actual body of a Plus woman. Instead, new patterns need to be made in order to accommodate women with different proportions, not just of a larger size. This means that out of the already limited selections Plus women have to choose from, many of Plus clothing doesn’t represent real Plus women.

At indi, we’re proud to have a Plus pattern specifically designed for Plus women, and we are committed to customizing all of our patterns to fit every consumer. Unfortunately, most of the larger brands that have introduced Plus sizes (which certainly is a step in the right direction) morph smaller patterns into disproportionate ones.

For more fascinating information on the Plus market, read the full article here.

posted by: evan on August 2, 2010 at 3:35 pm
filed under:
TAGS: plus size, plus

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Of course, stretch denim wouldn’t be stretch denim without our BFF, spandex. Spandex is a marvelous invention—each fiber is made from alternating stiff and soft segments. The soft segments allow the fiber to stretch and the stiff segments help the fiber snap back to its original length. This allows spandex to stretch up to four times its length and then retract. You go, girl!

Not all of spandex’s traits are desirable—spandex does not take dye easily and it’s not comfortable against the skin. But when combined with its soulmate, cotton, spandex is almost unstoppable. Spandex fibers are wrapped in cotton to create cotton/spandex yarns. When these yarns are woven into a twill, the resulting fabric is (you guessed it!) stretch denim.

Stretch denim, you’ve come a long way since 1978. Today’s fabric designers have created new breeds of stretch denim by adding additional fibers, such as polyester, and by inventing new yarn constructions. These new stretch denims have unmatched recovery and threaten to eradicate jeans that stretch and then stretch out. Bye-bye baggy butts!

Stretch denim means that denim lovers never have to choose between fashion and comfort again. As designers continue to enhance denim, jeans may become a regular at yoga class.

posted by: danielle on July 29, 2010 at 11:10 am
filed under:Denim 101
TAGS: history of jeans, spandex jeans, stretch denim

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1. Dress Your Body Type: Nothing is more upsetting than trying to dress a trend that just doesn’t work for your body. Whether you are pear-shaped or apple-shaped, take a look at your proportions and learn what works best for you. This tip alone will get you well on your way to finding the perfect jeans. Learn how to dress your body type here.

2. Know Your Measurements: Jean sizing, as you’ve probably experienced, varies from brand to brand, especially between premium and mainstream brands. Knowing measurements like your natural waist, your pant size, your inseam, etc. are key factors in getting perfect-fitting jeans. Learn about the different measurements here.

3. Flatter Your Frame: While it’s important to know what doesn’t work for your body, it’s just as important to know what does. Flatter your finest features. For example, pear and hourglass shapes can accentuate their small natural waists with a mid to high rise pant.

4. Make Trends Work For You: Before you try wearing a trend you have to have, say skinny jeans, know which skinny jeans will work best for your body. Skinny jeans made from stretch fabric, for example, give a slimmer look and more comfort for any body type. Whether designing or buying, have a specific type of skinny jean in mind like “stretch fabric, dark wash, mid-rise skinny jeans” and you’ll get a much better result.

5. Determine your Price Per Wear (PPW): When buying jeans it’s important to make a good investment. Price per wear (PPW) means how much you spend on a jean for each time you wear them. By investing in a good pair of jeans up front, you greatly reduce your PPW. For example, if you bought a jean for $60, washed it 3 times, and it:

A/Doesn’t fit anymore
B/Becomes stiff
C/Deteriorates

Then you may only get 6 or 7 wears from them, which is not a great investment. That’s practically $10/wear! Be smart and invest in a jean made from quality fabric and with premium construction.

posted by: evan on July 26, 2010 at 12:15 pm
filed under:
TAGS: design your own jeans, jeans, the perfect jeans

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Drum roll please…

The lucky winner is…Tabitha T Council! Congratulations Tabitha! You won a FREE pair of custom jeans from indiDenim! We just love our free jean Fridays…

While Facebook and Twitter reigned supreme on the sharing front, we saw an increase in sharing on Stumble Upon, Google, YMail and Gmail. We love seeing some of the same determined entrants in addition to an influx of new designers looking for their perfect pair of free custom jeans.

To all of our participants- thank you for entering! Remember, we’re giving away a pair of free jeans EVERY month, so keep entering! We’ve already started getting entries for July, so start designing your custom jeans to get your new pair!

Congratulations again to Tabitha!

posted by: evan on July 2, 2010 at 11:41 am
filed under:Happenings at INDi
TAGS: custom jeans, jeans, free jeans

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If you are taking off on vacation this summer, jeans would probably be the last thing you want to wear in flight. Even the best jeans can be constricting and less breathable than other pants, making traveling extremely uncomfortable. When picking jeans for travel, it comes down to three important factors: content, color and weight.

In our humble opinion, the best jeans for travel are lightweight, medium to dark wash, soft to the touch (jeans with polyester are wonderfully soft) and contain some amount of stretch for ease of movement and comfort.  To give you a little in-flight inspiration, here’s what we consider the best jeans for travel (including what we think you should wear with them): 

1. Best Skinny Jeans: Wear a pair of skinny jeans that are not too snug. Don’t wear them if they are cutting out your circulation. This is especially important when you travel; you don’t want to add to the lack of comfort and space that you already have to deal with while in the air. We can appreciate the weight and color of Selena’s attire, light enough for travel and black, a color universally stylish in almost any part of the world. She keeps it casual and comfortable with her converses.

2. Best Bootcut Jeans: Pair a classic with a classic. Bootcut jeans never go out of style, so pair them with a piece that does that reflects classic good taste like a leather jacket for instance). Another top from Hilary: layers, layers, layers. When traveling, it’s important to dress for a multitude of climates, as it’s hard to predict how the temperature will change from that cold air conditioned airplane to a possibly warm destination.

3. Best Dark Jeans: If you want to maintain that fresh look, keep your outfit clean and minimal. When you are traveling for hours upon hours, it’s best to wear jeans that are easy on the eye and the body, allowing you to easily blend into any environment. Also, dark jeans are more forgiving in case of any spills or stains, unlike lighter washes, so that in case of an accidental spill you won’t arrive at your destination with an embarrassing stain.

For example, a simple, crisp lightweight shirt paired with dark skinny/straight leg jeans instantly make you look like a jet-setter without any fuss. Camilla’s trench also is a travel must, equally useful on rainy and windy days, perfectly lightweight enough to carry in hand. We’re also loving her red flats, adding style and comfort.

posted by: Eunice Tanos on June 30, 2010 at 4:17 pm
filed under:Trend Alert
TAGS: skinny jeans, jeans, bootcut jeans, dark jeans, best jeans

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We all know that light wash jeans can be much less flattering than their dark wash counterpart, especially as we are faced with the popularity of boyfriend/slouchy cigarette styles. Many of us shudder at the thought of blaring white denim, accentuating our lower bodies in all the wrong places. Well listen up fashionista/os: here are our essential tips on pairing your light wash denim.

1. Light Wash Jeans with an Airy Top

Ashlee Simpson in Light Wash Jeans

Match the lightness of your denim with an airy, floral print top or a light and loose garment to match. Watch Ashlee Simpson balance the light airiness of her top with slim fit light wash jeans and summery sandals. Effortlessly whimsical, Ashlee is the epitome of summer style.

2. Light Wash Jeans with a dark blazer and heels

Gwyneth Paltrow pictured with Stella Mccartney in Light Wash Jeans

Lo Bosworth in Light Wash Jeans

As an instant way to chic, heels and a blazer with denim is simply a failsafe look. With light denim, a blazer and heels balances out the casual nature of the denim and helps it pop in contrast to the darker colors of the blazer.

3. Cuffed Light Wash Jeans

Eva Longoria in Light Wash Jeans

For an every day look, roll up your light wash jeans into a 2” cuff and pair with a pair of cute flats or sneakers, especially for petite women like Eva. Cuffing jeans helps elongate the legs and draws attention to your feet, so make sure to wear a cute pair of flats, sandals, or heels! Even if you’re not quite ready for boyfriend jeans and heels, you can still benefit from the better functionality and lighter look of cuffed jeans.

What NOT To Do: 

1. Make Daisy Dukes an Oopsie Daisy. While we would never discount any use of denim (well, ALMOST), Daisy Dukes are not meant for every girl (despite their newest advocate, Katy Perry). If you’re going to wear them, make sure they have enough coverage in front and back, aren’t ripped in embarrassing places, and that you balance them out with a more conservative top.

2. White Out. What is the point of wearing ALL white? Overkill much? Balance in fashion is key, so try to keep it to one or two white pieces with more subtle colors to match (especially if your skin tone is lighter!).

3. Wear 1/4 of a jean. Ripped jeans, destroyed jeans. What’s next? Jean scraps? If you’re going to wear ripped light wash jeans there is a fine line between radically ripped and getting a denim peepshow. Know the difference and you’ll be golden!

posted by: evan on June 18, 2010 at 12:50 pm
filed under:Trend Alert
TAGS: jeans, light wash jeans

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