Note: This is a guest post from Devin Leisher, one of the producers of the documentary, Warp & Weft: A Raw Denim Documentary. After successfully raising their funds from their Kickstarter Project nearly one year ago, Leisher and his team – Mehdi Ahmadi and Anders Helseth – have finally completed their film. 

You can purchase this one-of-a-kind documentary through this page on their site »

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Almost a full year ago, the supporters of the Warp and Weft Kickstarter, a whole bunch of SuFu friends, and the support of Heddels made this film a possibility, and I am happy to say that today it is finally a reality. The journey was not always easy as there were a few setbacks, but I have to say the end result is not only one that we are extremely proud of, but one that we didn’t even see coming.

This film had many different incarnations in its existence and concept, but we knew at the root we wanted to create a film that felt as if the viewer was “in” on a conversation with denim-heads from all over the US (and some from overseas!). The final product has more of a story than we originally anticipated, and truly has a lot to offer to both newcommers and veterans of the raw and selvage enthusiast spectrum.

Again, we can’t thank you all enough for making this film a possibility, we hope our passion for the subject translates into an fun and informative film, and most of all that you enjoy watching it!

I thought I’d go ahead and break down what the film consists of, chapter by chapter:

1. What is it about denim?

This chapter was made with the help of our SuFu participants, who came out for the day-long shoot to be interviewed about all sorts of denim-related topics.

2. Lynne Downey

Lynne is the historian for the Levi‘s Archives and is more or less the gatekeeper for the world’s oldest denim. She gives the history of the blue jean and Levi Strauss & Co.

3. Jimmy Crow

JimmyC, SuperFuture moderator and denim lover, has also designed the patches that have been used on a few jeans, including the SuFu x Dry Bones Collab. Jimmy talks about his first love of STF Levi’s and how he fell into the world of Japanese denim.

4. Gordon Heffner

Gordon is the owner of Blue in Green in New York. He talks about his first experiences with Japanese raw and selvage, and gives the history of how the Japanese became known for repro and updated, high quality denim.

5. Andrea Baburske

Or “Beatle” to the majority of internet-denim-heads. She is the epitome of a denim lover and talks about her first pairs.

6. First Pairs

Another SuFu participant segment where denim heads came out to talk about their first pairs of raw and selvage. Not surprisingly, a lot of Nudies! Biggest surprise in this segment for me was the Iron Heart forum moderator’s, Landocal126, first pair.

7/8. RingRing and Kiya Babzani

SuFu mystery and legend, RingRing is introduced by Johan Lam of 3sixteen and his story. Kiya Babzani, owner of Self Edge, talks about his first exposure to raw and selvedge among his trips to Japan, the early days of Self Edge, and the bond that has been created with the Japanese manufacturers.

9. Julian Dash

Owner of Dash Etc. and Holy Stitch, Julian does all the hemming and repairs for Self Edge San Francisco, talks about the strength of the community of denim creators and lovers.

10. Roy Slaper

Roy talks about his start into denim manufacturing and his relationship with the people at Levi’s, among many other things, all while working on his first run of the ’04’s, using special denim that Levi’s had made exactly to his specifications.

11. Denim Newcomers / The Future

We speak with four new denim startups who have just entered the world of raw and selvedge and talk about what makes their brands unique and the challenges associated with starting a brand.

It has been very cool to see how far some of these brands have come in as little as six months since we met them!

12. Levi’s Archives

Lynne pulls out the oldest denim in the world, which dates back as far as 1879; as well as some of the most influential, and gives us a lot of background to each pair.