Cone Mills Denim Celebrates 110 Year Anniversary

Cone Mills Denim Celebrates 110 Year Anniversary

Cake Boss's Draper Loom Cake

Cone Mills has come a long ways since that first spool of bobbin thread came off the line in April of 1905. Just a decade later they began producing fabric for American denim giant Levi’s, and now their White Oak Plant is America’s only remaining producer of selvedge denim.

Cone has been looking back to it’s roots on this year of two anniversaries–it’s not only their 110th year in business but also the centennial of their “Golden Handshake” agreement with Levi’s. At their booth at the Kingpins textile show they had recovered vintage items from their Found Collection, a new denim dyed in the old style with natural plant indigo, and even a cake made in the shape of a Draper X-3 loom.

But for wider consumption, Cone put together a video documenting some of the history and the workers at their plant to commemorate the event. You can see the changes on the old production floor versus how it looks today, hear about their development of new textiles, and even a safecracking interlude.

Learn more about Cone and have a look at a commemorative tee on their website.