Despite being one of the most important brands in the raw denim scene, it wasn’t until I began writing for Heddels that I realized just how great Iron Heart jeans are. Our fades inbox is stuffed full of faded Iron Heart jeans and jackets, each looking as good as the last in their own unique way. IH goods just do exactly what you want raw denim goods to do — fit perfectly, last for ages, look great, and get better with each wear.
Someone who knows this from experience is our guy Chris over in Wisconsin, who submitted his pair of IH-555S-18II raw denim jeans to us. Now, these are far from the most faded jeans we’ve featured, but they’ve got that authentic ‘lived-in’ look that is a thing of beauty in its own right. Chris has been wearing these super-slim straight jeans for 2.5 years, using them whilst working on cars and motorcycles in his garage, and going for hikes in the mountains of Arizona.
These IH-555S-18II started out life as a double indigo raw selvedge denim jean (indigo-dyed warp and weft yarns), and the paces Chris has put them through have unlocked the fading potential of this dark, inky fabric. The lap exhibits some nicely contrasting ‘dirty fades’ through some murky dye loss, probably earned through time in the garage. Some subtle whiskers manage to poke through, whilst the honeycombs command the middle of the leg in style, sprawling ’round to the faded knee. And to top it all off, there are even some gentle stack fades coming through towards the hem.
We’d love to see an update of this when they reach the half-decade point, but for now, you can keep up to date with Chris and his Iron Hearts on his instagram, @heritageheathens.
