For a lot of fervent faders out there, shredded renditions of contemporary raw denim keep the indigo world turning. However, every once in a while there emerges a submission that goes above and beyond, transcending fades culture and commanding the spotlight in our Fade Friday series. Submissions like Vico, who made a pair of reproduction Levi’s 1880’s waist overalls from scratch.

Modeled after a repro pair he already owned, Vico used Cone Mills 13 oz. XX denim and hardware/donut buttons from Citron Jeans Japan to give his jeans an authentic look. As for machinery, Vico worked with an ordinary sewing machine and bought an overlock machine specifically for the project. Having never sewn a pair of jeans before, our hero literally looked up every single step online. You wouldn’t know these are only his second attempt ever to make a pair of jeans, let alone this specific pair. And seeing as they basically look like an original, which had that same air of rustic homemade-ness, in our eyes they’re perfect.

We haven’t even gotten to the aging yet! Having worn them for 2 years and 5 months, they have achieved a great rosy blue hue with a subtle gradient of fading. But to tie it all together, it’s not the fades themselves that really matter here, it’s that this dude made jeans himself, really cool ones in fact, and wore them a bunch. A labor of love that they should honestly reach out to Levi’s themselves about. To say the bar has been raised is an understatement.