Fade Friday – Indigo Invitational Y4 Edition

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‘Row’ Competition 10th place The Strike Golds (left) & 9th place Iron Heart 555XHS (right)

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‘Row’ Competition 8th place Brave Star Selvage (left) & 7th place Iron Heart 805 Overalls (right)

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‘Row’ Competition 6th place Pinion Jeans (left) & 5th place Studio D’Artisan 103 (right)

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‘Row’ Competition 4th place Iron Heart 805 Overalls (left) & 3rd place self made Jeans (right)

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‘Row’ Competition 2nd place Warehouse jeans (left) and 1st place Iron Heart 634S (right)

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‘SEA’ Competition 10th place Piger Works Jeans (left) and 9th placeThe Strike Gold 9903 (right)

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‘SEA’ Competition 8th place Adeliade Denim Kamikaze (left) and 7th place Piger Works 20 oz. Jeans (right)

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‘SEA’ Competition 6th place Iron Heart 777S UHR (left) and 5th place Oldblue Co. Beasts (right)

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‘SEA’ Competition 4th Place Samurai S003 Jeans (left) & 3rd Place Samurai S511 Jeans (right)

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‘SEA’ Competition 2nd place PBJ XX-013 (left) and 1st place Oni Asphalt Jeans (right)

As the indigo dust begins to settle, it is time for us to again stare at super-worn-in pairs of jeans and admire the cool squiggly lines that get etched into them when worn for a long ass time. In other words, welcome to the recap of the 4th year of the Indigo Invitational.

Featuring over 1,500 denim heads who committed themselves to wearing one pair of jeans for 366 days starting January 1st 2024, the competition yielded some of the most impressive wear patterns we’ve ever seen. But before we get to that – honestly shout out to all the people who tolerate people in their lives like us wearing the same damn pants every day for a year, especially if they aren’t getting acquainted with the washing machine.

Split into 3 different subcategories, SEA (South East Asia), ROW (Rest of the World), and RE(PAIR), the competition pulls from all corners of the earth to give us the best field imaginable. It doesn’t hurt that judging was in the hands of 3 esteemed panels, including our very own Managing Editor, David Shuck.

So now that you get the caliber and legitimacy we’re dealing with here, I might as well share two of my favorite fades from the comp.

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‘SEA’ Competition 8th place Adeliade Denim Kamikaze by Rico Ahmad (left) and 7th place Piger Works 20 oz. Jeans  by Nigon Konkhamrat (right)

The first pair comes from Nigon, the 7th-place finisher in the SEA division (pictured above). With a blend of intense yet natural-looking fades on the front side of his Piger Works 20 oz. denim, what really impresses me us the prizm like honeycombing ’round back with their intense shadows. If you put those fades in a frame, they might be mistaken for cubist art – you know, with a blue period influence.

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‘Row’ Competition 2nd place Warehouse jeans by Evan Rutledge (left) and 1st place Iron Heart 634S by Scott Stasiuk (right)

The second pair is Evan’s 13.3oz Warehouse & Co. jeans (pictured above). Appearing in the Rest of the World Divison, these are your go-to’s if you want authentic looking worn in vintage denim straight from grandpa’s cattle ranch. At the end of the day, we can appreciate high contrast but sometimes you just want something that is impressive without looking fussy and these exemplify that spirit effortlessly.

Head on over to Denimhunters to view the full collection of fade finalists.