We Love: Rivet and Hide

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*Update! Danny now has a shop! At 5 Windmill Street, Fitzrovia, London*

While we were doing our Christmas pop up with Grenson’s, the lovely James and Florence, from Petalon Flowers introduced me to Danny Hodgson of Rivet and Hide, a small workshop selling specialist denim ranges in Fulham. Since you normally have to hike over to East London to find a cool denim store I was thrilled to find something on my doorstep.

In fact, the collection of brands features mostly raw and rare denim, which is currently hot in terms of trend. What’s raw denim, you say? Well, we like to keep you on top of all important trends here at TWR, so here’s Danny,

“Raw denim is also referred to as dry or unwashed and has not been through any washing or distressing processes.Those processes take the life out of the fabric before they are even worn. Raw denim, however, will break in with time moulding to your body shape with creases and fades forming that are totally natural. We only do raw denim. Why would I sell damaged goods? Fake fades? No thanks!”

Those of you who remember buying jeans when you had to sit in a bath to get the shrink to fit feel will know what Danny’ s talking about. Yep, those stiff-as-a-board Levis, Lee and Wranglers we used to buy back in the 70s are now back in fashion, well the fabric is anyway. I still remember my mum giving me a hard time about turning the avocado bath suite a murky indigo after soaking and shrinking in my Wranglers.

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photo Horst Friedrichs

I loved Danny’s passion for his subject, there’s nothing like a denim geek to make you smile. Denim is fabric full of history and there are some great stories around the brands, styles and weavers of the cloth to feed the obsession.

Danny mostly holds mens styles, and I treated eldest and middle sons to a Flat Head shirt each for Christmas, they loved them. Middleagedad has expressed an interest to visit too, as Danny works hard to make a real connection with exactly what his customers want, hence the ‘by appointment’ selling concept he runs from the studio. (phone or emails for an appointment)

Rivet and Hide has done incredibly well since launching in 2012, and is now in negotiations to open a store. But what about us girls, Danny?

“We carry the 77BSP from 3sixteen for women. It is a skinny fit using Cone Mills denim from the USA. The mill started in 1895 and started supplying Levis in 1910. The denim these jeans use has a 4 way stretch both horizontally and vertically making them form fitting and extremely comfortable. They are sanforized so no need to account for 10% shrinkage. We shall bring in more women’s jeans from 3sixteen and from Pure Blue Japan”.

Danny hopes to extend his women’s range when his store opens, but he has lovely things for any girl with a sartorial tomboy leaning, I bought a beautiful TFH T shirt, in navy and it is amazing quality and a fab fit on a girl.

rivet & hideA selection of the Flat Head shirts that two sons got for Christmas. And below, Danny also stocks one of our favourite UK denim brands, Dawson Denim, who were also at our Grenson Pop up.

rivet and hide 03Geeky levels of detail include Danny shipping over that proper rope stitch hemming machine above,(from the West Coast of the US)  to make all alterations authentic in their finish (no simple flat seams here, denim geeks are very particular).

There are many denim geeks out there, Danny has customers all over the world due to his niche knowledge on the raw and rare brands, and they make special trips to his Fulham workshop to have long and detailed conversations on Japanese looms and quality of contrast fades and whiskering. He’s a little more from Danny about the different types of raw denim…

“There are 2 types of raw. The most accessible is sanforized. The sanforization process steams and stretches the fabric, once woven, before it is cut and sewn into a pair of jeans. As such shrinkage is minimal.Unsanforized or “loomstate” denim (more typical of the Japanese brands) has not been through this process and depending on the fabric itself (yarn tension/type of cotton etc) you can expect up to 10% shrinkage. It is a shrink to fit jean that needs an initial soak after purchase in order to induce the shrinkage. If you don’t do this the denim will weaken and all the crease marks that you develop will shift once you wash the jeans.

Die hard denimheads insist that loomstate denim fits and moulds to your body shape better than sanforized denim and yields higher contrasting fades. Personally, I think it depends on other factors such as the dyeing process and what you do in your jeans over whether the denim is sanforized or not. If you cycle daily in them you’ll develop striking honeycombs (creases fades behind the knee) but you’re more likely to get a crotch blow out sooner. However, repairing and strengthening the crotch when a small hole develops can avoid potential blowouts and add to the lifespan of your jeans.”

Now you know people, we like to keep you up to speed….

Anyone who has a middleagedad/husband/son who takes his indigo seriously should give Danny’s site a view or make an appointment at his workshop. But you are warned, he may never look back.

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