вторник, 5 февруари 2013 г.

Assignment 2 - Jeans

In our second assignment we focus on Men's Jeans. We should choose a specific model and to investigate the appearance, the comfort and the technical construction of the denim fabric.

The Style
We have chosen a pair of jeans under the label Vask. The company displays an updated yet distinctive touch, aiming for wear-ability without compromising on quality or imagination. The VASK denim is all about quality and is hand-made in Europe.
The Style of the selected jeans is plain straight. We have chosen size 32, with a width of 42 / 44.5. The cotton stretched denim has a soft handle feeling and should feel very natural and pleasant to the skin.

Composition
Material: 98% cotton, 2% elastan 

Almost all jeans are made out of 100% cotton. Polyester blend is however sometimes seen. The elastane in the denim makes the fabric stretch better. If you are using your body a lot, it is easier to stretch the jeans without ribbing. A good thing to remember when buying jeans with elastane in them, is to buy a size smaller than the usual size because the jeans will stretch half a size when worn. If you do not do that, your once great fitting jeans might start to look loose. 

Dye & Finish
Our jeans are standard blue jeans with 2% Elastane in the fabric. 
The most common dye used is synthetic indigo. This is also the dye method use to create our jeans. 
A lot of closes are being dyed after it has been woven, but denim is dyed before. 
There are so many different ways to make the finishing details on jeans today. We have methods like Acid washing, bleaching, crushing, dirty washing, frayed, overdyed, tearing and ripping and washing. 
Our jeans are left in a raw finish, which means the user is going to experience a slow transformation as it is worn. The raw finish is not the same when we add an elastane, as when we talk about raw 100% cotton jeans. 

Weight: 10.2 oz 

Composition
Woven 3x1 Right Hand Twill 
In this case, each warp yarn is going “over” three picks and then “under” one pick. At the next end, moving to the right, the same sequence is repeated but advanced up one pick. 
Most denims have been traditionally 3x1 weaves, though lighter weight denims (under 10.5 ounces/sqare yard) often use the 2x1 configuration. 
In denim, the warp yarn is colored, traditionally blue, while the weft yarn is white. 


Care instructions
The care label shows that these jeans need to be washed like most jeans at 40 degrees, not to be bleached, to be ironed with medium heat and no tumble dry.

Extra label states:
“Look out
Your new denim product is going to rub off.
Look out for rubbing against light furniture
Wash before use the minimize the risk of rubbing off”

It clearly shows on the label of the jeans that the user should be aware of the fact that the jeans are going to rub of and color is going to fade by time and after washing. The reason that jeans like these are gradually loosing color, is because of the way they are dyed. When the denim of the jeans was dyed it was dipped in the dye vat several times so that the dye forms in many layers. This means that the jeans are loosing color, layer by layer.

вторник, 29 януари 2013 г.

Assignment 1 - Jacket

Product Knowledge Assignment

The following assignment consists of 12 parts - 6 written posts and 6 presentations with focus on selected apparel pieces, materials and tests performed at TEKO's LAB. Furthermore, the ability to present the investigations with appropriate technical terminology is evaluated.

The overall assessment of this assignment: 10 (according to the Danish 7 grade scale)
Lecturer: Anders Klitgaard Mølbæk

* * *

In our first assignment, we focus on Women's Blouses / Jackets. 

We should choose a specific model/fabric and to investigate the appearance, the comfort and the technical construction of the fabric.

The Style
We have selected this jacket inspired by Chanel classics. This style is perfect for indoors or spring/summer season and it is targeting girls/women in age group 20-50 with middle range of income. 

Furthermore, we expect that this jacket will have the following qualities and characteristics:

Regarding appearance
It should have a very good fit and it should not loose its shape, therefore not stretch.
The fabric should not wrinkle.

Regarding comfort
The fabric should be soft to the skin.
It is expected to provide some warmth especially to the shoulders but this is not the main purpose of the jacket.

Regarding price level

Middle priced level from (300 to 800 dkk)

Composition
100% Acrylic (PC), which is a synthetic fibre. It is a lightweight, soft and warm. Dyed acrylic has a highest lightfastness, meaning that the colour does not get affected by the sun/light. It is washable and generally hypoallergenic. 

Structure
Looking at the weaving on microscope, we can see that it is a combination of two weavings where the base one is a plain weave. The combination of weavings is used in order to create the unique view of the fabric.

Conclusion
Stating what qualities we want our indoor jacket to have, we can conclude that acrylic fabric would be very suitable. It is soft, often used as a cheaper alternative of cashmere, warm but blocking the heat to set the shape of the garment and cheaper than other relative fabrics like cashmere or wool. 

Credits:
Jacket photo - http://www.whosjack.org/cocosa-pop-up/