Japan Blue 'Ethical' 12.5oz. Banana Cotton Selvedge Jeans (Slim Straight)

• 12.5oz Cote D'Ivoire Selvedge denim
• 100% Cote D'Ivoire cotton
• Sanforized Japanese Selvedge denim
• Slim Straight Fit
• 5 Brass button fly with Japan Blue debossing
• Green/Orange/White Selvedge ID
• Blue Inseam cotton thread
• JB leather patch

What is JB's new "Ethical" lineup all about you may ask? In a nutshell, the aim is to cut down on waste tied to the three main components during production - Water, cotton and thread. Japan Blue have gone above and beyond to produce garments that are not only produced in a sustainable fashion but are innovative in both design and feel.

Because the cotton is hand picked in Cote D'Ivoire, the fabric reflects the painstaking work applied to the curation of the cotton (much of the mass produced cotton used today is picked using modern machines).

Additionally, using this particular pesticide free, hand-picked fabric gives a positive boost to the dying cotton industry of Cote D'Ivoire, and the JB team have gone to lengths to create a system where a portion of the profits from this model are appropriated to the development fund of Cote D'Ivoire.

The banana fiber itself is sourced from Thailand, where the banana stalks are often simply incinerated once cut from the tree.  

Banana fiber has excellent water absorption and hygroscopicity because the fiber swells and forms cavities when it is saturated. It was also found that the fiber length is about 1.5 to 2 times longer than that of cotton and highly durable.
However, when weaving denim or machinery, the yarn needs to have a certain degree of elongation which is not a property of the banana fiber itself.

In order to produce the denim fabric, the fiber is blended with Cote d'Ivoire cotton, which harmonizes well with the simple texture. Several patterns of yarns were produced and extensively tested to determine the mixing ratio that gives the elongation.

The thinner the thread, the easier it is to break. Thus, many tests adjusting the speed and tension during weaving were done in order to produce thicker threads for jeans and thinner threads for shirts.