The clothing industry will probably be one of the last to see robots replace humans. Although there is some automation in garment manufacturing, robots still can’t sew clothes from start to finish.
That’s why jeans makers still rely on good ol’ hand-eye coordination, which means people of flesh and blood. It doesn’t matter how (in)expensive a pair of jeans are; they’re all made by hand. Whether you pay $20 or $200 (or more) for a pair of jeans, someone somewhere in the world has cut and sewn them.
Often it’s the more tangible features of jeans that make us perceive them as valuable. The denim fabric, the design, the brand, or the pre-distressed look. But even for the finest fabric, the coolest design, the hippest brand or the most badass wash, it all depends on the quality of the cutting and sewing.
With the ever-growing demand for jeans, the making of them has long been converted into assembly line production, with workers dedicated to a single task to maximise productivity. Nevertheless, the quality of the cutting and sewing still depends on the skills of the sewer.
In this second episode in the series about how jeans are made, I’m looking at the construction of jeans; how they’re sewn, what techniques are used, and which machines. I would argue that this step in the process of making jeans is the least valued, the most underestimated.
