10 Facts About LSG Denim and Why it’s Crazy You Haven’t Heard of Them Yet!
Photo from https://lsgdenim.com
As most of us know, a good pair of jeans can be hard to come by these days, with many retailers selling ‘fast fashion’ with little consideration for quality. Quality means everything at STOCKED, that’s why we are excited to be the first store to carry LSG Denim and why caught up with co-founder Papo to hear about the top 10 most interesting facts about the company.
10. Featured in GQ Magazine
LSG Denim, specifically the slim fit, Brooks were mentioned in GQ UK magazine’s November 2018 edition.
Photo from https://www.gq.com/
9. Raw/Selvedge Denim
Papo explains, “raw denim is denim in its purest form. It is unwashed and untreated unlike the "pre-distressed/washed" jeans flooding the market right now.”
“’Selvedge’ comes from ‘self-edge,’ referring to the finished or ‘locked’ edge of the fabric that prevents edges from unravelling. This narrow, woven fabric can only be made using an old-school shuttle loom. This is a very slow process that requires the skill of a master artisan to operate. There are very few mills (mostly Japan) who still make selvedge fabric. The last of the denim mill in the US that made selvedge denim, Cone denim, closed their doors at the end of last year.”
Photo from https://lsgdenim.com
8. Canadian-based company
Established in 2011, LSG started to manufacture denim in 2013, and only became a brand as of March last year. Since then, LSG have seen the interest in them increase at an amazing rate. The company is based out of Calgary, Alberta, the denim is designed in Canada and made in Nepal.
Photo from https://lsgdenim.com
7. Affordable! Half the price of most Japanese raw denim
While the average pair of raw Japanese denim will set you back at least $350 on average, a pair of LSG less than half of that with jeans starting at $145.
“It was sometime in 2011 when I first heard of raw selvedge denim and started wearing it. It was love at first sight. High quality fabric and getting unique fades was what attracted us to raw denim. Raw selvedge denim was very expensive then, and it still is,” says Papo
“All of us at LSG like well-made clothing, but we were finding that the items we wanted were always above the means of our paycheque. We thought why not start our own brand and provide high quality items for a fair price? Why not start with raw selvedge jeans? Easier said than done.”
“The three of us got together and made some inquiries. We came to the conclusion that we could definitely bring the price down and still make high-quality jeans.
Photo from https://lsgdenim.com
6. Ethically sourced and made
“Calgary is not a garment manufacturing city,” says Papo. “Outsourcing the production to other Canadian provinces or the US was not an option either. Those guys have huge minimum order requirements. With the kind of skill set and attention to detail we needed; not to forget our micromanagement, we thought it was better to do it on our own. As our family is from Nepal, we have lots of friends and family in the country. We teamed up with our friend in Nepal and started a small facility in Kathmandu. Now we can make what we want, how we want, and however many we want.”
“We hired couple of very experienced tailors and started experimenting. We made so many patterns and wasted so much premium fabric that I have lost count. It took us almost four years to convince ourselves that we could finally go into production. Our business and website went live on March 9, 2018.”
Photo from https://lsgdenim.com
5. Started three guys who never worked in fashion before
LSG Denim was founded by Papo Subba, Kishor Limbu and Kumar Gurung. Papo says “Neither my partners or I have a designing background. I still have a full-time job and work in the logistics department at Shaw Communications. The other founders also have full time jobs in other areas of work too. This is a side-line and a proper passion for us.”
Photo from https://lsgdenim.com
4. Long lasting
A long lasting, quality pair of jeans is not only cost efficient but better for the environment. “People who are into raw denim buy less but only buy high quality products,” says Papo. “Even with daily wear, they’ll last you a long time. I’ve been rocking the same pair of jeans, at least 200 wears, for a year now,” says Papo.
Photo from https://lsgdenim.com
3. Jeans become unique to you
“Most of the jeans you see stores selling are pre-washed. We are jeans at their rawest which means you essentially make your own mark on them,” says Papo.
“The fade you get through wearing our jeans depends on your lifestyle and how much you wear them. You and I could be wearing entirely the same fabric, yet we would have different fades. It’s unique to you and you only. The less you wash your jeans, the higher the contrast fade you’ll achieve. The more you wash, the more uniform fade you get. I have a guy who hasn’t washed his jeans for 14 months and has got some crazy fade going on. I’m just waiting for him to wash them!”
Photo from https://lsgdenim.com
2. Fine detail
“There are multiple elements that separate regular jeans from a pair of LSGs,” says Papo.
“Small details like the quality and detailing of buttons, rivets, leather patch, stitching technique, pocket bags etc. all make a difference. It’s a kind of universal agreement that fit, fabric, and construction reign supreme.”
“Someone new to raw denim might find it a little heavier and stiffer to begin with. Once you break them in, most probably you won’t be wearing washed denim again.”
Photo from https://lsgdenim.com
1. Not just jeans
“We’ve also branched out to leather accessories; bags, wallets and belts. We’ve started doing T-shirts too,” says Papo.
“That stuff we make here. We custom-milled a jersey fabric in Montreal and stitched it here in Calgary. They’re 100% made in Canada.”
Photos from https://lsgdenim.com
Browse LSG Denim online at https://lsgdenim.com or try on a pair at STOCKED in Chinook Centre, 2nd floor 6455 Macleod Trail S Calgary AB