You’ve heard of sneakerheads. You’ve heard of hypebeasts. But have you ever heard of denimheads?
Selvedge Philippines is a local community of just below two thousand members in Facebook comprised of denim connoisseurs across the Country. Among the founders we got a hold of for an interview are by Raul Lejano and Jake Antig who act as administrators in the Facebook group along with co-admins Iver Aldas. The group was founded early 2017, and had it’s first GTG (get together) as soon as May of the same year. The sophomore event was held right away last October 2017.
One would think jeans were merely jeans; that denim was merely denim. But like all aspects of fashion, there’s so much more than meets the eye. So much that the very idea and existence of denim inspired such a community to come together as enthusiasts. There’s great craftsmanship to denim–it’s basically an artform. The types of material, construction, it’s fit, the list goes on and on and on. “I don’t think it’s complex, but at the same time it isn’t simple,” said Raul. While Jake added, “For some time, it was difficult to find high quality selvedge denim locally. Options were few and there was really no avenue for people to ask and learn about the topic.”
Selvedge’s GTG last October was simple. It was all for the members to meet personally, and, well, get together. However for the 2nd one they’ve added speakers such as Denim Manila’s Kai Huang who spoke about his denim journey while showing some personal pieces of denim. Joined by him were Leon Denim’s Iver and Jake’s talk about how denim is made. They were then followed by community members who shared stories about how they came to be denimheads. “It was very nice to hear their stories,” Raul added. And for Jake, “online communities can only go so far.” Which was why GTG was pushed so much as twice in the same year.
Different people from different walks of life came to be in the community. For Raul it has always been his personal fascination for clothing. While Jake says it’s the craftsmanship that brought him in. Iver says his dad was, “the main influence, growing up we were exposed to Marlon Brando, James Dean and James bond films.” The most unlikely things can bring people together and Selvedge Philippines is a living testament to that statement.
As for where Selvedge Philippines is headed from here on, for Raul, “it’s about growing the community, not necessarily in size but growing the learning, the sharing, the connections.” While Iver’s goal is globalization, starting with neighboring countries.
Photo Credits to Robert Gualberto.
