Cone Denim stories: Industry legends on their history with

Cone Denim stories: Industry legends on their history with
White Oak Mill By Samuel Trotman JUL 30, 2015
The second feature in our exclusive series on America’s oldest denim mill, WGSN Denim Editor Samuel Trotman
talks to influencers about what makes Cone so extraordinary
As America’s oldest running denim mill, it’s unsurprising Cone’s White Oak has been the global go-to fabric for
denim and workwear brands for the past 110 years. While Japanese denim may have recently become the finest
endorsement a pair of jeans can have, its undeniable that Cone is most certainly “the real McCoy”.
White Oak’s XX fabric is probably partially why the 501 – the original pair of jeans – became such an iconic fit for
Levi’s, something that has lasted generations and literally become the heartbeat of the denim industry.
We spoke to a select group of contemporary and classic denim brands to share their experiences at White Oak and
explain why the North Carolina mill is still so important. These Cone champions represent two generations of
denim evangelists from the United States that both incorporate vintage denim and its heritage into their
current product lines. Here’s what they had to say:
Paul O’Neil, Design Director of Levi’s Vintage Clothing
“The first time I visited cone mills was around four years ago. I had
been working with their fabrics for several years and had been wearing
them for years before that. I had heard these romantic stories about the
White Oak mill and how the selvedge denim was produced on the old
shuttle looms, so was anticipating this trip for a long time. The trip was
a very humbling experience from the get go, for as soon as we arrived
when there were people waiting outside the mill to greet us. There was
a strange feeling of calm inside even though it was loud – the people
working there seemed at harmony with the machinery. Most of them
had been working there for a long time. It’s not uncommon for people
to be there 30 or 40 years. During our visit we met a technician called
Frank who this year (2015) has been working at white oak for 60 years.
“The most impressive part of the tour was seeing our LVC fabrics coming off the draper looms. The factory at one
time was full of these looms on a large wooden floor but with the modern wide looms taking over most of the
production, the wooden floor had mostly been removed and replaced with concrete to give a flatter more controlled
surface. They have kept the original wood floors in the remaining area where the draper looms are. The way the old
looms bounce around, they would probably break up the concrete but it’s this bouncing on the wooden floors that
gives the unique irregular character to the fabrics. I’ve been back to White Oak several times since then and I still
get goose bumps when I walk onto the wooden floors and feel the chatter of the looms.”
Roy Slaper, founder of Roy Jeans
“For me, Cone is about the people. Don’t get me wrong – the
fabrics are top choice and the facility is akin to a historical,
magic Wonka-factory of denim. But, without the personal
connections I feel with each of the people I work with to get
the fabrics I want, it wouldn’t be quite as special as it is.
“As an example: my first awareness of White Oak came in
the form of a phone call about the fact that I was to be
teaching a class about how to get started making jeans, which
was taking place at a collective-type art-class organisation.
The call came from, who I found out later, was the woman in
charge of denim development for White Oak. She had overheard someone at a party mention the upcoming class
and she followed it up to find me. The short version is she not only attended the class, but also arranged for Cone to
donate enough denim for all the students to use. It was the beginning of a friendship and would lead to several other
friendships within White Oak.
“Eventually, years later, when I was able to visit the Mill in Greensboro, I wasn’t surprised as we walked around
and met folks, their names and handshakes were followed by the number of years they’d been at White Oak. It was
common to hear 15, 20, 25 years. To my thinking, White Oak fabrics are so genuine because of the personal
connections they maintain and I hope they carry on for at least one more century.”
Tony Patella, co-founder Tellason Jeans
“In 1994, I met a San Francisco jeans maker named Cliff
Abbey. Cliff started a brand in the 1970s called Sticky Fingers
which was one of the first non-Western/classic style jeans
brands. When I met him, he was just formulating another
brand called Sutter’s – based on the California Gold Rush. For
this line, he used Cone Mills denim exclusively. I became a
partner in Sutter’s and learned a lot from Cliff regarding denim
fit, fabric and sewing.
“Even though Sutter’s was a non-selvage brand geared toward young men and women, we used beautiful double
ring spun denim from White Oak. I always appreciated the way the fabric aged and responded to all of the crazy
washing techniques we would come up with. As Sutter’s grew and we moved production from San Francisco to
Puebla, Mexico, we still used White Oak denim.
“When Pete Searson and I started Tellason in 2009, there was no question we would look to White Oak exclusively
for all of our selvage denim. As I Iearned 15 years prior, their denim represents everything we wanted to associate
our brand with – quality, true heritage and an ability to age with great character. In my opinion, once Levi Strauss
shuttered its historic Valencia Street factory in San Francisco in 2002, White Oak was the last remaining “big”
historical element of American blue jeans history.”
Mik Serfontaine, founder Brave Star Selvage
“My first experience with Cone Denim was
back in 1999 when I first started manufacturing
jeans. The brand I had partnered with were
looking to do an authentic American Made
selvage jean and obviously Cone was who we
wanted to source from.
“They (Cone) had just started opening up to the
idea of working with smaller brands and I
remember feeling like being let into this cool
exclusive club. Accessibility to their denims
was quite limited back then and was not
available to such a wide range of boutique brands as it is today. With this accessibility, I think, has come a certain
familiarity and a sense today that Cone is the ‘lowest common denominator’ especially in selvage denim circles.
That’s a massive oversight to the importance that this iconic American mill has played in the evolution of the denim
industry to date.
“What makes Cone so essential and relevant is you cannot separate them from the story of the jean. This is an
institution that has been around almost since the birth of the jean. In its partnership with Levi’s, Cone’s denim has
been a part of almost every important cultural milestone the jean has been associated with. It would be like trying to
leave the Fender guitar out of the history of rock ‘n’ roll. Cone is the originator of most of the attributes that make
the jean iconic and is why personally I am so partial to using their denim for all of Brave Star’s jeans wear.
“For the consumer to be able to purchase a pair of jeans made from Cone denim is touching authenticity in a way
that people crave nowadays. This is not just an interpretation or a reproduction of the original article that most mills
churn out – this IS the real thing, made under the same roof in much the same way it has been for the past 100
years.
“Essential. Iconic. American.”