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On the left is the pair I bought as part of this drop, received them at my place in Oakland last week they're brand new. On the right is the first production sample, which I've worn for 118 days. I did a rise (lukewarm water in a tub, scrubbed a bit, no soap/detergent) at 60 days, and a wash (washing machine on cold, dash of tide, machine dried) at 118 days.
no before pictures sadly. N&F the grey ones, they sat a fairly loose so not a ton of fading unfortunately; i should wash them to see what they look like after though. Nudies the blue. did some pottery a week ago, gf thought it would be fun to leave some clay on em.
As far as other styles, I can tell you we've got a few exciting things in the works with Naked & Famous as well as some other raw denim brands. We're still working out the launch dates and production dates, but rest assured, if you bought the Ichiban we'll email you about them.
Once the indigo is reduced, the object is dipped in it, and then removed. The reduced indigo quickly reacts with oxygen in the air and turns blue again. In the case of rope dying, large ropes are made from yarns of cotton, which are repeatedly dipped and removed from the bath. This prevents the indigo from drying completely and penetrating deep into the fibre (which is desirable as people want jeans to fade). Once done, the yarns are untwisted and woven in to the denim fabric.
Anyway. Going back to our pair of jeans. Vinegar is an acid, meaning it has free hydrogen ions we can use to reduce the indigo. That's important, as the rope dying leaves the dried indigo caked on top of the thread, and this is easy to rub off once the denim is wet. Once reduced, all the indigo on the surface dissolves into the bath, and finds its way (you guessed it), back onto the thread.
Adding vinegar to bath basically allows you to redistribute the dye on the jeans.
As for salt, salt is not a fixative contrary to popular belief. However it does serve an important purpose in dyeing. It's to do with total solubility and osmotic pressure, which is kind of complex but suffice it to say, it helps drive the dye into the fabric and out of the water.
I won't argue to the efficacy of using salt and vinegar in household concentrations, but that's the chemistry behind it.