Revel in blue jeans

When Levi Strauss first popularised denim jeans in the 1850s, they were worn mainly by workers who needed a sturdier alternative to traditional trousers. Today jeans are no longer considered just a functional piece of clothing, with designer brands launching denim-dedicated collections, as seen in Lanvin's recent collaboration with Acne jeans. More brands are also specialising in premium denim, turning what was once a basic item into a fashion must-have.

'Denim is very much a cultural canvas that reflects the times,' says George Gorrow, co-founder of Australian label Ksubi. 'The wash and fit of a pair of jeans can send you straight back to the era it came from, and now, with all the advances with the cloth itself, the image of jeans has changed dramatically.'

'Denim over the past several decades has acquired an enhanced cachet in social class acceptance,' says Richard Atkins, founder of The ProportionofBlu, a new label that counts Kate Moss and Lindsay Lohan among its fans. 'This is due in large part to the importance of technology and craftsmanship in improving the quality of the cloth and finishing. The form of the garment itself has remained quite static since its creation.'

While jeans continue to evolve in terms of style and fit, the fabric itself has also changed over the years. Lasers, high-temperature ovens, resins and polymer coatings are being used to treat the material, making it a much more exclusive and expensive fabric.

'Technology has resulted in the development of new denim materials and manufacturing techniques that have allowed designers to apply denim in other areas such as shoes, bags, dresses and so on,' says Federico Tan, head of marketing for Diesel Asia Pacific.

With the demand for denim continuing to grow, brands have become more creative and innovative with the fabric. Jeans today are not the mass-produced pieces of the past; producing a pair these days is a labour-intensive process that requires stringent attention to detail. Brands such as Diesel use double layering and double stitching for all their denim garments, while DSquared distresses all of its denim products by hand. The increasingly detailed work has sent the price of denim products skyrocketing, with styles sometimes costing thousands of dollars - prices you'd expect to pay for a piece of designer clothing, not everyday wear.