As of the 1st of September 2021, 60+ denimheads are competing alongside each other to produce the best fades on their pair of BDDxSAM-01’s. These jeans have been designed by BENZAK from Amsterdam, produced by Osaka’s Samurai Jeans, and feature signature details from both denim brands, making this a true collaboration. This denim fading contest will run for a full year, ending on the 31st of August 2021. On this page you can find monthly updates, including each month’s top nine Instagram status updates by our contestants, carefully selected by us.
All good things must come to an end, and so does our fading contest which started a year ago. We would like to thank Samurai Jeans for collaborating with us, Robin Denim for co-hosting the contest and of course all the contestants for their participation. We’ve seen our jeans evolve in unique ways all over the globe, and unfortunately this update will be the last one.
However, the final top 10 of the BENZAK x Samurai Jeans fading contest still has to be announced next week. The winners will receive some great prizes, so stay tuned.
With the summer season in full swing, we’re actually heading into the last month of our fading contest. July has given us more distinguishable fades, stronger contrasts and striking shades of blue. It’s great to see all the unique characteristics each pair has developed of the past (almost) year. As the finish line of our fading contest is in sight, so is the awesome lineup of prizes. We can’t wait to see the final results at the end of this month, so all there is left to do is to wish good luck to all competing contestants!
We’ve entered the final two months of our fading contest, and the denim evolution is becoming more and more apparent. Each participating pair of jeans has clearly seen a lot of wear days, resulting in some amazing result. The high contrast fades in some of these examples really show the difference between the indigo blue tones from when the jeans were still new, and the stark white core of the cotton threads. As we’re now in the final stretch of our fading contest, we would like to wish all the participants the best of luck. Even though competing is more important than winning, there are some pretty nice prizes lined up for the best fades.
When going through the selection of this months’ favourite fades, we saw a commonality amongst them. The beloved honeycombs are prominently visible in many of the contestants’ updates, and understandably so! So, for this month’s best nine we have decided make ‘honeycombs’ the theme of the month, albeit subsequently. It’s great to see the shared love for the same detail, but the distinct difference in each pair of jeans. This is what makes a fading contest so interesting, and shows that each pair of jeans will mould to its owner. Maybe we’ll find a new theme for next month’s update, nevertheless, keep sharing those beautiful fades with us as we are heading into the final quarter of the BENZAK x Samurai Jeans fading contest.
This April we finally had the opportunity to catch up with likeminded denim heads at Denim Days Festival in Amsterdam. It has been long overdue, since we did not have the chance to see some of our friends and colleagues for over 2 years. While at Denim Days, it was humbling seeing you guys wearing our garments with pride. On top of that, we spotted some amazing fades including those of a few contestants. It was refreshing seeing all the denim evolution off-screen and inspiring to see the denim community spring to life again. Even though every pair started the same, in this month’s selection we can already see how unique every pair has become. We can’t wait to see the progress in the next update, so keep showing us those fades!
The further the process, the better the fades are getting. This is really showing in this month’s update; it has been a difficult task to select only nine pictures for March’s best nine, considering all the heavy honeycomb and whisker developments. To really stand out it’s also important to showcase your fades in an original way, and therefore we are looking at the creativity of content creation too. We have come up with a selection of well-shot top-down fade update pics, combined with a couple of outdoor shots showing either beautiful surroundings, or making perfect use of the natural daylight. Now that Spring is upon us, go outside and show us more of these the coming weeks!
Halfway there! We’ve just passed the 6-month mark and cannot express how much we love the progress everyone is making. A lot of jeans show amazing fading and more and more jeans have been washed at least once already. It’s also really great to see how most of the contestants are still finding interesting ways to capture their individual fading evolution. Of course, it helps when the jeans are already looking this good after such a short amount of time. Everyone is really doing their best, and it shows. We’re looking forward to the second half of this contest!
The first month of the new year has shown us more and more unique fades. It’s amazing to see how each pair is developing differently from each other, from different locations all around the world. The further we go into our contest, the better the fading updates get; and we’re not even halfway yet. It’s also getting harder to select nine ‘best’ updates; in case you didn’t make the cut, please know that this has been the most difficult month so far. Most contestants have shown loads of progression after the holidays. Can it be a new year’s resolution to make 2022 an even better ‘fading’ year than before?
First, we would like to wish everyone all the best for 2022. Let this be a year full of amazing denim, even better fading, and possibly the start of new friendships along the way. We used our Christmas break to take a step back and spent time with our loved ones. Now we are reloaded once more to continue our journey together with you guys and gals. We have seen so many amazing fading updates this month, it’s incredible how fast some of you are proceeding. Lennaert has also been wearing his pair mostly since the start but isn’t near as far as most of the contestants. He might show an update of his pair soon, as he’s planning to give the jeans an early wash for a more vintage-looking fading effect along the way.
We’re already at one quarter of the contest and nearing the end of the year. It’s interesting to see that the photography is still showing a wide variety of weather types, meaning our contestants are well-spread over the globe. But what’s even greater to see is that most of the jeans are showing incredible fading already. This is really promising for the remainder of the contest! In this third update we have chosen for two great examples of flat-lay fade updates, alongside some simply cool updates.
The second month of the BENZAK x Samurai Jeans fading contest has flown by. We’re already over 60 days into the contest and it’s amazing to see the development of each pair. Usually, 2 months isn’t that long yet, but the 19 oz. Kiwami denim is already showing its fast-fading capabilities. In this second update we’ll showcasing a selection of fade updates and cool looks.
One down, eleven to go! The first month of the BENZAK x Samurai Jeans fading contest has just passed, and boy, we have already seen so many great updates and even the first signs of fading. It’s great to see everyone updating regularly and our community getting together. For our first update we have looked primarily at the creativity of the status updates and have narrowed it down to the following ‘best nine’ for September.