Designer Maurice Malone teaches denim washing techniques at Chinese factory

Maurice Malone at the Vigoss factory in China, explains to staff how to correctly make realistic whiskers on denim jeans.

Denim Designer Maurice Malone

This video was originally created in 2011 for Denimwork.com, Maurice's freelance fashion and denim design service. Head of denim design at Vigoss USA, Maurice worked up to six months out of the year at factories throughout China.

Like fabric selection, one of the other clear ways to distinguish between good and bad jeans is the effort that goes into making the washes. Many of the factories and designers that make jeans don't understand the original purpose of sanding raw jeans during production was to emulate the look of aged jeans. Over time, hand sanding has wondered and become more of a decoration than an effect of imitated vintage jeans.