History
White Oak Denim: How a Southern Cotton Mill Became the Last Bastion of American Made Selvedge
Editorial Team
SOAS Creative Dept.
White Oak selvedge denim from the Cone Mills Company is something of legend in the heritage world, but few know exactly why. It’s often talked about as a superior fabric than other styles of denim, but this isn’t entirely the case. White Oak has a history stretching back before the first formalised jeans were even introduced, and their status comes largely from this incredibly ric heritage, but also the tragic story of their fall from the worlds largest denim supplier, to a niche selvedge producer, barely hanging onto life. With special thanks to Dr. Sonya Abrego for supplying us with her dissertation, ‘Cone Mills Denim: An Investigation into Fabrication, Tradition, and Quality’, and the founders of Tellason, Pete Searson and Tony Patella for chatting to us about their experiences during the final years of the mill, let’s discover the history of this America institution.
How White Oak Became America’s Favourite Denim Producer
In 1891, brothers Moses and Ceasar Cone formed the Cone Export & Commission Company, a decision likely spurred by their time working as travelling salesman for their father, Herman Cone. During their time working for Herman, the brothers developed close relationships with many textile mills in the south, and within just a few years of establishing their company, were trading products from just under 90% of all Southern mill owners. Attempting to capitalise on their new success, the Cone’s began building their own mills in the Carolinas for the specialised production of denim and flannel, moving quickly to create new partnerships and contracts. I 1905, unknowingly, the brothers would open a mill to outlast the others, becoming not only the last bastion of their history in fabric production, but also a mill often regarded as something of legend.
The White Oak Mill was a sprawling complex that’s shell still sits on the outskirts of Greensboro, North Carolina. Specialising in the production of denim, it its height, the red brick factory housed over 3000 shuttle looms, and by 1910, only five years after its opening, White Oa was the largest producer of denim in the world, creating over a third of the globes entire denim supply. The mills sudden growth turned Greensboro from a town to a city within a decade, and quickly positioned it as the centre of the Southern textile industry. White Oak then began supplying ‘the big three’ jeans makers, the first of which was Levi’s, who signed on in 1915, an who used the mills denim for the very first 501’s.
With the mills popularity among clothing companies skyrocketing, White Oak made the decision to begin marketing themselves directly to consumers as jeans transitioned form workwear to casual fashion. Now that flannels and denim overalls were more acceptable to wea in day-to-day life, the company coined the slogan ‘Cone Makes Fabrics That People Live In’, a decision that would begin a unique, direct to customer relationship with Cone Mills. Now recognised for their sturdy, well made fabric, shoppers began looking for the White Oak label on their clothing, and the logo became synonymous with American-made quality. The 1950s and 1960s saw the mill at their most influential, but the tide was turning, and things wouldn't be s secure for much longer.
Cone Mills Corporation Employees," ca. 1940s. Courtesy of University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives.
The Decline of Cone Mills and The Survival of Selvedge
It was clear things were changing in the 1970s as the textile industry began to move overseas, taking advantage of cheaper production on account of more relaxed labour laws and lack of unions. Cone Mills directly suffered from this, and to make things worse, denim’ widespread use had prioritised cheap production rather than quality fabrication. By 1985, after a hostile takeover of the Cone Mills Company, White Oak had disabled all of its original selvedge Draper looms, rendering the mill functionally incapable of producing selvedge. For years, customers had been feeling the difference in quality, and the decision of White Oak’s new owner to tie themselves to a fast fashion market, though necessary for their survival, ultimately became the reason it would have to shut down.
At the same time White Oak was shutting down it’s selvedge looms, the Japanese denim collector Shigeharu Tagaki was creating his first jean, the DO-1. Inspired by the golden age o denim, the jean took inspiration from Tagaki’s collection of mid-century clothing, and would become the very first product to be sold through his brand, Studio d’Artisan. This obsession ove American vintage wasn’t a rare sight in Japan in the late 80s, with the countries youth becoming drawn to the rebellious look of 1950s media. Strangely, as selvedge denim began to die in the United States, it was being completely reborn across the Pacific.
Perhaps seeing the tide, modern western jeans companies began experimenting with bringing back selvedge. In 1995, both Levi’s and Ralph Lauren created their sub-labels LVC and RRL, which specialised in reviving mid-century cuts and vintage clothing with an onus on quality. What was happening in Japan seemed to have spread to America, and White Oak seized this opportunity to fill a niche. Pulling the only few still-functioning Draper looms from storage, the mil reintroduced selvedge in 1997, and quickly saw themselves inundated with new orders.
Interior of Cone Mills Corporation, ca. 20th century. Courtesy of University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives.
