Note: This is a special guest post from Jacob Peregrin, who is a part of Blue Seven – a clothing store based in Oklahama City – and the owner of a previously featured Nudie Grim Trim.

Each year, Blue Seven hosts a raw denim event, “Clean Start Project”, whereby a group of local “Okies” wear a pair of raw denim for six months and document the garment’s development.

Special thanks to Jacob for taking the time to compile this year’s re-cap for us.

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Clean Start is a raw denim-focused project put on by our shop, Blue Seven, each year in Oklahoma City. Although there are a few reasons for hosting this unique event, two major drivers stand out for us.

The first is simple – we love denim. To watch a group of individuals with completely different lifestyles wear and tear raw denim over the same time period is truly amazing.

What makes this even more special for us as well – and leading to the second reason we put on Clean Start – is that it’s a collective, not solo, effort. We love our community and this project strengthens existing relationships, as well builds new ties between locals who may have never met otherwise.

While we were really pleased with the participation and fade results from our first Clean Start, we were even more satisfied with the turnout and by-products of our second round.

Kicking off back on October 1st, 2012, 60 denim lovers (versus 18 the year prior) committed to wearing a new pair of raw denim daily for six months. Similar to our first Clean Start, we saw individuals join from all walks of life – tattoo artists, lawyers, screen printers, parents, teachers, preachers, local grocers and people from a range of other professions

Our documentation process was methodical but very straightforward. Over the course of the six months, we photographed each pair of denim every two weeks and took note of any notable progression details.

Once the six months came to an end, each pair was given a proper wash at the local laundromat before being put on full display in the form of an gallery-style exhibit. Each of the sixty pairs were showcased and served to educate the local community about the beauty of raw denim.

You can find everyone’s monthly photos from the past two projects on our site, but the following three are a just a sampling of my favorite fades from this year’s Clean Start.

Tony Westland – Naked & Famous Weird Guy LHT

Tony Westland does woodworking as well as all sorts of other construction jobs. His Naked & Famous Weird Guy LHT showed some strong whiskering.

Jeremiah Cozee – Cult of Individuality Rebel Dry

Jeremiah Cozee did some good work on his Cult of Individuality Rebel Dry‘s during the daily grind as an auto body mechanic.

Ashley Sellers – Naked and Famous Straight Selvedge

In stark contrast, Ashley Sellers broke in her Naked and Famous Straight Selvedge during her full time job as mother of two.

Two participants from the first project picked up where they left off, and decided to wear their jeans for a second six month period. Both show how a full years wear can pay off with great fades.

Ashley Smith – Nudie Tight Long Johns

Tyler Hopkins – Naked and Famous Weird Guy LHT

For more information on Clean Start, including all of the monthly photos and plans for the next instalment, hop over to Blue Seven‘s site.