We celebrate all kinds of manufacturing at AMT – The Association For Manufacturing Technology, from the most cutting-edge smart automation to the humble, time-honored shuttle loom. And believe it or not, few things thread the needle between tradition and tech quite like denim.

Yes, denim.

A Looming Future

You may know Toyota as one of the world’s top automakers, but did you know the company’s origin story begins with fabric – not fuel? Toyota’s founder, Sakichi Toyoda, was a textile machinery inventor. Before Toyota Motor Corp. existed, Toyoda Automatic Loom Works was revolutionizing weaving with automatic shuttle looms – some of which are still in operation today.

These machines are the heart of a very specific – and very popular – subculture in fashion: selvedge (or “selvage,” if you prefer the American spelling) denim, a tightly woven denim fabric with a self-finished edge. You often see urban hipsters – or fashion-conscious manufacturing analysts – sporting selvedge jeans, as evidenced by the cuffed leg openings that show off the selvedge.

But it’s not just about looks. What makes selvedge denim special is how it’s made. The fabric is woven slowly on narrow shuttle looms, producing a tighter weave, cleaner edge, and a more durable garment. These looms are rarely made today, but many premium denim brands – particularly in Japan – still use vintage Toyoda looms to achieve this quality. One of the most iconic examples? Kaihara, a Japanese textile company, makes the selvedge denim used in Uniqlo’s $50 jeans (a personal favorite of mine). When I wear them to formal business events, I like to remind people I’m wrapped in a product made using equipment from an AMT member company; Toyoda is a subsidiary of JTEKT.

It doesn’t stop there. Some of the most exclusive denim in the world – like the fabric used in Momotaro’s $2,000 handwoven jeans – is woven on antique kimono looms, showing just how deep the Japanese dedication to denim goes. And while not every hipster is wearing Toyoda-woven jeans, virtually every high-quality selvedge pair owes something to Japanese loom heritage.

That heritage takes on a whole new meaning with Toyota’s Woven City, currently under construction near Mount Fuji. This isn’t your average “smart city.” Toyota calls it a “test course for mobility,” a city-sized test bed designed to prototype AI, robotics, and hydrogen-powered transport systems in a fully built, real-world environment. The city will initially house 100 Toyota employees and partners – called “weavers,” a clever nod to the company’s textile roots.

AMT’s Break-In Process

At AMT, we’re also big believers in honoring the past while building the future. And just like Toyota’s Woven City, we’ve built our own test bed environment to push the boundaries of what manufacturing can become.

Enter the AMT Pop-Up Shop: a low-cost, high-impact digital manufacturing test bed built inside our headquarters. It’s not just for show. This space is where we develop and test concepts at the bleeding edge of the digital thread, the connective tissue linking design, manufacturing, and the entire product life-cycle. Whether it’s integrating MTConnect into real-world systems, exploring robotic automation with Robot Operating System, or creating direct-from-CAM machine control with open-source hardware, the Pop-Up Shop is our proving ground.

This type of test bed – compact, affordable, and full of real-world relevance – is crucial. It allows us to trial standards, software, and systems without the overhead of industrial-scale production. Just like Woven City, the Pop-Up Shop lets us learn fast, fail safely, and transfer those insights into tools and tech that drive industry forward.

Fade to White

The connection between manufacturing and fashion may not be obvious, but it’s deeply rooted. Even the word “denim” has industrial origins: It comes from the French “serge de Nimes,” meaning a sturdy fabric from the city of Nimes. Originally used for workwear, denim has always been a material for makers – blue-collar, white-collar, and now AI-collar alike. The fabric is a reminder that the tools of yesterday – when maintained, refined, and reimagined – can shape the technologies of tomorrow.

Whether you’re talking about robotic sewing systems being developed today or antique looms that have stood the test of time, manufacturing tech is woven into every fiber of what we wear. So, next time you pull on a pair of selvedge jeans, think about where they came from – not just the cotton fields, but the looms, the machines, and the legacy of manufacturing innovation. The future is bright, and it’s woven together by threads – both denim and digital.

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