VIDEO: DUCK VS DENIM

DUCK VS DENIM FOR CASUAL PANTS

The undisputed king of casual pants is the denim jean, but you might not be as familiar with its cousin, duck canvas.

But there are a ton of reasons to add some duck canvas pants to your wardrobe.

Like denim, duck canvas became widespread as hardwearing workwear fabric in the 19th century and it shares many of the same properties people love about denim: it’s casual, it’s 100 percent cotton, it has a lot of working class history, and it’s very durable.

Plus, if you aren’t a fan of wearing denim on denim, duck is the perfect complement to jeans: the two fabrics are made with different weaves, so you’re not doubling up when you wear duck pants with a denim jacket or a duck jacket with your denim jeans!

Canvas is a plain weave and denim is a twill weave, and that difference in weaves is a big reason for the differences between duck and denim, which are numerous — they’re certainly not identical in the way they look, wear, age, or stretch. Benzak Denim Developers’ founder Lennaert Nijgh breaks down everything you need to know in the video below with Nick English, the editor of the casual menswear blog Stridewise:

There’s something else a lot of people are confused by when it comes to these discussions: what’s the difference between canvas and duck canvas?

"Duck canvas is essentially a stronger, heavier, more tightly woven canvas than the generic canvas you can find in various places," says Lennaert. “It can be synonymous with quality.”

If you’re someone looking for information comparing jeans and canvas trousers, it’s worth looking for that term duck canvas. It’s true that if someone is selling trousers made of canvas, there’s a good chance that it’s duck, even if they don’t use that word. But it’s best to search for products that do call it duck, just because it offers something of a guarantee that you’re getting the kind of hardwearing canvas that’s ideal for casual wear.

For a complete breakdown of the differences in how canvas and denim wear, breathe, fade, and stretch, watch the video above or read Nick’s article on Stridewise.

For a closer look at duck canvas trousers, check out our BP-06 SCOUT PANTS.

March 21, 2025
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