Reader Nick would like to ask how Gap managed to design a pair of jeans that would fray and tear without unraveling, since that seems sort of impossible.

Thought you guys would appreciate this: I bought these jeans over the weekend from a Gap here in San Francisco. They were a great deal (marked down from almost $90 to about $30), but check out the dueling labels.

The top one says “they’re extra durable and designed to keep the fabric from unraveling.”

The bottom one says “they’re intentionally designed to fray and tear.”

Is it really possible to design a product to do BOTH those things?

Hmmm. Merriam-Webster:

Fray: 1 a : to wear (as an edge of cloth) by or as if by rubbing : fret b : to separate the threads at the edge of 2 : strain, irritate

Unravel: 1 a : to disengage or separate the threads of : disentangle b : to cause to come apart by or as if by separating the threads of

Sounds like a tall order. Glad I don’t design jeans.

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