The two have different use cases. Gabardine fabric is generally used when making colored products. This entirely depends on what the customer wants. The two photos on the left show mustard-colored denim fabric, the same way you’d have blue-black, etc. If a worn/faded effect is desired, denim fabric is the preferred choice. The two photos on the right, on the other hand, show a pair of pants made entirely from PFD gabardine fabric.
PFD = Prepared For Dyeing
This is also why, from a manufacturing standpoint, denim is far more complex to produce than canvas. You need to control the exact indigo penetration depth, the ring-spinning tension, and then the wash process to either protect or deliberately remove that surface dye. Canvas just needs to be woven and (optionally) dyed.
Why denim fades — and gabardine doesn’t?
Denim is rope-dyed with indigo: the dye penetrates only the outer shell of the ring-spun cotton fibre, leaving a white core intact. Those long warp floats in the 3/1 pattern sit proud of the surface — friction and washing chip away the indigo shell and expose the white underneath. Fade follows the weave exactly: whiskers form where the fabric bends at the hips, honeycombs at the knees — precisely where the raised floats compress and release most.
Gabardine is piece-dyed after weaving. Dye goes all the way through the fibre. No surface shell, no white core — nothing to reveal. And because the 2/2 structure has no dominant floating thread sitting exposed, there is no “high point” taking friction first. Colour loss is slow and uniform, never a pattern.