WINDS OF CHANGE

FROM THE HUMBLE WORKPANTS OF COWBOYS AND MINERS, OVER THE LAST CENTURY, DENIM HAS BECOME THE WORLD’S BEST-LOVED CLOTHING

We know the statistics: denim production is a huge drain on the world’s water supplies, and a major culprit in CO2 emissions. Brands, manufacturers and fabric mills are looking to the Jeans Redesign campaign, launched in July 2019, to rethink the future of denim design around sustainability, whereby jeans should be made to be used longer, used again after first use, and made not to harm garment workers or the environment.

Brands such as Levi’s, who in 2011 launched their Water

Increasingly, brands are reimagining denim production. Wrangler is reducing the energy and water required to dye its new line Indigood, using a foam dye process to add to other sustainable techniques like Kitotex. offers lifelong repairs and washes jeans by hand, while brands such as and are making every step of the manufacturing process ethical and transparent.

Boyish founder Jordan Nodars explains: “We always look at materials first. Then plan around what designs we can make with the materials to have our production process be the most efficient. We only work with materials that we can upcycle back into new garments utilizing complete landfill diversion tactics.”

Fabric choice is thus key to design shifts, with companies such as and now sourcing sustainable and recycled cotton, upcycled fabrics like and recycled denim. In fact, the Collection is designed using 100% recycled denim created with a technique that blends cotton scraps from apparel factories and the hotel industry’s bed linens, and is then stitched with a thread made from recycled plastic PET bottles.

An entire portion of the industry is focused around deconstructing used jeans to create something new, fueled by the success of and others. These efforts draw on the heritage value built into jeans, which pioneers, working exclusively with vintage which hold “within its stitching, stories of years of wear – a history of a past life”.

Designer denim, although slower to progress, is also making strides. Among them, some of current offerings are “eco washed”, and upcycled and sustainable denim was central to S/S 2021 at and