How Blue of a Kind Makes Old Denim New and Chic
They say one man’s trash is another man’s treasure, but few are making as much of that concept as Blue of a Kind.
The brand “rediscovers and refits” discarded vintage denim handcrafted with the use of leftovers and surplus, because, as its tagline notes, “the world doesn’t need another fashion company.”
That’s why Blue of a Kind founder and CEO Fabrizio Consoli is doing what he’s doing—it’s about creating new denim without adding any further injury to the environment.
Find out what’s on Fabrizio’s mind where sustainability is concerned and what’s next for the brand redefining denim.
Carved in Blue: What’s the key to making new denim out of existing pieces?
Fabrizio: I wish there could be an easy, smarter way but I guess the answer is just a mix of patience, skilled hands and great hearts. And a twist of creativity of course.
We un-sew garments at the seams and once a jean has been transformed into “raw” material again, we carve our style out of previous shapes.
Carved in Blue: How does existing denim with TENCEL™ Lyocell perform when you’re making it into something new?
Fabrizio: TENCEL™ lyocell acts like the cherry on the cake. We usually work with rigid fabric, which is what we mainly find in the post-consumer market. However, when we have a chance to rework TENCEL™ Denim fabrics that also have some comfort fibers woven in them, while our process itself does not change much, the effect does, and the final product ends up featuring more comfort and being more forgiving on body shapes.
Carved in Blue: What’s the latest thing Blue of a Kind is working on right now?
Fabrizio: Currently, we are starting working together with a textile innovation center, which is a spin-off from “Politecnico” University in Milan, in order to integrate sustainable performance fabrics that have been developed by this center for completely different fields and applications, into our repurposed garments. I am sure it will be a challenge, however, for our future we would like to experiment new directions in sustainability.
Carved in Blue: What does sustainability mean to Blue of a Kind?
Fabrizio: We believe sustainability, and in general responsibility of brands and manufacturers must act like a pivotal point in the fashion industry going forward. Real luxury means wearing garments that do not compromise on style and at the same time minimize their impact on environment or on working conditions of people involved in the production chain.
Carved in Blue: What’s your first denim memory?
Fabrizio: This is a great question! I remember being a child—I must have been just five or six—and being desperately in love with jeans folded on the bottom by 10/15 centimeters, ‘like cowboys,’ I used to say. I guess the real reason was that I was short, but boy I use to feel so cool!
Carved in Blue: What’s one denim trend you’d like to see go away?
Fabrizio: Style-wise I am pretty easy, I don’t believe there is a specific trend I do not cope with so badly to want it to go away. On the other side, I really look forward to not seeing any more on shelves jeans priced 20 euros or lower. I believe—and this is something that I guess should be applied to several areas in our lives—we need to go back understanding the real cost of things, in particular that the cost that is not on the price-tag is still there, just under different shapes, such as ridiculously low wages or poor working conditions.
Carved in Blue: Where do you look for denim inspiration?
Fabrizio: Inspiration is in anything. Personally, I do not believe in creativity when presented like a magic, shamanic-like thing, something that falls from above. Creativity is to me mainly a matter of re-elaboration, is ‘chewing’ the existing to present it in new forms and shapes. It is the ability to shift ideas from field to field.
Carved in Blue: What does Carved in Blue mean to you?
Fabrizio: I believe Carved in Blue is a great point of view on an industry that is fascinating and very complicated at the same time, providing space and visibility to a growing wave of attention to environmental issues in the community. On the other side, the name itself brings me back to what we as a brand do with existing garments: We take jeans, the “blue” material by definition, and we carve out of those a great new sustainable product!