Blogger’s View: Denim’s Inside Influencers
With one ear to the ground and an eye on social media, bloggers are helping fuel the conversation about what’s hot and new in the world of denim.
Carved in Blue caught up with two more bloggers for the scoop on style, trends, plus what’s hot and not and what’s next for denim.
AMANDA BARNES – 23OZ.INDIGO 
Amanda Barnes has an eye for all things indigo and when the denim creative sees something that catches her eye, she shares it with the world on Instagram. Her latest post? A look at denim lining the shelf at All Blues Co.
Carved in Blue: What’s your favorite denim trend for fall 2018?
Amanda: I love that you can layer in the colder months and wear cozy trending trimming fabrics like shearling, and add quilting to create new shaping and dimensions to denim.
Carved in Blue: Who do you admire most in our industry? 
Amanda: Creators and makers, people who know their craft and share their knowledge and passion, such as Mohsin Sadjid, Dawson Denim and Alde custom clothing. I also admire people trying to make change in the industry, such as Fashion Revolution, who are raising awareness in such a relevant way.
Carved in Blue: How important do you think sustainability is to the future of denim and why?
Amanda: Denim is a staple fabric due to its versatility and longevity, it is always popular throughout the seasons and trends and continues to be updated in many forms, so it is important to try to ensure it is the most sustainable it can be so it can continue to be the go-to fabric for many years to come.
Carved in Blue: What is the worst trend you’ve seen in denim?
Amanda: Heavy white fake looking blasting and whiskering, I think this maybe a common pet peeve amongst a lot of denim designers and developers.
Carved in Blue: What is the next denim frontier?
Amanda: This would be to continue to push forward to ensure chemicals and the environmental impact is reduced throughout the supply chain and try to re-learn buying methods towards a better circular economy with a big push to renting, re-using and reviving clothes as well as making quality long lasting garments.
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THOMAS STEGE BOJER – DENIMHUNTERS
For Copenhagen-based Thomas Stege Bojer, founder of the Denimhunters hub for denim knowledge, denim is an industry worth learning about and sharing about. If you’re looking to find out how something in denim works, Denimhunters would be the place to get your answers.
photo by Brian Engblad, Oddhunt
Carved in Blue: What’s your favorite denim trend for fall 2018?
Thomas: To be completely honest, keeping up with trends is not my strong suit. I am certainly no trend forecaster!
Of course, I do what I can to stay up to date with what’s happening in denim by reading as much as I can and travelling to as many shows as I can. But, when I do, I mostly spend my time talking to people from the raw denim and heritage fashion niches. In that sphere, trends move slowly. And the trends are usually quite local, even individual. On top of that, denimheads are often rather conservative, and many I talk to are just now getting comfortable wearing slimmer fits. The trend in general has been moving towards looser cuts. That I like! Plus, all the rigid denim we’ve seen lately in more mainstream fashion.
Carved in Blue: Who do you admire most in our industry?
Thomas: Over the past couple of years, I’ve been lucky enough to get to know many of the original denim influencers and innovators. People such as Adriano Goldschmied, Giovanni Petrin, Piero Turk, Stefano Aldighieri, the guys from Candiani. A lot of Italians!
On brand level, some of the people I admire the most are Mats Andersson and his team at Indigofera, truly passionate and with a vision. Recently, I’ve also gotten to know “the stubborn crew” behind Iron Heart. It’s really inspiring how they run their business. It’s more like a club than a brand, really.
On retailer level, you have people like Kiya and Demitra Babzani from Self Edge, Roger and Fredy from VMC, Josh and Kay from Statement, Kerstin and Douglas from Second Sunrise, Danny and Junior from Rivet and Hide, and the list goes on. I’m a little biased on this one (because I work there), but I also have to mention Copenhagen’s denim bastion, Brund.
Since I decided I needed to up my Instagram game last winter, I’ve also gotten to know so many really cool denimheads from all around the world. One that always springs to mind is Ben Woodhouse, aka Clobber Calm, who’s turned his Instagram feed into a business without selling out. I really admire how he does what he does.
photo by Brian Engblad, Oddhunt
Carved in Blue: How important do you think sustainability is to the future of denim?
Thomas: There’s nothing more important, period. If denim doesn’t get more sustainable, we won’t be able to wear it in the future. At least we’ll wear a lot less of it.
I applaud any initiative that aims to make denim production more sustainable and less harmful to the environment. But the fact is that any business still wants to produce and sell more, they have to. Of course, there are better ways, but they’re also more costly and that leads us onto the topic of consumer habits. Something’s gone seriously wrong with the way we consume. It’s consumerism on steroids, and it doesn’t look like it’ll change dramatically anytime soon.
All the amazing initiatives out there won’t do any good if consumers aren’t willing to take action. The problem is they don’t know how. And that’s the responsibility of the makers and retailers, to educate their consumers to help them make a better choice. But sustainability just isn’t as sexy as a perfect fade or a cool selvedge ID. So, the task is how to do that.
Carved in Blue: What is the worst trend you’ve seen in denim?
Thomas: Those insane rips where there’s basically no jean left. I don’t mind jeans with faux fades and tears, although I wouldn’t wear it myself, but that thing just doesn’t make sense!
Carved in Blue: What is the next denim frontier?
Thomas: Communities, personal interaction, and good ole’ customer service. The makers, brands and retailers that master those will be the winners of tomorrow.