Blue Lenz Awards: Sue Barrett on Her ‘Love Story’ to Denim
Last year, TENCEL™ held our first Blue Lenz Denim Video Awards during Bluezone, celebrating the best of the best from our Blue Lenz YouTube channel.
Sue Barrett, founder of Denim Forum, took home the award for Best Educational Series for her Lockdown Nostalgia Project videos. The content series asked denim community members do a show-and-tell of vintage garments that are meaningful to them. As people stayed home to stop the spread, it gave them more time to explore their old wardrobes and rediscover forgotten pieces.
Here, Sue shares the idea behind the series, and how the videos came together.
Carved in Blue: What was the concept or inspiration behind your winning series?
Sue: In the bleakness of lockdown, it felt hugely important to resonate to what matters most; to reflect on the friendships and passion that the denim industry represents for me. I wanted to celebrate the people and memories I hold dear. So, it was a bit like a love story to the industry from me.
Carved in Blue: Why did you feel it was important to explore this topic?
Sue: So much passion goes into the process of finessing beautiful products and content creation. Many hours and late nights and journeys and self-doubts and triumphs, all of which build unique friendships and generate a wealth of memories. I wanted those moments to be celebrated and to shine. Creativity can be undervalued and hidden. But it comes from deep volcanos of passion and thought.
Carved in Blue: How did this content come together?
Sue: There was a moment after one of the first digital tradeshows during lockdown where I was talking to a very dear friend, Miles Johnson. We were saying what we missed was the emotional connection we all have as product people to seeing stuff that lights us up. I wanted this project to capture those sentiments, the love of great design and the sweet, enduring memories of “the hunt,” as Gordon Muir put it so beautifully.
Carved in Blue: What was the most challenging part of creating this video?
Sue: The challenging part was that I’d never ever made a video. But the only way to learn is just to get on and do it. I became obsessed with ensuring the timings were as emotive as possible, but I have a lot to learn still. Andrew Olah very kindly said the naive quality of the films were endearing. I love a euphemism! [Laughs]
Carved in Blue: Why is video such a powerful medium for denim storytelling?
Sue: Originally the content for the series was generated for print for an article featured in Sportswear International. However, a lot of the responses were sent to me via WhatsApp audio messages. There was something so rich and emotive in hearing the passion and also softness in people’s voices, especially when they talked about how they felt about the denim industry. I want to give that a vehicle to tell its own story, to tell their own love stories.