Blue Lenz Awards: The Story Behind Denim Dudes’ Denim and Segregation Panel
This year, the TENCEL™ Denim Team held our first Blue Lenz Denim Video Awards during Bluezone, celebrating the best of the best from our Blue Lenz YouTube channel.
Among the winners was Denim Dudes founder Amy Leverton, who was recognized for her exceptional hosting of a webinar focused on Denim and Segregation. The panel, taped in the summer of 2020, included speakers who were instrumental in the ‘90s streetwear scene.
Carved in Blue connected with Amy to hear how the panel came together.
Carved in Blue: What was the concept or inspiration behind your winning film?
Amy: The Denim and Segregation panel came about when the whole world—and especially America—was in the middle of the Black Lives Matter movement: a time of great anger and division but also unity and unlearning/learning. This period of time opened my eyes to the depth of inequality in the world but also in our denim industry, and I just wanted to offer the Denim Dudes platform to those voices and stories.
Carved in Blue: Why did you feel it was important to explore this topic?
Amy: As a white, middle-aged female who had only lived in America for four years, I’m not afraid to say that I had been, up until then, pretty ignorant to Black struggle in America. I guess I just wanted to engage with people to bring these stories to light and hopefully make a change.
Carved in Blue: How did this content come together? Could you share a behind-the-scenes memory?
Amy: I owe the whole thing to two women, actually. Morgan Lewis direct messaged me back in June. We struck up a voice memo conversation and she actually gave me the confidence to use my platform to open this conversation. The other person is Simone Berry, who Morgan put me in touch with. Simone and I spent hours on the phone discussing the state of inequality in the denim industry. The both of them really embraced my desire to learn and turned so many negative experiences into a teaching moment.
I’d also like to mention my amazing friend Alyasha Owerka, who is kind, purposeful and patient. He shared so much of his time with me and continues to inspire me.
Carved in Blue: What was the most challenging part of creating this video?
Amy: For me, just the imposter syndrome and virtue signaling worries. I think a lot of us white folk get scared about saying or doing the wrong thing or even just having these tricky conversations one on one, let alone in public online discourse. I have made mistakes both before and since this panel, but I think we all have a duty to just try, fail, learn and keep going. So admitting my own ignorance and biases has been the biggest challenge, if that’s not too self-indulgent!
Carved in Blue: Why is video such a powerful medium for denim storytelling?
Amy: It’s so powerful, especially when it unfolds in real-time. It engages people and creates such an energy that draws people in. Post-pandemic, we are much more accustomed to connecting through live video conversations, and at that time it was a newer feeling and that was really special. Afterwards, I think we all felt connected more deeply and honestly than before.