What Dish & DUER’s Doing with Denim
With Dish & DUER, denim does more.
The idea for the brand, is to make clothes for “doers” so they can do the things that life demands.
The company started making its Performance Denim and No Sweat fabrications in Pakistan, buying a small denim factory there to maintain the ethical standards it intends to live by in its business. Dish & DUER then expanded to a factory in Shanghai, China, where it continues to keep its high standards for clean, compliant workplaces where staff are treated fairly.
For company founder Gary Lenett, the main aim of the Dish & DUER brand was to “bridge the gap between fashion and functional clothing.” Lenett partnered with performance fabric expert Abid Hafeez, and the brand was born in 2013.
Carved in Blue connected with Dish & DUER to get a look at what’s driving the brand to make denim that’s more sustainable, more innovative and more future-facing.
Carved in Blue: Tell us a little about the new collection of Dish & DUER
D&D: There are a lot of new and exciting things that will evolve the Dish & DUER brands for 2019 and onwards. We’re working on launching our first ever shirts program for DUER, something we are very excited about! In general, we’re constantly working on new product arrays and categories. For example, we’re launching a new Midweight Denim fabric and Straight Leg fit for DUER and continuing to work on new washes and silhouettes for Dish.
Carved in Blue: Your TENCEL™ Lyocell/cotton khakis were awarded the best crossover office–to-outdoors pants from outdooronline.com. What benefits do you see in these pants?
D&D: Our No Sweat pants (available in Slim, Relaxed, and Jogger styles) are one of our top-selling collections to date. Our customers are instantly drawn towards this collection due to the outstanding comfort. The fabric combines cotton’s comfort, the flexibility of spandex and eucalyptus derived TENCEL™ fibers providing it with naturally anti-microbial properties. Coupled with our signature DUER gusset to prevent crotch blowouts and tripled reinforced stitching at all stress points, this pant provides maximum versatility to outdoor enthusiasts who still need to look good at their 9-5.
Carved in Blue: You have been selling LENZING™ Modal Black in men’s and women’s jeans. What are the features of this product?
D&D: We began incorporating LENZING™ Modal Black into our Dish Denim (women’s) line a few years ago to create our Never Fade collection. The Never Fade Pant is a top seller in it’s category. Our female customers love the versatility that LENZING™ Modal brings to our skinny and chino silhouettes as the color-lock technology is not commonly found in a black trouser. Customers particularly love the Never Fade Pant because they can wear and wash it time-after-time without having it fade overtime. Since we’ve had such a huge success with this fabric for women, we’ve recently designed the Limitless Stretch 9-to-9 Pant for men. It features an elastic waist gripper, signature DUER gusset and a subtle reflective detail. Above all, they’re the most comfortable dress pant in the world.
Carved in Blue: What defines performance denim?
D&D: Our Performance Denim is unlike any other denim on the market. It looks like your typical denim pant, but incorporates undercover functionalities that allow you to move through your day-to-day, comfortably. The performance attributes of this collection include COOLMAX® polyester for moisture-wicking capabilities, LYCRA® (spandex) for added stretch, and SILVADUR® for anti-microbial properties. Not to mention, our Performance Denim also features out signature DUER gusset and triple reinforced stitching at all stress points.
Carved in Blue: How do you integrate sustainability into your products?
D&D: When fast fashion came about, our founder, Gary Lenett, got out of fashion. He didn’t believe you could ethically compete with companies that only prioritize price…and he’s right, you can’t. So we don’t try. Instead, we produce quality, ethical clothing focused on versatility, so you can do more with less. And we work with partners selected based on their commitment to this vision. We’re rigorous in our selection process, and have made the decision to only work with a small group of businesses that are invested in DUER and our beliefs.
Carved in Blue: Where can we find your products?
D&D: You can find our products all over the world. We recently launched international distribution, landing us in six European countries. You can shop directly through our ecommerce website, where we ship internationally, or if you’re visiting our hometown of Vancouver, Canada you can visit our flagship store.
Carved in Blue: Where does your design team look for inspiration?
D&D: Inspiration for future collections comes from a number of sources. We always begin every season by reviewing what consumers are saying. For instance, what do they like about their current garment or what do they wish it had? We’re fortunate to have our flagship store in front of our headquarters, which allows us to hear first-hand what customers are saying and identify areas of opportunity to improve or create new offerings.
Carved in Blue: What is the one garment you always take when traveling?
D&D: A go-to garment of ours that is most popular for travel would be our Live Lite Collection. This is one of our lightest weight fabrics to date, making it the perfect pant for hot weather destinations. It’s versatile enough to wear during day-time excursions and dressy enough for evenings on the town.
Carved in Blue: What does Carved in Blue mean to you?
D&D: To us, Carved in Blue means that the denim industry is always evolving and adapting to new market trends and consumer buying habits. Nothing is set in stone, it’s merely just a carved path that is being reconstructed for the better. With this comes more transparency from brands and more educated consumers making informed decisions where to buy in order to create a positive impact.