The Evolution of Denim
At the recent Denim Days in New York City, a panel of experts solidified the notion that denim is entering a new era of sustainability—one that prides minimizing water use just as much as ushering in the latest trend.
Speaking on a panel moderated by Lenzing director of global business development for denim, Tricia Carey, industry experts including, “The Godfather of Denim” Adriano Goldschmied, 3×1 founder Scott Morrison and Reformation director of denim and special projects Jordan Nodarse spoke about denim’s shift and what to expect from a greener blue-rooted industry.
Putting it plainly, Goldschmied said, “We’ve realized that our industry doesn’t have any future at all if we’re not seriously thinking about sustainability.”
Carved in Blue caught up with some bluebloods in the audience to hear their insights into the discussion.
“I loved hearing the designers talk about the past, present and future of denim, especially from Adriano who is truly one of the original makers of denim jeans, and then Scott and then Jordan, who spoke of how he’s looking at it now in 2018 as compared to how it was in the ‘60s and ‘70s,” said Yvonne Greenwood, a consumer at New York Denim Days. “It was interesting hearing about how eco-friendly even the making of jeans has gotten. You hear about paper and chemicals and weather, but you never think about the clothing that we wear on our bodies and how it can affect the environment.”
Beyond just the discussion of sustainability, innovative concepts emerged from the talk, too.
“What struck me as new from this discussion was Adriano‘s point that there should be a Silicon Valley-esque global innovation hub for our industry…and it should be in Los Angeles because California is arguably the birthplace of the jean,” said Michelle Branch of Markt & Twigs. “The indigo culture certainly exists. And there’s loads (pardon the pun) of talent there. Not to mention that it would help to keep the existing denim economy in LA alive. It’s an intriguing idea!”
For Denimology managing editor Lisette Geller, the panel took things even one step further for her.
“The most impressive and probably the most important issue for the whole world is and should always be sustainability. Especially with denim that used to go through a lot of chemical processing,” Geller said. “But the most impressive mind-changing thing happened after the ‘official’ talk. When I spoke with Jordan about connecting and asked for his card, he said he’s ‘paperless.’ What an amazing flash—I never had thought about this in terms of business cards. Just bank statements and recycling newspapers and boxes. No more printed business cards for me.”
“ What a highlight to New York Denim Days to have three generations of denim designers explain their design philosophy. With so much passion for the blue world, I enjoyed hearing their responses to the question ‘ If you were not in denim industry, what would you be doing?’. For Scott it was an architect; Adriano said something in technology; and Jordan quickly responded the music industry. I am pleased they are blue-bloods!, “ stated Tricia Carey from Lenzing.