Denim Cluster: 6 Jeans Brands That Are Not Just Beautiful (And Virtuous)

If we were to try to count how many women's and men's jeans brands exist, we would probably get tired even before we had completed the task. Its success is endemic, impossible to stop. Denim is one of those declinations of clothing that knows no flexions, ready to change shape, destined to be the most transversal piece of our wardrobes beyond any temporal caesura. Yet if you observe it through the filter of contemporaneity, it brings with it an enormous baggage of contradictions.   The numbers help to understand it better. Cotton cultivation requires large amounts of water and chemicals; to produce 1 kg of cotton, approximately 22,500 liters of water are required, while in the production of denim, approximately 7,000 liters of water are used to make a pair of jeans, in addition to intensive dyeing and finishing processes with synthetic dyes and aggressive techniques. A radical change in production is needed as well as an increase in the upcycling of existing products. This is why there are currently sustainable jeans brands which we should look at to really start doing our part.

Among the sustainable jeans brands we can mention Agolde , part of the family of another great brand expert in denim like Citizens of Humanity. Agolde is making its way on the market for its vintage-inspired soul intertwined with a 100% green vocation. The models include high-waisted women's jeans and wide and baggy trousers that fit very well, have a soft and enveloping hand despite being born from a rather rigid ethical rigor. From dyes that respect the environment like Indigofera Tinctoria , a natural color derived from plants, to water purification and recycling systems in laundries. If the internal pockets are made with recycled plastic bottles and post-industrial waste, all the hardware trim is created with raw materials that contain 75% recycled waste from previous processes.

PS. DON'T FORGET ME is an all-Italian company born in 2019 in Urbania, in our jeans valley, where the denim trouser models trigger a necessary revolution. Made with Regenagri® certified regenerative denim , they actually apply a total sustainability process because they are trousers obtained with a special raw material, namely cotton grown using regenerative agriculture techniques that restore the natural functions of the ecosystem to allow the increase of organic matter in the soil, the growth of biodiversity, the sequestration of CO ₂ in the soil and the optimization of the natural cycle of nutrients and the hydrological cycle. Thus, PS jeans show the natural color of denim thanks to low-impact production processes. They display eco-friendly PET felt labels and nickel-free rivets and buttons. What about style? There is indeed: we point out the Chiara , high-waisted jeans with a flared leg and the Sharon, slightly flared mid-rise jeans at the ankle.

Let's also talk about ELV Denim , an English brand founded by Anna Foster, a 360-degree expert in the fashion system. Fashion editor at Exit and iD Magazine, she was Fashion Director at Lula and Fashion Director-at-Large at RUSSH, before deciding to focus exclusively on a fashion brand in 2022. The vocation is naturally that of a green project entirely dedicated to jeans created through a transparent process of authentic upcycling. With her staff, she scours vintage warehouses throughout the United Kingdom in search of good quality denim along with other garments such as silk scarves and cotton shirts. The second step involves a stop at the local laundry in East London to have them cleaned but which, contradicting all prejudice, involves the consumption of only seven litres of water compared to the 10,000 needed to make a new pair of jeans with traditional methods. Once delivered to the studio, the sanitized pieces are classified, selected, matched and marked ready for handling in the atelier. There, each model is then cut by hand, the leather labels applied are obtained from scraps of other processes while the hardware is chosen from YKK's eco selection. Four iconic models to focus on: Freya, jeans with low waist and a loose fit through the hips and legs. Stovepipe, a straight and relaxed jean with original hems. The flared jeans just above the ankle and the Boyfriend model, a loose and comfortable jean with a low crotch.

Back in Stockholm with Jeanerica , founded in 2018 by long-time friends Jonas Clason and Lena Patriksson Keller with the idea of offering a series of simple silhouettes with relaxed, low-rise fits that perform. Where specialized industrial innovation meets local, small-scale production on the ground of sustainability. Each Jeanerica jeans collection is created in close collaboration with manufacturers and factories to eliminate all unnecessary steps. Around 90% of styles use organic cotton and recycled fabrics entirely made in Turkey with industry-leading supplier ISKO. The materials? Organic cotton, recycled cotton and recycled polyester either from plastic textile waste or other polyester. It is worth noting that reusing second-hand PET requires less water than virgin polyester. Jeanerica’s unique jeans manufacturing processes include laser as the preferred method for dry processes, the use of rainwater (rainforest technology) and ozone washing. Jenerica women's jeans to look out for are the St. Monica , inspired by the archives of the sailors of the late 60s. The Kyoto low-waisted jeans with a flared and soft silhouette. The Belem 5-pocket straight leg. And finally, the Milano with flared proportions in 70s style.