Piero Turk: It’s the start of a new future for garment finishes
Denim expert Piero Turk sees further potential in ozone and recycled fibres but wishes there was a greater understanding of the people and processes behind clothing manufacture. He works hard on his collaborations with some of the leading brands, mills and suppliers – but makes sure he also takes time out to relax.
What are your priorities when thinking about designing new fabrics or effects? Is it tricky to create new designs for every customer?
Creating new designs and developments for every customer can be difficult because you have to develop things that are on-trend – you can’t think “I won’t develop a wide-leg pant for this client as I have for the other” – but it also needs to be original. So that can be difficult but, after so many years, I can manage!
Is there anything you wish customers had a better understanding of, when it comes to how jeans are made?
There are two important things I would like people to understand better. First, how long it takes and how difficult it is to create a new denim or a new wash – a new style is easier. Creating a new colour in indigo, and any other development, takes a lot of time and a lot of tests. Sometimes people don’t understand that enough. If that was clearer, it would help our industry. Otherwise, people are always pushing to have cheaper prices and there isn’t enough margin for investments or for innovations.
Second, to have a greater understanding of or desire for transparency. When we buy clothes, we don’t know anything, except where it is made, and sometimes that is fake! For instance, if a company makes a shirt in China but imports it without labels and buttons, and finishes it in Italy, they can put ‘Made in Italy’ on the label, but in reality it is not. We only know the composition of the fabric and where it’s made, but the supply chain is unclear. Where does the cotton come from and how about the quality? Long fibres are more expensive. We should offer more information. For example, a Turkish denim mill can give all the details – the process, the cotton, information on the farms that use regenerative agriculture, how much water is saved in the dye process – in a QR code that the consumer can see, but big retailers don’t want to highlight these products in case their other products stand out. It has to come as a whole, otherwise we will never change. European communities should decide on the hangtags or label. Nowadays, you can buy jeans in some countries cheaper than a McDonalds meal – how can that be?
If there was no limit on budget, what would your ideal jeans look like?
They would be 100% recycled cotton, or at least recycled cotton blended with other sustainable fibres (I’m not keen on the word sustainable!), perhaps recycled Tencel. Really good-quality recycled cotton is expensive, because you have to select where the cotton is from and it needs to be properly processed and spun to make it strong enough. There are mills that can do 100% – dyed like a normal cotton and looks like a normal cotton.
In terms of washes or finishes, I like unwashed jeans, but if it has to be washed, it must at least be done with new technologies, with new washing machines that use a small amount of water. Or if you want to wash more, using new technologies and avoiding dangerous chemicals. This can be much more expensive than a normal jean.
In terms of new ideas or developments, which ones do you think have staying power?
The biggest impact is the R&D that many denim mills are doing in terms of recycled fibres: how to blend them and find the perfect balance between recycled and strength. They are working out how to blend recycled cotton with cellulosic fibres like Tencel or viscose.
A few years ago, you couldn’t really use recycled cotton because the quality was poor and you couldn’t source it properly, but now we see it all the time, many people have it in at least part of their collection. I find this more interesting than anything else, because it can be used in any quality product, in super stretch or rigid.
Which recent technologies have made the most impact at mill level?
In terms of washes, it’s not new, but the use of ozone in the last few years is having a big impact. We have really good technologies but it is an ongoing process because you still have some problems, but it has opened a door to the future. I’m old enough to remember when we started stone wash, and slowly we learnt which stones are better, as well as when we started sandblasting.
Now it’s the start of a new future for garment finishes. I believe if all the companies that develop the technology work with chemicals companies on the dyestuff and with the denim mils, they can create a new range of products that will save a lot of water and chemicals.
Looking down the supply chain, how do your relationships with the chemicals makers and technology groups help ideas come to life?
I am very lucky to work with Tonello and Rudolf Group. Both companies have a similar background and are very truthful.
Rudolf is investing a lot in developing chemicals that are not made from oil, but are plant based. They want to move away from the slavery of the oil, and that is very important. They are developing really interesting things in water saving. For instance, around 50% of water consumption in the lifecycle of a pair of jeans comes from the fibre, around 7% is from making the denim and just 3% of water is the finishing. The other 40% is home washes. Rudolf is working on chemicals that help you to wash your jeans less, saving water and energy at home.
Tonello has developed a range of lasers that cover the whole process: the creation, the design, using the laser on the pant, making the whole process easier for everybody. It gives every country and every factory the opportunity to create the looks without having the most experienced laser designer. It can also read where the pant is, and that’s a big step.
They are also the only company that can combine ozone in air and water. That gives a lot of opportunities. With those technologies you can bleach down a pant and it stays pale but bright. Normally, if you use just ozone in air, and bleach down, it comes out much more greyish. So, they are bringing ozone to a new level.
Giving these companies a designer’s point of view on what we’d like to do with those technologies and chemicals is very interesting. It helps me to understand how to work in those areas, and helps them understand what a designer, brand and consumer would like to see on finished garments.
What do you teach the team working for you, particularly younger workers, about how to be a good denim technician?
The most important advice is to be curious, to understand how the process works. And to move our denim industry towards being more sustainable on all counts. We can use technologies that pollute less and use less water, but sometimes the people who make the garments are not paid enough to have a decent life. You have to combine those things: the social part and the ecological part.
What would happen on your ideal day?
In my studio it’s forbidden to work too late. What cannot be done today can be done tomorrow. My ideal day would begin with finding inspiration from somewhere unexpected. Sometimes I look at something, read a book or have a conversation and I find something that amazes me.
In the afternoon, I would walk in the sunshine with my wife and my dogs in the countryside. Then I would love to have dinner with my son and daughter. I’m a single father and, with covid, it’s been more than a year since we’ve been able to have a meal in a restaurant together. That would be an ideal day.
Piero Turk has worked as a designer and creative consultant for some of the world’s leading mills and brands, including Replay, Lee, Trussardi Jeans, Cerruti Jeans, Edwin, Guess, AG by Adriano Goldschmied, Hilfiger Denim, Pepe Jeans, Orta Anadolu and Bossa.
Photo: Piero Turk
