Jason Denham: There are 10-year peaks and denim is making a huge comeback
Denham founder Jason Denham says the technical and social development of denim over recent years has been incredible and fabrics are better than ever. The innovation and changes within the industry means jeans are now the most sustainable garments.
Thanks for inviting me to share my voice on where the denim industry is heading. 2022 – 2025, bring it on. It’s exciting times in the denim world… as I’ve only got 800 words I’ll cut to the chase and tick all the boxes that you would expect me to address… and then I’ll get on to the exciting part that we should all be focusing on.
I’ve been a denim lover all my life. I have worked for big denim companies, I have run a denim consultancy, I have made niche start-up denim brands and today my namesake brand Denham is a global premium mid-sized brand. I’ve experienced a lot in 20 years and I have also sourced and produced a lot of denim made in Japan, made in Italy, made in Europe and made in China. The technical and social development of denim over the last 20 years is incredible and in the last five years, unbelievable. I am very proud of how sustainable our industry is. I have long campaigned that jeans are the most sustainable garments – period. Good jeans that are well made have a long life; we live in them, we wear them in and then we pass them on. We don’t waste water washing them every day. I give huge credit to the mills and vendors and every subsidiary supplier for taking action to do everything possible to support brands like mine in taking sustainable action.
Today, transparency and certification is the norm, and so it should be. I’ve always said that “sustainability is our responsibility, period”. Ever since I started the Denham brand in 2008, we have worked with the most sustainable denim partners like Candiani and pioneered projects like Coreva, denim innovation in compostable technology. Recycling, upcycling and recutting has also been part of the Denham collection since our early years and last month we launched a new project two years in the making called PCRS (Post-Consumer Recycled Selvedge). This is special because we collected and recycled our own jeans from the consumers in our stores and together with Candiani we recycled old Denham jeans and took the product full cycle – “this jean used to be a Denham jean”.
Moving on... here’s my glass ball
Denim moves in cycles, it’s been a constant since 1850 and jeans will outlive all of us. The thing is, there are 10-year peaks and denim is making a huge comeback. More than a decade ago, your jean was the first pick in your outfit and your wardrobe was built around your jeans. Now, we build our outfits around our sneakers first, then the handbags or accessories or the outerwear. Sneaker culture never stopped loving, innovating, reinventing and hyping their products, whereas in the denim world, price and sustainability have taken over style and content.
The positive learning in this is that denim textiles are now better than ever. The technology and sustainable quality of denim is exceptional today. Denim is no longer a price commodity product, every mill, vendor and step of the supply chain have had no choice but to increase quality and prices, which in turn is upgrading our jeans. On top of this, denim is relevant again, the pandemic created a global sweatpant frenzy… which, thank God, is a regretful trend.
Today, clothing is meaningful and not disposable; recycling, upcycling, swapping and trading is everyday language and jeans have been at the forefront of this for decades. Thrift shops and vintage stores wouldn’t exist without jeans. So, here’s my closing statement: in the next few years, denim will re-emerge as the star of your outfit. Denim is back on the catwalks and designers are once again creating fresh silhouettes and exciting concepts with blue jeans. Watch this space. The truth is in the details!
Jason Denham is the founder and chief creative officer of Denham the Jeanmaker, an Amsterdam-based denim brand. Born and raised in Newcastle, England, Denham's passion for design began as a teenager. Following a degree in fashion design and business, he worked with numerous brands to learn all the elements of jean making. In 1996 he was hired by Pepe Jeans in London and was relocated to Amsterdam. In 1998 he established a denim agency, Clinic+, through which he consulted for brands including LVMH, Kenzo, Levi's and Ben Sherman. Four years later, he founded the Blue Blood brand, and in 2008, Denham the Jeanmaker.
Photo: Jason Denham
