Dion Vijgeboom (pictured), co-owner of Mud Jeans, which contain up to 40% recycled content, told listeners to Kingpins24 Canada online event that the companies had been working together for a while.

He said: “Being a circular brand you encounter limitations. We had been thinking about creating coloured jeans with our fabric supplier Royo for a while but they told us that using post-consumer recycled cotton would make it difficult. But we went ahead and made the recycled fabric with no added dye, just the recycled fibres. We shredded the old jeans and ended up with the yarn, we had a fabric made, it has a special blue/grey colour. Is it the most sustainable fabric we could think of as it had no added dye. We are going to launch it in the coming weeks.”

He also commented that the brand’s famous leasing model has created a lot of interest and connection to the brand but has “made our life difficult”.

“From a business point of view, it’s a very bad idea – you get the money for the product over a year, but it does give engagement, as we had expected. One customer who leased jeans asked if she could shorten the jeans after 2 months, and sent the extra piece back so we could recycle it. That’s the opposite of how fashion normally evolves, when consumers believe they can throw things away after only a few wears.”

Photo credit: YukiInui