By looking back, Scotch & Soda takes its denim forward
Dutch fashion retailer Scotch & Soda has revealed the fruits of a multipronged redesign of its Amsterdams Blauw denim destination boutique at 15 Berenstraat in the nation’s capital.
Stretching to a new in-store repair service, the company’s first, in addition to an exclusive, 99-piece upcycled denim capsule (another first), the space also houses a limited series of denim laptop cases available for purchase on the lower level, specially designed by local Jean School students.
An initiative by Amsterdam-based non-profit the House of Denim Foundation, Jean School describes itself as the only institution exclusively devoted to denim development globally.
Each article in the first-of-its-kind denim capsule, Eternal Blauw, designed to coincide with the boutique’s relaunch, has been numbered by hand and features elements incorporated with end of life recycling in mind. Twist-off shank buttons and embroidered rivets will mean garments are more easily recycled than conventional denimwear, for example. The leather back patches used are in fact unused elements from earlier collections which have been reprinted on the underside with the Eternal Blauw logo and then flipped.
Working hand in hand with supplier Denim Village, the ten menswear, womenswear and unisex styles which underpin the capsule have each been reinterpreted using a combination of the brand’s own fabric waste and post-consumer denim, ensuring every resulting creation is not only “unique”, but also a true blend of the brand’s “free-spirited attitude and denim expertise”, it described.
Meanwhile, Blauw Repair, the store’s complimentary mending service, caters to articles previously bought from Amsterdams Blauw and involves a bespoke repair, ironing and steaming process which may take up to seven working days in total, the brand said.
Repairs will be undertaken by creatives associated with local producer Makers Unite’s United Repair Centre, which extends textiles training and employment opportunities to Amsterdammers with a migration background.
Fresh graphics and new fitting rooms, complete with denim curtains, round out the redesign.
Take a look at Inside Denim’s interview with Scotch & Soda’s denim director, Imogen Nulty, in our Dialogue section here.
Image: Scotch & Soda.
