ALL ECO - Recycled Denim

REDONE is a truly “green” jeans company. Born on line. Using Pre-owned Levi jeans. what’s not to like?

RE/DONE

REDONE mostly tries to use old Levi pre-owned jeans. Cutting them, re-stying, re-finishing to achieve a more contemporary shape or fit whist retaining the original denim which has the benefit of years of previous much loved wear.

So no contaminating cotton crop or excessive use of water plus the jeans feel soft and worn in.

Where the jeans are newly made they are made using denim from sustainable denim manufacture and finished with water conserving processes. They are made in downtown LA where transport is readily available so no expensive and polluting transportation.

REDONE also customises old Levis to your personal specification. Now there’s something to lust after.

Recycling jeans - the growth of thrift stores. A vintage jean is a lustworthy thing! It has character, history, aged aesthetic and soft hand. If it fits real well then it is a true find. Real old good quality vintage jeans are getting harder to find. This however is just one benefit of the specialist denim thrift store. The main benefit is finding jeans that fit both size and aesthetic plus have caused no harm to the environment.

In addition the thrift / flea market is an exciting and personal way to shop but it takes a lot of energy and resolve! The rewards are to find the perfect fitting worn in original jean.

SILK DENIM http://silkdenim.us

SILK DENIM is another brand which uses recycled denim Requiring the process to be unique for every garment made. Personal customising is also an option with the Silk Mother and daughter partnership.

If you are bored with your existing jeans or have grown out of them then go to MY SilkDenim page and find your salvation.

Very soon every yard of denim will be perfectly green and sustainable!

Such utopia will be a while coming but we are getting there. Isko is nearly there.

I talked about the “non cotton” jean which of course is as green as it gets right now. Once the remaining harmful chemicals used in dyeing and finishing have been totally eliminated then we will wear our jeans with a clear conscience. That time is not far away. I work closely with manufacturers of both denim and jeans can report that they are all working hard to be as responsible and sustainable as technology will currently allow.

Good News indeed!

ALL ECO: what is the mission? let's clean up our denim and jeans.

The business of Fashion and Textiles is the most polluting in the World and Denim and jeans is THE biggest culprit of all. It is a water intensive industry. Needing gallons of water for cotton growing, dyeing and finishing. All manufacturing facilities are located near to a natural water source and although it is a global law to return the water back to the source as clean or cleaner than when it was taken out there are a number of countries and companies that flout the law, China, India, Bangladesh to name but a few. The dyeing of Indigo is chemical and dye heavy emitting such filthy water, sludge and slurry killing everything it contacts when returned to the environment without being correctly cleaned. These heavily polluted waters then soak into the earth contaminating the soil within their proximity. It takes 8000 litres of water, almost 2000 litres of which is required to grown the cotton, and 5 kgs of harmful chemicals to make a pair of jeans. And there are millions of pairs of jeans manufactured in all the offending countries. Which is why there is a Worldwide mission to clean up the denim and jeans industry fast.

For example in 2010 it was said that the dust in Xintang city, China was blue. The city was so polluted houses couldn’t be given away, no-one wanted to live there. The area used to be famous for fruit growing and fishing now there is no sign of farming. Instead it is an industrial park with oil tanks and a waste water treatment plant.

Thankfully most offending companies and cities are cleaning up their act. But not quickly enough.

Cotton is a environmentally harmful and water intensive crop to grow requiring almost 2000 litres for enough cotton to make a pair of jeans. The crops need constant irrigation and the chemicals required to keep the crops pest free are harmful to both soil and the environment. Most fashion and textiles are made from cotton but jeans are the single biggest user and being the most popular items of clothing across all generations. So in wearing our beloved jeans we are contributing to the destruction of the environment.

Organic cotton is much better being grown without chemicals. It still requires water but this comes from above naturally. It also cannot be grown on land that has had any other crop for 5 previous years. It is picked without polluting machine so it is energy less. Organic cotton is therefore in short supply. Certification allows the consumer to make organic cotton an informed choice.

BCI cotton , Better Cotton Initiative, is another answer. Chemicals used are reduced and less harmful and the picking of the cotton energy less. Farmers are remunerated with a living wage and the whole process is closely monitored. Big retail brands such as Ikea, Levi, M&S, Uniqlo, H&M all are part of the BCI users community.

All denim manufacturers are under pressure to provide denim made with organic cotton or BCI cotton at the same price as ordinary cotton. This is a positive step even if those manufacturers are non too happy to swallow the additional cost

WATER! The most precious and most essential element of life.

We are abusing its supply, taking the provision of clean water for granted. I have written above the need for waste water to be cleaned and of the water greedy cotton crops to be limited. What is bizarre in this world of denim is that most of the World’s denim is made where the water supply is limited. Made in hot arid countries where boreholes are relied upon for the water supply. Why? Because these countries have historically the cheapest labour. And whilst the making of broad denim is not labour intensive the making of the jean is. The jean is also responsible for the consumption of the majority of the gallons and the use of harmful chemicals.

Happily both Jeans Brands and Denim manufacturers are at last waking up collectively and individually doing something about their filthy industry.

Waste water treatment is a global requirement by law. Recycling and recovery of all chemicals used in the processes is now the norm. Changing the way in which a jean is “finished” is saving millions of gallons of water - ozone fabric finishing, laser finishing the garment instead of stone washing; dry finishing instead of water tumbling are having a hugely beneficial effect. Recycling of post consumer waste and post industrial waste is changing the nature of the jean itself. Alternative cellulosic fibres makes a softer more drapey denim even when blended with cotton and we are also looking at a “cotton free” jean which will be the cleanest item of clothing in your wardrobe.

Maybe soon we will only be able to buy traditional 3x1 heavy weight cotton jeans from vintage stores at high prices!

COLLABORATION: M.i.h Jeans x Bay Garnett

MiH embarks on a second collaboration with Bay Garnett showcasing vintage street style from the 70's and 80's when street was fashion and fashion was the street.  Not only does Bay Garnett draw inspiration from her own personal archive collection but she also took MiH on a road trip in LA sourcing originals from the era which are currently on sale alongside MiH's own collection.  This is an amazingly exciting mix of original and new which are sometimes hard to tell apart. 

M.i.h Jeans Pop Up, Selfridges Denim Studio, London. Featuring collaboration with Bay Garnett. 

This Selfridges Pop up vintage expo launched mid July for a month, was curated by MiH and displayed by the Selfridges display team achieving a real "wow" factor.  It all looked very exciting amongst the sameness of the existing displayed brands.  Accompanying the display are cleaned and mended pieces from the best re-sellers in the markets of Europe and all are available from both Selfridges.com and MiH-jeans.com. 

The amazing  LA vintage "finds" were achieved by sifting through rail upon rail of vintage warehouses and curated stores in West Hollywood, Pasadena, Topanga Canyon, The Valley and Highland Park with the aim of discovering that " one of a kind" piece.   MiH is not only a girls Jeans brand but also a fashion brand influenced by 70's and 80's style,  so some of the finds were extraordinary wild fashion pieces from as far back as the Woodstock era. 

Bay Garnett X M.i.h Jeans, Vintage Road Trip

The road trip looked fun but sifting through thousands of vintage garments is exhausting. Here i speak from personal experience.  But all worth the effort when a real gem appears amongst the myriad of the ordinary.

MiH is passionate about having a light footprint in the world of denim fashion using denims from sustainable sources and manufacturing their jeans in factories with a similarly sustainable vision. To use real vintage items, recycled, re-purposed and re-made alongside their own brand new items is part of their mission to achieve success in a sustainable business. Mixing old with new is part of the MiH customers lifestyle.

M.i.h X Bay Garnett, Golborne Road

Bay Garnett uses her vintage finds as inspiration for her own pieces re-imagining them fit for today's street style - "new clothes from old ideas", for example a tiger motif sweater from a Kings Road charity shop.   As with the Golborne road project she embarked on with MiH last time, it continues this time around with some of her new re-makes launched with MiH in their vintage pop up in Selfridges and on line at MiH-jeans.com.

COLLABORATION: Denim producers x Designers

Branded jeans would be nothing without their denim supply partners who work closely with them to create the most appropriate indigo blues and character denims to fit the brand in question.

It is therefore only natural for these denim suppliers to forge partnerships and collaborations of their own into product ranges other than jeans brands.  To become known in their own right as being the foundation of success for a broad spectrum of products and brands.

New Balance X Cone Denim Mills

Denim is unique and tough stuff which is why Cone Mills being a close geographical neighbour to Levi supplied the iconic 501 jean with all the denim from day one.  Now Cone Mills has entered into a collaboration with a difference- New Balance performance active sport shoes. Indigo Denim has to achieve high performance standards of tear strength and abrasion resistance as well as having the delightful ability to fade naturally. What an imaginative partnership for an active sports shoe brand to use Indigo Denim as part of its street sport range.

Volcom  X Cone Denim Mills

Taking street sport to another level Volcom Stone Made jean and chinos, with their roots in Skateboarding have teamed up with Cone Mills for the same reason as New Balance. That of strong high performance and high indigo aesthetic.  With cone's S Gene technology Volcom has created a collection of super fitting jeans which offer super mobility for activity with comfort.    The S Gene from Cone is a patented technology which offers double high stretch fabric with perfect recovery - no more baggy knees! The Volcom-Cone jeans are offered in raw and washed versions with heavy stitching to replace rivets for active safety and comfort.   Versions in ConeGard water repellant denims, Anti-Microbial treated ( stop the stench! ) denims and the new Stone Made jeans with Lycra Tough Max in Conestrong denim which offers enhanced durability and resistance to tears and abrasions.

GStar X Archroma

G Star a top brand we all know and love has recently teamed top with Archroma one of the industries leading sulphur dye producers to launch a capsule denim collection not only high in aesthetic but also sustainable in origin.    Archroma's earth colours which are dyes made from recycled plant waste recently hit the industry headlines being the gold winner of the "outdoor sustainable innovations" award in 2017.   Colours of Dark Plum; Asphalt; Mazarine Blue are made from the non edible left over parts of beetroot, and Saw Palmetto.  The iconic Elwood style from G Star comes in 2 different fits in these Earth colours from Archroma - mid waist skinny and 3D super slim.  G Star is striving to challenge jeans conventions by collaborating with producers of the raw material at the beginning of the chain rather than waiting for denim manufacturers to come to them. By doing so they hope to influence other denim an jeans brands to switch to are sustainable means of production. 

Oneil  X Isko

Again, performance is the driver behind the collaboration between O'Neill and Isko denim.  Isko is the biggest denim manufacturer in the World based in Turkey. They specialised in high quality and high performance denims and non denims and are suppliers to many of the World's most well known jeans brands.  Here they team up with the O'Neill pioneer of the original neoprene wetsuit for board riding to produce a lightweight, high stretch durable denim board short.  Unlike denim for jeans this new innovative fabric is 50% lighter and claims to be "quick dry" unlike the classic jean.  The denim remains soft and breathable and can withstand continuous surf wear.   Together with Isko's innovation in fabric and O'Neill's innovations in style and technology for function we are now offered a new wave of indigo denim surf wear.

COLLABORATION: Artist/ Designers

Wearable Art continues to fascinate designers and brands. Shapes and styles can be kept simple and be focussed on the brands identity with the addition of eye catching recognisable prints from well known artists.  This new wave of partnerships is set to redefine art and fashion collaboration.

Calvin Klein in Collaboration with the Andy Warhol Foundation

Calvin Klein x Andy Warhol foundation partnership is back.   The latest instalment of the collaboration is back with Raf Simons being the design driving force behind this exciting news announced last year with a promise of previously unpublished works such as  "kissing couples" images on underwear and candid self portraitist of Warhol himself on the heritage inspired denim collections in T shirts and hoodies.

Lee X Hattie Stewart Collection

The VF Corporation owners of Lee and Wrangler Jeans are just about to celebrate their 130 year anniversary as such have also joined the bandwagon of collaborations.   Historically Lee jean has taken a fashion back seat to Levi but with the new collaboration between Lee jeans and Hattie Stewart to celebrate their "Scarlett Jean" this may be set to change.   Hattie Stewart a well know illustrator and self proclaimed "doodle Bomber" has customised the Scarlett high jean and the denim Rider jacket with her bold playful designs which transcend both art and fashion.  Her strong images and with clean lines and bold colours are almost cartoon like in their fun and humour, destined to become as iconic as the garments they adorn.  Available in the Covent Garden store from August 2018.

Peter Max for Wrangler, Celebrating 70 years of Wrangler

Wrangler have teamed up with Peter Max for a bold new take on the iconic wrangler shirt and T shirt range.

The 21st Century Jean, 3x1 X Joe Doucett

 Scott Morrison's amazing 3x1 jeans brand having morphed from being a heavy weight denim brand into being the fashion icon it now is is still focussed on the cloth as being the driver behind their recent collaboration with Joe Ducet. But Jo has also added some details essential for today's urban dweller plus proclaiming it to be the 21st Century jean with shape and details fit for 21st century purpose.    Enlarged coin pocket to accommodate a credit card;  reflective back strip for commuter protection ( where have we seen this before i wonder!!); micro fibre pockets to protect your devices all in Kurabo' s raw stretch selvedge denim. Purposely unwashed to enable the wearer to have a personalised wear over time.   This fashion utility jean is available  in women and mens slim straight fit in stretch dark indigo.  

Uniqlo X  J.W. Anderson

Uniqlo gets better and better. When we thought they had it all they now offer us designer collaboration teamed with their amazing quality!   A good "fit" with the simple stylish creativity of JW Anderson to achieve must have tops, shirts, T's and hats and jeanswear.  Yet more to covet from Uniqlo.

COLLABORATION: Levi's

Levi is not only the master of jeans but also of collaborations. Planning to launch 50 such collaborative partnerships to launch a come back into the consciousness of the youth market. Not only focussing on jeans and truckers but also expanding this dominance to other product areas,  to grow beyond jeans and appeal to todays digitally driven youth.    What a way to generate a buzz and  to increase the brand relevance in street culture.

Levi's X Supreme

Levi + Supreme = funky stripes combines with vintage look denims. Real vintage blues with the crackle texture we all know and love.

The iconic Brand has also had much success with tailoring vintage fo themselves with the 501CT  in 2014 for Women or working with Re-Done for up cycled and re-purposed items which look fresh offering a perfect combo of vintage thrift looks with the best denims around.

Levi's X Air Jordan

Collaborations for Levi are not restricted to clothing. Being a brand worn by street sport dudes it is appropriate to team up with Nike and their Air Jordan range.  Cool feet with baggy low slung vintage Levis can look newly box fresh or found vintage.  Slashes of white on the feet with indigo or grunge coloured jeans offer a distinctly retro appearance.

Levi's Collaborate with 50 Celebrities to create 50 custom Trucker Jackets 

The New Personalised Trucker is total excitement.  501 and Trucker are synonymous with the Levi Brand. The Trucker can be worn by anyone with anything and everything and is imitated by every jean brand on the planet. Plagiarism is the sincerest form of flattery but the original honours go to Levi.    As such Levi invented it and are happy to evolve it with customisations relevant to todays consumer.  Celebrity customisations from global Artists and Media personalities have been commissioned for the 50th anniversary of the trucker.   Collaborations with the likes of Solange Knowles, Beyonce's sister; Vanessa Wu; Caroline Issa; Snoop Dog; Feng Cheng; Chance the Rapper;  Taylor Kitsch and many many more.  

Feng Chen X Levis

Shifting down the body from working with the Trucker Feng Cheng Wang, the supremely talented Chinese Designer has linked up with Levi for a new collaboration. and created some really exciting jeans silhouettes. Focussing on form and function of 6 of the best past 501 models piecing, layering, tonal blocking to bring the iconic 501 5 pocket jean into " the now" street relevance.  

Indigo denim largely fuelled by the popularity of Levi over the years has achieved a romantic, nostalgic, must- have position in fashion. What better way to perpetuate such emotion by offering a fresh take on the 501 jean hitherto a mid life classic now re-freshed and associated with high Design and celebrity status.  No doubt it will fly.

CALIFORNIA DREAMING: Pioneers

Would that we could find original jeans and work clothes from the 1800's California gold rush.

Images - 'From Cowboys to Catwalk' and '  'Jeans Des Heroes'

Clothing from The General Store was fit and strong enough for railroad hard labour.  It was these Pioneers and their tough overalls who not only helped build the railroads but have unwittingly helped perpetuate our love today of everything indigo denim.

To the point of copying in every small detail the style and shape of their utility clothing.    The exact replica badges, logos , labels, buttons, rivets, braces and buckles are all part of the essential package of contemporary workwear.

And of course Levi Strauss was one of the first companies to capitalise on the popularity of what was originally workwear, HD Lee with his "Jeans that built America" slogan,  was another.  In the 1800's Leob Strauss and Jacob David collaborated turning the turning original work pants from brown canvas sailcloth to a 3x1 weave in indigo and registering them under the name Levi Strauss, using the two horse brand to represent strength and durability.  The history of the jean goes back even further.

In 1567 sailors from Genoa arrived in the USA wearing tough trousers made from a cloth called Serge de Nimes - De-Nimes, which is the origin of the name Denim. This cloth was dyed indigo being a universally traded commodity at that time.   The word jean however is hotly debated. It is  thought the the sailors from Genoa ( Genes) gave rise to this.  But it was many years later that Levi Strauss registered it for his tough 3x1 RHT cotton cloth pants.  This is a too short precis of the many years that gave rise to and turned a San Franciso family textile factory owner together with a Nevada tailor into the icon we know today.      Denim is now the biggest selling fabric and jeans the biggest selling garment in our World of apparel today.

CALIFORNIA DREAMING: Junkyard Denim

Flea markets and junkyards are enjoying a revival, newly popular with the young denim heads. Finding only more of the same old, same old on the high street the more adventurous are scouting further afield for new denim excitement.

Where shapes are original denims are likewise, both with a history and romance not to be found in normal shops.

The touch is worn in soft rather than chemically achieved softness.  The light indigo is generally worn in and worn out lightened rather than chemically bleached.   Whilst the shape is baggy given the jeans were someone else's  first being cinched at the waist achieves  a more contemporary silhouette.

Long Beach Antique Market 

Original Vintage jeans have achieved parallel status of vintage Louis Vuitton bags.   Vintage and flea markets in the USA are over subscribed with lovers of the original.   Items be they original or simply old have mostly  been cleaned, repaired, washed ready for another owner.  There are some however which remain in their original unwashed unworn dusty state - maybe, just maybe here is a real original find!

Real vintage finds and revived popularity of seeking them out will serve to perpetuate the romance of blue denim on the high street.   Some prefer to have the originals replicated for them others prefer to experience the joy and excitement of finding the original for themselves..