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.

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 — 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.

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.

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.