Happy Earth Day! Here at Denim Therapy we have a favorite way of paying homage to the earth: shopping for eco-friendly denim! With brands like Levi, Nudie Jeans Co. and M2F leading the industry in an inspiring switch towards more earth-loving production practices, you don’t have to search for long to find a pair you love. Today we’re zeroing in on REUSE Jeans—a brand that produces environmentally sound skinny jeans (among other wardrobe essentials) in vibrant pop colors like crayon red and jade green. Even better? These jeans are all under $100.
Shop colored skinny jeans by Reuse. Loving the earth just got a little more stylish!
—Michelle Christina Larsen
Tags: buy jeans online, colored denim, Earth Day, eco friendly denim, eco-friendly jeans, environmentally friendly, m2f, nudie jeans co, REUSE Jeans
Levi’s has introduced a collection of denim incorporating post-consumer waste, specifically recycled plastic bottles and food trays. Each Levi’s Waste<Less product will include a minimum of 20 percent post-consumer recycled content, or, on average, eight 12 to 20-ounce bottles per jean. The line will include both men and women’s denim styles for the upcoming spring season. This new initiative represents the n ext chapter in the company’s ongoing commitment to sustainable design.
“From the beginning, we have designed our products with purpose and intent. By adding value to waste, we hope to change the way people think about recycling, ultimately incentivizing them to do more of it,” said James Curleigh, global president of the Levi’s brand. “This collection proves that you don’t have to sacrifice quality, comfort or style to give an end a new beginning.”
See the campaign video below.
—DT Staff
Tags: eco friendly denim, eco-friendly fashion, green fashion, Levi's, recycled clothing, recycled jeans, sustainable clothing, sustainable denim, sustainable fashion
As for the name?
“The tortoise is a land-dwelling reptile that moves about at a slow and steady pace. They are herbivores that consume extremely low volumes of water. While tortoises can live to be a century old, they have an extremely low ecological impact on the environment throughout their lifetime. These gentle creatures have long been revered as a symbol of wisdom, determination, patience and longevity.”
We picked our favorites from the line at PROJECT Las Vegas. Check them out below.
Hermann #1012: Skinny Straight Jean, American 12oz Selvage PFD fabric, No Water Italian Organic Pigment Application with Natural Resin to retain shape.
Chelys #1026: Skinny Straight Jean, Camo Italian Silicone Wax Coated Jacquard Indigo Patches, Candiani 12.5oz Selvage Indigo fabric.
Dinidae #2007: Zip Shell Denim Jacket, Italian Organic Pigment Coating, Deadstock Custom Japanese Speckled Weave.
Hermann #1003: Skinny Straight Jean, Cone Blue Line Selvage Broken Twill Indigo, Engineered 3.0 Exposure Rings.
Kinixys #2003: Jean Jacket, Cone Blue Line Selvage Broken Twill Indigo, Selvage Waistband, Very Light Vintage Wash with no use of Potassium, Bleach or Stone Wash; Camo
Read more at TORTOISE Jeans.
Photos by Raffael Flores-Contreras.
—Raffael Flores-Contreras
Tags: eco friendly denim, eco-friendly jeans, environmentally friendly, magic market week, project las vegas, sustainable jeans, tortoise jeans, washing process
Nudie Jeans, Bloomingdales, and Denim Therapy are launching Repair Reuse! Reduce – a unique pop-up tailor shop that lets customers show their worn-and-torn Nudie Jeans some TLC with free repairs and alterations! Come to Bloomingdales SoHo in the Men’s Lower Level, Thursday, September 13 through Sunday, September 16, 2PM ’til 8PM and see what we can do for your Nudies. In addition, customers have the chance to trade in their hard-worn Nudie Jeans (after meeting Nudie’s wear-and-tear requirements), to be recycled and resold with the award-winning Good Environmental Choice label, featured with the wearer’s name. In exchange for donating denim, customers will receive an exclusive Nudie Jeans gift! You can’t pass this up, people. Come on down!
—Sarah Greene
Tags: Bloomingdale's, denim doctor, Denim Repair, Denim Therapy, eco friendly denim, Hem Jeans, Nudie Jeans, repair hole, soho
In case you hadn’t noticed, we’re big fans of the three Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle), plus one more–repair! Denim Therapy can help you extend the life of your jeans, but if you’re looking to buy some eco-friendly denim, we’ve also got you covered. Here are six awesome brands doing their best to help the environment:
M2F
With colored denim being such a big hit this season, it’s especially cool that M2F created a dye bath that uses 50% less energy and water than traditional methods, while also eliminating commonly used toxic materials. Plus, their Made2Fade Technology Yarn is certified by the Swedish OEKO-TEX lab to be free of any harmful substances.
Pastel Skinny Jeans | Light Wash Skinny Jeans | Traveler Denim Jacket
G-Star RAW Sustainable
G-Star RAW Sustainable collection is not only made entirely out of organic cotton, which minimizes the use of harsh-on-Mother-Nature pesticides and other pollutants, G-Star also touts various sustainable operations practices, like reducing energy use and only using transportation companies that meet certain environmental standards.
Navy Shirt | Navy Pencil Skirt
Nudie Jeans
For spring/summer 2012, Nudie Jeans produced 43% of its garments from organic cotton, with the longer-term goal to amp that number up to 100%. As part of their larger efforts to reduce waste, their Post Recycle Dry program takes old Nudie jeans and makes them into new, limited edition pairs.
Thin Finn Organic Jeans | Grim Tim Organic Blue Fade Jeans
Levi’s Water<Less Jeans
Making jeans is a water-intensive process, and a lot of the environmental cost of production comes from water. Often, jeans are washed multiple times before we take ‘em home, but the Levi’s Water<Less Jeans finishing process uses up to 96% less water than usual. 172 million liters of water (and counting!) have been saved so far.
511 Skinny Jeans – 3D Coated | Modern Demi Curve Ankle Skinny Jeans
Edun
Perhaps you know Edun best in relation to its founders Ali Hewson and Bono, but the ethical clothing line isn’t simply a celeb pet project. The company focuses on fair wage and labor practices, and uses organic cotton to produce their line.
Indigo Denim Jacket | Denim Flares
Kuyichi
With jeans made from organic cotton, hemp, recycled wool, and more, Kuyichi prides itself in using eco-friendly and recycled fabrics, including natural dyes. Their full list of sustainable materials used is pretty informative as well, if you pride yourself in knowing the benefits of the alternative fabrics used.
Kuyichi Denim Pants | Kuyichi Denim Pants
—Brie Hiramine
Tags: denim shopping guide, eco friendly denim, eco-friendly jeans, Edun, G-Star Raw, Kuyichi, m2f, Nudie Jeans
We stopped by the Nudie Jeans Co. showroom recently to preview one of our favorite Swedish denim brands—a brand that embodies both modern Scandinavian culture and classic utilitarian elements in denim and sportswear. Their unisex jeans have made the full transition into 100% organic territory, from denim fabric to pocket linings, buttons, rivets and labeling. It’s all raw material. The iconic orange stitching compliments an array of beautiful Japanese plaids with rich autumn hues for the cold season, all of which is further backed by a line of accessories and the exponentially successful backbone collection.
See more below.
Photos by Raffael Flores-Contreras.
—Michelle Christina Larsen
Tags: eco friendly denim, fall 2012, fall denim, mens denim, menswear denim, Nudie Jeans, organic denim
We love Raleigh Denim, that’s no secret. The eco-friendly, community-enriching brand with limited runs of specially crafted denim have set themselves apart in the market. But aside from being sustainable and aware, their jeans are gorgeous. We had an up-close look at the fall/winter 2012 line at their recent NY press preview. We browsed raw selvedge jeans for men and women with contrast stitching made from Cone Mills White Oak Denim, individually numbered and signed, along with a range of other fabrics in rich autumn hues. Check out our favorite picks below.
See men’s and women’s looks below:
Check out the spring 2012 lookbook here, and keep up with Raleigh Denim on facebook. Stay tuned for the Raleigh denim fall 2012 lookbook as well!
Photos by Raffael Flores-Contreras.
—Michelle Christina Larsen
Tags: eco friendly denim, fall 2012, mens denim, press preview, Raleigh Denim, raw denim, raw jeans, selvedge denim, womens denim
M2F Denim just posted up this preview on their facebook wall—check out these fruity neons! We’re huge fans of this brand both for their unique hues and their eco-friendly denim production. Not only has their dye bath been engineered to waste 50% less energy and water than your average denim brand, but their dyed-yarns go through a rigorous testing process to ensure there are no substances in them that can harm your health. Visit their website to learn more about their eco-friendly approach.
To purchase, check out their list of retailers.
—Michelle Christina Larsen
Tags: colored denim, eco friendly denim, m2f denim, made2fade yarns, neon denim, neon jeans, yarn-dyed denim
We had a chance to interview Raleigh Denim Workshop designers Victor and Sarah Lytvinenko during their NYFW Fall 2012 presentation, and they let us in on their minimal carbon footprint, innovative fabric contents (ever hear of fabric made from recycled TV dinner trays? Neither had we!), and how they’re aiming to create the backbone of your wardrobe. Check it out below.
If you missed the original post, click for our Raleigh Denim FW’12 photos and review.
—Michelle Christina Larsen
Tags: eco friendly denim, fall 2012, New York Fashion Week, nyfw, Raleigh Denim, Sarah Lytvinenko, Victor Lytvinenko, video interview
Raleigh Denim Workshop‘s FW’12 presentation was a parade of classic American looks, illuminated (ironically) by the darkest textile on the presentation floor: gorgeous selvedge denim. The North Carolina-based brand (which produces their denim locally via non-automated jeansmiths and vintage sewing machinery) showed for the first time in New York this season. They presented both men’s and women’s styles, all with a consistent theme of woodland-prep, tailored button-down shirts, and a tame, classic color story.
The clothes were all beautiful, but the focus was the eco-friendly denim, created using locally sourced materials from the Mills of Greensboro, NC (which was once a thriving center for denim production). Designers and husband/wife team Victor and Sarah Lytvinenko bring the workshop concept to life through production, one-by-one inspection, limited edition runs, stamped leather patches with unique edition numbers, and signatures on every pair of denim they lovingly release into the world.
To see local garment production make a come back, however small, gives the eco-conscious consumer a bit of hope. This blip on the NYFW radar was rooted in an urgent ethical & environmental movement. Raleigh Denim, while remaining painfully stylish and appealing to all matter of urban folk, is at the forefront of a beautiful era of change, and we can’t wait to share more of their message.
More photos below:
Stay tuned for our interview with designers Victor and Sarah Lytvinenko!
Photos by Raffael Flores-Contreras.
—Michelle Christina Larsen
Tags: eco friendly denim, fall 2012, New York Fashion Week, nyfw, Raleigh Denim, Sarah Lytvinenko, Victor Lytvinenko
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