The environmental impact of denim makes buying jeans problematic for eco-conscious shoppers. But more and more brands are developing innovative ways to lessen the damage
Why are jeans so controversial? Is it the estimated 10,000 litres of water needed to grow the cotton for every pair? The dark blue lines of toxic pollution in China’s Pearl River that can be seen from space? The potassium permanganate, widely used to make new jeans look old and distressed, that may cause lung damage in workers? Or is it because there is no guarantee that those workers are paid a living wage, never mind being paid for the overtime they are forced to do?
“The denim industry is at a pivotal moment,” says Roian Atwood, senior director of global sustainable business at Kontoor Brands, which owns Wrangler and Lee, when we met at ART (Art Repair Transform), a denim upcycling and mending workshop at the Copenhagen international fashion last month. Lee are among the 30 brands contributing to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Jeans Redesign project, a new initiative governing all aspects of jean production from regeneratively farmed fibres to washing and finishing techniques – potassium permanganate, for example, is not allowed. Jeans must be made with rivets and hardware that can easily be removed after the jeans are no longer fit for purpose, allowing them to be recycled into something new. The first products bearing the Jeans Redesign logo will go on sale in the autumn.
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