Endrime, the denim consultancy founded by creative director Mohsin Sajid and creative art director Sadia Rafique, is stepping further into the world of book publishing.
The firm announced last month plans to launch a publishing house that focuses on books about denim archives, design and history. Presently, Endrime has eight books planned for 2025-2027 and others are in the works. Additionally, Sajid said many companies and designers have expressed interest in publishing books about their archives.
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“I’m in a lucky position where not only do I have a large historical denim archive, but I’ve also photographed many other designers’ archives including Levi’s, Cone Denim and many more. In most cases, I have permission so now’s the time to document and share knowledge. It’s getting harder and harder to find rare pieces, most are locked away,” Sajid said.
The self-funded venture is an evolution of Endrime’s 13 years of experience publishing books, booklets and other archival, promotional and educational material for the denim industry.
In 2023, Endrime produced a 600-page book for Cone, chronicling the company’s storied history. “We even traveled to Mexico to see the denim mills,” Sajid said. “It’s really after that when we decided more young designers and other designers need to access to the denim history and construction books.”
Sajid said they considered working with established publishing houses, but they couldn’t land on the same page about concepts and the type of content that would be beneficial for the denim community. It’s an issue that plagues the denim book space, Sajid said, adding that in recent years books are being written by people unfamiliar with the denim industry. Others are marketing books or books that promote the fast fashion way to make jeans.
“No one has done a pattern cutting book, or details books from 1870s-1920s with a balanced view,” he said. “I’m not just talking about Levi’s here. I’m talking about everyone, even the brands that died off in 1890. Even ‘The Denim Manual: A Complete Visual Guide for the Denim Industry’ by Fashionary, though it covers so much there’s nothing about how jeans are made or constructed.”
Positioned for fashion students, designers and novice fans of the heritage fabric, Sajid’s vision is to curate an encyclopedia of books that can engage a denim specialist as much as it would a denim enthusiast.
A series of planned step-by-step books is one example of this strategy. The books, which provide guidelines to how to make 5-pocket jeans and Trucker jackets, will include instructions for both domestic and industrial machines and many other methods “so a mum at home can follow along and a denim connoisseur who wants to learn about the six known methods of a one-piece continuous fly [or] want to use Japanese selvedge in the best possible way with no serger/overlocking, are covered,” Sajid said.
“Vintage Style Research Vol 1,” publishing in April, will have dual language text in English and Chinese so a broader audience can read interviews with collectors and essays on rare garments, where they were found and their historical context. A second volume will follow in April 2026.
The book’s origin story began in Hong Kong in 2023 when Sajid and Rafique were in town for a denim festival and teaching at Hong Kong Design Institute. A group of denim enthusiasts reached out wanting to take him and Sadia out for dinner.
“I checked out their Instagram accounts… no images of denim, just pictures of family life,” Sajid recalls. “After dinner they took us to a showroom, and each started pulling out rare denim pieces worth $30,000-$75,000 each from their backpacks. I was shocked as I had seen all these garments on auction sites over the years. I instantly made an agreement; I would return the following year and photograph their entire archive for a book.”
Other books will cover topics like denim and workwear patents and a second volume of Endrime Archive, a 510-page tome launched last May that puts into context Sajid’s historical-inspired designs and projects for companies in the denim supply chain.
“We have about 3,000 rare vintage garments in our archive, which I share with my students each season. It made sense to start to photograph and catalogue them. Each season I get asked about a 1930s jacket block or a 1950s denim fit or a Lady Levi’s block. It’s impossible for young brands and designers to get access to anything,” Sajid said. At Kingpins Amsterdam in April, he’ll be giving away denim patterns.
Sajid’s 20 years of experience as an educator across U.K. universities and workshops plays a large factor in his desire to find new ways to support budding designers. Many students and fellow designers ask for recommendations for books about denim history or the details of historical denim. He comes up short for suggestions. While there are some Japanese brands releasing limited runs of books, Sajid said they can be difficult to import and priced outside most students’ budgets.
Endrime established a partnership with Fashion Room Italy to sell its books online and at several key fashion trade shows including Pitti Immagine events. The books also be available on Endrime’s website.
“My plan is to never be out of print,” Sajid said.
