From collaborating with competitors to give back and reduce waste, to partnering with designers and artisans to shed light on untold stories, the denim industry found creative and purposeful ways to provide support in 2023. The industry also came together at times of crisis.
Following the devastating earthquakes that hit Turkey and Syria in February, Amsterdam-based House of Denim Foundation, Denim City, Jean School and Denim Deal unveiled the Solidarity Selvedge project. The Turkish-Dutch collaboration is an exchange program that connects the Turkish textile community with Amsterdam’s denim network.
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The nonprofits teamed with supply chain partners to produce a limited series of 1,000 button-fly selvedge jeans, which were sold during Denim Days in April to raise funds for an annual exchange program for Turkish textile students.
The denim community banded together to contribute to the relief efforts through a fundraiser called Denim Donates. Hosted by L.A.-based market trends consultancy, Denim Dudes, the raffle, which started at $10 per entry, consisted of a variety of luxury denim products donated from apparel, furniture and accessory brands. The fundraiser collected over $5,000 for proceeds for GlobalGiving, a nonprofit that provides global crowdfunding for charitable grassroots projects including aid for Turkey and Syria.
In December, Diesel launched Diesel Loves—an initiative that calls for the denim community to share materials, manufacturing and resources as a “challenge to the industry standard of brand collaborations.”
The first to collaborate with Diesel was Kontoor Brands-owned Lee, resulting in a limited-edition collection made entirely from unsold stock or unused materials. A true “50/50” from the competing brands, the Frankenstein-ed designs are either Diesel on the front and Lee on the back or vice versa.
All proceeds from the collection go to the UNHCR, the United Nations Refugee Agency, via Diesel’s parent company’s philanthropic arm, the Only the Brave Foundation.
Other collaborations aimed to preserve traditions.
Ariat bowed a second collection with Centinela Traditional Arts (CTA), a family-owned and operated weaving company and tapestry gallery in Chimayo, New Mexico. The duo focused on denim, knitwear and footwear designs that captured the artistry and multi-generational craftsmanship synonymous with Chimayo textiles.
In honor of the partnership with CTA and to support the tradition of Chimayo weaving for future generations, Ariat donated $50,000 this year to establish the Ariat Chimayo Weaving Apprenticeship Program. Led by eighth-generation Chimayo weaver, Emily Trujillo, the initiative aims to preserve the tradition of weaving and its significance in the region by developing core skills in new weavers and supporting their personal financial goals, while also contributing to the local tourism economy.
AG also unveiled a Chimayo collection of jackets. The premium denim brand teamed with Irvin and Lisa Trujillo, seventh-generation weavers in New Mexico, to make jean jackets with traditional handcrafted Chimayo woven paneling at the back.
Collaborations were a way for designers to share personal stories and pay homage to underrepresented communities.
Levi’s continued to embrace denim’s storytelling qualities with Denim Tears founder Tremaine Emory. The heritage brand reunited with Emory for a collection that explored Black biker culture—something he’s been fascinated with for years.
“What seems like simple and functional attire at first glance is aesthetically informed by Native American, cowboy, rodeo evidence, workwear, military surplus, outlaw, and drifter influences,” Emory said.
The collection combined these motifs with mythical characters, pan-African flags and Denim Tears’ signature cotton wreath motif, which has been used in two previous collaborations with Levi’s. A leather vest boasted a chenille pharaoh patch that Levi’s said “evokes the mythical, heroic, and fantastic otherness that forms the biker identity while referencing the idea and resonance of Afro-Futurism and legend.” Real members of the Black biker community bring the statement pieces to life in the collection’s campaign.
In June’s Levi’s also bowed a collaboration with Chris ‘Spanto’ Printup, the founder of Born x Raised, just weeks before his tragic death. The 42-year-old designer was involved in a car accident in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The collection combined influences from Spanto’s half-Apache, half-Seneca heritage and Los Angeles street culture. Many of the designs were a tribute his late father, Butch, who also passed away unexpectedly in 2023.
A highlight of the collection was a set of designs with a “graphic representation” of his father watching over him.
