This is a changemakers story and a long read. In this column, we report on fashion designers and entrepreneurs with their own vision of the industry and who bring change. This article is also available in Dutch. In his mid-thirties, he has a relaxed demeanour and loves talking shop, peppering his stories with one-liners and regularly connecting his passion for retail and jeans to his first love: sport.
Photography by Lennert Antonissen. The decision to do their own production was mainly down to the changing market. The margins that the retailers and wholesalers would normally pocket are now kept by the brands themselves.
So now, not only have the brands become my rivals, but they also earn more on a pair of jeans than I do. But the main reason to do their own production was quality. Everyone suddenly began to realise they could buy almost just as good of a pair of or, technically, just as bad of a pair of jeans, for the same price. And perhaps for good reason. To sell high quality jeans for a decent price to euros , he works without a middleman and keeps his overheads to a minimum.
This enables him to invest as much of that money as possible in great products — not in stuff like a head office. Craftsmen like Marco Bonzanni from Italy, an expert in denim fabrics, and renowned Japanese denim mill Kurabo.
Take the washes for the latest trousers from Italy, for instance. Fotografie Lennert Antonissen. But he still sees sustainability in the fashion industry as a hard topic. Then he grabs a pair of jeans to show me: apart from some wear on the knees and a bit of fraying, they still look good. Then he has a little chuckle to himself. After all, I make my living thanks to consumerism. But a good pair of jeans lasts for years and years, and the worn patches and fraying that you see here tell the story of the person who wears them.
