THE DARK SIDE OF DENIM

The humble blue jean has been a staple in our wardrobes – both men and women – for many years. They are the timeless piece that you can always put on when you don’t know what to wear and they transcend fleeting seasonal trends. But this fashion staple comes at a high cost – did you know it takes 10,000 – 20,000 litres of water to make just one pair of conventional jeans? On top of that, there is a huge amount of chemicals use to grow the cotton that makes the denim and the fabric dying process that pollutes the earth.  With 2.2 billion jeans being sold globally every year, this is having a big impact on the planet.

So here is how KEEPER Denim is making a difference and looking to the future to create an ethical and sustainable denim brand:

TEXTILE DYEING

The manufacturing of conventional denim often includes several chemical-intensive washes. These washes may contain heavy metals such as manganese, cadmium, chromium, mercury, lead and copper, which can all be poisonous to the nervous system and carcinogenic. The contaminated water leftover from this process is then often dumped into surrounding rivers and streams, polluting local drinking water supplies. Over the long term, this impacts the health of the people who live in the local area.

At KEEPER Denim we chose to source our denim from ISKO, a denim Mill in Turkey as it has been awarded with both the EU Ecolabel and the Nordic Swan Ecolabel. This means the denim has been tested to make sure it doesn’t contain chemicals that are harmful to either our health or the planet. ISKO also have a filtration system that cleans the water used during the manufacturing process of their denim, so it can be recycled and re-used, Reducing their water usage and pollution!

DENIM FADING

Sandblasting is one of the most common methods used to fade the colour of denim today. A high-pressure hose filled with sand is used to literally blast it onto the denim, which fades and softens the denim at the same time. Although this may make jeans look amazing, it can be harmful to the health of the factory workers. They breathe in small particles from the sand which can become trapped in their lungs, causing illnesses such as lung fibrosis and emphysema. Many factory workers in the developing world are aware of the impact this process can have on their health, however they are forced to continue to work, earning as low as $70 a month just so they can support their family.

So, is there a better way? The answer is yes! There are more ethical and sustainable ways to create this worn look, such as the use of lasers or manual techniques.

At KEEPER Denim we have chosen to use a more ethical and sustainable alternative. Once our jeans have been sewn together, our denim artisans use a brush to lightly fade the fabric. This minimises our impact on the environment and creates safer working conditions for our garment workers by reducing their exposure to chemicals during the manufacturing process.