In our common memory, denim is and has always been a blue fabric made of cotton. Yet history shows that before being blue and cotton, denim was something quite different. Tilmann Wröbel says recent shifts in trends seem to confirm that this forgotten chapter of denim history could hold the key to longer-lasting fashions.

The denim industry in Turkey faces multiple challenges from falls in demand and increases in cost. Its vertically integrated value chain is coming under intense pressure.

As Lycra’s partially bio-based elastane hits commercial volumes, Fashion for Good launches a pilot to validate lower-impact stretch fibres and galvanise support around nascent recycling systems.

The shift towards wider and looser styles is a blessing for the denim industry as a whole. While structured fits are big, so are the slouchier and more fluid fits, where manmade cellulosic fibres can play a key role in enhancing drape and softness. These changing market dynamics also elevate the notion of comfort in jeans.

The making of jeans adorned with ‘deep fake’ digital prints, motifs etched out by lasers or woven into jacquard fabrics, calls for equal measures of technology and craftsmanship. Integrating decors is not necessarily costly and also happens to be one of the most sustainable ways to offer creativity and differentiation.