For a garment as timeless as jeans, there’s a surprising amount of change and newness that both invigorates and challenges the industry.
In 2023, denim mills advanced their biodegradable technologies and set out to verify their sustainability claims. They expanded their use of recycled fibers, while textile recyclers ran into roadblocks. Companies also explored reshoring their production to the Northern Hemisphere. Collectively, the industry anticipated what the EU sustainability due diligence legislation might mean for business.
Meanwhile, consumers continued to shed their closets of skinny jeans.
Here, seven articles that provide a survey of the global denim industry in 2023.
The quest for biodegradable jeans stirred up new certification requirements and greenwashing concerns.
With consumers becoming more aware of the impact of their clothing, brands are increasingly keen on showing that their products leave no footprint behind. However, expert say there’s not enough understanding around biodegradability claims. Click here to read more.
Brands, retailers and consumers looked beyond basic 5-pocket jeans in 2023.
Classic blue jeans never go out of style, but the latest fashion trends call for greater variety. Here, find out how brands and retailers are adding an indigo twist to consumers’ growing interest in Y2K miniskirts, workwear-inspired outerwear and stealth wealth blazers and trousers. Click here to read more.
Is Mexico the new China? Nearshoring and reshoring experts navigate the shifting sourcing map.
One of the biggest lessons many companies learned during the pandemic was the importance of a diversified supply chain. As Covid shutdowns in China, Vietnam and other Asian countries persisted long after the U.S. began reopening, factories supplying product to American brands fell far behind, leaving empty store shelves and panic for both manufacturers and retailers. This led many companies to explore reshoring their production to the United States or nearshoring to neighboring areas such as Mexico and Latin America. Click here to read more.
Supply and demand challenged Swedish recycler Renewcell, highlighting the difficulty to scale “next-gen” materials.
The ramp-up of sales of Circulose, the branded dissolving pulp that Renewcell concocts from cotton-rich castoffs, such as worn-out or surplus T-shirts and jeans, is taking longer than anticipated. As a result of October’s sluggish sales, Renewcell reduced its production volume to preserve its cash flow. In November, the company announced that its Board of Directors decided to immediately initiate a strategic review to explore and evaluate various funding alternatives. Click here to read more.
Blame the skinny for falling women’s jeans sales.
This year, U.S. women’s jeans sales declined by 3 percent through September, according to Circana’s Retail Tracking Service data. For every $10 lost, the firm said $8 came from skinny jeans. Sales of skinny jeans fell faster than the overall market, down 22 percent. Click here to read more.
Mills designed outside the confines of tradition indigo denim to try their hand at non-denim and zero-cotton concepts.
From linen and wool blends to recycled Tencel and zero-virgin cotton fabrics, denim mills experimented with new constructions in 2023. While the unconventional fabrics offer brands sustainable options, they also introduce new surface textures, washdown effects and engaging stories to share with the end consumer. Click here to read more.
Denim suppliers tried to make sense of EU sustainability due diligence legislation.
The European Union is cracking down on disposable fashion with mandatory corporate sustainability due diligence legislation that could be finalized in 2024. Conversations and debates on what the legislation should entail—and who will be responsible for the costs required to meet the unknown standards—grew louder this year as suppliers tried to make sense of looming standards. Click here to read more.
