These days it is all about the Eco and Iron Heart do their bit!
We are hearing more and more about environmental consciousness, sustainability and recycling. It stretches from the cars we drive to the food we eat to the industries we work in. It is about damn time too, environmental impact from consumables needs to make a huge shift in the coming decade.
Damn Dirty Denim
Denim production looked at from a global point of view is a damn dirty business. However, it is not blind or deaf to the fact that consumers are demanding more environmental responsibility from their jeans. Driven by this consumer demand, the denim industry as a whole it is making baby steps towards a better, more sustainable set of manufacturing practices and at this point, we should see even incremental changes as something positive. After all, Rome was not built in a day.
A pat on the back for Denimheads
Raw, selvedge denim (predominantly) represents the epitome of what is possible when it comes to sustainability within denim and jeans. From the cotton in the field to the spinning to the dying to the loom to the sewing, there is a high chance that these processes are done right. When it comes to the wear the chances of these jeans being used for longer, loved for longer, repaired rather than replaced and not being discarded due to fashion is also pretty damn high. It is just intrinsic to raw denim. As Mister Freedom founder Christophe Loiron once said:
“If a pair of jeans doesn’t cost as much as mine do, someone suffered in their manufacture”
So, sitting reading this wearing our raw denim, with our fair trade single origin coffee we have the right to feel a sense of smugness and pat ourselves on the back for making the right consumer choice.
Let’s do better!
But if there is the possibility to do more, should we not take it?
Iron Heart shout a resounding YES!
Iron Heart introduces the latest addition to their already impressive range of denim fabrics, a 14.7 oz recycled selvedge denim. The denim is made by mixing 40% regular cotton with 30% fibres from the cutting process and 30% dropped fibres.
But why is it not 100% recycled?
When cotton is recycled, it is broken back down from the fabric into the individual fibres. The trouble is, these recycled fibres are too short to be spun together into yarn. So regular cotton is mixed in to bind things together into yarns that can be spun, dyed, woven and then made into jeans.
Can’t hold their drink!
The shorter fibres (which in this case make up 60% of the Iron Heart Denim) also have the issue that they don’t hold the indigo as well as regular cotton. Iron Heart have been clever and solved this issue in a creative way. The weft which is normally left white in regular denim is dyed a deep earthy brown, darkening the overall appearance of the denim.
So fluffy!
But these short fibres ain’t done yet. Given the length, the texture of the denim has a rough and ever so slightly fluffy. This texture, in combination with the brown weft and the fact that these fibers don’t hold indigo as well will make for some very interesting fades. I am really looking forward to seeing the results after some hard wear and tear.
Denim Details:
- Available in: IH-666S-RE “Devil’s Fit” slim straight cut and IH-634S-RE straight cut.
- Lined rear pockets
- Button fly and hidden rivets
- Belt loops are sewn into the waistband
- Poly/cotton constructional stitching
- Selvedge side seams and fly construction
- Sanforized and one-washed
Do your bit!
So if you want to do even more for the planet (it is the Blue Planet after all), head over to Iron Heart’s webstore and pick yourself up a pair. You will be a pioneer, the first to fade this new denim and you can be the smuggest of the smug and look down with disdain on your fellow denimhead’s while drinking your Kopi Luwak coffee.
