Image: Weekday. Voyage High Straight Jeans in Standard Blue and Thursday High Skinny Jeans in Stay Black
I gotta say I’m pretty blown away right now…when I first started blogging in 2013 or so, the whole concept of sustainable or eco friendly jeans (or denim for that matter) was pretty much nonexistent. Anything Earth friendly or ethical was basically limited to independent brands that produce their goods by hand. Of course, that comes with a much higher price for a reason, and those brands were (and are) tougher to find. Over the years I’m seeing this amazing movement in the more Earth-friendly sense. Call it capitalizing on a trend if you want, which is probably true for some brands, but the fashion industry as a whole is definitely seeing that this is a much-needed direction. One of the main avenues I’m seeing brands taking is incorporating organic cotton in their manufacturing processes. Some are taking it even further.
My latest discovery in the realm of sustainable denim is Weekday. This brand’s entire denim collection is, at first glance, an incredible amalgamation of the types of jeans I’m seeing a lot of people screaming for, but that don’t exist much on the mainstream market: classic styles that span beyond the oh-so-popular skinny jean, in sizes that are far more size-inclusive for the curvier shapes among us. I know skinny jeans are here to stay…I pretty much only wear skinny jeans, but straight leg, “mom jeans”, high rise, wide leg, tapered legs, flare, looser fits and more timeless and vintage cuts are included in Weekday’s offerings. And yes, all of these fits are either mostly or 100% cotton for slight to no stretch.
Lets get to the sustainable side of Weekday denim, as this is always the main highlight for me! Weekday’s normal denim collections are made of 100% organic cotton. Totally awesome! However, they just released a new capsule collection as part of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Jeans Redesign Project, which also is in collaboration with popular denim retailers Gap, Lee, H&M, Wrangler and Triarchy. Armed with the slogan “The Future is Circular,” this small collection offers two 100% biodegradable and recyclable pieces, made from a blend of organic and post-consumer waste cotton: the Milton Jean Jacket and Klean jeans (as seen below).
“For us, this isn’t a one off, we are now looking at how we can be more efficient and responsible within all our design practices. For example, we are super excited about the fact that we have now started using post-consumer/industrial waste cotton in all our denim products for SS21.” – Per Axen, denim designer
Image: Weekday. Ellen MacArthur Foundation and the Jeans Redesign Project. Klean Jeans and Milton Jean Jacket
Pretty rad, right? Here are pieces from Weekday’s organic cotton denim collection below (and there are a LOT more than I can fit here in this post. I can pretty much guarantee there is something for everyone)! Click each image or link in the captions for more information.
Image: Weekday. Bowdion Denim Trousers
Shop more denim from Weekday here.
