Sustainability and creativity are foundations to the latest crop of collaborations by leaders in denim.
Dickies x New York Sunshine
Dickies’ new project turns art into fashion. The 100-year-old workwear brand teamed with streetwear retailer New York Sunshine for an exclusive two-part “Sun-Dyed in Texas” collection.
The collaboration includes a limited-edition range of jackets and pants made with upcycled sun-dyed twill fabric that was used in an art installation by New York Sunshine founder John Margaritis last summer in Marfa, Texas. The fabric wrapped a series of billboards and a stick-frame house for six months. Each piece is labeled and numbered to showcase its rarity and no two pieces are the same.
“Dickies represents quality, spirit and agelessness within their clothing, allowing me the creative freedom to fuse fashion, art, architecture and retail seamlessly into one, creating this unique and exclusive ‘Sun-Dyed in Texas’ collection,” Margaritis said.
The second part of the collaboration is a full range of pants, jackets, vests, shirts, socks, headwear and more inspired by the art installations and creative process in Marfa.
Hiut Denim x Linda Linko
Hiut Denim launched its fourth Artist Series collection with Linda Linko.
Linko, whose clients span Apple to Penguin Books, applied her signature bold colors and brush strokes to 22 pieces of ecru denim fabric which Hiut will turn into made-to-order jeans.
True to Hiut’s roots in sustainable small batch production, each fabric is 100 percent organic cotton made by Candiani Denim and has a one-of-a-kind painted design.
Customers have the choice of four styles for men and women. Each jean is sold raw, meaning the colors will fade with wear like traditional indigo. Jeans retail for 350 pounds (approximately $430).
Isko x Bethany Williams
Isko worked with British designer and LVMH prize finalist Bethany Williams on six denim pieces for her exclusive capsule collection with luxury retailer Browns.
The garments are made with Isko’s R-Two 50+ fabrics which comprise of a minimum of 50 percent recycled content. The fabrics used by Williams contain over 65 percent recycled materials, Isko stated.
The garments were all washed and finished at Isko’s new product development center, Creative Room London, which officially opened earlier this year. The hub is an evolution of its Italian design studio, which offers clients exclusive collections and fabrics and utilizes Isko’s Scoring System matching clients with partners that meet standards in sustainability, quality, technical capacity, processes, and more.
The capsule continues the concept behind “The Hands that Heal Us” collection, in which Williams’ drew inspiration from her social manufacturing partners’ focus on craftsmanship. Featuring overalls, jackets, trousers and a vest—in both dark and light washes—the denim garments are accented with patch detailing from repurposed flags. The inclusion of the flags means that each denim item is entirely unique and one-of-a-kind.
The collection is part of Browns Focus: Series Two, a platform dedicated to supporting new and emerging designers. It is available now at Browns East, the London retailer’s tech-enabled location in Shoreditch.
Outland Denim x Jakey Pedro
Outland Denim is continuing to use its platform to highlight artists. The Australian brand launched a limited-edition collaboration with Bondi artist Jakey Pedro.
Spanning 100 percent organic cotton T-shirts and totes, the unisex pieces feature Pedro’s signature bull-rider and ‘Pull in your horns’ motif.
“Meeting at the intersection of artistic expression, fashion and human spirit, our limited-edition collaboration with Jakey Pedro is a raw and authentic exploration of personal resilience, growth and strength. The journey through life will never be smooth, it’s a matter of always getting back on the horse,” Outland stated.
The collection is available on Outland’s website and retails for $59.90-$129.