Experience is the best teacher. And that’s probably why denim consultancies are so beloved by the denim community at large: their leaders alone have a lifetime of design and retail experience between them, and each is supported by a dynamic staff.
Monsieur-T. is a “denim lifestyle studio” that partners with more than 20 denim industry creatives representing international brands, mills and fairs. At Meidea, its unique, unifying group includes skilled professionals with international experiences in textiles, fashion, photography, graphic design and architecture. And 74MMA is a husband-and-wife effort that has worked with some of the world’s most well-known denim mills and brands.
We asked these denim experts their thoughts on the state of the denim industry and what innovations we’ll be seeing in the future.
Tilmann Wröbel
Founder and creative director, Monsieur-T. studio
The breadth of Tilmann Wröbel’s work is impressive: the Paris-based designer has worked for haute couture houses like Dior and skate brands like Etnies. Today, he runs international studio Monsier-T., a consultancy firm that partners with companies like Quiksilver, Advance Denim and Nadel & Pen. Last year, Wröbel also partnered with Artistic Milliners for a Francophile denim capsule collection, indicative of his passion for sleek, technologically advanced fabrics and minimalist silhouettes.
Rivet: What do you want to see more of in the denim industry?
Tilmann Wröbel: More risk-taking. More youth-oriented product. More coolness.
Rivet: What part of the denim-making process do brands struggle with the most?
TW: Identifying a brand’s specific denim niche, or denim audience, with its specific client, meeting the client’s taste and precise needs. There are more products out there that are only born because of clients looking out for them.
Rivet: What excites you about denim in 2019?
TW: The wheel goes around again: there’s so much excitement to come. New fits and fabrics will change our perception of modernism, and so many ‘old’ products and looks might drop into obscurity.
Rivet: Describe your ultimate consultancy project.
TW: Working with ACME scientists and robots on denim workwear for a mission to Mars. (Elon Musk, if you hear me…!)
Rivet: What’s your next project?
TW: Helping our clients to stay focused on the real priorities of denim.
Lucia Rosin
Founder and head of design, Meidea
Creative mastermind and sustainability lover Lucia Rosin is the elementary school art teacher of the denim world: she’s passionate about the work, wants everyone to get a chance to shine, and has a wealth of knowledge to share. That mindset makes her consultancy, Meidea, stand out from the crowd. The workshops and art installations at Meidea’s Italian headquarters bring together experts from multiple industries to innovate, while also shedding light on the incredible history of denim clothing.
Rivet: What do you want to see more of in the denim industry?
Lucia Rosin: Quality. Many brands are more focused on the fashion aspects than the quality of denim. I want to see more of real sustainability, deep research on accessories and in details, innovative washes and fabrics, and long lasting products.
Rivet: What part of the denim-making process do brands struggle with the most?
LR: Currently, and unfortunately, time is the element brands struggle with the most.
Everything is accelerated—projects, collections, requests, deliveries. Devoting the right time to studying and to the manufacturing process is getting increasingly difficult.
Rivet: What excites you about denim in 2019?
LR: Fusion of different elements that come from active sportwear and functional workwear.
Rivet: Describe your ultimate consultancy project.
LR: We collaborated with Denim Première Vision for the 2018 London edition. We created a trend conference with outfits and silhouettes designed by our team. It was a great project with hand-drawn designs, pictures and stories completely originated in Meidea.
Rivet: What’s your next project?
LR: Our brand BLU’N ME. We launched six months ago; we infuse it with all our knowledge, passion and our vision for the future. This year we are going to study the online sale platform.
Mohsin Sajid
Owner and creative director of Endrime, Denim History and 74MMA
Mohsin Sajid founded denim consultancy 74MMA with his wife, the graphic designer and art director Sadia Rafique. U.K.-based Sajid has a lot of other things on his plate, too: he also heads the brand Endrime and the educational platform Denim History. He doesn’t eat, sleep and breathe denim…but he comes about as close as possible.
Rivet: What do you want to see more of in the denim industry?
Mohsin Sajid: More sharing and education. It would be good to have mills sharing their technologies with students, to encourage more collaborations between mills and fashion colleges, so that the younger generations won’t make the same mistakes that we have. And I’d like to see realistic alternatives to cotton.
Rivet: What part of the denim-making process do brands struggle with the most?
MS: Keeping garments within price. Prices are really difficult to manage. And telling a story from concept garment to shop floor. Most of the time the concept doesn’t translate or just gets forgotten.
Rivet: What excites you about denim in 2019?
MS: It’s exciting because we are learning more about new sustainable fibers and finishes, which have become a lot more focused and attainable from the low-end to the mid-market level. We are also witnessing the progression of the laser finishing machines, which have really moved in the last decade.
Rivet: Describe your ultimate consultancy project.
MS: Creating an archive of early workwear and finding lost garments that predate the first blue jean.
Rivet: What’s your next project?
MS: We are focused on more denim education this year. We have our first trucker jacket workshop, where participants can sew a trucker jacket in their own size over a weekend with Japanese Denim. And we are planning on launching a denim summer school in our new studio in West Sussex.