Scotch & Soda’s Amsterdams Blauw denim store in the heart of Amsterdam’s historical center at 15 Berenstraat just got a circular makeover. The location is now home to the Dutch apparel brand’s first upcycled denim capsule and denim repair service.
The collection, Eternal Blauw, will be sold exclusively at the Berenstraat location and features 99 hand-numbered garments across men’s, women’s and unisex categories. Scotch & Soda worked with denim supplier Denim Village to upcycle existing pieces into new garments with twist-off shank buttons and embroidered rivets, which will aid recyclability at the end of their lifecycle. Additionally, unused leather patches from previous collections were incorporated into the designs and reprinted with the Eternal Blauw logo.
The store is also taking notes from other eco-conscious brands like Nudie Jeans and offering denim repairs through Blauw Repair, a service that’s exclusive to the Amsterdams Blauw denim store. Repairs are offered in collaboration with the United Repair Centre, an initiative from Makers Unite, an Amsterdam-based textile production company that provides training and employment opportunities to creative newcomers with a migration background. Through the repair program, customers will receive complimentary repairs to their Amsterdams Blauw jeans with a turnaround time of seven business days.
Equipped with new design elements like a storefront neon sign depicting the words “Amsterdam Blauw,” new fitting rooms with denim curtains and a blue rug, and an updated graphic on the transom window, the store centers on the brand’s premium denim line, Amsterdams Blauw.
Also on display at the store is the brand’s latest circular-focused partnership with the House of Denim Foundation, a nonprofit organization that helps inspire denim stakeholders to create a more sustainable, ethical industry. The organization is behind the Jean School, an education program for denim development. As part of the partnership, Jean School students used repurposed Scotch & Soda denim garments and trims to make denim laptop cases and other creations, exclusively for sale at the store.
Scotch & Soda’s emphasis on circularity is an extension of its signing the Dutch Denim Deal, an initiative that calls for a new industry standard of using 5 percent post-consumer recycled cotton in the production of all denim garments. The brand was one of 40 signatories of the public-private initiative, which was established by the Dutch government in October 2020.
The retail updates follow through on the brand’s aggressive brick and mortar expansion plans, which include opening 20 global stores in just six months. Stores include flagship locations in Milan’s Via Alessandro and London’s Long Acre—among the most popular fashion destinations in both cities, as well as additional sites in North America, Europe, China, the Middle East and Asia. Last year, the brand set out on a mission to bring its physical presence to 249 stores and 280 shop-in-shops before 2022.
Scotch & Soda isn’t the only brand focused on expansion. Retail intelligence firm Coresight Research reported that retailers opened more stores than they closed last year, highlighting H&M, which opened 100; Gap Inc., which opened 70; American Eagle Outfitters, which opened 50; and Express, which opened 15.