Why The U.S. Is Trailing The Dutch in the Future of Denim

Statistics show that the people of the Netherlands wear the most denim per capital in the world, with Americans coming in second place. It’s surprising when one considers denim’s importance as a symbol of Americana, from cowboys to rock and roll; from James Dean’s rebel image to John Wayne’s rugged horseman to Obama’s “dad jeans”, all encapsulated in Raf Simon’s denim-on-denim debut for Calvin Klein. Even outside of its celebrity profile, the fabric has been integral to American workers’ uniforms for 200 years, increasing in popularity during the 1800s gold mining boom when a young German immigrant by the name of Strauss patented the riveted hardwearing cloth, and Levi’s was born. Still, it is acknowledged that the small central European country with no hills to speak of dominates the denim frontier, with its capital, Amsterdam, home to G-Star RAW, part-owned by Pharrell Williams, Tommy Hilfiger Europe, Levi’s Vintage, Kings of indigo, Denham, Tenue de Nîmes, and Kuyichi to name a few.