J.Crew and Madewell introduce Fair Trade denim line

The J.Crew Group is paving the way to sustainable denim. The company announced a new line of Fair Trade Certified denim for both its J. Crew and Madewell brands.

The two brands already participate in a denim buyback program, encouraging consumers to bring unwanted jeans to a store in exchange for 20 dollars. The buyback program recently partnered with Habitat for Humanity to develop recycled denim into cotton-fiber housing insulation for charity.

Taking its sustainable denim initiatives to the next level, the J.Crew and Madewell Fair Trade Certified denim is made in a newly certified Vietnamese factory. The J.Crew group actually funded the factory for its Fair Trade certification.

The initial range both womenswear and menswear styles - 18 J.Crew and 16 Madewell. The Fair Trade Certified line will cost roughly the same as existing J.Crew and Madewell offerings, ranging from 60 to 128 dollars.

“We have admired Fair Trade and all they do and have been working with them for the past year or so,” Madewell brand president Libby Wadle told WWD.