Jeansland Podcast

Jeansland

This is why I do this. Jeansland is a podcast about the ecosystem in which jeans live. There are an estimated 26 million cotton farmers around the world, and about 25% of their production goes into jeans, which could mean 6.2 million farmers depend on denim. I read estimates that at least 1 million people work in retail selling jeans, and another 1.5 to 2 million sew them. And then there are all the label producers, pattern makers, laundries, chemical companies, machinery producers, and those that work in denim mills. I mean, the jeans industry, which is bigger than the global movie and music business combined, employs a lot of human beings. And many of them, like me, love jeans. The French philosopher and existentialist Simone de Beauvoir, when visiting New York, said, "Everyone in the New York subway is a novel." I never met her, but I guess she made the observation because of the incredible diversity of people who ride the subway system. I'm convinced the people in our jeans industry are like those in the subway. They are unique, with rich and complex stories to tell, and I want to hear them. And deep inside me, I think you might feel the same way. https://jeansland.co/

  1. Ep 73—FRESH BLOOD, Part 7: From Upcycling to Opportunity with Landon Williams

    1d ago

    Ep 73—FRESH BLOOD, Part 7: From Upcycling to Opportunity with Landon Williams

    FRESH BLOOD is about renewal. Every industry either regenerates itself or slowly hardens. In this Jeansland series, Andrew steps back to listen to the next generation already working inside denim’s supply chain, upstream in fibers, sourcing platforms, laundries, and raw materials. In Part 7 of the series, Andrew sits down with Landon Williams, denim designer, artist, and founder of Nolia James. Landon grew up in Mississippi, surrounded by generations of makers, repairers, and creatives. What started with altering and repairing clothes eventually led him to Levi’s, denim production, upcycling, and a growing interest in how garments can be transformed rather than discarded. Andrew and Landon talk about denim fit, manufacturing in Chicago, indigo dyeing, upcycling, and why he believes the industry needs to think differently about waste, materials, and the lifecycle of clothing. They also get into new fibers, secondhand fashion, the future of retail, and why some of the most interesting opportunities may come from finding value in what already exists. For Landon, waste is not the end of the process. It is where the next idea begins. And maybe that is exactly where the industry needs to look next. Thank you to our sponsor Inside Denim. Landon Williams Founder of Nolia James Nolia James, Landon's Instagram, Nolia James' Instagram, X Please follow us on: Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

    37 min
  2. Ep 72: The End of the Everlane Experiment

    Jun 10

    Ep 72: The End of the Everlane Experiment

    In Episode 72’s Andrew’s Take, Andrew reflects on the sale of Everlane, one of the most visible transparency-focused brands of the last fifteen years. For years, Everlane tried to bring sourcing, factories, pricing, and production into the consumer conversation. Whether you agreed with everything the company did or not, it stood apart from most apparel brands by making transparency part of its identity. The discussion looks at what the sale might tell us about sustainability, consumer behavior, and the economics behind doing things differently. Not whether consumers care about these issues, but whether they care enough to change how they buy. At the center of it all is a larger question. If transparency only works when consumers are willing to pay for it, what happens when they aren’t? Thank you to our sponsor Inside Denim. Please follow us on: Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

    5 min
  3. Ep 71: Designing Denim Through Change with Lucia Rosin

    Jun 3

    Ep 71: Designing Denim Through Change with Lucia Rosin

    Some people enter denim through fashion. Lucia Rosin came to it through patternmaking, textiles, and the discipline of building a garment from the inside out. In Episode 71, Andrew sits down with Lucia Rosin, founder of MEIDEA, to talk about craft, sustainability, education, and the long path from technical knowledge to industry perspective. The conversation begins in Veneto, where Lucia grew up in a farming family outside Treviso. From there, it moves through technical fashion school, early work in Italy, formative years in India and Bali, and eventually Benetton in the 1990s, when denim, fabric development, and creative freedom were all part of the same conversation. Along the way, they discuss sustainability, Made in Italy, the changing expectations placed on brands, and what happens when technical skills become harder to pass on. As a teacher at IUAV in Venice, Lucia also offers a perspective on the next generation entering the industry, and why curiosity, patience, and hands-on experience still matter in a business increasingly shaped by technology. This episode is about how knowledge gets built, how industries change, and what is worth preserving as they do. Thank you to our sponsor Inside Denim. Lucia Rosin Founder of MEIDEA | Founder & Designer at BLU’N ME MEIDEA, BLU'N ME Instagram, LinkedIn Please follow us on: Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

    47 min
  4. Ep 70—FRESH BLOOD Revisited: A New Generation of Mills with Lucille Ix and Lucas Van de Woestyne

    May 27

    Ep 70—FRESH BLOOD Revisited: A New Generation of Mills with Lucille Ix and Lucas Van de Woestyne

    Before we continue with the next episodes in the FRESH BLOOD series, we’re revisiting a conversation that helped define what the series is really about: listening to the next generation already working inside the industry. Andrew speaks with Lucille Ix and Lucas Van de Woestyne, two young professionals who grew up around fabric manufacturing and are now working inside it themselves. It is a useful reminder that denim is a huge industry, but also a small community, and that its future depends on whether people like them choose to stay. Lucille, 22, is based in New York and works across China and Vietnam. Lucas, 27, is based in Ghent, Belgium and works for a denim mill in China with a focus on Europe. Their families have been in the business for generations, and they have known each other since childhood. Their fathers worked together in denim mills in the United States. We talk about what surprised them when they entered the industry. How denim can be massive in volume but small in practice. How relationships hold over decades, even across competing companies. We also talk about how young people are received at shows, and why many veterans want new people to enter the industry and stay. We get into sustainability in plain terms. What their friends actually care about when they buy clothes. Why quality and longevity are easier for consumers to hold than technical claims. Lucas points to a structural gap: mills are expected to innovate, but brands do not always want to pay for the price of that innovation. We also touch trade and geopolitics, the way duties and tariffs can change decisions overnight, and why being informed is now part of the job. We end on what success looks like to them: community, continuity, and the people behind the product. Thank you to our sponsor Inside Denim. Lucille Ix Marketing & Sales Assistant, Advanced Denim Advanced Denim, LinkedIn, Instagram Luccas Van de Woestyne Marketing Director Europe, Freedom Denim Freedom Denim, LinkedIn Please follow us on: Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

    42 min
  5. Ep 69: How Denim Gets Its Blue with Paul Cowell

    May 20

    Ep 69: How Denim Gets Its Blue with Paul Cowell

    Paul Cowell taught Andrew a great deal of what he knows about indigo. In Episode 69, Andrew sits down with Paul Cowell, whose career has moved through ICI, BASF, DyStar, BluConnection, and Archroma. His work sits at the intersection of chemistry, denim processing, mills, brands, and the commercial reality of making innovation work at scale. The conversation begins with chemistry. How synthetic dye development shaped modern textiles. How indigo works. Why pre-reduced indigo changed denim dyeing. And why the fact that most synthetic indigo still comes from China should concern anyone who depends on blue jeans. From there, they get into the strange logic of denim itself. A dye with poor affinity for cotton. A process built around reduction, oxidation, dipping, skying, washing down, and removing much of what was just put on. Inefficient, complicated, and still one of the most beloved systems in apparel. They also talk about bioengineered indigo, the real barriers to cleaner chemistry, and why sustainability in textiles is never just about one product or one claim. It is about clean chemistry, efficient manufacturing, durability, regulation, and whether the industry is willing to pay for better systems. There is a bigger question underneath it all: what happens when the future of fashion depends not only on fiber, fabric, and design, but on the chemistry most consumers never see? This episode is really about indigo, and the complicated system built around making denim blue. Thank you to our sponsor Inside Denim. Paul Cowell Global Textile Chemistry & Marketing Strategist, Paul Cowell Consultancy LinkedIn Please follow us on: Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

    53 min
  6. Ep 68: The Rise of Resale

    May 13

    Ep 68: The Rise of Resale

    In Episode 68’s Andrew’s Take, he looks at the rise of secondhand clothing. Not as a side story in fashion, but as one of the fastest-growing parts of the global apparel business. Secondhand clothing is now growing dramatically faster than traditional apparel retail. In some cases, three or four times faster. And younger consumers are beginning to ask the question the industry never really wanted them to ask: why buy new at all? He breaks down the numbers behind resale growth in the U.S., Europe, and globally, and why the shift matters not just economically, but structurally. At the center of it all is a larger contradiction. An industry built on perpetual production now colliding with consumers increasingly comfortable buying what already exists. Thank you to our sponsor Inside Denim. Please follow us on: Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

    5 min
  7. Ep 67—FRESH BLOOD, Part 6: Rebuilding Local Manufacturing with Justin Bastarache

    May 6

    Ep 67—FRESH BLOOD, Part 6: Rebuilding Local Manufacturing with Justin Bastarache

    FRESH BLOOD continues with Part 6, featuring Justin Bastarache, Founder of Whelk and Pipo Canada. Justin started with a sustainable headwear brand, then found the larger problem: almost nobody was making caps in Eastern Canada anymore. So he began building the factory himself. Andrew and Justin talk about what it takes to make locally in a category dominated by imports. Labor, pricing, training, minimums, lead times, and why “Made in Canada” can matter more clearly than another sustainability claim. They also get into his biodegradable brim, the limits of competing on price, and the reality of building a small factory from the ground up. This is a conversation about local manufacturing, practical sustainability, and creating capacity where it had almost disappeared. Thank you to our sponsor Inside Denim. Justin Bastarache Founder of Whelk and Pipo Canada Whelk, Pipo Canada, LinkedIn Please follow us on: Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

    33 min
  8. Ep 66: The Missing Denim Boom

    Apr 29

    Ep 66: The Missing Denim Boom

    Growth in denim follows a pattern. In Episode 66’s Andrew’s Take, he looks at what has actually driven expansion in the jeans business over time, and why it’s stalled. Every real boom came from a shift in the product itself. New machinery, new yarns, new fits, new finishes. Changes that made people stop wearing what they had and buy something new. That hasn’t happened in a while.   The industry has become more efficient, more technical, more optimized. But it’s also become more predictable. Now all we talk about is how jeans are made, not why anyone wants them. A short look at where growth really comes from, and what’s missing now. Please follow us on: Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

    6 min
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5
out of 5
14 Ratings

About

This is why I do this. Jeansland is a podcast about the ecosystem in which jeans live. There are an estimated 26 million cotton farmers around the world, and about 25% of their production goes into jeans, which could mean 6.2 million farmers depend on denim. I read estimates that at least 1 million people work in retail selling jeans, and another 1.5 to 2 million sew them. And then there are all the label producers, pattern makers, laundries, chemical companies, machinery producers, and those that work in denim mills. I mean, the jeans industry, which is bigger than the global movie and music business combined, employs a lot of human beings. And many of them, like me, love jeans. The French philosopher and existentialist Simone de Beauvoir, when visiting New York, said, "Everyone in the New York subway is a novel." I never met her, but I guess she made the observation because of the incredible diversity of people who ride the subway system. I'm convinced the people in our jeans industry are like those in the subway. They are unique, with rich and complex stories to tell, and I want to hear them. And deep inside me, I think you might feel the same way. https://jeansland.co/

Information

  • Creator
    Jeansland
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    73
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Jeansland Podcast
  • Show Website
    Jeansland Podcast

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