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. 3d ago

    Ep 77: Can AI Grow Better Cotton? with Brendan Collins & Tricia Carey

    For decades, developing new crop varieties has been slow, expensive, and full of trade-offs. Avalo believes better genetics, better data, and artificial intelligence can change that. In Episode 77, Andrew sits down with Brendan Collins, Co-Founder and CEO of Avalo, and Tricia Carey, Avalo’s Chief Commercial Officer and one of the textile industry’s most respected voices on fiber innovation and sustainable supply chains. Together, they look at how new approaches to crop development could create cotton that needs fewer inputs, gives farmers a better chance to make money, and holds up more reliably in a changing climate. The conversation starts with how new crop varieties have traditionally been developed by selecting for certain traits over many generations. Why bringing one new crop to market can take a decade and cost more than $100 million. And how better genetic data and computing tools can shorten that process dramatically. From there, they get into drought, irrigation, carbon reduction, regenerative agriculture, and why improving cotton begins long before it reaches a spinner or mill. They also talk about traceability, farmer partnerships, brand adoption, and the growing need for better information throughout the agricultural supply chain. Underneath it all is a larger idea: if crops can be developed to work better within the environments where they are grown, the future of sustainability may begin long before spinning, weaving, or manufacturing ever starts. Thank you to our sponsor Inside Denim. Brendan Collins Co-Founder & CEO at Avalo Avalo, LinkedIn Tricia Carey Chief Commercial Officer at Avalo Avalo, LinkedIn Please follow us on: Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

    Ep 77: Can AI Grow Better Cotton? with Brendan Collins & Tricia Carey

  2. Jul 8

    Ep 76—FRESH BLOOD, Part 8: Questioning the Process with Sean Vossen

    FRESH BLOOD continues with Part 8, featuring Sean Vossen, who works with Frontline in Hong Kong. Sean grew up between Hong Kong and Milan, surrounded by the apparel business, but chose to explore other industries before joining the family trade. Today, he brings a fresh perspective to the supply chain, combining curiosity with a willingness to question how things have always been done. Andrew and Sean talk about factories, product development, AI, sustainability, and why young people entering the industry should respect experience without being afraid to challenge old habits. They also get into the hidden complexity behind garment manufacturing, the importance of passing knowledge from one generation to the next, and why the future of denim depends on attracting curious people who want to keep learning. For Sean, fresh ideas are valuable, but only when they’re paired with curiosity, humility, and a genuine desire to understand the work. Thank you to our sponsor Inside Denim. Sean Vossen Budgetary Controller LinkedIn Please follow us on: Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

    Ep 76—FRESH BLOOD, Part 8: Questioning the Process with Sean Vossen

  3. Jul 1

    Ep 75: Building a Life Around Denim with Beau Lawrence

    Beau Lawrence built his career by following the work, then building a life around it. In Episode 75, Andrew sits down with Beau Lawrence, founder of Ace Rivington, to talk about denim, entrepreneurship, retail, Santa Barbara, and what it takes to build a business that can actually support the life you want. The conversation starts in Nashville, moves through Los Angeles, design school, Guess, The Territory Ahead, Union, and back again to Guess, where Beau helped shape men’s jeanswear during one of the most active periods in premium denim. From there, they get into Ace Rivington. A piece of fabric kept in his pocket. A Kickstarter campaign. A first store in Santa Barbara. The long process of learning what retail, direct-to-consumer, wholesale, fit, margins, and manufacturing really require. They also talk about the parts of the industry people like to skip over. Working hard. Staying flexible. Making the numbers work. Moving production when quality breaks down. Building something profitable instead of something that only looks good from the outside. Underneath it all is a quieter question: what does success actually look like when the dream is not just growth, but happiness, stability, and the ability to keep doing the work? Thank you to our sponsor Inside Denim. Beau Lawrence Founder & CEO at Ace Rivington, Inc. Ace Rivington, Instagram, LinkedIn Please follow us on: Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

    Ep 75: Building a Life Around Denim with Beau Lawrence

  4. Jun 24

    Ep 74: The Future of Traceable Cotton with Imran Asghar

    Pakistan’s cotton crop is recovering. But that is only part of the story. In Episode 74, Andrew sits down again with Imran Asghar, Head of Asia Pacific at FibreTrace, to discuss cotton, traceability, sustainability, and the growing pressure to prove where products actually come from. FibreTrace uses physical tracers and real-time scanning to help verify fiber movement through the supply chain. The discussion begins in Pakistan, where cotton acreage is expanding after several difficult years. They discuss seed quality, government support, farmer economics, water availability, and the challenges facing growers as costs rise across the region. From there, the discussion moves into traceability.  How cotton is tracked through the supply chain. Why less than two percent of global cotton is physically traceable today. And why brands, governments, and consumers are increasingly asking for more than certifications and paperwork. They also explore competing approaches to verification, the role of technology in authenticating origin claims, and why proving sustainability may become just as important as making it. Along the way, they look at water use, regenerative agriculture, cluster farming, and the efforts underway in countries such as Pakistan and Uzbekistan to strengthen both cotton production and textile manufacturing. Underneath it all is a larger question: as sustainability claims become more common, how will the industry distinguish between what can be documented and what can actually be verified? Thank you to our sponsor Inside Denim. Imran Asghar Head of Asia Pacific, FibreTrace® | Cotton Traceability FibreTrace®, Instagram, LinkedIn Please follow us on: Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

    Ep 74: The Future of Traceable Cotton with Imran Asghar

  5. Jun 17

    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.

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

  6. 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.

    Ep 72: The End of the Everlane Experiment

  7. 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.

    Ep 71: Designing Denim Through Change with Lucia Rosin

  8. 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.

    Ep 70—FRESH BLOOD Revisited: A New Generation of Mills with Lucille Ix and Lucas Van de Woestyne
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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
    77
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Jeansland Podcast
  • Show Website
    Jeansland Podcast

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