Jeansland Podcast

Jeansland
  • 4.9 (14)
  • Society & Culture

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. 2d ago

    Ep. 86: The Afterlife of Our Clothes with Jennifer Wright

    What actually happens when an old pair of jeans goes into a collection bin? In Episode 86, Andrew is joined by Jennifer Wright, professor and researcher at Fanshawe College in London, Ontario, whose work explores what really happens to textile waste after we’re finished with it. Jennifer takes Andrew through the surprisingly complicated journey of discarded clothing, from sorting and resale to overseas markets, recycling, and the growing challenge of garments that have become increasingly difficult to take apart. They also explore some unexpected possibilities for textile waste, including Jennifer’s research into pyrolysis, a process that uses intense heat without oxygen to transform discarded textiles into char. Already used with other waste materials, Jennifer and her research partners are exploring what happens when clothing becomes the raw material. But underneath all the technology and new approaches is a much simpler question: Are we making more clothing than any recycling system could ever realistically handle? Sometimes the problem starts long before something reaches the recycling bin. Jennifer Wright Researcher, Fashion and Apparel Sustainability and Circularity Fanshawe College LinkedIn Please follow us on: Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

    Ep. 86: The Afterlife of Our Clothes with Jennifer Wright

  2. Sep 9

    Ep. 85: What Eco-Grazing Teaches Us About Innovation

    My daughter introduced me to a company in New Jersey with an unusual kind of employee. It works outdoors, eats continuously, and never reads a sustainability report. It’s a goat. Across the U.S. and Europe, goats and sheep are being put to work clearing invasive plants, managing difficult terrain, and even helping create natural firebreaks. No herbicides. No heavy machinery. And what they eat comes out the other end as fertilizer. Of course, natural doesn’t automatically mean environmentally perfect. The real question is whether it works better, costs less, and produces measurable results. And that’s where the goats become a lesson for our own industry. Across cotton, denim, and sustainability, we’re constantly rediscovering old practices, renaming them, and presenting them as innovation. Sometimes that’s just marketing. Sometimes it really is a better way of doing things. Maybe innovation doesn’t always mean inventing something new. Please follow us on: Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

    Ep. 85: What Eco-Grazing Teaches Us About Innovation

  3. Sep 2

    Ep. 84: Better Design Starts with How It’s Made with Angie Furlong

    Angie Furlong has spent more than four decades designing clothes, building teams, traveling the world, and learning the industry from the inside out. Some things in fashion can only be learned by understanding how they’re made. In Episode 84, Andrew is joined by designer and creative director Angie Furlong, whose career has taken her from Guess and Esprit to Lucky Brand, J Brand, True Religion, Sundance, and beyond. Angie came into denim at a remarkable moment. At Guess, she learned by working directly with mills, pattern makers, sewing rooms, dye houses, and laundries. At Esprit, she entered an entirely different world, traveling to Hong Kong, developing collections internationally, and watching the industry begin its shift toward global production.  Andrew and Angie look back at the rise of premium denim in Los Angeles, the experimentation that made the city a center of the denim world, and what happened as manufacturing moved offshore and designers became increasingly separated from the people actually making their clothes. They also look at what comes next: AI, vintage and resale, repurposing, mentoring young designers, and why technology can be an extraordinary tool, but only if you understand the craft behind what you’re asking it to do. After more than 40 years, Angie says she would choose this industry all over again. Her concern is what the next generation may be losing along the way: the technical knowledge, curiosity, and understanding of how something actually gets made. Angela (Angie) Furlong Design Leader & Creative Director LinkedIn Please follow us on: Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

    Ep. 84: Better Design Starts with How It’s Made with Angie Furlong

  4. Aug 26

    Ep. 83: Do You Understand the Game?

    I read an article about basketball this weekend that made me think about denim. Strange, I know. The argument was simple: we’re seeing more basketball and understanding less of it. Highlights, hot takes, 30-second explanations. Why understand the game when somebody can just tell you who won? I think our industry has developed the same problem. We talk constantly about sustainability, circularity, regenerative agriculture, transparency, regulations, cotton, polyester, indigo. We publish enormous reports and thousands of pages of data. But who is actually reading them? More importantly, who understands them well enough to ask the next question? It’s much easier to remember that cotton uses too much water, recycled polyester is sustainable, or an indigo process is “clean.” Two seconds. Done. Now we have an opinion. We’ve created our own version of ESPN. We like the highlights, not the game. And that worries me, because you cannot improve what you don’t understand. Please follow us on: Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

    Ep. 83: Do You Understand the Game?

  5. Aug 19

    Ep. 82 — REVISITED: What if Sustainability Was the Standard? with Roian Atwood

    What if sustainability wasn’t a competitive edge, but the baseline for the entire denim industry? In this revisited conversation, Andrew sits down with sustainability expert Roian Atwood to look at what real progress in denim actually requires. A former Global Sustainability Director for Wrangler and Lee Jeans, Roian spent more than 15 years in the apparel industry developing and implementing sustainable technologies. He takes Andrew inside the development of Indigood, including the work that reduced water use in indigo dyeing by more than 90%, and explains what it takes to move an innovation from an experiment to something the industry can actually use. They also dig into cotton certification, regenerative agriculture, transparency, synthetics and microplastics, and a question Andrew comes back to again and again: Are we measuring actual results, or simply getting better at marketing sustainability? Roian’s answer for where the industry goes next is surprisingly simple: stop treating sustainability as a trade secret. Share what works, measure what doesn’t, and solve the problems together. Because sustainability shouldn’t be the thing that makes one company different. It should be the standard. Originally released as Episode 22 of Jeansland. Connect with Roian Atwood Please follow us on: Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

    Ep. 82 — REVISITED: What if Sustainability Was the Standard? with Roian Atwood

  6. Aug 12

    Ep. 81: Do We Need Another Denim Mill?

    Kingpins New York left me with a question: how many denim mills does the world actually need? Some longtime mills may be fighting for their future, while new mills keep entering an already crowded, increasingly price-driven market. Walking the show, I kept wondering what a new denim mill can offer that somebody, somewhere, isn’t already doing. My bigger takeaway goes beyond denim. With Kingpins leaving New York for its next show, I think it may be time for the textile trade shows to stop operating on separate islands and start thinking bigger. My idea: one New York Fabric Week. Denim, performance fashion fabrics, sourcing, machinery, fibers. Different shows, different identities, but one week that gives the industry a real reason to be in New York at the same time. Impossible? Maybe. But we spend enough time explaining why things can’t be done. Someone should just start. Please follow us on: Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

    Ep. 81: Do We Need Another Denim Mill?

  7. Aug 5

    Ep 80: The Art and Science of Pattern Making with Alessio Berto

    A great garment begins long before it reaches a sewing machine. In Episode 80, Andrew sits down with Alessio Berto, founder of The Tailor Pattern Support and one of Italy’s most experienced pattern designers. Over nearly four decades, Alessio has worked across denim, menswear, sportswear, teaching, and product development for brands including Replay, Jean Paul Gaultier, DKNY Jeans, Diesel Denim Gallery, Sport Chanel, Katharine Hamnett, and Boy London. The conversation begins outside Venice, where Alessio grew up around the pattern-making school where his mother taught, reading fashion magazines, studying the clothes worn by his favorite musicians, and later discovering a passion for DJing that still fuels his creativity today. Andrew and Alessio get into the invisible work behind fit: fabric, shrinkage, construction, grading, manufacturing, and the countless decisions hidden inside a garment that simply feels right. They also talk about Made in Italy, globalization, technology, teaching, and why design is only one part of the process. For Alessio, pattern making began as an art, became a technique, grew into a science, and ultimately had to be engineered. After learning the rules, the real freedom comes from knowing when to break them, much like improvisation in jazz. Thank you to our sponsor Inside Denim. Alessio Berto Founder of The Tailor Pattern Support The Tailor Pattern Support, Instagram, LinkedIn Please follow us on: Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

    Ep 80: The Art and Science of Pattern Making with Alessio Berto

  8. Jul 29

    Ep. 79: Modern Slavery Is Closer Than We Think

    Nearly 50 million people worldwide are estimated to be living in modern slavery. When I first read that number, I was shocked. It sounded almost too large to believe, so I decided to look into where it came from, who was behind it, and what modern slavery actually includes. What I found is that this is not simply a problem of poor countries, distant factories, or one particular industry. It exists in rich countries and poor countries, democracies and dictatorships, including the United States. For those of us working in denim, textiles, and apparel, the takeaway is simple. Before we debate sustainability, circularity, or carbon emissions, perhaps the first question should be: Who made the product, and under what conditions? Please follow us on: Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

    Ep. 79: Modern Slavery Is Closer Than We Think
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4.9
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
    86
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Jeansland Podcast
  • Show Website
    Jeansland Podcast