Lee Jeans has teamed up with Artistic Milliners, one of the world’s biggest vertically integrated denim and garment producers, to create bronze and gold Cradle to Cradle Certified selvedge jeans. The new jeans are designed in a circular pattern, and every component is 100 percent recyclable. The fabric is made from 100 percent organic cotton and colored using a process that utilizes 58 percent less water than standard denim dyeing methods.
Stretch denim is available in two designs for men, “Luke” thin tapered and “Daren” standard straight, and “Carol” regular tapered for women, all in dark denim or worn appearance. The Gold-certified Aureola and Bronze-certified Nymph jeans both passed the Cradle to Cradle Certified Product Standard version 3.1 requirements for certification by the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute in all five performance categories: material health, material reuse, renewable energy and carbon management, water stewardship, and social fairness. Both jeans are five-pocket classics constructed from quality 12oz selvedge denim.
“At Lee, we are committed on discovering revolutionary routes to design and produce goods that minimize the effect on our planet,” said Jeff Frye, VP of Product Development, Innovation, Sustainability, and Procurement at Kontoor Brands, the parent company of Lee Jeans. With Cradle to Cradle certification, our customers can wear Lee Jeans with confidence, knowing that we are working to improve the sustainability and circularity of our goods for the benefit of people and the environment.”
“Our cooperation with Lee on the creation of a Cradle to Cradle Certified collection of jeans is a fantastic example of the type of transformational research, development, and innovation that can occur across the value chain,” said Murtaza Ahmed, Managing Director of Artistic Milliners.
“It allowed us to build a completely certified vertical garment using our current Cradle to Cradle Certified denim fabric as a springboard. The outcomes demonstrate our common commitment to a circular future for people and the earth by collaborating with brands that care about making a difference.”
