#28 – The German Denim Deal

Show notes

Following up on our coverage of the Dutch Denim Deal, we now bring you the latest updates on a German Denim Deal. As the groundbreaking coalition for more sustainable denim ripples into an increasingly global scale, our host Max Gilgenmann sits down with two of the leaders of this next chapter to understand the vision and concrete goals of uniting a multi-stakeholder undertaking.

Laura Vicaria, the program manager of the Denim Deal, and Romain Narcy from the steering committee both have their roots deep in denim. Laura, an expert in circular denim, has been working recently as a circularity consultant under the name Rethink Fashion. Meanwhile Romain comes from a supply chain background at Ereks-Blue Matter, and his passion for addressing denim’s issues of sustainability led him to join the Denim Deal team.

The German Denim Deal sets ambitious goals. It specifically calls on German denim stakeholders to in both upstream and downstream value chains – in other words, taking the recycling system into account as well as production. The German denim market is the largest in Europe, and this deal sets the production goal of 1 billion pairs of jeans with minimum 20% recycled content. This would represent about 20% of the jeans on the German market, and aims to normalize the use of recycled fibers. In addition, by assembling denim SME’s, the power of the coalition grants access to innovative technology that might otherwise only lie in the hands of larger corporations. Signing onto the Denim Deal creates unprecedented sustainable development opportunities for the German denim sector. Ultimately, this plan for collaboration is a template for an intercontinental network of hubs.

The German Denim Deal made its today case at BLUEZONE International Denim Tradeshow: https://bluezone.show/

For questions about joining the German Denim Deal, brands can reach out to lauravicaria@denimdeal.net

Stay up to date with 202030 – The Berlin Fashion Summit at https://202030summit.com/