Since 2008 this family-owned brand has been creating premium denim with sustainability literally stitched into their products

 

They want to do right by the planet and those of us living on it by raising the bar for not only themselves, but the denim industry at large. Doing right for them means consistently adhering to strict standards for ethical, sustainable production and manufacturing. 

They remind us that 95% of old clothes could be recycled, but only 15% are when they take your old jeans and plastic bottles and turn them into your favorite high-performance denim. 

And did you know that it takes a staggering 1500 gallons of water to produce your standard pair of jeans? But a pair of DL jeans takes less than 10! How do they do this? For starters, they treat and recycle 98% of the water in their in-house treatment plant and use ultra-absorbent fibers and waterless techniques.

Each jean is an example of state-of-the-art denim production, as they continually strive to raise the bar, not only for themselves, but for the denim industry at large. Here's a sample of how they work:

Water Conservation

  • Some of their jeans use less than 10 gallons of water. For perspective: five minutes of showering uses about 12 gallons

Eco-Friendly Fibres

  • They use certified cotton and/or fibres derived from post-consumer waste

Ozone and Laser

  • They use waterless ozone and laser technologies to create your favorite denim effects

Efficient Processes

  • Some of the jeans use less than 1.00 kWh of energy. A regular 60w lightbulb uses this much energy in about 16 hours

Vertical Supply Chain

  • More accountability and transparency. Less miles traveled to make your jeans

 

 Other great details about them:

  • They use recycled and renewable fibres such as Modal® and Tencel™ and certified cotton to reduce water usage and increase the life of your jeans and clean dyes like Dystar Liquid Indigo to minimize by-products

  • Ozone and laser technologies are used so no water or harmful chemicals are needed for your favourite denim effects

  • They practice closed-loop manufacturing by buying truckloads of post-consumer waste from all over the world to break down used plastic bottles and t-shirts and turn them into new fibers so your trash and old denim become your new favourite jeans

  • They are committed to ethical practices so workers get fair wages, reasonable hours, and positive working conditions, solar power & energy efficiency with a self-generating power plant that uses solar panels and heat recovery to power itself

  • They also allocate a portion of their monthly sales to help New York City-area shelters and charities through their giveback fund, The Pantry