i've been thinking, reading, designing a lot of denim for school and its been less painstaking than i expected. for one thing, its brought me back to my ol' american roots. while america is known (for good reason) as a gas guzzlin', food guzzlin' nation of waste, the discourse around denim is and always has been that of durability and longevity. Its built to last, and whatever wears down is meant to be patched right up again before returning to build and mine and farm for your fellow citizens. But what is at stake when kids doing nothing adopt denim and intentionally exert wear and tear on their denim, like in the 80's and 90's? Today, you don't even have to work yourself to fake it-- companies now artifically mimic worked-in denim for you. You can buy "distressed jeans" as a product instead of producing jeans through your own stress. Is the stress now in the making of the money to buy the $200 jeans? Is this what "the new busy" is all about? All the parents and the purists complain about paying for already ripped jeans, but it's kind of grossly indicative of something larger than disgruntled patrons. And as I complain about the disconnect from labor, from direct connection to the country to which we belong, I sit at my computer in the UK and pine for these $500 jeans.
from Maryam Nassir Zadeh
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