With its new denim collection that launched earlier this month, Patagonia looked to change the way your favorite pair of jeans are made. As traditional indigo dying is filthy business, the company sought out environmentally friendlier dye, Fair Trade Certified sewing practices, and 100% organic cotton grown without pesticides, herbicides, or synthetic fertilizers for their denim production.
Typically, denim production involves the use of dangerous chemicals to grow conventional cotton; dying it produces millions of gallons of wastewater; and, too often, jeans are sewn in factories where workers may not be treated fairly.
Patagonia’s new dyeing and manufacturing process uses dyestuffs that bond more easily to cotton, minimizing the resource-intensive and environmentally destructive indigo dyeing, rinsing and garment washing process used to create traditional denim.
Greatly reducing the environmental impact of the denim supply chain, Patagonia is using 84% less water, 30% less energy, and emitting 25% less CO2 than conventional synthetic indigo denim dyeing processes.
All Patagonia denim is made with organic cotton that is grown without chemical or synthetic fertilizers, poisonous pesticides or herbicides. The entire process results in a color-rich, durable style–avoiding the environmental downsides of sandblasting, bleaching and stonewashing jeans.
Patagonia’s denim line ranges in price from $99-$119, including three different styles for both men and women. All you long legged women take note–the straight jeans are available in three different inseam lengths: 30″, 32″, and 34″.