ZERO WASTE DENIM

Trends may come and go, but denim is a long-standing wardrobe staple. With such status, comes inevitable overproduction and often excessive use of energy and water in production, leading denim manufacturing to become one of the textile industry’s most impactful sectors. Cue E.L.V. DENIM (East London Vintage), which was founded by fashion stylist Anna Foster born of her passion for denim and sustainability. What sets this new brand apart is their unique approach to creating jeans. Each pair is made using discarded denim otherwise destined for landfills making E.L.V. DENIM the only brand in the world to use 100% upcycled material.

So to find out more about the brand, their sustainable practices and the secret to finding the perfect pair, we caught up with E.L.V. DENIM founder, Anna Foster to discuss all things denim.

What inspired you to build this brand?

“E.L.V. DENIM was born with the sole purpose of creating something beautiful ONLY from garments that had already been discarded and potentially destined for landfill. The pieces are damaged or misshapen and cannot be resold in their existing form. I wanted to use this as my ‘raw material’ to create a brand so the material used in our jeans and jackets have zero impact on the environment. We are the only denim brand in the world to only use 100% upcycled material.

Additionally, as a London brand, I also feel that it’s important to only work with local manufacturers and businesses as we support the restoration of the UK manufacturing industry. We have so many high-quality manufacturers, and by producing locally, we, in turn, keep our carbon footprints to a minimum and support the local community.”

How do you source your denim?

“We source all our jeans from vintage wholesalers and textile associations in the UK. Did you know, there are more jeans in the world than people? - most of which are discarded! And we produce four billion new pairs a year, so there are so many jeans which are crying out to be made into E.L.V. DENIM jeans!”

Denim has a notoriously negative reputation when it comes to water usage, so how do you overcome this when manufacturing E.L.V. DENIM products?

“On average it takes 10,000 litres of water to make one pair of jeans! This figure is hard to quantify, but when you explain that, this is the same amount of water as one person drinks in 13 years…you understand the enormity of water used. And not only that, the polluted water is put back into the ecosystem. Therefore, for us, it is really important to make as much of that material viable again. There is no new material in any of our products, as we are trying to ‘right the wrong’ of the damage to the environment that was caused in the first place.”

How does the condition of the denim you’re working with inform the design direction?

“The design approach for E.L.V. DENIM is quite unique. We design from a point of waste. Unlike traditional designers who create a piece and then find the material, we find the discarded garment and then design to work out what can be made from it. Denim was designed for durability, and even if the size, style, and condition of the jean render it undesirable, the quality of the denim remains a desirable material. As the brand developed, we have discovered the enormity of how many jeans are thrown away so we’ve adapted the designs and each time a new style is created, we can use smaller pieces of denim. Sustainability is the ultimate goal of E.L.V. DENIM. However, we live in a very aesthetic world, so we understand the success of the brand depends on an ability to carefully marry the two.”

Is your consciousness carried through across hardware, trimmings and packaging?

“Absolutely. We work with Tura London and take their offcuts for our leather labels. We work with YKK as they have an eco-finish on their hardware. We are always looking to do better, and this year all our swing tags will be produced on seeded paper, so you can grow lavender! I feel that it’s vital to the environment, to take that extra care and cost. We want to make sure every part of our brand stays true to our conscious values.”

How does your background in editorial styling inform your work as creative director of E.L.V. DENIM?

“I was a stylist for 20 years and I sometimes had the opportunity to have a sample from a designer that wasn’t put into production. The fact that this garment was unique to me made it feel so special and I wanted others to share in this feeling. As all E.L.V. DENIM jeans are made from vintage jeans, each piece is as unique as the person who wears them. The other desire to create E.L.V. DENIM was so others could also feel that they had a one-off piece, something no one else had. I have been a denim obsessive all my life, and I found it so frustrating when I found a style I loved and then a brand would change it. We have three styles, and these will never change - we will just add more colourways.”

Any advice for anyone aspiring to become more sustainable in their life?

It really is just about thinking more carefully about your choices. Do you really need that garment? Where was it made? Why is it so cheap? The price of a dress in 1920 cost €20 and it costs the same today in 2022. I don’t know one other commodity that has the same value in 100 years! We have been conditioned to be so careless about the value we as consumers put on what clothes we buy.

As a brand, we are responsible for being fully transparent so the consumer can make an informed choice. However, wherever you buy the clothes from, as a consumer you have the responsibility once you own the garment. Look after it, think about what you will do with it if you no longer want it. Think about passing clothes on, finding someone who you know will love what you don’t want anymore. And if you have damaged textiles, please don’t put them in the normal bin, but find a textile bin that you can put it in, so it can be shredded responsibly. All this just takes time and effort, but the moral and environmental reward is greater!

Also really reconsider stretch denim. Unfortunately, stretch does ‘what it says on the tin’, and in a few years the garment will stretch out of shape and will be discarded, and with current technology, it’s really hard to break it down right now to give it a new life.”

You’ve conquered denim, can we expect other developments across other categories?

“We launched our Made To Order studio at the end of last year and launched our dress and jumpsuit using smaller pieces of discarded denim. We also are incorporating corduroy into these, as we are now starting to use other discarded materials. We don’t work to seasons so we will be launching these, one by one, later this year.”

Top tip for finding the perfect pair of jeans?

“We use exact sizing. Before I launched the brand, I used to find it so frustrating that when I was trying on jeans, the size of the jean didn’t remotely correlate to the size of my waist! Therefore, to find your size in E.L.V. DENIM measure your high waist in inches using a tape measure and that is the size that you take. However, I always say it’s not the size you are, it’s how you want to wear them. For example, I wear a Size 26 Straight Leg when I want them to be figure-hugging, and then a Size 29 when I want to wear them super slouchy.”

Once you’ve found them, what’s your favourite way to style jeans?

“I love to wear my flares with a flat loafer or ankle boot, turtleneck and then throw over a blazer. My boyfriends with an oversized sweater and cowboy boots. And my Match straight legs with knee-high boots and an oversized shirt. Shoes can be flat or high depending on the occasion, and during the winter an oversized coat goes well with all of them. Basically, they are super versatile!”

Shopping sustainably never fails to bring us joy, what else brings you joy?

“My family. My happy place is my family around a dinner table with laughter…lots of laughter.”

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