Jeansland Podcast
This is why I do this. Jeansland is a podcast about the ecosystem in which jeans live. There are an estimated 26 million cotton farmers around the world, and about 25% of their production goes into jeans, which could mean 6.2 million farmers depend on denim. I read estimates that at least 1 million people work in retail selling jeans, and another 1.5 to 2 million sew them. And then there are all the label producers, pattern makers, laundries, chemical companies, machinery producers, and those that work in denim mills. I mean, the jeans industry, which is bigger than the global movie and music business combined, employs a lot of human beings. And many of them, like me, love jeans. The French philosopher and existentialist Simone de Beauvoir, when visiting New York, said, "Everyone in the New York subway is a novel." I never met her, but I guess she made the observation because of the incredible diversity of people who ride the subway system. I'm convinced the people in our jeans industry are like those in the subway. They are unique, with rich and complex stories to tell, and I want to hear them. And deep inside me, I think you might feel the same way.
https://jeansland.co/
Jeansland Podcast
Ep. 38: Denim That Means Something with Michael Morrell and Paul Ledgett
Andrew sits down with two people who lived through the denim business alongside him for years. Michael Morrell and Paul Ledgett were his partners at Olah Inc., and together they built something that worked because they gave a damn about the product, the people, and doing things right.
In this conversation, they go back. They talk about what it meant to run a denim agency in New York when the industry still cared about design and relationships. When you could shake hands on a deal and it meant something. When brands actually built brands instead of chasing the lowest price and calling it strategy.
But they also talk about what's happened since. The overcapacity. The sameness. The greenwashing that sounds good in a press release but falls apart the second you ask how it scales. Michael and Paul don't hold back, and neither does Andrew. They get into why sustainability only seems to work when someone else is paying for it, why most brands have lost the plot, and what it would actually take to make denim that means something again.
There's frustration here, sure. But there's also a vision for something better. And some very good stories along the way.
Michael Morrell
CEO of Western Hemisphere and Europe at Freedom Denim
Freedom Denim, LinkedIn, Instagram
Paul Ledgett
President North America at Diamond Denim by Sapphire
Diamond Denim by Sapphire, Instagram
For more stories that shape the future of denim, head to jeansland.co.