Elastane

In our comfort and power stretch denim options, we have included between 1–3% elastane, which gives the denim a soft and stretchy feel. When spinning the yarn used to weave the denim fabric, cotton fibers are spun around a very thin thread of elastane. The elastane is therefore at the core of the yarn. Since a few years back we are working with a small portion of recycled elastane in our denim fabrics. The elastane producers are known to us, but we have not yet been able to trace the specific production units used.

Polyester

We only work with recycled polyester in denim fabrics containing a polyester blend, and we also use recycled polyester for linings. Virgin polyester is still used in some of our knitted garments. Our small quantities of knits make it difficult to produce yarns specifically for Nudie Jeans' production, which is sometimes necessary if we only want to work with recycled polyester. Polyester is a fossil-based synthetic fiber and it is used because its properties are desirable for some garments. For example, adding polyester to our most stretchy denim optimizes the recovery of the stretch, and adding polyester to a cotton or wool yarn improves the yarn strength. But the use of polyester, recycled or not, involves a risk of microplastic release, and microplastics in the oceans can contain harmful chemicals – and end up in the bodies of animals and humans. To decrease the risk of microplastic release, we sell the Guppy Friend washing bag, which is a washing bag specifically made to capture the microplastic fibers inside the bag, instead of flushing them out into the sewage systems. Most of our recycled polyester originates from India, and we are still in the process of tracing the virgin polyester that we use.

Lyocell

Lenzing’s TENCEL™ is currently the most sustainable human-made cellulosic fiber and is one of the textile fibers with the lowest environmental impact of most virgin fibers. Unlike viscose and modal, which are the same type of fiber, Lenzing’s TENCEL™ production has a lower impact due to the use of a closed-loop system for the solvent spinning process. The solvent is recycled and can be reused many times. Nudie Jeans is proud to be working only with TENCEL™ Lyocell as our main human-made cellulosic fiber. The cellulose used to produce Lenzing's TENCEL™ comes from certified forestries in Scandinavia, the Baltic countries, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Russia, South Africa or the US, where FSC and PEFC certification schemes are applied.

Polyamide

Polyamide, often called by its most common brand name Nylon, is a synthetic fiber and can like polyester shred microplastic particles when washed. Like polyester, polyamide is used in some garments to add strength and abrasion resistance. Nudie Jeans use polyamide in socks, and in some knitted items, such as knitted sweatshirts and beanies. Polyamide is also included in some of the metal buttons used on our denim. We have not yet been able to trace the origins of the polyamide used in Nudie Jeans products.

Wool

Wool is a natural and durable fiber, and its longevity and natural stain-repellent properties make it a great fiber for garments. The fact that airing wool garments are often just as effective as washing also allows for more resource efficient use. Recycled wool is also more resource efficient, as it prolongs the life cycle of the already produced fibers. But recycled wool poses other challenges: it has shorter fibers, which must be taken into consideration when choosing the material blend, spinning the yarn, and knitting the fabric in order to obtain a high-quality product that meets Nudie Jeans’ standards. The recycled wool we use comes from the Prato region of Italy, while the majority of the certified wool yarn we use comes from Türkiye. We have not yet been able to trace the certified wool down to the farm level.

Alpaca and Mohair

We use alpaca wool to make lighter, more voluminous knitted sweaters. We have taken steps to improve the traceability of the fibers, and during the process, we learned that we need to expect much longer lead times to obtain full traceability, which is something we will continue to work towards. The alpaca wool used in Nudie Jeans garments is sourced from Peru and we are aiming to work with certified alpaca fiber as the market supply increases.

Silk

Silk is a natural protein fiber that is produced by the worm of the silk moth. For the most common silk, Mulberry silk, the silkworm spins a closed cocoon made of long silk fibers, where it transforms into a moth. In conventional silk production, the cocoons are harvested and boiled before the butterflies break the cocoon and the silk fibers for, and get to leave peacefully. This is done to retain the fiber length. For Eri silk, or Ahimsa, Peace or Vegan silk, as it is also called, the silkworm's cocoons are harvested after the moth has left the cocoon, as the Eri silkworms spin an open-ended cocoon allowing the moth to exit without breaking it. We have chosen to only define certified organic silk as a preferred fiber. The difference between Eri Silk and certified organic silk is that, in addition to harvesting the cocoons after the hatch, organic silk also includes regulations for pesticides and fertilisers. We have worked with Eri Silk from India, but we have not yet been able to source certified organic silk.

Leather

Throughout Nudie Jeans’ history, we have chosen to work with leather because just like denim, it is a material that becomes more beautiful with time. The leather industry presents many challenges regarding chemical usage, traceability, and animal welfare. We, therefore, work with one specific Leather Working Group Gold-rated supplier based in India for our leather jackets. We also believe that a leather jacket can be a sustainable choice if it is used for many years. Most of our leather accessories are made with vegetable-tanned bovine leather. This is one way to decrease the use of chemicals in the leather industry, but until we can guarantee that the animals are from a certified organic farm, we will not define our leather products as sustainable. The goat leather used for jackets is of Indian origin and the leather used in our accessories is from Polish cows. 

Jacron

In 2018, we stopped using leather patches on our denim and replaced them with Jacron patches. Jacron is a material made of FSC-certified cellulose fibres and acrylic polymers made in Germany. Offering leather-free denim was a natural step in Nudie Jeans’ sustainability journey since the durable properties of the leather do not serve any function as a back patch or label.

Trims and labels

The threads for our denim come from Coats, Gütterman Threads, and MIC SPA, Zippers come from YKK and are bought locally by our suppliers in each supplier country. The booklets in the back pocket of each pair of jeans are made in Denmark by A-tex, and the paper used is FSC-certified. The woven Nudie Jeans label placed on our garments is since fall 2020 made in recycled polyester, and the paper waist tag is made with recycled FSC certified paper. All our labels and hangtags are made in Türkiye by A-tex. The paper box for underwear is made locally in India with pre-consumer recycled cotton from fabric and spinning waste. In 2020, we moved towards replacing the plastic buttons for shirts and jackets with Corozo buttons. To not waste the resources already put into the plastic buttons, we are using our stocks and all new developments are corozo buttons. We are working with a Portuguese supplier for both the plastic and the corozo buttons. All our metal buttons, rivets, and snap fasteners are made under environmentally safe (EMAS) and transparent conditions by Berning & Söhne in Germany.