Slower runs and a focus on premium quality are just two ways denim disruptors are reimagining this classic textile for a new generation. Jessica Beresford gets the latest update on the denim brands creating a new heritage staple of their own.
The heady atmosphere of rave culture in the 90s
“There was a big drum ‘n bass culture here at the time, melting into the whole umbrella of rave culture, and people were wearing little tight T-shirts, slightly low-waisted, wide-leg jeans and chunky trainers or buffalo boots,” says Barbara of the era’s prevailing aesthetic.
“Lots of piercings and dreadlocks, that sort of festival vibe.”
“Bug Denim was a really big part of New Zealand’s dance music culture back then — a lot of artists, DJs and young creatives were really into the brand.”
Bug Denim’s hero jean was the Flatliner — a minimal style, inspired by a Japanese aesthetic, made from 14oz dark denim with a mid-rise, wide-leg cut and contrast top-stitching circling the hips along the pocket line. Barbara followed the success of this style with the Munter, a super-wide leg jean that epitomised 2000s style. “The brand started off really small and exploded,” says Barbara, who supplied around 30 stores around the country, including the now-defunct Paris Texas.
Barbara ceased production of Bug Denim in the mid to late 2000s, “when the whole genre of the time had moved on to something else, and I felt like the brand had reached the end of its natural life”. Around a year ago, however, she was encouraged by a designer friend, who used to wear the brand back in the day, to revive it.
Today, Barbara is offering an identical version of the Flatliner jeans, as well as a matching ‘shacket’ and cropped jacket, in both indigo and white. She’s also re-issued a mini skirt, with the same top-stitch detailing, but cut “much shorter” than the original iteration.
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Advertise with NZME.“It’s been a lot of fun bringing the brand back; there’s so much nostalgia around it,” adds Barbara.
“It made them think of a lot of good times when we were younger. Also, a lot of people saved their pairs, and now their kids are finding them and wearing them. The timing was right to bring it back.”
READ: Jeans Are The Fabric Of Society, But How Has One Famous Style Stayed In Fashion For 150 Years?
The revival of Bug is part of a broader focus on denim in New Zealand at the moment, with a handful of new and existing designers putting their spin on the hard-wearing fabric. Many, like Bug, are taking reference from the late 1990s and early 2000s — part of a global resurgence in trends from the era including trucker caps, midriff-baring tops and UGGs.
Jacob Kalin, who started his brand at the beginning of last year, became fascinated with clothing as a skater and surfer, and recalls being creatively fired by photos in old magazines. “The big baggy jeans and all the pocket detailing, that’s what inspired me,” says Jacob.
For his designs, Jacob draws on Japanese denim and the work of the Osaka Five — Denime, Warehouse, Studio D’Artisan, Fullcount, and Evisu — who pioneered the selvedge denim movement beginning in the late 70s.
“The whole idea of Japanese craftsmanship is really what inspires me,” adds Jacob.
“My goal is to make stuff to the highest possible quality, with the highest possible materials and hardware — something that will last for years and years, no matter how much you abuse it and wear it.”
All of Jacob’s jeans are made-to-order, and are hand-sewn by him at his home in Auckland. His hero styles are the Wayward, made from 14oz selvedge denim and inspired by miners’ jeans from the 1900s, and the Kember, which is a more relaxed, slightly baggier fit.
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Advertise with NZME.Tauranga-based Georgia Fielding, who started her brand in 2020, creates denim inflected with a cowboy theme — another early 2000s redux. “The design came about by accident while I was experimenting with different mediums and dyes, and ended up with a cow print,” says Georgia of her splotchy blue-and-white Izzy jeans, which are available to buy with a matching jacket. The rodeo vibe extends to the Pillar set, a black-and-cream design with a western-style denim jacket and matching trousers with details resembling chaps.
“I like a nice funky pair of jeans.”
Georgia, who notes New York brand Eckhaus Latta as an inspiration, sells her jeans on a made-to-order basis, so they can be size inclusive, as well as through Australian store Jolie Laide. “I started making my own jeans because I wasn’t able to find anything that was right for me,” adds Georgia.
“Denim is such a staple, I think it’s really important that you can own a perfect-fitting pair of jeans.”
The environmental footprint of making a pair of jeans, and the innovation taking place in order to combat that, is informing the look and feel of denim across the industry. B Corp-certified Pangaia uses Himalayan wild nettle, which is naturally renewable and uses less water than traditional cotton, and hemp, which is stronger than cotton and grows on rainwater, to make its jeans.
Another disruptor is Paris-based designer Marine Serre, who uses “regenerated” denim for her high-waisted styles, which feature the brand’s signature moon print. Serre sources vintage jeans from around the world, before they are cut up and patchworked together in a factory in Portugal, resulting in a look that merges a hippy sensibility with high-tech. A similar technique is employed in New York by B Sides, which makes a “one-of-a-kind” collection that turns vintage denim into jeans, jackets and skirts, highlighting the various shades and shapes of indigo.
In London, ELV Denim sources vintage jeans from around the United Kingdom, before slicing and stitching two pairs together to achieve a more contemporary fit and look. The styles are handmade by Walthamstow-based factory Blackhorse Lane, which specialises in denim and operates with progressive social values. ELV has also recently collaborated with Gabriela Hearst, the Uruguayan fashion designer known for her sustainable principles, on two styles that incorporate Hearst’s 70s sensibility.
Vintage denim in its pure form, without being cut up or printed, is also big business. Local dealer Adam Thompson launched Magichollow as a Facebook page in 2013, and now has two stores in Auckland — one permanent location on Karangahape Rd and another pop-up in Newmarket. Adam travels to America three or four times a year to source his stock, rummaging through so-called “rag houses”, where a lot of recycled clothes end up, and returning with around 3000 kilograms’ worth at a time.
“The priority is to go hunting for what’s popular at the moment — Carhart, Japanese denim, Oshkosh, Tommy Hilfiger, made-in-America Levi’s,” says Adam. “Definitely straight leg, baggy fit, and to a lesser degree for us, low-rise. Tapered jeans were super-popular when we opened our store in 2017, and some people do still prefer them, but the majority of customers want straight to baggy now. The best styles are usually Silvertab Levi’s, Tommy Hilfiger and MFG.
“We struggle to sell low-rise denim from the early 2000s, because that’s the period when fashion brands started making their jeans poorly, so sourcing jeans from that time is much more difficult.
“And I don’t want to put something out in the store that is bad quality or is going to fall apart.”
Perhaps, then, if you’re after an authentic style from the turn of the millennium, Bug Denim’s rave-inspired jeans are the best bet, to be worn with the other accoutrements of Y2K style — and without the illicit substances.
