Continuing our weekly news snippets, here are some interesting ones for Week 35
Levi’s, New Balance Collaborate for Denim Sneaker
Levi’s and New Balance are again joining forces on a limited-edition 990v3 sneaker. Similar to the Levi’s 501, the New Balance 990 series is a defining silhouette for the sneaker brand, with its iconic smooth lines and grey color palette. The 990v3 debuted in 2012 for the shoe’s 30th anniversary and remains one of the most popular versions from the 990 series.
The Levi’s x New Balance 990v3 sneaker boasts indigo and grey colorways to represent both brands and features hairy suede inspired by the fuzzy back of Levi’s leather back patch. Created using Levi’s proprietary Shrink-To-Fit denim, the shoe features a color-coordinated Levi’s tab attached to a co-branded New Balance logo. The sneaker will retail for $220 when it is available on the Levi’s App and NB.com beginning Sept. 9. The Levi’s and New Balance collaboration comes on the heels of the brands’ three-piece collection from August, which featured a co-branded 992 shoe, a Trucker jacket, and a pair of jeans, all of which were made using upcycled genuine vintage Levi’s denim. Last year, the brands dropped the Levi’s x New Balance 1300 sneaker featuring limited-edition White Oak XX52 denim from Levi’s deadstock inventory from the now-shuttered White Oak Mills in Greensboro, N.C.
AEO Ready to Uncover New Denim Concept, Eyeing Logistics Acquisition
American Eagle Outfitters remains focused on logistics and how best to gain efficiencies in its supply chain operations. The teen retailer on Thursday reported mixed second-quarter earnings results that included a beat on Wall Street’s consensus for earnings per share and a miss on revenue expectations. But perhaps what’s more interesting is how the company placed having the right product on an equal footing with its internal logistics operations. Company executives on the conference call to Wall Street analysts spoke about investments in logistics over the past two years. They also noted that the costs of getting goods to stores have been less than a year ago, even with the current cost increases in freight. The company last month acquired AirTerra, a Seattle-based logistics startup founded by Nordstrom’s former supply chain chief, Brent Beabout. He is also a Walmart alum who created the startup to offer a shipping alternative to mid-tier retailers and allow them to compete with the retail giants. American Eagle executives said that having the right product is no longer enough to be a successful company, and that one now also needs “fast, agile operations” and that AirTerra “fits that mold.” As for its key core denim category, Schottenstein said, “We have plenty of denim to sell.” He added that he didn’t foresee any problems with getting the merchandise into the stores in time for the holiday, citing the work done by the logistics and operations team in getting shipments regularly, including buying air capacity. “We believe that this will be an earlier Christmas holiday shopping [season],” the executive chairman said.
Candiani, Tonello, Cone Denim and More Take Home Blue Lenz Awards
Lenzing’s Carved in Blue team honored the best of these videos with the first Blue Lenz Denim Video Awards at Bluezone in Munich, one of the first denim industry events to take place in person since early 2020. Winners include: Amy Leverton’s “Denim Dudes Presents: Denim & Segregation Webinar” (Best Host/Webinar Series), “An Indigo Story” by Vivian Wang (Best Art Direction), Coreva Technology – Developed and Patented by Candiani Denim (Best Animation), Artistic Fabric Mills ‘Tracing the Lifecycle of a Jean” (Best Sustainability Connection to the UN SDGs) and “Endrime x Artistic Milliners Tailoring Collection” (Best Overall Video).
Transformers ED Series by Transformers Foundation and Sue Barrett’s Lockdown Nostalgia Project tied for Best Educational Video/Series. Winners were determined by a panel of judges including Margherita Verlicchi, copywriter at Menabo; Michelle Branch, founder of Markt & Twigs; Wouter Munnichs, founder of Long John Denim; Neha Celly, founder of Nice Gene; Erin Barajas, co-founder of Interesting Monsters; Panos Sofianos, denim innovation curator at Bluezone; and Kelly Harrington, founder of Trademark Blue. Befitting the occasion, the majority of winners accepted the awards via pre-recorded videos.
The nominated videos are part of the 300-plus video library Carved in Blue hosts on Blue Lenz, the B2B communication platform’s YouTube channel, to help bring more attention to new collections and advances in sustainability. The channel launched in January 2020. “I grew up in an era of MTV…you can’t forget that first video you saw. It made us think of how we can do the same thing with the denim industry,” said Tricia Carey, Lenzing’s director of global business development—denim, at the awards presentation.
Denimio x Momotaro Jeans x Robin Denim: The Ultimate Cobalt Collab
Few countries in the world are more obsessed with Japanese raw denim than the Dutch. Recently, Dutch Denimheads collaborated with Japanese Denim brands for Denimio x Momotaro Jeans x Robin Denim DM007ROBIN. For this one, the brands went all in: Robin denim went for all shades of blue so they added as much indigo as they could. Momotaro made a lovely 14OZ, very textured and slubby selvedge denim for us.
The cobalt blue weft adds that extra bit of depth to the fabric, the colors were vibrant and must be experienced in person. And it just looks stunning when turned up. Denimio told that their goal was to fuse Japanese art with Robin Denim’s home turf. The yoke and pocket lining feature a proprietary shirting quality fabric with Japanese patterns and fish that would feel just as home in the pond in Kyoto as they would in the canals of Amsterdam.
Other details of the denim jeans included a thick cowhide veg tan leather patch that features Robin as the Peach Boy Momotaro in front of Dutch architecture. The blue accents of the patch are indigo. A Momotaro tab and the Denimio collab tab add a bit of class to the coin pocket. Underneath the legendary silkscreen, one can find two stripes of selvedge indigo. The brand reversed the cobalt weft so that once the white silkscreen fades, the cobalt blue color pops.
