When I was growing up, sustainability was a huge part of my life before I even realized it. My mom was a single mother who raised two girls to care very little about fashion and creativity and a lot more about education and independence. When we would go shopping, it would be at the Salvation Army or Old Navy, and my mom always bought items with the intention for them to last us for years — she never bought into trends, let alone believed in them in the first place.
She wasn’t only like this with clothing. She was this way with everything she bought. She worked very hard for her money and received very little support from my father, so she believed that if something was good enough for her coin, then it has to last her for a lifetime. It took me a while to understand, but now I absolutely love this about her and have grown to be the same way. I refuse to buy something if the quality is not there and I know it won’t last, and I will save up to buy pieces that are worth the money.
Jeans were always a struggle in my household: every pair my grandma bought would end up ripping or fading in a couple months, leaving us with cheaper options. These jeans never fit right, would tear and always made me feel extremely self-conscious.
Jeans are an important everyday garment that millions of humans wear for an array of occasions. One would think that since denim is so popular, people would invest in their pieces to make sure that they last. This seems to be far from the truth. So many teenagers nowadays turn to brands like American Eagle, Zara, Shein and H&M for their denim and other basic garment needs, which promotes fast fashion and continues the polluting cycle of low quality denim. On average, it takes 1,800 gallons of water to make the cotton for one pair of blue jeans. And that is not the only issue because the water used to make these jeans also becomes full of toxins and dyes and is often dumped back into the natural waterway that it was derived from. This cycle continues thousands of times to make the cheap jeans that we see in stores.
Processes like this leave me feeling hopeless because I know how it feels to be wrapped up in this problematic cycle, until I discovered the brand DL1961. The brand is reimagining the denim-making process and setting extremely high standards for competing brands in the industry. DL1961 has mastered the craft of making sustainable denim products and is proud to share its story.
Founded by husband and wife team Faisel and Maliha Ahmed in 2008, the company has created an inspiring sustainable business that has the potential to become the blueprint for future denim CEOs and entrepreneurs. The factory where DL1961’s production takes place is called Artistic Denim Mills, located in Pakistan and run by 7,000 employees. The brand has managed to reduce its water use in the denim-making process to only 10 gallons of water per pair. Not only has DL1961 significantly decreased the amount of water that it uses by 1,790 gallons, it also cleans the water that has been used in the process. One building at the Artistic Denim Mills factory is solely used to clean the toxins and dyes from the water used to create denim. DL1961 also uses fibers such as tencel and modal to create the soft, sustainable denim in its classic jeans and has mastered ozone and laser technologies to create unique washes that customers can’t find anywhere else.
The average price point for a pair of jeans at DL1961 is around $200, which is not too expensive when you consider the materials and processes that the brand uses. When you buy a pair of DL1961 jeans, you are not only buying the denim, but you are also paying for all of the steps it took for that pair of jeans to reach you. Many Americans are so comfortable with paying a small price for clothing that is cheaply made that when quality products come around, they don’t see them as worthy based on their prices. I hope that people will realize that investing in sustainable pieces is much cheaper than buying a new pair of low-quality jeans every year — not only does it help consumers’ pockets in the long run, but it also helps the earth.
Climate change has been a pressing issue for decades, and the fashion industry’s impact plays a huge role in the state of the environment. The mass consumption that happens in this country, along with the manufacturing that is done overseas, is a huge contributor to the devastation to the environment. A greener future is full of small, sustainable businesses that focus on quality over quantity. But to create this future, the mindset of the masses has to change. We can no longer continue to want new material items so frequently, and instead, we must buy with integrity. I have begun this process myself with the help of my mother’s values that she instilled in me, and now I realize the value that my money has and the support that comes with making these purchases. Everything that is purchased should be bought with the certainty that it can last a lifetime. Brands like DL1961 will continue to flourish as consumers realize the power they wield.
