Uriel Karsenti's idea when founding his new label was: "I don't want to produce anything new. Two billion jeans have already been produced in the world. One pair of jeans uses 10,000 liters of water. We don't need to keep boosting this overconsumption." So the Frenchman, who previously worked for luxury companies such as Barbara Bui and Pierre Hardy, bought up whole lots of old jeans and remnants of denim fabrics. That's how he got started. Karsenti has a personal preference for old Levi's jeans, especially the 501. "It was a real challenge for me to find them. I have many from vintage warehouses in Marseille and Rennes. These particular models I call 'Levis Regenerée,’ which means reborn Levis."
All Annie jeans are washed and cleaned before being reworked and then taken apart and reassembled into new jeans in her own atelier in Paris. For some models that are very damaged, patchwork work is used to make a new pair of trousers from two pairs of jeans. With this assemblage, creative designs are created thanks to the different finishings. Karsenti often simply turns the denim inside out and uses the former inside as the outside. This is recognizable by a slightly frayed waistband along the seams. 
Upcycling and resewing the jeans takes about three hours. The retail price is between €120 and €175. Each pair is unique and gets a number and a lifetime guarantee, which is noted on a label on the trousers. Karsenti says: "This method saves us water, CO2 and energy, and thanks to local production, our jeans don't travel around the world three times either."
It is important to the entrepreneur that his atelier is based in Paris. "There used to be many ateliers in Paris. But in the past decades, most of it has been relocated. My dream is to reactivate this Parisian sewing culture as it was 30 years ago." The goal is not easy to realize. Annie's atelier is right in the center of Paris, on the border of the Sentier district, the city's former fashion copyist stronghold, where today, because of its central location, more and more digital start-ups are displacing the old sewing studios. The search for the "dead stocks" is not always easy either. But the first successes have already come: Annie has been added to the range in the trendy shop Merci in the Marais district in Paris. This is tantamount to a knighthood. The company's own e-shop went online in autumn 2021.
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All Annie jeans are washed and cleaned before being reworked and then taken apart and reassembled into new jeans in her own atelier in Paris. For some models that are very damaged, patchwork work is used to make a new pair of trousers from two pairs of jeans. With this assemblage, creative designs are created thanks to the different finishings. Karsenti often simply turns the denim inside out and uses the former inside as the outside. This is recognizable by a slightly frayed waistband along the seams.
Photo: Annie
Annie Jeans outfit for ladies
It is important to the entrepreneur that his atelier is based in Paris. "There used to be many ateliers in Paris. But in the past decades, most of it has been relocated. My dream is to reactivate this Parisian sewing culture as it was 30 years ago." The goal is not easy to realize. Annie's atelier is right in the center of Paris, on the border of the Sentier district, the city's former fashion copyist stronghold, where today, because of its central location, more and more digital start-ups are displacing the old sewing studios. The search for the "dead stocks" is not always easy either. But the first successes have already come: Annie has been added to the range in the trendy shop Merci in the Marais district in Paris. This is tantamount to a knighthood. The company's own e-shop went online in autumn 2021.
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