In 2022, Amsterdam-based House of Denim Foundation launched the Stretch Yourself project, its first collaboration with Jeans School together with The Lycra Company and seven global denim mills, with the aim to discover the future potentialities of denim as seen from Gen Z upcoming designers’ perspective.
A year after, they developed together the Stretch Yourself#2 chapter. This year, the project progressed further and asked the Jean School students to create a full outfit. Moreover, the selected students involved in the House of Denim Talent Incubator Program could create a collaborative design outfit, selecting the fabrics they liked best from all participating mills.
This year House of Denim Foundation, being the co-founder of Jean School, the Amsterdam-based denim educational institution, involved 24 talents, seven progressive global mills–Bossa Denim, Calik Denim, Orta, Maritas Denim from Turkey, Naveena Denim Mills and Soorty Enterprises and Advance Denim–and The Lycra Company.
They developed the second project on the Diversity in Denim theme, devising the future of stretch denim according to a gender-fluid and multi-functional purpose driven world.
The results of the project were presented within the exhibition “Stretch Yourself #2” showcasing 16 designs that debuted at the denim trade show Kingpins, in Amsterdam, and at Denim Days Festival at Denim City in de Hallen of Amsterdam, both taking place in April 2023.
Now the exhibition and all the materials used for its realization can be seen at Denim City, Amsterdam.
“This project is unique as it gave both Jean School students and the talents in our Incubator Program the freedom to work on a complete stretch denim outfit from the most sustainable mills in the world. It reflects diversity and inclusion and supports creativity,” said Mariette Hoitink, co-founder of the House of Denim & course leader of the Talent Incubator Program.
Within the project the students attended a live lecture by Helen Latham, senior strategic accounts manager, The Lycra Company, and online presentations by the participating denim mills.
“We were so impressed with the work produced by the students of Jean School last year that we really wanted to repeat the experience,” said Latham.
“Using denim fabrics that contain our innovative technologies, produced by some of the best mills in the world, the students push the boundaries of denim design into the future, their future,” she added.
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