Eternal Blauw
Eternal Blauw: Design Talk
We had a chat with Imogen Nulty, Denim Director here at Scotch & Soda, about our denim range – Amsterdams Blauw – and latest upcycled denim project: Eternal Blauw.
For me, the best thing about denim is that there are no limits to the possibilities, in terms of innovation, but also because of the nature of the fabric. It's constantly changing and evolving – there's always something new to discover. Denim is culturally universal, it's for everyone.
"Denim is culturally universal, it's for everyone."
So, what makes a good quality pair of jeans?
The fabric and the fit are the most important – the combination of those two things is where the magic really happens.
At Scotch & Soda, we're all about signature details. We love to think about what we can hide on the inside of jeans – unique stitching, pocket details, and hidden messages that hopefully make you smile!
Amsterdams Blauw – our denim line – what makes it unique?
Amsterdams Blauw is our free-spirited denim range made to wear all day, every day – season after season. The Blauw part literally means 'blue', linking to Amsterdam's rich indigo denim culture. What I love about our denim is that we always try to mix opposite influences to make something new and unique!
"Amsterdams Blauw is our free-spirited denim range made to wear all day, every day – season after season."
There's a rich history of Amsterdam as a denim hub – many major denim brands are based here and the laidback attitude of the city lends itself to denim, there's inspiration everywhere. Our distinct XXX back pocket signature branding is a tribute to the St Andrew's crosses of Amsterdam.
Eternal Blauw is also part of our commitment to The Denim Deal, an Amsterdam-based international collaboration focused on making post-consumer recycling of textiles the new standard in the industry. The idea is to use Eternal Blauw as an experimental think tank to keep testing and pushing innovation around sustainability in denim, that we can filter into our general collection.
Eternal Blauw is a limited-edition denim project – we've made 99 pieces! We pushed ourselves to think differently in the way we design, without using any new fabrics or elements. The only limitation was to make the project as sustainable as possible – only using leftover materials, to think about end use and recyclability, and to not use any water in the remaking process.
"We pushed ourselves to think differently in the way we design, without using new fabrics or elements."
We started the project at the end of 2020 during a series of lockdowns due to COVID-19. The atmosphere gave us time to re-think our role as designers on environmental impact.
We'd been thinking a lot about what we could do with samples that didn't make it to the shop floor due to production issues, so with Eternal Blauw we found a way to turn them into something even better.
It sounds like Eternal Blauw made a pretty big impact on how you view the denim design process?
It's one of our most unique projects so far, using cancelled production samples to make new designs. We've avoided complex logistics because the samples that were remade, were already in the warehouse of the supplier. We also didn't have any specific deadlines – very unusual for us! It was finished once we were happy with it, which was a much more "slow" approach for us. It's inspired other projects since and ways of working in the future.
"[Eternal Blauw] was finished when we were happy with it, which was a much more "slow" approach for us. It's inspired ways of working in the future."
Definitely the bright blue XXX stitching – our signature branding, but with an Eternal Blauw edge. We've also added new details like detachable buttons and embroidered rivets (instead of metal ones), which make it easier to recycle the jeans later.
The leather patches are unused patches from previous collections, that we've flipped and reprinted using the Eternal Blauw logo. Even the swatches of fabric on the hangtags were made using leftover fabrics.
And... what's your favourite Eternal Blauw piece?
The women's super-loose fit jeans with a patchwork belt. I love this wide, relaxed silhouette and the way the old denim pieces are cut and stitched back together to make a unique pattern of dark shades.
We're also collaborating with Jean School – can you tell us more about the project?
Yes... connecting with new talent in Amsterdam and sharing our denim expertise is really important to us. We collaborated with a team of talented students from the Amsterdam-based Jean School – the only school in the world dedicated exclusively to denim development, whom we partnered with in June 2021.
In the spirit of Eternal Blauw, together we've designed a collection of ten denim styles and upcycled laptop cases, using only unused Scotch & Soda garments and trims, experimenting with the creativity in limitation whilst keeping sustainability in mind. The pieces are currently on show at our Berenstraat store in Amsterdam.
Eternal Blauw is exclusively available at our Amsterdams Blauw store (Berenstraat), Amsterdam. To read more about our denim expertise and Amsterdams Blauw, go here.
