James McKinnon runs a 72-year-old family textile business in South Carolina. He's third generation. He sits on the Cotton Board, advises the USDA on cotton standards, and he'll tell you straight up that U.S. textiles are fighting some incredibly strong headwinds.

But he also thinks it's a fight worth fighting.

In this conversation, Andrew and James dig into what it takes to keep American textile manufacturing alive. They talk about supply chain innovation, why sitting on your hands expecting last year's playbook to work won't cut it, and the story of making a yarn-dyed flannel shirt entirely in the U.S. with American Giant. Most people said it was impossible. Turns out, it just took the sheer force of will to do it.

They also get into sustainability, the role of U.S. cotton in a global market, certifications that actually matter versus ones that feel like rubber stamps, and why the next generation should still consider textiles as a career. James doesn't sugarcoat the challenges, but he's clear about the rewards. The people you meet, the places you go, the connections that come with this industry don't show up on a balance sheet, but they matter.

There's also straight talk about Xinjiang cotton, the disconnect between a booming stock market and a tough sourcing climate, and how AI might actually help the old school guys rather than replace them.

This is worth a listen because it's the kind of conversation that reminds you why this work still matters. 

James McKinnon
CEO, Cotswold Industries
Cotswold Industries, LinkedIn

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Jeans have long been seen as the uniform of freedom. But if freedom is what we're selling, what's the truth behind the people making them?

In this solo episode, Andrew looks at two global scorecards, one for freedom and one for happiness, across the 11 countries that produce most of the world's denim. The results aren't comfortable. China ranks third worst in the world for freedom. Egypt is eighth worst. Pakistan, Bangladesh, Turkey, all near the bottom. And most of these countries also rank in the bottom half for happiness.

Factories full of low spirits, making clothes that claim to represent self-expression.

Andrew asks: Can a product symbolize freedom if the people who make it aren't free? When factories move to cheaper countries, does freedom move with them or just the profit margins? And at what point does outsourcing start to look like making jeans in a prison?

This isn't about guilt. It's about awareness. If jeans are going to mean something, maybe we need to start asking who made them and what kind of life they're living.

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Andrew sits down with two people who lived through the denim business alongside him for years. Michael Morrell and Paul Ledgett were his partners at Olah Inc., and together they built something that worked because they gave a damn about the product, the people, and doing things right.

In this conversation, they go back. They talk about what it meant to run a denim agency in New York when the industry still cared about design and relationships. When you could shake hands on a deal and it meant something. When brands actually built brands instead of chasing the lowest price and calling it strategy.

But they also talk about what's happened since. The overcapacity. The sameness. The greenwashing that sounds good in a press release but falls apart the second you ask how it scales. Michael and Paul don't hold back, and neither does Andrew. They get into why sustainability only seems to work when someone else is paying for it, why most brands have lost the plot, and what it would actually take to make denim that means something again.

There's frustration here, sure. But there's also a vision for something better. And some very good stories along the way.

Michael Morrell
CEO of Western Hemisphere and Europe at Freedom Denim
Freedom Denim, LinkedIn, Instagram

Paul Ledgett
President North America at Diamond Denim by Sapphire
Diamond Denim by Sapphire, Instagram

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The denim industry runs on water. But most of the places we make jeans don’t have enough of it. In this short, Andrew breaks down what happens when cotton, sewing, and finishing all depend on freshwater we can’t afford to lose.

Countries like Canada have 74,000 cubic meters of water per person. Bangladesh? Just 635. Yet we keep building supply chains in places with the least to spare. Even rainfed cotton gets risky when the rains stop coming.

Andrew asks a simple question: where’s the plan? We talk about water-saving finishes and efficient cotton, but no one talks about the source. Water is being used like it’s endless. It’s not.

Listen now at jeansland.co

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One question froze Romain Narcy in his tracks fifteen years ago: "Do you know the environmental impact of making jeans?"

He didn't. That moment sent him on a path from running suitcase sales trips across France to building one of Turkey's greenest denim factories to joining the steering committee of the Denim Deal. Their goal? One billion jeans made with recycled cotton by 2030.

Sounds ambitious. Romain thinks it's doable. But only if brands stop pretending they understand their supply chains when most can't even explain how their jeans get washed, let alone recycled.

In this conversation, he and Andrew get into the real barriers. Europeans are buying 33% more clothes than they were a few years ago. Most brands don't know collectors from sorters from recyclers. Blending recycled cotton takes the precision of a champagne maker. And 85% of garments still end up in landfills.

Romain's not selling a dream here. He's mapping the infrastructure it takes to close the loop, why legislation might be the only real leverage left, and what happens when countries realize they're sitting on mountains of waste that could be worth something.

Can the industry actually pull this off before consumption outpaces every solution?

Learn more about Romain’s work:

• Steering Committee Member, Denim Deal
• Founder, Rematters | Textile Recycling & Circularity Solutions
• Partner, Innovation & Strategy, Ereks Garment | Sustainable Denim & Woven Apparel

Follow these projects on LinkedIn:

• Denim Deal
• Rematters
• Ereks Garment

🎧 Listen now at jeansland.co

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Big news in denim: Artistic Milliners of Karachi has taken a majority stake in Cone Denim, one of America’s most storied mills. From its 1891 roots in Greensboro, NC, to powering Levi’s 501s, Cone’s history now collides with one of the most ambitious players in the industry.

Andrew breaks down what this deal means for global supply chains and why, even together, Artistic and Cone make up just one percent of denim worldwide. Is this the start of a new model, or just another big gamble?

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This week on Jeansland, Andrew sits down with Indian journalist Subir Ghosh for a clear-eyed look at how sustainability narratives often miss the mark. Subir challenges the fashion industry’s fixation on circularity, calling it more of a marketing loop than a real solution. He explains why cotton farmers in India remain under immense pressure, why worker struggles beyond the sewing floor go largely unnoticed, and how global fashion summits recycle the same conversations without meaningful results.

From the realities of farmer suicides to the limitations of regenerative cotton, this conversation underscores the disconnect between polished industry rhetoric and the lives of people who grow, spin, and dye the fibers we rely on.

For deeper reporting on these issues, visit texfash.com, where Subir is co-founder and Executive Editor, and subirghosh.in.

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Andrew rewinds to 1980 in this solo short. Cotton has been priced at 80-cents a pound ever since, while everything else (burgers, beef, coffee, gas) keeps inflating honestly. Farmers work harder for the same pay, garment workers get pushed offshore to 60-cent wages, and polyester quietly takes over as “oil in disguise.”

Jeans don’t get cheaper because of efficiency. They get cheaper because the system is stacked against the farmer, the worker, and the planet.

Listen to this episode short and find out the real cost of cheap jeans.

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This week, Andrew digs into the future of fiber with Mark D’Sa, Senior VP at Panda Biotech. After decades sourcing for brands like Ralph Lauren, Gap, and Levi’s, Mark is now betting on U.S.-grown industrial hemp.

He explains why hemp matters for American farmers facing water shortages and soil stress, how Panda’s cottonization process makes hemp soft and fully compatible with cotton, and why the sweet spot for denim blends is around 20–30 percent hemp. Mark also shares how Wrangler, Lee, and Patagonia are already on board, and why traceability and farmer partnerships are at the core of this effort.

From soil regeneration to hempcrete houses and even auto parts, this episode shows just how versatile hemp can be—and why it could play a major role in denim’s next chapter.

For more information, you can reach Mark D’Sa at [email protected]

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In this solo short, Andrew swerves away from denim to call out one of the most stubborn materials on earth: Styrofoam. After a hospital stay in Houston where every meal arrived on trays of squeaky white foam, he asks why a substance banned in 62 countries is still so common in the United States.

Cotton biodegrades. Polyester eventually breaks down. Styrofoam never dies. It just crumbles into microplastics that sit in our landfills and oceans for centuries. From takeout boxes to hospital cafeterias to coffee cups, it’s everywhere—and the U.S. is falling behind when so many alternatives exist.

This episode is part rant, part reality check, and a reminder that the things we throw away don’t always go away.

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