Jeansland Podcast

What if sustainability wasn’t a competitive edge, but the baseline for the entire denim industry?

In this revisited conversation, Andrew sits down with sustainability expert Roian Atwood to look at what real progress in denim actually requires.

A former Global Sustainability Director for Wrangler and Lee Jeans, Roian spent more than 15 years in the apparel industry developing and implementing sustainable technologies. He takes Andrew inside the development of Indigood, including the work that reduced water use in indigo dyeing by more than 90%, and explains what it takes to move an innovation from an experiment to something the industry can actually use.

They also dig into cotton certification, regenerative agriculture, transparency, synthetics and microplastics, and a question Andrew comes back to again and again: Are we measuring actual results, or simply getting better at marketing sustainability?

Roian’s answer for where the industry goes next is surprisingly simple: stop treating sustainability as a trade secret. Share what works, measure what doesn’t, and solve the problems together.

Because sustainability shouldn’t be the thing that makes one company different. It should be the standard.

Originally released as Episode 22 of Jeansland.

Connect with Roian Atwood

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Kingpins New York left me with a question: how many denim mills does the world actually need?

Some longtime mills may be fighting for their future, while new mills keep entering an already crowded, increasingly price-driven market. Walking the show, I kept wondering what a new denim mill can offer that somebody, somewhere, isn’t already doing.

My bigger takeaway goes beyond denim. With Kingpins leaving New York for its next show, I think it may be time for the textile trade shows to stop operating on separate islands and start thinking bigger.

My idea: one New York Fabric Week. Denim, performance fashion fabrics, sourcing, machinery, fibers. Different shows, different identities, but one week that gives the industry a real reason to be in New York at the same time.

Impossible? Maybe. But we spend enough time explaining why things can’t be done.

Someone should just start.

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A great garment begins long before it reaches a sewing machine.

In Episode 80, Andrew sits down with Alessio Berto, founder of The Tailor Pattern Support and one of Italy’s most experienced pattern designers. Over nearly four decades, Alessio has worked across denim, menswear, sportswear, teaching, and product development for brands including Replay, Jean Paul Gaultier, DKNY Jeans, Diesel Denim Gallery, Sport Chanel, Katharine Hamnett, and Boy London.

The conversation begins outside Venice, where Alessio grew up around the pattern-making school where his mother taught, reading fashion magazines, studying the clothes worn by his favorite musicians, and later discovering a passion for DJing that still fuels his creativity today.

Andrew and Alessio get into the invisible work behind fit: fabric, shrinkage, construction, grading, manufacturing, and the countless decisions hidden inside a garment that simply feels right.

They also talk about Made in Italy, globalization, technology, teaching, and why design is only one part of the process.

For Alessio, pattern making began as an art, became a technique, grew into a science, and ultimately had to be engineered. After learning the rules, the real freedom comes from knowing when to break them, much like improvisation in jazz.

Thank you to our sponsor Inside Denim.

Alessio Berto
Founder of The Tailor Pattern Support
The Tailor Pattern Support, Instagram, LinkedIn

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Nearly 50 million people worldwide are estimated to be living in modern slavery.

When I first read that number, I was shocked. It sounded almost too large to believe, so I decided to look into where it came from, who was behind it, and what modern slavery actually includes.

What I found is that this is not simply a problem of poor countries, distant factories, or one particular industry. It exists in rich countries and poor countries, democracies and dictatorships, including the United States.

For those of us working in denim, textiles, and apparel, the takeaway is simple. Before we debate sustainability, circularity, or carbon emissions, perhaps the first question should be: Who made the product, and under what conditions?

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Japanese denim is admired for its quality, craftsmanship, and the extraordinary care behind how it is made.

In Episode 78, Andrew sits down with Bobby Tohma, owner of Amhot Holdings and Idea Blue in Osaka. Andrew has known Bobby for more than four decades, and Bobby has spent nearly his entire career in the Japanese textile business, working across fabric export, trading, mills, weavers, and denim.

The conversation begins with Japan at its economic peak, when textiles were everywhere, exports were booming, and the country produced almost everything. Andrew and Bobby look back at the role of trading companies, the way money and production moved through the system, and how that structure helped build one of the most important textile industries in the world.

From there, they get into Japanese denim itself. Rope dyeing, shuttle looms, small production runs, and the network of spinners, dyers, weavers, and finishing mills that still gives the industry its character. They also talk about why some customers are already booking fabric years in advance, and why Japanese mills are often focused less on efficiency than on the product itself.

They also discuss what has changed. Fewer factories. Fewer engineers. Fewer young people entering the business. Uniqlo’s impact on the domestic market. The growing interest from European luxury groups. And the slow movement toward greater sustainability and transparency.

Andrew is direct about where he stands. He still wears Japanese denim because, in his words, it is better. Bobby offers a comparison that captures the future he hopes for: denim from Japan becoming like watches from Switzerland, something people recognize, value, and are willing to pay more for.

It’s also a conversation about what comes next. How does Japanese denim protect the knowledge, labor, and quality that made it special while finding a way to keep moving forward?

Thank you to our sponsor Inside Denim.

Bobby Tohma
Owner, Amhot Holdings LLC
Amhot Holdings, LinkedIn

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For decades, developing new crop varieties has been slow, expensive, and full of trade-offs. Avalo believes better genetics, better data, and artificial intelligence can change that.

In Episode 77, Andrew sits down with Brendan Collins, Co-Founder and CEO of Avalo, and Tricia Carey, Avalo’s Chief Commercial Officer and one of the textile industry’s most respected voices on fiber innovation and sustainable supply chains.

Together, they look at how new approaches to crop development could create cotton that needs fewer inputs, gives farmers a better chance to make money, and holds up more reliably in a changing climate.

The conversation starts with how new crop varieties have traditionally been developed by selecting for certain traits over many generations. Why bringing one new crop to market can take a decade and cost more than $100 million. And how better genetic data and computing tools can shorten that process dramatically.

From there, they get into drought, irrigation, carbon reduction, regenerative agriculture, and why improving cotton begins long before it reaches a spinner or mill.

They also talk about traceability, farmer partnerships, brand adoption, and the growing need for better information throughout the agricultural supply chain.

Underneath it all is a larger idea: if crops can be developed to work better within the environments where they are grown, the future of sustainability may begin long before spinning, weaving, or manufacturing ever starts.

Thank you to our sponsor Inside Denim.

Brendan Collins
Co-Founder & CEO at Avalo
Avalo, LinkedIn

Tricia Carey
Chief Commercial Officer at Avalo
Avalo, LinkedIn

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FRESH BLOOD continues with Part 8, featuring Sean Vossen, who works with Frontline in Hong Kong.

Sean grew up between Hong Kong and Milan, surrounded by the apparel business, but chose to explore other industries before joining the family trade. Today, he brings a fresh perspective to the supply chain, combining curiosity with a willingness to question how things have always been done.

Andrew and Sean talk about factories, product development, AI, sustainability, and why young people entering the industry should respect experience without being afraid to challenge old habits.

They also get into the hidden complexity behind garment manufacturing, the importance of passing knowledge from one generation to the next, and why the future of denim depends on attracting curious people who want to keep learning.

For Sean, fresh ideas are valuable, but only when they’re paired with curiosity, humility, and a genuine desire to understand the work.

Thank you to our sponsor Inside Denim.

Sean Vossen
Budgetary Controller
LinkedIn

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Beau Lawrence built his career by following the work, then building a life around it.

In Episode 75, Andrew sits down with Beau Lawrence, founder of Ace Rivington, to talk about denim, entrepreneurship, retail, Santa Barbara, and what it takes to build a business that can actually support the life you want.

The conversation starts in Nashville, moves through Los Angeles, design school, Guess, The Territory Ahead, Union, and back again to Guess, where Beau helped shape men’s jeanswear during one of the most active periods in premium denim.

From there, they get into Ace Rivington. A piece of fabric kept in his pocket. A Kickstarter campaign. A first store in Santa Barbara. The long process of learning what retail, direct-to-consumer, wholesale, fit, margins, and manufacturing really require.

They also talk about the parts of the industry people like to skip over. Working hard. Staying flexible. Making the numbers work. Moving production when quality breaks down. Building something profitable instead of something that only looks good from the outside.

Underneath it all is a quieter question: what does success actually look like when the dream is not just growth, but happiness, stability, and the ability to keep doing the work?

Thank you to our sponsor Inside Denim.

Beau Lawrence
Founder & CEO at Ace Rivington, Inc.
Ace Rivington, Instagram, LinkedIn

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Pakistan’s cotton crop is recovering. But that is only part of the story.

In Episode 74, Andrew sits down again with Imran Asghar, Head of Asia Pacific at FibreTrace, to discuss cotton, traceability, sustainability, and the growing pressure to prove where products actually come from. FibreTrace uses physical tracers and real-time scanning to help verify fiber movement through the supply chain.

The discussion begins in Pakistan, where cotton acreage is expanding after several difficult years. They discuss seed quality, government support, farmer economics, water availability, and the challenges facing growers as costs rise across the region.

From there, the discussion moves into traceability. 

How cotton is tracked through the supply chain. Why less than two percent of global cotton is physically traceable today. And why brands, governments, and consumers are increasingly asking for more than certifications and paperwork.

They also explore competing approaches to verification, the role of technology in authenticating origin claims, and why proving sustainability may become just as important as making it.

Along the way, they look at water use, regenerative agriculture, cluster farming, and the efforts underway in countries such as Pakistan and Uzbekistan to strengthen both cotton production and textile manufacturing.

Underneath it all is a larger question: as sustainability claims become more common, how will the industry distinguish between what can be documented and what can actually be verified?

Thank you to our sponsor Inside Denim.

Imran Asghar
Head of Asia Pacific, FibreTrace® | Cotton Traceability
FibreTrace®, Instagram, LinkedIn

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FRESH BLOOD is about renewal. Every industry either regenerates itself or slowly hardens. In this Jeansland series, Andrew steps back to listen to the next generation already working inside denim’s supply chain, upstream in fibers, sourcing platforms, laundries, and raw materials.

In Part 7 of the series, Andrew sits down with Landon Williams, denim designer, artist, and founder of Nolia James.

Landon grew up in Mississippi, surrounded by generations of makers, repairers, and creatives. What started with altering and repairing clothes eventually led him to Levi’s, denim production, upcycling, and a growing interest in how garments can be transformed rather than discarded.

Andrew and Landon talk about denim fit, manufacturing in Chicago, indigo dyeing, upcycling, and why he believes the industry needs to think differently about waste, materials, and the lifecycle of clothing.

They also get into new fibers, secondhand fashion, the future of retail, and why some of the most interesting opportunities may come from finding value in what already exists.

For Landon, waste is not the end of the process. It is where the next idea begins. And maybe that is exactly where the industry needs to look next.

Thank you to our sponsor Inside Denim.

Landon Williams
Founder of Nolia James
Nolia James, Landon's Instagram, Nolia James' Instagram, X

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