A denim master has declared you can help save the world by not washing your jeans.
“These jeans are maybe a year old and these have yet to see a washing machine,” Levi Strauss & Co. chief executive Chip Bergh said of the jeans he wore Tuesday during an interview at Fortune magazine’s Brainstorm Green conference in California. “I have yet to get a skin disease,” he added.
“I know that sounds totally disgusting,” Bergh said. He said jeans should be washed only rarely and suggests spot cleaning and air drying them instead.
That’s unlikely to satisfy germaphobes wary of unseen filth picked up from barstools and subway seats and fabric soaked with sweat from biking to work on casual Fridays in August.
The issue for Bergh is water. Jeans wearers use about as much water washing their denim as Levi’s uses to make them, he said, citing research done by the company. Levi’s is trying to cut down on the water used in the wasteful garment-dyeing process. The company recently introduced a new line of WaterLess jeans and the Dockers Wellthread collection, both featuring apparel made with much less H2O than conventional garment-dyeing requires.
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Bergh’s wash-wary approach to denim is not new. Levi’s has long warned against washing too often, and even suggests freezing your jeans instead — but that doesn’t actually work to kill bacteria and odors, according to Vox.
The folks at Levi’s aren’t the only ones who want to keep denim out of the spin cycle. Tommy Hilfiger doesn’t wash his jeans either. Anderson Cooper confessed to washing his jeans only twice in six months in an interview with Stacy London, the stylish host of TLC’s reality makeover show “What Not to Wear.” London says jeans should be washed in cold water with no soap and then air dried to “maintain the integrity of your denim.”
For so-called “denim heads” (yes, that’s a thing) not washing your denim is more of a fashion statement than an environmental one. Raw denim – denim that isn’t washed or treated after the dye is applied to the fabric – was what all the cool kids started wearing circa 2011. The unwashed fabric molds to the shape of the wearer, creating a unique fit and custom, worn-in look.
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Brock Cardiner of High Snobiety explained the appeal:
By the time the first wash rolls around, your jeans have become a veritable diary of your daily life. They’ve tread dirty city streets, trekked dusty mountain paths, sat bunched up in lecture halls and offices, and grinded against the rear of unwilling participants. Everything you’ve done – from your proudest moments to your most shameful – your raw pair of jeans has done … In short, raw denim is created as a “blank slate” for each wearer to carve his or her own life onto. While it often takes months or years of dedication, the end result is worth it in the form of a piece of clothing that is yours and yours alone. During the lifespan of a pair, the wearer and the wearee experience a reciprocal unconditional love rivaled only by the likes of a loyal pet.
But not everyone is down with unwashed denim:
Look, don’t wash your jeans every week. But going a year without a wash is a recipe for crotch holes and social disappointment.
— Andrew Chen (@andrew3sixteen) May 20, 2014
Ok, dont wash your jeans as Levi’s advises. But pls do not apply this to underwear.
— Jim (@Jimparedes) May 22, 2014
Levi’s CEO says don’t wash your jeans? I’m sorry, but freezers and vinegar just won’t cut it for me. I’m on #TeamClean.
— Amy Robach (@arobach) May 21, 2014
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