Today we're sharing part 11 of 25, looking back at the launch of Deposit Denim, in 2013.
An old pair of jeans isn't waste. It's raw material for the next one.
A pair of jeans with nowhere to go
In 2013, there was no obvious place for a worn-out pair of jeans to go. In the Netherlands alone, over 200 million kilos of textiles were thrown away every year, the equivalent of 15,000 full lorries. Only a quarter of that was reused or donated to charity. The rest went up in flames.
Kuyichi saw more than a problem in that. It saw raw material being thrown away. If you could make a pair of jeans from organic cotton, why couldn't you make a new one from an old one?
)
Worn-out jeans, ready for a second chance
)
New denim yarn
Trouser legs? Ten euros.
The answer was Deposit Denim, in full Deposit Denim: The First Closed Loop Lifecycle Denim. The launch event carried a name nobody could ignore. In Dutch, the slogan played on a cheeky double meaning of the word 'pijpen', trouser legs, that we won't spell out here. Fittingly, the event itself took place in Amsterdam's red light district, a nod to the slogan that was right on the edge.
Guests handed in their trouser legs and received either ten euros or a new pair of Kuyichi jeans in return.
Later the campaign launched for consumers too. At participating Kuyichi retailers, anyone could hand in an old pair of jeans, any brand, and receive €10 off a new pair of Kuyichi jeans.
From trouser leg to new yarn
What happened next was less playful and far more precise. The collected jeans were taken apart. The trouser legs went through a shredder and were broken down into post-consumer cotton fibres.
Those fibres were blended with new organic cotton. Recycled cotton alone wasn't yet strong enough for a good pair of jeans, so this addition was needed to keep the quality and durability up to standard. The resulting yarn was woven into new denim, destined for a new Kuyichi jean or T-shirt.
The waistbands that remained were given a second life too. They were sold as denim shorts, with the proceeds going to a social and cultural project in Africa.
)
Post-consumer recycled cotton yarn
)
Recycled cotton
More than a collection scheme
"Just using organic cotton isn't enough any more," said Peter Schuitema, Kuyichi's sales director at the time, at the launch. "With Deposit Denim, we're showing that we keep searching for new, sustainable ways to make clothing."
Deposit Denim was never meant as a one-off stunt, but as an ongoing process. Kuyichi made no secret of hoping other brands would follow suit, not as a competitive edge, but as an example: the more clothing collected and recycled, the better.
A campaign that struck a chord
Years later, reflecting on the brand's rebuild, creative director Bjorn Baars still called 'Pijpen 10 euro' one of the most direct campaigns Kuyichi ever made. It generated plenty of press attention at the time, precisely because it didn't dress anything up. No grand words, just a pair of jeans going into a shredder and a new pair coming back out.
That same directness set Kuyichi apart early on. Not a sustainability story for its own sake, but a tangible system you could actually take part in.
Long before collection schemes and circular fashion became mainstream, Kuyichi was already exploring how to close the denim loop. One trouser leg at a time.
An old pair of jeans isn't waste. It never was. It's raw material for the next one.
This was the 11th story in our 25-part series celebrating 25 years of Kuyichi.
Stay tuned for the next chapter of our journey. In the meantime, you can browse our latest arrivals or read back on our previous chapter.
)
Campaign image, 2013
New in
)
)
An old pair of jeans isn't waste.
It's raw material for the next one.
25 years of Pure Denim Pioneering. Every chapter a choice, every choice a step forward.
25 years of Pure Denim Pioneering
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)