House of Denim Project 'Spread the Word' Handkerchief

The House of Denim is based on a love of denim and a shared sense of responsibility. This means that personal commitment and enthusiasm are crucial to success.

Especially since we've decided to go for the full 4-element set up, it could be seen as quite an ambitious project. All in all, we're going to need the support of pretty much every brand in the market, as well as believers in government, trade, education and the science community.

To make this happen, the wonderful designers over at AnotherCompany (check out their work!) have designed a fantastic 'storytelling tool'.

It's a dark indigo coloured handkerchief, snugly folded between two tough cardboard covers and featuring a personal note from me, telling the story of our project.

I'm hand-delivering it to all the denim industry bigwigs, mayors and players behind the scenes I know, asking them to spread the word.

Please send me suggestions of people you think should be receiving one of our 'Story Handkerchiefs'. We made 200 of them, so they're very exclusive.

In future, we intend to make new series in different colours, to use as sponsor sales merchandise. For now though, it's to leave behind after personally conveying our story.

Presentation at Amsterdam Int'l Fashion Week

This friday, exactly 6 months after announcing the initiative and conducting an expert cocreation workshop at the January 2010 edition of Amsterdam Fashion Week, I was back at the wonderful AIFW venue at Westergasfabriek for another presentation.

Friday is generally known as 'business day' because many sponsors and trade organisations take the opportunity to combine business with pleasure, i.e. organise a meeting strategically around 4PM on Friday, after which they hit the bar to mingle with fashionistas and visit the 1800 show at the main venue.

This season, I was very happy to see a 'Bright Green' theme shine through; t the first Green Fashion initiative (a coop between Fashion Week and the Ministry of Agriculture to promote biodiversity through innovative design) was launched by our friend Kentroy Williams (of Intoxica fame).

Unfortunately i could not attend, because i had been invited by the ABN AMRO Young Bankers association to present our House of Denim initiative. The Young Bankers were very interested, especially because it combines sustainability with passion and it aims to strengthen the Amsterdam denim business.

I also took the opportunity to present ABN Amro Bank's CFO Jan van Rutten with our House of Denim scarf - and urged him to spread the word to all the industry bigwigs he meets. He promised he would do so...

Big News - Jean School pilot starts in January 2011

In close conjunction with the ROCvA (Amsterdam's regional education council) we will be starting a pilot of Jean School, the House of Denim's crafts education program.

Plans for the 10-week pilot programme will be developed in September; we will be posting the draft plans on slideshare. All industry experts are invited to contribute their ideas.

More information will be posted soon - as well as more news about the other three parts of House of Denim: the Lab, Archive and Network.

So What's Happening?

Update October 15th

The project team is set to start further development of the plans from the 1st of November onwards. Our main focus will be to substantiate a business plan, get input on 'how much it would cost' and exactly who & what is needed to 'do it'.

In the meantime, we've been talking to some very interesting and influential people, ranging from Sustainable Banks (Triodos) to Education Management People (Amsterdam's ROC education board and HvA/UvA university boards) and Real Estate Development companies (project developers at Ymere, Holland's biggest corporation).

Whether or not they will be on board when we actually 'Do It' remains to be seen, but we were very inspired and encouraged by their enthusiasm.

For now, here's a tentative update of our next steps:
- October 26th : brief presentation at BrandBoxx Almere (contact Sabine Strijbos from the City of Almere : sastrijbos@almere.nl)
- November 2nd : project team resumes work on business plans, partnerships & scenarios
- November 19th : formal 'project launch', venue t.b.a.
- January 2010 : Concept Presentation & Co-creation Workshop @ Amsterdam International Fashion Week (date, time & venue t.b.d.)

We will be posting regular updates on this blog, but also on Linked-In groups for Denim Professionals, like Denim Sourcing Pro, Premium Denim Group etcetera.

In the meantime, ff you have any comments, questions or contributions, please feel free to contact us: james@fronteerstrategy.com

AATCC Newsletter

American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists

Read all about the House of Denim project in the AATCC newsletter soon, thanks to editor Maria Thiry. We were also quoted in her recent article about eco-denim.

Thanks for your support, Maria!

House of Denim Project

Welcome to the House of Denim.NL weblog

House of Denim.nl is an initiative to set up a platform for sustainable denim development in Almere (near Amsterdam).

We started researching the feasibility and optimal set-up in June, interviewing denim industry specialists and other experts related to the topics of education and sustainability.

In July, we posted the initial concept online (Linked-In groups for denim, sourcing and sustainability professionals), asking for feedback, input and answers to a number of questions. Replies, interest and support came from all around the globe, so we were very encouraged.

A second phase of project development will start around the end of October - any new developments about the subject will be posted to this weblog. Stay Tuned.

James