Low Impact Denim is our playground for innovation in technology and processes to change conventional denim manufacturing. It is where we challenge ourselves and conventional denim manufacturing to turn challenges like water-saving and -recycling, dyestuff and chemicals into concrete solutions.

Every Low Impact Denim style uses 100% certified organic, recycled or innovative fibers, water-saving dyestuffs and high tech, low-impact laundry processes. When you spot a pair of jeans with this label, you know it has been created using the most resource-efficient approach to fiber composition, fabric dyeing and finishing techniques that we know.

Rather than a capsule collection, Low Impact Denim is a blueprint for the future of JACK & JONES and our A/BETTER WORLD ambitions. We take what we learn from this project and incorporate it into other products across our brand too.

THE LOW IMPACT DENIM JOURNEY SO FAR

We started our Low Impact Denim journey back in 2012 to reduce the energy, water and chemicals used to make our denim styles, while ensuring the wellbeing of our workers too. We wanted jeans that did not stop at looking good and feeling good. They had to do good, by challenging the ways the fashion industry was manufacturing its denim.

We rallied our manufacturers and measured the impact of the ways we were treating our jeans to get their signature finish and distressed look. We worked with the Environmental Impact Measurement tool from Jeanologia and once we knew the numbers, we drove them down by replacing water and chemical-heavy processing with cutting-edge finishing technologies instead.

Together, we have been raising the bar for what makes a pair of Low Impact Denim jeans ever since. We constantly challenge ourselves by evolving the criteria, and in doing so, we aim to set a high standard not just for ourselves, but for the industry too.

MORE SUSTAINABLE FIBERS

Making a product that is better for the planet starts with using Better Materials. That is why every Low Impact Denim style is made from different combinations of 100% certified recycled, organic or innovative materials. Here is what goes into our Low Impact Denim jeans:

● Third party certified organic cotton

● Third party certified recycled cotton and polyester

● TENCEL™ Lyocell, which is a 100% compostable & biodegradable fiber made with the wood pulp of trees like eucalyptus and beech grown in certified forests. It is dissolved and processed in a closed loop system, recovering and reusing 99.7% of the solvents used in the process

● ROICA™ EF , the premium recycled stretch yarn from Asahi Kasei, LYCRA® T400® EcoMade and creora® regen recycled elastane, when we want to make a stretch style

● Recycled metal trims from TIMAY&TEMPO in Turkey

● Patches made from Jacron or Viridis® bio-based corn leather

We are always working to raise the bar, so we are constantly testing and investing in alternative materials such as carbon-zero TENCEL™ and fully traceable organic cotton sourced through our Direct-to-Farm initiative.

CLEANER DYEING

As born denim lovers, blue jeans are part of JACK & JONES’ DNA. But indigo dye has a pretty big environmental impact, which we are working to improve

We’ve teamed up with some of the most responsible fabric mills in the world including Artistic Milliners, DNM, Calik and Bossa. They all use DyStar Liquid Indigo Vat 40% Solution — the cleanest indigo on the market — for our Low Impact Denim fabrics. Since the indigo is processed in a closed environment using only water, indigo and soda, it is safer for our workers.

It is combined with special dye accelerators, which helps cut water use by at least 70% – often more. Our Original JOS 218 LID style, for example, uses DNM’s ‘Waterless’ method, which requires 84% less water than conventional dyeing. Our Clark Original JJ 118 style uses Bossa’s Saveblue rope dyeing technique, which reduces water use by 85%.

Our manufacturer mills also keep a careful eye on where the water that they do use ends up, using Effluent Treatment Plants to purify it and recycle as much as 85% of it to keep water circulating within a closed loop system.

CUTTING-EDGE FINISHING PROCESSES

Low Impact Denim swaps stonewash, conventional bleach and manual scraping processes for innovative alternatives that drive down our score on Jeanologia’s Environmental Impact Measurement tool. Here is some of the innovative tech we use to drastically reduce our water, chemical and energy usage:

● G2 technology turns air into ozone, which fades the jeans by reacting with the dye. When the job is done, it is transformed back into air and safely released, in turn cutting our chemical use by 80%.

● Jeanologia’s e-Flow uses nanobubbles of air to apply chemicals to the fabrics instead of traditional water baths. They are a game changer when it comes to water, using 95% less of it.

● Laser technology allows us to get precise rips and fades without using chemicals or water.

Just look at the CLARK ORIGINAL JJ 118. It has been finished using a whole range of lower impact tech and treatments including e-Flow, organic bleach and laser. How is that for a distressed effect that does not stress the planet?