The Denimhunters Podcast

If you know Rudy Budhdeo, you probably know him for his store. That’s where I met him the first time, more than a decade ago when I visited London for the first time—before I’d even started Denimhunters.

But the London-based denimhead not only retails jeans and other essentials for us blue bloods; he also distributes and even helps manufacture it. In fact, Rudy works with the entire value chain of blue jeans. That’s the topic of our talk.

On March 11, the Danish prime minister went on national TV to make an announcement that would change the daily lives of every person in Denmark. In the weeks before and after, similar announcements were made by leaders across the globe. We were in lockdown.

A couple of months later, Alex aka @yorkshire_denimal on Instagram had organised a ‘hang’ in Sheffield to bring together like-minded denim lovers. He’d attended the hangs at Ben Woodhouse’s Clobber Calm store and was picking up the baton as Ben was focusing on other projects.

When COVID-19 made Alex’ plans impossible, he got the idea to a global denim day to bring the community together. This gave Ben the idea to arrange a 24-hour virtual hang. Amanda Barnes had already joined the team when Ben asked for help in a post on Instagram. That’s when I got involved. The first Global Denim Hang took place on May 31, 2020.

Fast forward three months to this week and the second Global Denim Hang is about to happen. Continuing to support this unifying and fun initiative the best I can, I invited Ben on the podcast to give an update on how the second hang will be an improvement over the first and generally just what to expect.

The second hang is scheduled for September 12, starting at noon UK time, with 24 consecutive 1-hour sessions. And the line-up is pretty spectacular! Check out the full programme on the GDH Instagram.

Taking part of this hang will be (a lot) easier compared to the first one. You can still join via Zoom and interact, but you can also watch it on the official YouTube channel or on the Global Denim Hang website. No need to log in our anything.

And don’t forget the auctions for charity that the team is organising alongside it. All money goes straight to Save the Children's global division.

This week, Tilmann Wröbel from Monsieur-T. design studio joins Thomas on the podcast to share his story and his opinions on how COVID-19 is affecting the denim industry, particularly the trade show business.

As Tilmann and Thomas discuss, one of the key reasons people go to trade shows is to meet other people. To create relationships and get new ideas through interactions with others.

Trade shows bring people together. Ideally a lot of people! And that's a big 'no go' for health authorities these days. So most showrunners have gone virtual. But not Munich Fabric Start, Bluezone's parent show that was established in the mid-90s. Renamed 'Fabric Days' for this autumn edition, the show is happening.

In this episode of the podcast, Thomas answers seven of the most frequently asked questions about buying raw denim jeans. The questions and answers are pulled straight from a previously published blog post that he wrote together with Bryan Szabo from the Indigo Invitational, and published on Denimhunters.

The goal of this episode is to help you make a more informed raw denim purchase. And while the questions are most commonly asked when you’re starting out in this scene, the answers (should be) equally relevant whether you’re about to buy your first or your fiftieth pair.

In this episode, Thomas is joined by Palle Stenberg, one of the three owners of Nudie Jeans, to talk about his story and, of course, the story of Nudie Jeans.

We talk about the origins of the brand, about what makes it different from other denim brands; we talk about organic cotton, about repairing jeans, and the brand took raw denim mainstream and beyond.

This episode of the Denimhunters Podcast is the second instalment in my ongoing series where I tackle some of denim’s big questions and discuss the most frequently debated topics.

In a previous episode, I talked about the three key elements of quality jeans: denim, fit and details. In this one, we dive deeper into that second key element, the fit.

In this episode, Thomas talks about the three key elements that all quality raw denim jeans share: Denim that fades well, great fit, and details that're made with attention to detail.

If you want to learn more about everything Thomas talks about in this episode, check out the Denim Encyclopedia on Denimhunters. It has answers to all of the most frequently asked questions about denim and jeans, as well as explanations about how denim and jeans are made.

Dutchman Tony Tonnaer has spent more than 15 years doing his part in making our shared denim addiction less harmful to the planet.

After falling in love with denim during his time at Pepe Jeans in the early 00s, he became the CEO of Kuyichi, one of the brands that pioneered a more sustainable approach to making blue jeans.

In 2010, Tony decided it was time to branch out on his own. That’s when he created KOI, also known as Kings of Indigo. Not long after, at the 2011 Bread and Butter summer show in Berlin, Tony presented his brand to the world.

In this episode of the podcast, Tony and Thomas talk about the philosophy behind Kings of Indigo and how jeans can be more sustainable.

Thomas talks to Dave from Japanalogue about his story, the philosophy behind his website, and how he might be able to turn it into a full-time thing.

Dave runs Japanalogue entirely as a hobby project (at least so far). As a single parent and a job as an English teacher at a girl’s high school, it’s not like Dave hasn’t got other things to do and take care of. That’s also why, on this podcast, I asked Dave about his plans to take his side to the next level.

Knowing the language and the culture is probably one of the key reasons he seems to be able to get the Japanese denim bosses to open up in a way the rest of us simply can't. He's practically become friends with all of them, it seems. And that puts him in a very unique position.

Tenue de Nîmes is different from other high-quality denim-focused retailers. The Amsterdam-based retailer is inarguably one of the world’s finest denim destination.

On this episode of the podcast, Thomas talks to the man behind Tenue de Nîmes, mr Menno van Meurs.

They talk about his dad’s old jeans and cowboy boots. They talk about his love for sports and later denim. How he got a job in Mode d’Emploi, whose owners also did the Atelier la Durance brand. And how he, together with two others, started Tenue de Nîmes in 2008.

Of course, they also talk about what I think is one of the coolest in-house marketing platforms of any denim retailer, their publication Journal de Nîmes. And they talk about why the fashion industry is so f*cked up and actually really needs to change, which the COVID-19 crisis is facilitating.

In the second episode of the Denimhunters Podcast, Thomas talks to Bryan Szabo, the founder of the Indigo Invitational fade competition.

Bryan’s been guest blogging on Denimhunters since last autumn, sharing denim knowledge that’s particularly relevant for faders and spectators of the competition he started in 2019.

On the podcast, Bryan tells the story of how it all began. How he got into denim in the first place. About his first pair of raws (Average Joes from Nudie). About ballroom dancing (yes, you read that right). And how he ended up living in Budapest in Hungary.

Naturally, the two denimheads also talk about the Indigo Invitational and why Bryan started it. And what he expects and hopes for its second year, which starts on October 1, 2020.

Brit Eaton is a true denim hunter. The kind that risks his life on a daily basis going into abandoned mines searching for old denim and jeans. That’s his profession, and he’s been doing it for more than 20 years.

On this very first episode of the Denimhunters Podcast, Thomas talks to Brit about why and how he does what he does.

He shares the story of how it all started when he was exporting Harley Davidsons in the mid-90s; how he almost ended up in prison in Greece; and about piles of vintage denim and lost treasures.