SL: I think this is a good moment to ask about the Sami project. The impetus behind it and what you hope to achieve from it?

Oskar: The main thought on putting this project together was to get inspiration for new washes for our jeans, although we pretty quickly found out the PR possibilities in it.
The washes we've made so far are from jeans worn in by ourselves, and also named after relatives such as Bengt-Erik, Anna-Britt and Gunnar. We have a lot of jeans back home, but not enough to create new good looking washes the next coming seasons, so we wanted new inspiration and new authentic washes for our forthcoming collections. Once the idea was popped we felt that it was perfect, what could be more authentic than actual people wearing the jeans and get a wash created and named after them?! Levi's did this with their Nevada jeans, but who can say that they are for real and not just a made up story? Even though it's a damn good one, it's impossible to say.

We wanted to get the same feeling about our jeans, but no-one shall be able to doubt that this is for real. So we started our documentation the same time we handed out the jeans, a little trip of 3500 kilometers, in order to get pictures of the people behind this with their brand new jeans on. Each month they've sent pictures of how they proceed so you can follow each pair and how they develop. As we speak I am sitting in a cottage in Norway, in the middle of nowhere, after 14 hours straight driving. We have met two of our seven Sami's and the jeans look absolutely amazing!

Together with the actual product, we are also aiming for better knowledge about Sami culture. Not a lot of people outside of Scandinavia have ever heard of Sami's, and people IN Scandinavia think that they live in huts and ride reindeers all day. Since this is not the fact we want to help enlighten Sweden and the World on Sami history. They are one of the native people and have such an amazing story, so people need to know it.
This has also helped us getting closer to our heritage, grandmother was Sami, and made ourselves learn so much about it. We are proud of our story, and want to tell the world about it...

SL: There are a few questions that come to mind here, and I do want to discuss Sami culture more, but first I'd like to hit on your original intent. Given the nature of the work your participants do, have there been wear patterns that surprised you? And, how do you translate real wear to a production wash? What's the process, and what are the challenges?

Oskar: It is always a difficulty in getting a perfect look from a real worn in pair. So far we have made all our washing in Italy and with a really good result. But to really get that little extra we will start by doing the first three pairs in Japan. To make sure we get it as good as it gets. We already have a producer there, and his samples he has shown us look absolutely amazing. The most important thing is to work with people that know how important the product, and look of it, is. Japanese people tend to be really proud of what they're doing, as well as we, so it should be a good partnership.

When a producer starts working on making a copy out of a real pair of jeans he asks his master washer (not sure on his title in English) about making a "recipe" for how to get it right. If he's good he can fairly quickly see what ingredients are needed. After that all jeans are produced raw, worked on and washed down according to the recipe. Everything will be made by hand, of course.

Since we have seen pictures of each pair each month we had a good view on how the jeans would look, but we were surprised on how good they looked in real life. They are absolutely amazing! You get really jealous since your own "office" wear is standing still. Patterns we've seen is that all of them working in reindeer keeping tend to sit a lot on their knees (when branching the calves) and a good worn out look on the thighs. (Scratch marks from reindeers). All of these have also very personal marks as well. F e Per Guttorm who's on a motocross very often which is noticeable on the inside of his legs as well as ass. JanAke has a particularly big knife, which has set its marks on his jeans. This was something we where a little nervous about beforehand, that most of them would look very much the same, luckily it wasn't so.

SL: Quickly, is offering a number of washes a necessary evil in the denim trade? You bring up a question of sourcing... and I wonder the pros/cons of going to Italy and going to Japan? This relates to different stages of production as well, mills to wash. Also, what are some of your core concerns with sourcing?

Oskar: At least for Scandinavia we can see a bigger interest in buying already "used" jeans. Even though Raw ones still are a bigger market, washed are selling more and more. And a good looking wash can be really beautiful!

Since we are a fairly new brand our concerns have been finding a producer that can make small quantities. We have learned the hard way that the smaller you are the less say you have. Of course, bigger customers/brands come first. But we have come a long way this year, now people and producers are contacting us instead of the other way around.

The reason we started working with Italy is that they have been the best denim producing country in Europe the last 30 years (and up until last 10 the only) as well as working conditions, which also is a big concern for us. They are working 5 days a week instead of Turkeys 6, and they still make a decent living out of it. We have visited our factories a few times now and the people working there seem to appreciate what they're doing, at least as far as one can see. I don't think that this is their "dream job" but compared to what I have seen in Turkey and other more cheap producing countries it feels way better. Japan is the best in all ways, qualities, fabrics, trimmings and so on. They know exactly what you are after, and there is a big difference in knowledge. The Japanese does it the same way it's always been, but better. It's the same thing as Japanese Single Malt Whiskey, a little bit better than average. A hard thing with Japan and small quantities is of course shipping, the smaller amount made the more expensive.

Today we are really pleased with our sourcing, a nice family business in Italy with a lot of experience and a great Japanese company with a lot of love to denim and jeans.