Best Practices

Founded in Gothenburg in 2001, Nudie Jeans offers since 2012 a denim selection that is completely made from 100% organic cotton.

Their mission can be described as follows: “Our jeans are not designed to be used a few times and then thrown away. We cherish the well-worn and mended. Jeans that become a part of ourselves when worn a long time – a second skin. A pair of dry denim jeans is the materialized version of our values: No extra treatment or washes. Made with 100% organic cotton.”

Their model goes beyond the use of sustainable material (conventional cotton accounts for 25% of the global use of artificial pesticides but covers only 3% of the farmland when compared to organic cotton). They promise free repairs and offer customers 20% off the next pair when handing in an old pair of Nudie jeans. Reused jeans are sold in their Reuse range after being washed and then repaired if needed, and ready to become a new customer’s favorite pair.

Nudie Jeans approach to circular adaptation is described as follows: rather than opting for a rental scheme, it embodies circular approaches in their “philosophy of breaking in denim, establishing long-lasting relationships with garments based on their real value, care, and affection for them, as well as repairing, reusing, and recycling their fabrics”.

The Swedish denim company has been recognized for their work with sustainability, both environmental and social.

Nudie Jeans as a practice is relevant for the ESG-UP project as it represents an initiative that is continuously making efforts to evolve their initial idea, become more sustainable, and that thrives on longevity of raw materials. It is inspirational for different companies who might want to revolutionize their own models to improve their environmental impact and to engage in educational opportunities to raise awareness. It is thus a good example of how a company that initially could have no impact in terms of awareness raising is working to address this.

Nudie Jeans' educational initiatives aim to promote sustainable behaviour among its customers by raising awareness of the importance of reducing waste and extending the lifespan of their products. By offering free repairs and promoting the reuse of jeans, Nudie Jeans is encouraging a circular economy and reducing the amount of textile waste that would otherwise end up in landfills. Additionally, the brand's workshops and events provide customers with information and resources on sustainable fashion and responsible consumerism, which can lead to more informed purchasing decisions and more environmentally friendly behaviour overall. The Repair Shops covered by the environmental management system are regularly provided with internal or external sustainability or environmental trainings, which connects to SDG 13, Climate action, target 13.3, Improve education and awareness-raising.

To produce more sustainable products, Nudie Jeans has a Material Tool which aims to guide designers and product developers. This is based on Made-By’s Environmental Benchmark for Fibers and the Higg Materials Sustainability Index (MSI).

Finally, Nudie Jeans shows commitment to their social impact especially through the living wage program and by being a part of Fair Wear Foundation (FWF). Since 2013, they have been paying their share of living wages for products at selected Indian suppliers. Through the program, they pay a share of a living wage which covers 7% of the total production volume equal to 40% of the workforce in tier 1.

Resource depletion, waste management, climate change, community relations

Nudie Jeans is a member of the Fair Wear Foundation (Fair Wear). Its Brand Performance Check is a tool to evaluate and report on the activities of Fair Wear’s member companies. Its check from June 2022 monitored 90% of the production chain of Nudie Jeans. With a benchmarking score of 95, the brand remains in the ‘Leader’ category (meaning that it is doing exceptionally well and operating at an advanced level. Leaders show best practices in complex areas such as living wages and freedom of association) for the ninth consecutive year.

In 2021 they repaired 42,500 jeans and their sales amounted to SEK 478 million, which was an increase from 2020 by 25%.

In 2022 they sold 3 984 pairs of Reuse jeans and collected 20 772 post-consumer Nudie jeans in the Repair Shops. They also repaired 65 386 pairs of Nudie jeans worldwide.

Together with our suppliers in Tunisia and with support from the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) and research organisation Switchmed, in 2021 they released their biggest recycling project to date when they in total used 31,000 pieces of second choice garments to make new denim fabric.

98.2% of their products are sustainable. According to their Sustainable Material Tool, they define a garment or accessory as sustainable when it contains at least 70% sustainable fibers.

They had 98% of our supply chain under monitoring in 2021.

They reached a new level of Product transparency — showing all tiers of the supply chain including CO2 emission and water use.

• Number of returned jeans
• Number of resold reused jeans
• Number of pieces made using recycled material.
• Percentage of supply chain being monitored
• Percentage of sustainable material that is used.

 The Head Office became ISO14001:2015 certified to improve the environmental management system.

The main challenge that can be observed for this practice is first the final cost of the material. It can oftentimes be difficult to build a customer base for expensive products, which means that at the initial stage higher investment would be needed in terms of marketing the product in the right way and reaching out to the right group of people. In general, customers who would be willing to pay more for a more sustainable product are those who are firstly concerned about environmental issues, and secondly, who have the resources at their disposal. Thus, an initial recommendation for similar business ideas would be to market your product well, highlighting its sustainable character, and to build upon the main mission and purpose you’re setting yourself off to achieve. An example of this is Nudie Jeans’ investment in the living wage program, which shows that investing in the right efforts pays off not only in terms of impact, but also in terms of which customers you attract. A company that does well for both environmental and social aspects might attract double the number of customers.

Secondly, in a globalized world, accounting for and monitoring your whole supply chain can be challenging. This is way measuring scope 3 emissions represents a challenge for many companies. A recommendation that comes out of this is the investment in transparency and in reducing the scope of the supply chain so that it can become more easily accounted for. Further, partnering up with the correct organizations to be monitored externally is also a good approach.

Finally, in terms of their educational approach, a challenge would be to engage the customers in the awareness-raising and do-it-yourself approach. This once again goes back to the recommendation of targeting well the customer base and scope of your product. It also requires good marketing and communication of the benefits of this.

Nudie Jeans, n.d.(1) Sustainability, re-use. Available at: https://www.nudiejeans.com/sustainability/sustainable-products#reuse

Nudie Jeans, n.d.(2) Living Wages. Available at: https://www.nudiejeans.com/sustainability/living-wages

Nudie Jeans, n.d.(3) Sustainability Report. Available at: https://www.nudiejeans.com/sustainability/reports-and-policies#sustainability-report

Fair Wear Foundation, 2022. Brand Performance Check Nudie Jeans Co. Available at: https://assets.ctfassets.net/7er3lxiqbzqz/1tXiMAkTmfiZXTYcUCnq2w/35a157a4848796c712b1ff8b7d985a32/Brand_Performance_Report_-_Nudie_Jeans_Co._-_2022.pdf

Nudie Jeans, n.d.(4). The Nudie Jeans Material Tool. Available at: https://assets.ctfassets.net/7er3lxiqbzqz/1UIFpdXmNSTTrzUrRFuAtk/877b211b6937ef2721643f795b014915/Nudie_Jeans_Material_Tool_2022.pdf

Nudie Jeans, 2021. Sustainability Report. Available at: https://downloads.ctfassets.net/7er3lxiqbzqz/d4DloS6jgrZor3i2dezeM/c8b6585d1b9472c63077c330f0dc844e/2021_Nudie_Jeans_Sustainability_Report.pdf