Discover Germany | Special Theme | Made in Germany
Back to the roots: Authentic jeans by Blaumann German company Blaumann revives the original jeans and ignites the passion for this versatile garment. They are going back to the historic selvedge denim, back to producing in Germany and back to the jeans’ main strength: its timeless simplicity. TEXT: MARILENA STRACKE
Three years ago, Guido Wetzels and his two friends Christian Hampel and Peter Bättig, who were all working in the jeans industry, got together and embarked on a mission to bring their vision of the perfect jeans to life. “Authentic jeans, produced in Germany with mostly locally sourced materials and the historic selvedge denim,” Wetzels describes their initial goal. “Local, sustainable and of high quality, like in the good old days.” Today, that is exactly what the company Blaumann stands for. Their jeans are reminiscent of the original ones and almost carry the soul of a collector’s piece. Blaumann’s bestselling jeans are incidentally also their first design. These jeans made of solid 15-ounce denim without stretch element are a real rarity amongst its peers. 22 | Issue 47 | February 2017
Several different shapes are available, but all designs follow the guiding principle of less is more. Greatest emphasis is placed on staying as close as possible to the original production process. Hence, the most important factors are quality, the selvedge raw denim made with the traditional and extremely rare shuttle looms, and using no industrial laundering. The jeans are a statement for honouring craftsmanship, and valuing quality over quantity. With several hundred thousand tonnes of textiles going to landfills every year, the trend towards sustainable clothing is growing steadily and Blaumann fits right in. Blaumann produces entirely in Germany and all the materials from buttons to yarn are made locally. Currently, only the denim is manufactured at the world’s best weav-
Left: Blaumann jeans. Photo: Markus Bronold Right: Blaumann shirt. Photo: Matthias Knust Bottom: Production site. Photo: Markus Bronold
ing company, Kuroki in Japan, but Wetzels and his partners are hoping to start producing denim in Germany this year. “Germany has never been home to big denim-weaving companies,” Wetzels explains. “So we teamed up with another company and bought two old-school looms from Asia to start producing small batches of denim. We are excited to see where it will take us.” The small idea of three friends to bring back authentic jeans has turned into a fruitful adventure, and this will certainly not be the last time we hear from the team behind Blaumann. www.blaumann-jeanshosen.de