Sustainability is not a Religion

Superjeans of Sweden. “Sustainabi lity Is Not A Religi on”

The style of Superjeans of Sweden is minimalistic with sophisti- cated fitting.

Bo Bech-Nielsen is a self-proclaimed denim nerd and the founder of the Superjeans of Sweden brand.

Does the world need a new denim brand? Bo Bech-Nielsen believes it doesn’t, but that didn’t stop him from launching Superjeans of Sweden. In this interview he talks about responsible production and conscious consumption. Text: Nicoletta Schaper. Photos: Superjeans of Sweden

Jeans can be found absolutely everywhere in great variety. What is different about your product? As a Swedish brand we stand for Swedish cleanness, not only in terms of style. I really don’t want to sound like a hippie, but we respect Mother Earth and that approach is deeply rooted in our culture. Sweden is among the cleanest countries in the world; hence we try to recycle as much as we possibly can. This is also Superjeans of Sweden’s philosophy. You have been in the jeans business for 20 years. What’s your personal insight? I have worked for large companies in China, India, and Pakistan. If the consumers would see the child labour and hazardous production conditions that I have seen, they wouldn’t buy a single product from those particular brands. We produce exclusively in Europe, for many reasons. One of the reasons is that I know exactly who comes into contact with our jeans. The jeans are manufactured in Portugal by real professionals, who are - above all - adults! How sustainable is the brand Superjeans of Sweden? For me, sustainability is not a religion. I don’t want to claim that my product is 100 percent sustainable, which nobody can claim in reality. However, we strive to manufacture the best product possible, as environmentally friendly and responsible as possible. We also try to reuse many components. The indigo water from the jeans is, for instance, reused for the dyeing of T-shirts. The result can be seen at the Premium trade show in Berlin. We use organic cotton for our T-shirts, but for quality reasons rather than environmental ones. Let’s face it; even the production of organic cotton still needs a lot of water. What can you say in terms of style? Our style is minimalistic. Furthermore, the fit is very important. For every fabric, which we produce specially in Spain, we develop a new design, because every fabric reacts differently to the washing process. We invest endless amounts of time in the development of our jeans, which we complement with jackets, dresses, and shirts. In my opinion, we have one of the coolest denim collections I have ever seen! It isn’t a large collection, but it has to convince our customers. You don’t need 300 different styles once you’ve figured out what you want to do and how to do it. You started in the domestic market in 2012. Sweden is a tough market with a lot of competition. Nevertheless, I decided to do what everyone said I shouldn’t, which was to open a store in Malmö for my unknown brand. I was fortunate that the right people took notice soon and gave us publicity. Right now, everything is working out well. In Scandinavia, we supply approximately 100 customers. We could be supplying 300, but I want to ensure we have the right customers. I’d rather wait for them if they are not ready for our products yet. The label is now entering the German market with the assistance of the fashion agency Celine Klauser. What is the ultimate goal? We want to be the largest denim brand in Germany. No, I was only joking. Our web shop already receives a lot of orders from Germany, which alerted us to the fact that there is a market for us there. Via Celine Klauser, we have already received very positive feedback from a few big players. Now we want to achieve slow and selective growth with a high-quality product that can stand the test of time. My grandfather once showed me a 50 year old shirt he had in his cupboard and it still looked brand new! I don’t want to suggest that people should wear our jeans for 30 years, but they certainly could. We want to supply our customers with jeans that are worth more than their price.

Superjeans of Sweden Headquarters: Malmö, Sweden 2 collections per year with 6 fits for women and 5 fits for men, additional flash programme Retail prices for jeans: 150 to 180 Euros www.superjeansofsweden.com