One of the most recent strides in American sustainable fashion is coming out of Eastern Kentucky — Morehead, to be exact.
Apparel company New Frontier, which sells “mountain leisure wares” in the words of its website, recently unveiled its latest offering, Circular denim jeans, according to a news release.
As the name implies, the jeans are composed of recycled denim jeans. They also contain up to 40% post-consumer recycled cotton, which is the highest percentage currently available, as well certified, organic cotton that is grown without the use of pesticides. Furthermore, each pair of Circular jeans uses 94% less water and 75% fewer carbon dioxide emissions, while requiring close to half of land needed for cotton growth.
“The fashion industry is one of the most wasteful, polluting industries in the world, causing 10% of worldwide carbon dioxide emissions,” said Joshua Ravenscraft, New Frontier co-founder and CEO, in the release.
Traditional cotton often uses more insecticides than any other single crop, according to the release. On average, it takes more than 1,800 gallons of water — approximately 104 showers — to make one pair of jeans. On the other side of the clothing’s life cycle, less than 1% of apparel worn today will one day be used to make new clothing.
“The technology already exists to change this,” Ravenscraft said in the release. “We’re working with pioneers in the industry to do just that from here in Central Appalachia, where our brand was born to celebrate the scenic rolling hills and mountains that have inspired so many generations of artists.”
Those “pioneers” include MUD Jeans, a company based out of the Netherlands, which worked with New Frontier to create the line of jeans. MUD is a certified B Corporation that has used sustainable denim as its north star since its founding in 2012. The companies are in the process of tracking down a collective goal of producing 100% post-consumer recycled jeans.
“In New Frontier, we’ve found an American partner that is working so diligently to create more opportunity from within Eastern Kentucky and shares our goals for the future of fashion,” said Bert van Son, the founder and CEO of MUD Jeans, in the release.
MUD Jeans joins a list of sustainable partners for New Frontier including Recover Fiber (recycled pieces of textile waste), Ferre Yarns (recycled fabrics turned into yarn), Tejidos Royo (creates and dyes sustainable denim) and Yousstex (makes jeans using less water, electricity and chemicals).
New Frontier — which was co-founded by Ravenscraft and his brother, Jared, in 2016, and has grown to 15 employees — has doubled its sales annually since 2018. In 2022, it introduced “athleisure” products alone. Jared serves as the company's COO.
The jeans sell for $89 per pair at NewFrontierBrand.com. They come in four varieties: women’s stretch tapered (blue), women’s regular jean (blue), men’s regular jean (blue) and men’s stretch jean (black).
