Written by Iris te Wieske

Indie Brands. You might have heard of their book and/or blog, but for those of you who haven’t, a brief introduction. Indie Brands focuses on the world of independent brands. With the goal to inspire creative minds and indie entrepreneurs in the making, it shares the stories of the creative people behind a brand. In the book you can find a variation of one-man brands to medium-sized corporations, all selling different products. According to Anneloes van Gaalen, who is the creator of Indie Brands “true indie brands share three important characteristics; they are independent, they have a story worth sharing, and they all understand the magic of marketing.”

After the success of the first Indie Brands event in December last year, it didn’t take long for the second event to take place. On Thursday May 10 we dove into the world of denim. A night at Pakhuis de Zwijger filled with inspirational lectures, panel discussions between creative entrepreneurs and lots of beautiful products from brands like Glue Jeans, Twin Couture, K.O.I. jeans, Ikku, Hiut Denim Co. and Fromanteel watches on the Indie Brands supermarket.

The first speaker of the night was Ninke Bloemberg, who works as fashion and costumes curator at Centraal Museum Utrecht. Next to a brief introduction in the denim history, she talked about the upcoming exposition of Denim, which will start November this year. “It is going to be an exposition where streetwear and couture meet”, she reveals.

In the following panel discussions the creative people behind K.O.I. (Kings of Indigo), Twin Couture and Glue Jeans, Ikku, and House of Denim shared their vision on the current denim industry. Inspirational stories like those of Lavinia and Abigail Bakker from Twin Couture, who both sold their house to be able to start their own brand, and Gerrit Uittenbogaard (pictured above) who successfully founded Glue Jeans without any experience in business. Important topics of discussion during this night were questions like: Is there room for indie brands in the highly saturated denim market? Can you call yourself indie when you’re working with a heritage-rich product like denim? And who is bringing innovation?

After some interaction with the public, we came to the conclusion that there is enough room for the denim indie brands to share in a piece of the denim market. Indie brands are based on wonderful stories that led to innovative products. Sometimes you don’t know what you are looking for, you know it when you find it. The story of Glue Jeans is one of them. Heritage is something that has to be built. With indie brands it is not there yet, but you have to start somewhere. And a beautiful story worth sharing is a good place to start.

Besides all these brands, James Veenhoff (pictured above) was present. Next to a jean addict, fashion icon, and founder of the Amsterdam Fashion Week, James is the founder of The House of Denim. The House of Denim is an initiative to set up a platform for craftsmanship and sustainability for denim development. In close conjunction with ROCvA (Amsterdam’s regional education council) they have established the Jean School, of which the pilot started in January 2011. According to James ‘”it’s strange that Amsterdam has so many fashionable people, but there’s a lack of people who can actuality put a good jean together.”