The Founder of Kings of Indigo Talks Sustainability on the Denimhunters Podcast
Under tracks of my local S-train station, a Swedish last name is graffitied in bold white on the grey concrete; ‘Thunberg’. I first noticed it around a year ago, at the peak of the young environmental activist’s stardom.
By now, we all know about denim’s dirty secret. Making just one pair of jeans requires a tremendous amount of water and resources. And many of the millions of jeans produced every year never really get worn. It just can’t go on like that!
Dutchman Tony Tonnaer has spent more than 15 years doing his part in making our denim addiction less harmful to the planet.
After falling in love with denim during his time at Pepe Jeans in the early 00s, he became the CEO of Kuyichi, one of the brands that pioneered a more sustainable approach to making blue jeans.
In 2010, Tony decided it was time to branch out on his own. That’s when he created KOI, also known as Kings of Indigo. Not long after, at the 2011 Bread and Butter summer show in Berlin, Tony presented his brand to the world. That’s when we met.
In this episode of the podcast, Tony and I talk about the philosophy behind Kings of Indigo and how jeans can be more sustainable. Listen to our conversation in the embedded player above or in your favourite podcast app.
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