CIAO PALLE! The man behind Nudie Jeans or how destiny helped us meet a great guy...
Having the pleasure to meet Palle Stenberg, CEO of Nudie Jeans at the fashion week in Berlin, got a little to do with luck, or call it as you like, destiny. On leaving the SEEK Fashion Fair (after enjoying drinks at the Nudie Jeans Gin bar), we were a little lost on our way back to the center. 3G Google Maps didn't work so we went old-style way by asking people the way. Not a success as there isn’t a single Berliner in view. Suddenly, we run into a couple and ask them how to reach the subway (it’s minus 2 degree and starting to rain). They kindly offer us to come with them with their car, and oh wait… they’re driving exactly in our direction: towards the Nudie Jeans repair shop, where we heard Palle, eminent Co-Founder of Nudie Jeans, would be. Dropping us just in front of our destination, we arrive dry and happy to have found such a perfect transport solution. As we enter the shop, we immediately run into the man we're looking for: offering us another Gin Tonic but saying he needs to leave for the airport in 15 minutes. Phew, just on time! Had we taken the subway we would have missed him. And considering the inspiring discussion that followed, we were VERY grateful for our ride :) And so we monopolised his last 15 minutes at the party to pick his brain about our favourite topic: how to shift fashion with sustainable brands. Here is his story, personality and inspiring mindset. We invite you to dive into Palle's universe of Nudie Jeans with us. A part from the brand we also love his Danish name - Palle - and the hardships it brought him when working in Italy... Italians will know why ;)
Can you tell us a little more about yourself and about Nudie Jeans?
Hi, I am the CEO of nudie jeans, a very serious person, but I like to have fun. We are three friends from a small village in Sweden outside Göteborg that have known each other since more than 20 years. We were separated for some time but always kept in mind the idea that we would do something together one day. At a point, Maria called me and said: “Palle, I have an idea, let’s meet”. She was working for Lee in Brussels and she was a little fed up with the industry and the short-term trends. We met, she quit her job, I quit my job, and there started Nudie Jeans. This was in 2002. And it's a fantastic story, but too long to tell here tonight.
Nudie Jeans store in London
Can you describe Nudie Jeans in a few words?
Nudie Jeans? The best brand in the world. Just kidding, I mean, Nudie Jeans is a human brand and it has some ground values that are genuinely ours. We didn’t listen to PR agencies giving advice about what is good for business. We have been in the denim business for many many years and we want to make the jeans we love, no matter what the consumer says.
We also want to do as much as we can from the environmental and social perspectives. And the funny thing is, that the consumer seems to like that as well. We made our very first production for the Copenhagen Trade Show in 2002. We produced 3000 units, all paid from our own money. Everything was wrong: the fits were wrong, everything was wrong, people said the pieces looked OK but a little too expensive because they were organic & made in Italy. But in one single day we sold the entire production! Mostly to Scandinavia and the UK. And well... that was more than few words, was it?
Rugs are made from jeans that were cut into strips and then woven by hand on manual shuttle looms
Nudie Jeans is a lot about the philosophy behind it. Can you tell us about it?
Last summer I went to Italy. Mr Francesco Lenti, CEO of the denim production plant, picked me up at Ancona airport. He speaks very little English but we sat for hours, driving around entire Italy. We met many times before and spoke a lot with body language, and we always managed to understand each other. We visited the producers, the laundries, the factories, everything. Suddenly we arrived at a laundry place, and it was totally empty. I said: “But Francesco, where are the people?". He answered: “But Palle, it’s 5.30, they’re home, eating pasta with their family.” That’s Nudie Jeans. I mean: the people who work for us, no matter if it’s in the office in Göteborg or in a factory in Italy, they have a life. This combination between hard work in a free world and also going out, having a drink, meeting a friend, getting married, having sex… You do whatever.
All our cotton is organic and produced in a fair way
All our denims are 100% organic, 80% of everything else is organic. Some products, like wool, can't be bought organic, but they can be produced in a fair way - so that’s what we aim. In the beginning, in 2001, it was hard to find organic denim. People were saying it was just a trend. And we said OK, your choice, but in that case we stop working with you. And the crazy thing is that the collection went from 20% organic to 40% organic, 60% organic, 80% organic, and in 2011 for the first time to 100% organic. The funny part is when some of the suppliers come back to you and say: “we were wrong, we have to admit it. When we said “no” to organic cotton we thought it was just a trend. But today we have some organic collection that we can show you”. Of course.
At Nudie Jeans, fix your jeans for free! Denim specialist repair them for you
And we want to be transparent. We can’t change the world; we want other companies to do the same, as we do. That’s why you can read on our website where we produce, how we produce, everything. Copy us as much as you can. To copy production is easy, copying a brand is hard. But we need the choice, together we are strong.
Nudie jeans is one of the rare sustainable brands that has managed to insert itself into the mainstream market and to profile itself as 'just as cool as the rest'. How did you achieve this success?
Hard work. I mean it is a very good question, but it is also hard to answer, because you sit in your own problems everyday. I mean you know, standing here tonight, with a gin tonic in our hands, life is good... but of course every day is a struggle. But I think the most important word for me, coming from nothing, is passion. If you believe in what you do, you can change the world. You change the world. If you do things thinking you’ll make some money, you will always fail. Passion is the most important word, no matter in which area: private, business, whatever. I don’t believe in any religion, I would love to believe in a god, and if god shows himself and says: “here I am”, of course I believe in him. Lots of people believe in god, and when I ask how does he looks like, they don’t know. So I say: “believe in yourself, make yourself your own god and be nice to other people”.
What's your view on the future of ethical fashion?
I would usually say everything in life is a trend. But I met a very interesting person about 20 minutes ago. I never met him before but he blew me away. We spoke about fast fashion and everything, and I think that for the first time, this is not a trend. I think that more and more people will choose something that might cost a little more today but will last for a long time, instead of this cycle of shopping/throwing away/shopping/throwing away. But who knows, let’s see. And ethical fashion is also the wrong word, because it is the right fashion. Ethical should be the implicit, it should be the norm, it should be called fashion. This is who I am. All brands come from who we are. The people. If you come to Göteborg and see the 40 people in our head office, its the best place on earth. Nobody forces them to be or do whatever, everything is a get together. We are not better than anybody else, but we choose this direction. Other brands choose another direction, which I respect as much. But this is what we do.
Oh hell yes! Thank you for the good vibes Palle, Nudie jeans is in good hands. The day is coming to an end, we are exhausted but oh! so inspired. Coming back home and feeling we have been at the right spot, at the right moment and with the right person.
