The Future Denim Makers Lab has brought sustainability, circularity, and personal storytelling into denim design.
The initiative debuted at Kingpins New York and featured six emerging designers. They redesigned the Signature Rebelle Coverall from US denim brand Oak & Acorn.
Miko Underwood, founder of Oak & Acorn and designer, led the project with support from Kingpins Show and Artmill. The participating designers included Marist University students Oli Pasquariello, Maya Bialas and Jenna Jaffe, along with emerging designers Jachuku Howard, Sidney Foster and Shamitris Kirby.
The designers explored themes such as labor, circularity, repair and family history. Their work showed how traditional denim can be redesigned with a stronger focus on sustainability and personal stories.
Pasquariello’s design, “Their Jeans, My Dreams,” was inspired by her Polish immigrant family’s history as miners and factory workers. Bialas drew inspiration from her family’s organic farming background in New York’s Hudson Valley and experimented with the natural dyeing process of cyanotype.
Underwood said the project aimed to help designers think beyond style and create future denim pieces with meaning and purpose. The program also gave emerging designers direct access to denim mills, industry professionals and educational opportunities at Kingpins.
Underwood highlighted the need for more denim-focused education in US design programs. She pointed to Jean School in Amsterdam and LaundRe in London as examples of hands-on denim education.
The next edition of the Future Denim Makers Lab is planned for Kingpins Los Angeles in January 2027. Underwood is exploring opportunities to give participants hands-on experience in denim laundries.
