Bad Denim

“To protect and to nurse the blue jeans’ heritage.” Swedish brother Anton and Oskar Olsson take the creation of their collection very seriously – almost reverently. “Both of us have been working with denim for around 17 or 18 years together, in the retail business,” says Oskar, the 32-year-old who co-founded Denim Demon, a label he says gives more than just a pair of jeans to the public. “All of our products comes with a story behind it, something to tell your friends about.”

The inspiration behind the brand comes from Sami culture, the indigenous people of Scandinavia, whose  handicraft, clothing, songs and architecture he says have a lot to inspire. “We also care a lot of the heritage of denim and jeans, and want to nurse that. So inspiration comes from old labels such as Levi's, Lee and classic work wear brands.” Oskar took a moment from his busy schedule to explain his philosophy to NOX:

NOX: How would you define "denim" in four words?
Oskar Olsson: Lovely, traditional, historic, work wear. It is an amazing fabric and we all need to learn about the heritage in order to keep the history going. There's too many brands that just produce denim because of the money, and if we don't care about that they will destroy denim as we know it!

NOX: What are the greatest pair of jeans you ever wore?
OO: I haven't found those yet, but that's one of the reasons we started Denim Demon: to create the greatest pair of jeans ever made. We are close, but there are still things we can refine. We have three of our Sami washes coming out this autumn, which is close to perfection, both in fitting and look.

NOX: Do you think people should get creative with their denim, or should they stick to the traditional?
OO: Difficult question, since we are making really traditional fittings with updated details. I'll have to go with both. It's difficult to re-invent the wheel so to speak, and a lot of brands have tried to do new stuff with jeans, but none of them have worked so far. I guess it's up to the person wearing them; if you are comfortable in a certain pair of jeans, it doesn't matter if they are traditional or "something new".

NOX: How can people in the Middle East make jeans more Arab?
OO: I don't have enough insight in the Arab culture to speak about that unfortunately, but if you can find some people over there to wear a pair of raw Denim Demon, we might be able to to an "Arab wash" for you! That'll do the trick, right?

www. denimdemon.se