wore jeans and even their aprons were denim! But anyway, we decided to do it in Amsterdam and there was also the issue of the House of Denim – have you heard of that?
dam started the first jeans school in 2012. They're also planning on putting a laundry in the city so that people can wash their jeans.
AM: NO!
So in doing our supply chain tradeshow Kingpins there, they said that they wated to do a festival known as Denim Days which led us to doing it there.
AO: Over the course of my career, of 40+ years I was frustrated that there wasn't a school for those in the denim trade. We all got jobs and we had to just learn o the job, but there ws no place to learn outside of that.
What we didn't realize was how many people all over Europe and Turkey and other countries liked Amsterdam and loved shopping there. They loved going there and being their for inspiration. It was an amazing decision.
I have produced a class on jeans for 14 years at FIT which is known as the Capstone Course and they're preparing for their 5th year anniversary. Recently it was announced that there would be a New Jean School in Milan - so this is the start of a big difference in our industry as we grow up!
AM: So Emily, before we delve into Denim Days, how did you get into the denim industry?
Now the House of Denim in Amster-
EO: I went to college for biology. I was not a good student so I went and had various jobs. One day I got a phone call from my father and his friend – they were in a taxi. He said I needed to go to Portugal and learn the business
