The new way
to wear old jeans.
THE STORY
We all love wearing jeans. We wear them all the time and go everywhere with them – shopping, dates, travelling, picking up the kids. We also give our jeans much of our own personality and character. The lines and fades in the fabric tell us something about the lives we live and the movements we make as we roll through the hustle and bustle of our days. But our jeans slowly wear out, so we put them aside. Personally, I have a problem giving away old jeans, because I am in love with the stories they tell.
The journey of Kinsu began with those dozens of jeans forgotten in my closet over the years. They were all just piled up, but the harmony of the different shades of blue seemed suddenly so fascinating to me, like if they were somehow meant to be together exactly this way. The wear and tear visible on each pair was just so unique. And it is from this image that I drew my inspiration.
Not so far from my closet lies my faithful sewing machine. With a few snips of the scissors, all those jeans soon lay on the floor like severed limbs with no hope. But muse was found after several miles of stitching, and a few cocktails along the way. From the scattered fabrics of that textile cemetery, an idea was born: the new way to wear old jeans..
Hi!
My name is Ariane
BIO
My adventure with the world of fashion officially began atop the Indian Himalayas, at an altitude of 6500 feet, in a town called Dharamsala. I had been volunteering at a Tibetan traditional attire workshop for about three months. The richness in human relations and my encounter with the Dalai Lama were profoundly inspirational for my life’s journey. Upon returning to Montreal, I began my studies in fashion, in the spirit of utilizing clothes as a canvas for both my political convictions and artistic statements.
Since then, I have accumulated more than 15 years of fashion experience, including three years spent in Beijing working for one of China's largest clothing retailers. It was in 2015 that I felt a real discomfort with the frantic pace of creating clothes and the way the whole fashion industry operates. Fashion and textiles fascinate me, but how can I continue to create clothes and do my job when 150 billion pieces of clothing are produced each year and 99% of them will end up in the landfill after a few months, or few years. Being a fashion designer suddenly made no more sense to me, but what to do then?
Jeans are my fav garment. Today, through my company, Kinsu, I offer tutorials and downloadable patterns to ease the reuse of this iconic garment. My aim is to foster the grace that flows from re-imagining. With a strong desire to raise awareness on textile waste, I mobilize and support students in the implementation of Garde-Robe Collective in their community in addition to giving sewing and clothing mending workshops.