DENHAM the Jeanmaker and Nike launched an exclusive unisex limited edition featuring three iconic sneaker models. They were reinterpreted, mixing work- and sportswear to represent the contemporary spirit of the brands. Two of them, Air Max 90 and Air Max 95, were created with Candiani Denim’s fabrics.
DENHAM designs Nike’s denim sneakers
DENHAM and Nike combined their best skills to produce a denim version of Nike’s most iconic sneakers. The project was born out of their common vision for providing consumers with high-quality, sustainable products.
The two brands shared their knowledge and experience to create these DENHAM x Nike limited edition sneakers. They merge sustainable denim with the traditional, artisan craft, and colored textured suede of the sportswear brand and display some distinct features of them both.
DENHAM’s tagline The Truth is in the Details, founder Jason Denham’s signature, DENHAM’S scissor logo, and Nike’s Swoosh are engraved on each pair of sneakers.
Jason Denham founded DENHAM The Jeanmaker in Amsterdam in 2008. The brand’s garments are designed by looking for innovation, honoring tradition, and adopting an environmentally friendly approach. Sustainability has always been one of DENHAM’s leading values.
Nike’s brand was officially born in 1971 in a company named Blue Ribbon Sports and founded in Beaverton, Oregon, in 1964 by Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman. Its iconic Swoosh logo was also created in 1971. Nike is embracing more sustainable practices to transition towards reducing carbon emissions and waste.
DENHAM x Nike limited edition chooses Candiani Denim’s sustainable fabrics
Candiani Denim is a longtime collaborator of DENHAM in providing the Dutch brand sustainable denim. DENHAM’s and Nike’s teams visited Candiani Denim’s mill to kick off the project. Their purpose was to incorporate denim in their reinterpreted sneakers without making ordinary denim shoes. The partnership of the three companies for the limited edition is then based on materials.
Sustainability is one of Candiani Denim’s pillars. The mill, located in a nature reserve park, Parco del Ticino, is committed to preserving the environment and its biodiversity. Moreover, it uses high-quality, innovative, and environmentally friendly raw materials and ensures traceability and transparency of its value chain and production processes.
DENHAM reinvents Nike’s Air Max
Using Candiani Denim’s fabrics, DENHAM redesigned Nike’s famous Air Max. The material palette used for Air Max 90 was maintained similar to the original one. These sneakers were conceived with an authentic and retro taste and Candiani Denim’s sustainable indigo and ecru fabrics, combined with OG infrared highlight trims. They are a patent technology of the mill.
Air Max 95’s characteristic layering was made with Candiani Denim’s sustainable ecru, gray and black fabrics. Their original 1995 colorway was recreated with some OG neon yellow details in the nylon eyelets and trims.
The DENHAM x Nike limited edition was supposed to be launched during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, but Covid-19 caused a change of plans. The new Air Max 90 and Air Max 95 debuted on September 25, 2020, on DENHAM’s and Candiani Denim Store’s websites, and at Candiani Denim’s store in piazza Mentana 3 in Milan.