Duer's Do

We love supporting local brands and artisans, especially when they truly excel at what they do; so of course we found our way to Vancouver-based label "Duer", and their awesome performance denim.

Let's start with a quick rundown of who "Duer" is, and what they do:

The concept for Duer was born in January, 2013, when founder Gary Lenett recognized the need for better technical denim jeans while biking to his office - nothing seemed to combine performance and fashionability to the degree he desired.

After partnering up with a fabric expert, and opening their own ethically-run facility in Lahore, Pakistan, Duer took the next 18 months to develop their own performance denim and launch a corresponding Kickstarter campaign (which proved to be a huge success).

July 2015 the first Duer pop-up shop opened in Vancouver's Railtown - sidenote, I was actually working down the block from them (in Railtown at the time at Oak+Fort's head office)... I remember peaking up into their showroom and wondering who this Dish/Duer denim brand was... Fast forward five years and now they're a global brand, who's product is stocked from the UK to the Netherlands, and who's brand is praised from The Wall Street Journal to Esquire.

So imagine how we felt when the opportunity to connect with Duer came up... we jumped at it and touched base. We wanted to know more about their sustainable initiatives, and wow did they ever oblige...

• Fabrics are made from natural and sustainable materials including eucalyptus, wood chips, and recycled plastic bottles
• Eucalyptus-derived TENCEL is developed through a ‘closed loop production process’ meaning the water used is recycled
• DUER owns its primary factory in Pakistan
• All factory employees in Pakistan are adult salaried employees with health benefits
• DUER’s NEXT model is a low-waste approach to retail that produces inventory according to demand
• DUER offsets the carbon footprint of all online transactions
• DUER is anti fast-fashion and rooted in the belief that we only need a few, well-made pieces, that are versatile to compliment any lifestyle
• They develop versatile and quality clothing that’s designed to last and stay out of the landfills
• DUER fibres inhibit bacterial growth minimizing washes needed, and eliminating the need for hot water use and drying, decreasing water and energy consumption
• Only a minimal amount of synthetics are used to ensure clothing is long lasting

Shout out Nadia and Shannon over at Duer HQ for answering all our inquiries, and linking us with the resources necessary in getting to know Duer better as a brand and a movement.

Now we're just looking forward to stocking Duer denim in-store and online for our people; as we said, supporting local brands is our jam, especially when those local brands are killing it!