Frank’s stint in the denim capital of Europe

By Katie Syk
October 2, 2024

If you’ve been to Amsterdam, you know it’s not exactly considered to be a natural habitat for bears. But our sourcing expert, Frank, is no ordinary bear. He’s a denim-loving bear and he’s taken on Amsterdam like no bear ever has: by diving into denim, sustained by some favorites in Dutch cuisine. Amsterdam is famous for its canals, art, and red-light district, but perhaps less known is its status in the fashion world as the unofficial European capital of denim. Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein, G-Star, and Kuyichi are all headquartered in Amsterdam. The city’s House of Denim Jean School offers 3-year, fully accredited diplomas in denim. And Amsterdam’s denim professionals are making waves when it comes to sustainability and denim.

It’s no wonder, then, that our newest sourcing expert, Frank the bear, made his way to Amsterdam for the next chapter of his denim tour. What Frank found surprised even our own denim connoisseurs.

But first, pancakes

After an early flight, Frank touched down in Amsterdam ready for some Dutch cuisine. He headed straight to the infamous Pancake House and wolfed down a plate of mini pancakes smothered in vanilla ice cream and caramel. (It is, after all, the season for bears to bulk up ahead of winter.)

After some close calls along the edge of the canal (where the water looked almost as chilly as the Swedish lakes Frank knows so well), our dapper sourcing expert made his way to Amsterdam’s renowned Dam Square. In this bustling hub, Frank got a lot of attention from both tourists and locals alike, and had a few close calls with some aggressive pigeons.

To escape the pigeons, our resourceful bear took shelter in a nearby shop full of… rubber ducks. These weren’t just any rubber ducks: they were dressed in all kinds of clothing – and they decided to inaugurate Frank into their clan. Not so fast, duckies – Frank had a mission, and he wasn’t about to lose sight of it for the wrong crowd. He got out of there, miraculously intact, and bee-lined for one of Amsterdam’s most beloved denim shops: Kings of Indigo.

A denim tour like no other

The denim pioneers at Kings of Indigo take denim very seriously. In fact, as Frank was about to discover, the entire city of Amsterdam seems to take denim seriously. So much so that there is actually a culture of art created around this versatile fabric.

The Kings of Indigo hold themselves to a high standard in creating jeans, and in crafting a legacy around those jeans. Within their store, Frank discovered patchwork jackets, finely crafted shirts, and toddler-sized jeans (still too big for Frank). He even did a bit of sewing himself in the back – that is, until he got tangled in the tape measure… perhaps better to stick with what Frank does best: fashion and data.

From there, Frank made his way to the heart of denim in Amsterdam: Denim City. This innovation campus – part of the non-profit House of Denim Foundation – is home not only to a store but also a workshop, an academy, and a lab with a host of events and partners to support their mission to make denim dry, clean, and smart. Frank dove right in, weaving through spools of denim threads, inspecting raw denim fibers, and observing the magic of the creation process itself.

Frank also explored denim as an art in Denim City’s “towards a brighter blue” movement where denim is brought to life through various creative projects. From a pair of jeans covered in tiny rips to an enlarged sweater made from hundreds of denim balls to a human figure made entirely of flower- and leaf-shaped fabric swatches, Frank feasted on the splendor of denim and all its possibilities.

A few hours of denim touring warranted another food pitstop, this time at Amsterdam’s Foodhallen for some pesto pizza (one of Frank’s favorites). Once he’d fueled up, Frank continued onward – to Denham’s flagship store, where it’s all in the details. This enterprise, opened in 2008, takes pride in considering each detail, large and small, as they aim to disrupt the denim market globally. Frank was impressed with the pieces he found: vests, overalls, jeans, you name it – there was an undeniable prestige about every item, down to the very last stitches.

A hop, skip, and a bike ride away, Frank entered the vintage world of Mood Indigo, where treasures abound from all walks of life. Lee, Levi’s, Wrangler; workwear classics; and Japanese self-edge – it’s all there within the shop’s impressive twilight blue double doors. Frank even found a pair of cowboy boots made from denim. Boundless thinking at its best.

The last stop of Frank’s Amsterdam denim tour was CKX Studio. Appropriately located in the city’s Blaauwlakenblok, or “blue cloth block,” where indigo dyers were based back in the day, CKX doesn’t limit itself to just clothing – they’ve also got artwork and home accessories, each item made up of or inspired by denim blues. Frank was floored by their framed pairs of jeans dating back to the 1950s – he couldn’t name a single bear who was even alive that long ago.

Determined to master denim

Frank’s denim (and cultural) tour of Amsterdam was insightful, inspiring, and a bit exhausting, to be honest. But despite his innate urge to start preparing for hibernation, Frank was (and still is) determined to get to know every facet and angle of Amsterdam’s denim scene ahead of the upcoming Kingpins Show next month.

Until then, if you happen to run into this fashion-obsessed bear wandering through Amsterdam, be sure to give him a wave. Or strike up a conversation – he’d love to chat about denim, fashion, and probably also where the nearest stroopwafel place is.