Maria Erixon Levin (Nudie): The ethical rebel doing it her way

Maria launched Nudie Jeans not to reach for the stars – unlike many business founders – but on the contrary: to work less and start a family. She told Tenue de Nimes she didn’t want to spend her time commuting in a busy city. She wanted an office in a walkable and cyclable city centre. “We wanted to be independent and come back to Sweden and have children.”

Long before ‘circular’ was the buzzword it is today, Maria was living it. Her philosophy is simple: jeans should be worn, repaired and cherished for life. Under her leadership, Nudie Jeans introduced a free life-time repair program in 2007, a first in the fashion industry. Customers can return their jeans to Nudie stores for repairs until they fall apart.

Does this sound too good to be true? It isn’t. This writer’s boyfriend is a Nudie lover (not to be confused with nude lover). Some of his jeans have become patchworks of fixed up phone fades, bike crashes and run-to-catch-the-train-rub-holes. Once he brought in a pair of jeans that was beyond repair. Instead of turning him away, the store staff asked if they could use the intact parts as patching material.  

Nudie’s repair program is not just about fixing denim, it’s also about fixing our relationship with clothing, our relationship with our material culture. Maria believes every tear and patch tells a story, adding character and meaning to our garments. A pair of jeans that doesn’t look like new doesn’t necessarily mean it needs replacing, if you see it as a collection of stories. If your pair of jeans could be your autobiography, why cut the story short by replacing it?

Also, if you look at Nudie’s collection, you see many timeless pieces. Nudie clearly chooses longevity over trends. Your pair of jeans will still be cool in five years. And their unisex styles mean you can easily “borrow” (or steal) a pair from your partner or housemate. Pro tip: claim they look better on you and never give them back.

While ‘sustainable’ brands pop-up like mushrooms in a musty autumn forest, many are more marketing than substance. Nudie Jeans stands out because they don’t just talk the talk, they sew the seams. Nudie is one of the more authentically sustainable brands, doing good out of intrinsic motivation.

With their repair program, they choose profit over planet, as every repair means one less customer buying a new pair of jeans. Also, all their cotton is organic and they prioritise ethical labour practices.

Nudie Jeans was also among the first brands championing full supply chain transparency, alongside Patagonia. From sourcing organic cotton to ensuring just labour practices, the brand’s operations are an open book. This radical transparency has set a new standard in the fashion industry, proving that ethical production is possible.

Their consumer education is equally impactful. Every purchase comes with a booklet explaining how to care for your jeans. Customers are told they needn’t wash their rigid jeans for the first six months, an instruction that sounded bizarre a decade ago, but is now a badge of honor among denim enthusiasts.

Maria has always fiercely pushed for ethical standards. “It’s about having it at the starting point”, she told Tenue de Nimes. When creating Nudie Jeans, she chose quality over cheap production, opting to manufacture in Europe despite higher costs. “It’s before you start the brand that you have to make these decisions, because if you decide your price and take it to the market, then you are locked into that price segment. It’s hard to change production after you’ve started.”

Her independence didn’t stop there. Dismayed by the influence of shareholders at companies she previously worked for, Maria consciously kept Nudie free from the external interference that would steer the brand in the wrong direction.

This, along with the principles to enjoy doing what they were doing, and to have a good balance in life, has guided Nudie Jeans from the start.

Professionally, Maria shows us that pioneering pays off, and sustainability and profitability aren’t mutually exclusive. She proves that businesses with purpose can thrive, and that individual action can drive systemic change: Maria has inspired countless designers and businesses to rethink their approach, challenging them to value quality over quantity, repair over replacement, and longevity over fast fashion.

But also on a personal level, Maria inspires us to choose quality and to repair our things. Maria says it’s time for individuals to take more responsibility for their consumption habits: “The consumer shouldn’t buy so much shit. It doesn’t make you happy to buy more things every weekend”, she said bluntly – a refreshing dose of real talk in a world of fast fashion.

To conclude, Maria Erixon Levin teaches us to change our relationship with clothing. Jeans are not trendy fashion items that need replacement every season but they are items that should travel through life with you.

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