Mud Jeans

MUD Jeans attaches great importance to safe working conditions, fair wages, equality and transparency, only working with manufacturers and suppliers who reflect these values.

The company reinforces this code of conduct by having an audit/​control of all partners carried out by an external organisation. Several manufacturers are based in Spain and are subject to EU labour laws and regulations. All the manufacturers MUD Jeans works with are certified by several organisations that check social conditions and environmental requirements. Some certifying organisations that have audited MUD Jeans are BSCI (Business Social Compliance Initiative), GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) and the Social Labour Convergence Programme.

MUD Jeans is also certified by B‑corp. This non-profit organisation certifies for-profit companies based on their social and environmental performance, public transparency and accountability. In their assessment, the company must achieve a minimum score of 80 to call itself a B‑corp. The evaluation gets stricter yearly, encouraging companies to keep improving. In 2020, MUD Jeans achieved a score of 124.

MUD Jeans is also committed to a more inclusive society. They are actively working on making their brand more inclusive and are focusing on positive activism. They also want to promote inclusiveness in their online and offline communication.

The sewing of the garments is carried out by a manufacturer in Tunisia, employing around 550 people. In addition, they are running a programme offering free education to young employees (between 16 and 20 years of age).

Around 477 litres of water are needed to produce a pair of MUD jeans compared to the 7,000 litres required for a conventional pair. The residual water is even cleaner following processing, thanks to innovative water purification techniques. The brand uses 93% less water and emits 74% less CO2 than the industry standard. One pair of MUD jeans generates only 6kg of CO2 instead of 23kg.

40% of MUD Jeans’ cotton currently comes from recycled jeans. The brand aims to use 100% recycled cotton eventually. MUD Jeans use only recycled and organic cotton, sometimes combined with a tiny percentage of elastane for stretch. They also have a collection of white jeans made of 48% recycled bed linen, supplemented with organic cotton and elastane. A unique recycling story!

The buttons and zips are made of stainless steel and can be recycled entirely if the trousers are discarded. MUD Jeans have replaced the labels with washing instructions and material compositions with printed information on the trousers and inside the pocket. The result? Their jeans comprise one material that can therefore be easily processed for recycling.

MUD Jeans is the first jeans brand in the world to have the environmental impact of its entire product portfolio calculated through a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) conducted by Ecochain. The impact on biodiversity is calculated through the effect on soil, seawater and freshwater damage.

MUD Jeans has closed the circle completely. Each pair of jeans is recycled after use to prevent these raw materials from ending up in a landfill.

In 2013, MUD Jeans introduced a ​‘lease a jeans’ model. This allowed circular principles to be put into practice. In this model, you pay a small monthly amount (and a membership fee). In return, you can wear and wash the jeans as much as you like. AND… you can send them in for free repair if necessary, so you can continue to enjoy them even longer.

After a year, you can choose whether you want to keep the jeans or send them back for exchange for another size, wash or model. This is the best way for MUD Jeans to ensure that the jeans are returned after use and can be recycled again. And this allows MUD Jeans to retain control over their raw materials. So you can be sure that your item made from recycled material is still of the best quality.

MUD Jeans aims to design the first jeans made of 100% post-consumer recycled cotton. That is something that COSH! appreciates.

The supply chain of MUD Jeans is relatively short. The cotton comes from Turkey; the fabrics are woven in Spain; the products are sewn and finished in Tunisia and then transported to the Netherlands for sale. Old jeans are also collected in the Netherlands and processed into new fabrics in Spain. The stitching thread and buttons come from Italy.

MUD Jeans does not use any animal-derived materials in its products. The brand is completely vegan and is even certified by PETA. (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) MUD Jeans ensures that all denim is free of animal testing and that no animals are harmed during production. Therefore all leather patches on the jeans are replaced by FCS-certified paper.

MUD Jeans promotes slow fashion with seasonal collections and timeless designs. The company analyses the demand for each style and places production orders accordingly. In this way, every product is always in stock, without overproduction. In this way, the brand wants to avoid overstock, and at the same time, it ensures a good relationship with its manufacturers. The manufacturers are given enough time to make the products with an eye for quality.

MUD Jeans is very transparent about its supply chain. On every product page, you can find where the garment was made. You can also find all the suppliers on the site, even where the cotton was grown.