Detroit Denim brings sustainable clothing to Midtown

Founder Brenna Lane discusses the company’s new collaboration, their Grand Opening and practicing sustainability in both production and consumption.

Brenna Lane sews a pair of Detroit Denim jeans

Detroit Denim co-founder Brenna Lane sews a pair of jeans.

Like many small businesses, Detroit Denim had to make a massive pivot at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. After a decade of having a storefront, they had to enter the world of online sales.

Now, they’re reemerging into a very different climate with a new collaboration with Detroit artist Mike Han. To learn more, we spoke with Han and Detroit Denim founder Brenna Lane about the collaboration, sustainability in Detroit’s retail and design scenes and the how they aim to change the clothing industry as a whole.

“We love making clothes. We also hate the industry. It’s hugely wasteful and pollutant and there’s all these bad things about it. And we deeply believe that it’s possible to change the way things are and we thought, ‘We’re gonna keep trying, we’re going to go for broke here.’” — Brenna Lane, Detroit Denim co-founder

Mike Han hand-paints a black denim bag with black leather paint in a workshop
Artist Mike Han hand-paints a limited-edition bag for his collaboration with Detroit Denim.

Detroit Denim will hold a Grand Opening for their new Midtown storefront with a denim ribbon cutting on Small Business Saturday, Nov. 26, from noon to 7 p.m. Guests can RSVP online.

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Author

  • Ryan Patrick Hooper
    Ryan Patrick Hooper is the award-winning host of "In the Groove" on 101.9 WDET-FM Detroit’s NPR station. Hooper has covered stories for the New York Times, NPR, Detroit Free Press, Hour Detroit, SPIN and Paste magazine.