Our Tenue de Nîmes mantra - The Good Things in Life - is about beautiful stuff, curated from various parts of the globe. We cherish specialists who dare to operate in a niche, making the impossible possible. With our 10-year anniversary this year, we look back to where it all started with. In 2008 - in the picturesque Jordan district in Amsterdam - we opened the doors of our first brick and mortar store. The Elandsgracht store soon became a hub for denim enthusiasts, sharing their common love for the beautiful blue. You can categorize jeans in many ways: fit, colour, treatment and many more. Let us focus on the latter for now. Because for this category, it sometimes feels like we have two movements: the ones who want their denim raw and sturdy on one side, and the ‘washed denim evangelists’ on the other side. Whereas raw denim is supposed to be worn in, creating a personal blueprint, washed denim has undergone a treatment by factory men in order to create that look just from the start of your purchase.

The state of Kentucky in the U.S.A. is home to one of the most specialized factories for distressing jeans. Although almost ten years old, the factory and its workers have been captured by photographer David Friedman. As you can see in the pictures, enormous piles of jeans are undergoing a treatment in this laboratory. Every worker has his own specialty. If you want to witness the result of this process, please check out the RRL Low Straight Lansford, as this pair of jeans perfectly displays the insane amount of love and detail this factory puts in washed jeans. Executed so well, we consider it as art.