A Few Highlights Of 2023
We’re almost closing the year 2023. Time to look back with a short recap with a few highlights of this exciting year. It was a year where I was pleased again to work for the finest denim brands, events, mills and retailers around the globe. Travelled to many denim (trade) shows to meet old friends and make new ones. Another year to share denim innovations, new collections, inspiring people, outstanding denim initiatives, exciting events, must have books and magazines and many more denim related via this online Long John denim magazine.
There’re way too many to cover in a short recap from 2023, but here are some vibrating highlights to close the year, and to welcome 2024 with good denim vibes only!
Freelance (Denim) Projects
Next to running this online Long John denim magazine, I’m also working as a freelance denim specialist for brands, retail, mills, and events. I worked this year on many projects, mostly focussed on creating unique content (offline and online), branding projects, developing, connecting, and overall marketing support.
- Butts and Shoulders
With the Butts and Shoulders brand, we made some new developments, and we launched a new Combat pair of boots and a matching Combat Worker bag. Both are made with natural vegetable tanned leather in combination of sturdy olive-colored canvas. Both are proudly made in sunny Portugal and available in the webshop section here.
- Blue Blanket
Together with the Italian Blue Blanket by Antonio di Battista we created a limited-edition denim jacket. A denim jacket that is inspired by an 1960s archival piece from my personal archive. It’s made with a lefthand denim fabric and feature original chain stitches on the front and the back. Available in the webshop section here.
- Denim Days
This year we organized two editions of the Denim Days – The Market Edition in April and October. With these events we focussed on the popular market section of the Denim Days. A two-day event that was held in Amsterdam at the De Hallen. People from all over the world came to join the event to celebrate the magic of denim. In 2024, there is coming a follow-up, so stay tuned!
Watch the October recap video of the last Denim Days – The Market Edition here below;
- Calik Denim
I created many inspirational articles for the Turkish denim mill Calik Denim. These inspirational articles are published on their website to inspire their fanbase and clients. All the articles are made with a denim link, always to share the good denim initiatives, history and stories. You can read these articles on Calik Denim’s site here.
76+K Followers On Instagram
Another milestone this year is that I reached 76+K followers on Instagram. Instagram is still the strongest social channel today to inspire, connect, and share content. Most of the content is about denim, but also related content that shows the denim lifestyle in general. If you don’t follow me on Instagram yet, check it out here.
New Vintage Treasures
As a denim collector, I’m always on the hunt to expand my private collection. I use these items to create unique content for this online magazine, but I use them also in my denim workshops to inspire staff of retail, brands, and mills. These items are sharing the history of denim, details that can be used as inspiration for new collections, or angles to use for store staff as it’s more important than ever that you know what you’re selling, so you need the (history) story, and sometimes also references and background stories design-wise. Here are just a few examples of a Lois, Wrangler and Levi’s jeans.
Created Around 300 Articles On Long John
With daily updates, I share the latest news about denim and high-quality made products on my online denim magazine Long John. You can explore the latest (denim) trends, meet (denim) people, find the most outstanding pieces and stores, and see what’s happening in the industry in general.
This year I created around 300 articles on Long John to highlight the coolest brands, retailers, mills, events, and (denim) people.
Joined Several Webinars And Workshops
This year I gave again a lot of workshops and seminars (on- and offline), to educate and inspire people more about denim. Sometimes these workshops highlight the history of denim, while others are focussed on innovations and technologies within the denim industry. I always feel fortunate to share my denim passion with like-minded people all over the world to give them new insights and to boost their denim engine.
Picture by Markus Hefter.
Many Interview Publications
I was pleased to be interviewed by so many magazines this year that highlighted my work with my online denim magazine Long John, and my freelance denim projects. There’re too many to point out, but some of them are Inside Denim, J’N’C magazine, Rivet, Algemeen Dagblad, WeAr Magazine, and Manify.
What’s Next In 2024?
A fresh year with a lot of new challenges ahead! In the new year, I’m looking forward to keeping ongoing creating unique content for Long John to spread the latest updates within the denim industry.
Next to that, I can’t wait to show you the new projects that I’m working on right now as a freelance denim specialist.
Thanks for all your support in 2023, and I’m really looking forward to 2024!!
If you or your company need an extra (denim) boost or freelance support to achieve your new goals, just let me know: wouter@long-john.nl
All the best for everyone in 2024. Stay blue and stay denim!
