Gluejeans Fashion that sticks   

By The Holland Times Friday 05 March 2010, 10:03

At first glance, you can immediately tell these aren't your average pair of jeans. Sure, the cut and colour are reminiscent of the traditional denim staple - they're strong, durable, and classically blue. What stands out isn't the jeans themselves, but the coloured glue that oozes from where one would imagine stitches should be.

These are Gluejeans, the design child of power couple Gerrit Uittenbogaard and Natasja Martens. Their G N Fashionfugitive came up with the fresh, innovative concept for the classic blue jeans in 2008 and they have been quickly gaining popularity.

 "Jeans are something everybody knows. It's a challenge to make a strong pair of jeans, as strong as normal jeans, with another look," says Uittenbogaard.

Indeed, Gluejeans are a wholly original design that took three years to perfect. Each pair is 100 percent handmade without a single stitch. They are held together with red or black ultra strong glue creating a distinctive glue-seam that gives them a character all their own.

"Maybe people use glue to make clothing, but the way we show and use the glue makes it something unique," says Martens. She and Uittenbogaard discovered that using glue created an image that showed off their creative goals both on and off the hanger. "For us, the magic is in the image. With Gluejeans, we made a product that has a strong image."

Designing Fashion

G N isn't known as the traditional fashion house, and Gluejeans shows the couple's commitment to experimenting and trying new things above following conventional techniques.

"We are designers in the field of fashion; it is a playground for us." Uittenbogaard says. It seems that so far, they've been enjoying it. Especially now that Gluejeans has made a name for itself locally and internationally.

In 2008, Gluejeans won the Dutch Design award in the category "accessories and fashion," and received nominations for both a Dutch Fashion Award and the Goulden Kans. While recognition among their peers is indeed a measure of success, it's met with growing public popularity as well. Already, Gluejeans is being talked about in over 100 countries worldwide.

"We are getting a lot of attention," Uittenbogaard says. "When you talk to people they recognize Gluejeans, they appreciate the look and that it's handmade."

Being a part of the Red Light Fashion initiative in Amsterdam means that Gluejeans is going to see even more attention. Their display room, smack in the heart of the most sinful part of town, also serves as a fitting room for anyone interested in getting their hands on their own pair of Gluejeans. They can also be found online at www.gluejeans.com.

BY LAURA OWINGS