Political and Sustainable Denim

By Christian Hopley

During the time of sharecropping, Black people wore denim overalls while working, which led to most of America relating denim with low-class black people, and referring to denim overalls as “negro clothing”. Why would plantation owners choose to outfit sharecroppers in denim? Denim is a very sturdy material that can withstand rugged activities, first. Secondly, making denim the uniform of the sharecroppers, white plantation owners cemented the division between themselves and the black sharecroppers. This was the first example of mass garment production in the United States: enslaved people started manufacturing denim because they needed multiples of their uniform.

This is where we get the original model of “respectable” dress - a nod to the concept of perception. Later notable civil rights organizations, such as the NAACP and the SCLC, adapted it in the 1960s to promote the sense of dressing for dignity. They believed that if they marched wearing the “respectable” Sunday’s best clothing, usually worn by “respectable” white people, they could prove that Black people were just as respectable. However, this in time imploded upon itself as the choice of dress was unsustainable as it wasn't conducive to the multi-mile long marches they were doing. The three-piece suits and skirts, heels, wingtip shoes, and freshly pressed hair couldn't withstand the brutalization they faced from the police and other segregationists. After a day of walking miles in the hot southern sun, being hosed, and even attacked by dogs, the Sunday's best attire would have been soiled, to say the least. 

Stokely Carmichael, the leader of the Student Non-Violence Coordinating Committee and The Black Panther Party, was one of the most notable leaders who adopted denim as a uniform. The fierce push of these organizations for pro-Blackness attracted the masses with their denim overalls and natural hair. When the original leaders wearing their Sunday best would go door to door requesting that they quit their jobs to join the movement, an average person would often ignore them because those “well dressed” activists were intimidating and rather disconnected from the poor Black people communities and did not represent most of the Black population. More Black laborers joined the movement when they saw themselves represented, especially by the leaders. When they started wearing denim jeans and overalls and wearing their natural hair instead of a fresh perm, more people saw validity in the civil rights movement; it actually got them excited about the possibility of change. 

Wearing denim not only made the civil rights movement more accessible for and inclusive of lower class Black people – it also allowed the women of the movement to dismantle sexism within the movement itself. Black women weren't given the same stage time as the men of the movement so they started wearing the same denim jeans to prove that they too were powerful forces deserving of respect. In addition to this, by swapping out their skirt suits for denim jeans, Black women were able to counteract the rampant over-sexualization and assault they were faced with both in the movement and outside of the movement.

According to historian Caroline A. Jones, denim became a popular American staple across social classes after Dr. King's March on Washington. Gone were the days when only poor Black people wore denim for utilitarian purposes, the fabric was now a symbol of unity. Starting in the 1990s transcending all the way into current fashion trends, denim is being used and repurposed in more conscious ways than ever. Custom Collaborative started working with denim in 2019 when we received fabric donations. As a part of the incubator program they started teaching the makers how to work and construct innovative pieces with denim. One of the highest selling items on the Custom Collaborative website was a denim wrap skirt. This year our 9th Cohort created pieces with denim donated by Uniqlo.

Christian Hopley is a communications intern at Custom Collaborative based in Atlanta.