Welsh apparel brand Antur Supply Co. launch a Kickstarter crowd fund-raising campaign to manufacture their groundbreaking performance denim jeans. Designed in Wales, the reimagined classic denim jeans were developed as a reaction to poor quality fast-fashion jeans. 30% stronger than traditional jeans, with four times more stretch the Antur jeans are made with a custom blend of Cotton, Coolmax and Lycra for improved comfort and durability.
Before founding Antur Supply Co in 2018, 29-year-old entrepreneur, Osian Gwynedd travelled around Asia and lived in Canada. Wherever in the world he was, he found himself frustrated with the constant wear and tears in his usual jeans. Realising tough, good looking jeans were desperately needed, he started researching more durable materials and better designs himself. The Antur Performance Jeans were developed over 18 months with countless prototypes until finally perfected. The inclusion of a unique gusset panel promises to prevent any more crotch tears, and deeper front pockets and secure back pockets offer pragmatism and security. But the main breakthrough came with the unique denim composition made with Lycra for stretch, Coolmax for temperature regulation and cotton, for comfort. Along with the composition every design detail was reconsidered, from seam stitches reinforced with tougher, abrasive resistant threads, to reinforced belt loops.
Perhaps most unique to Gwynedd’s journey was the public’s engagement through the design and testing process. Antur Supply co. is the first denim brand in the world to have developed a new product with feedback from the Tik-Tok community. Charting the whole prototype journey on the social media platform, Gwynedd was able to build a massive audience and hear directly from other people frustrated with poor performance jeans. In particular, the issue of shallow pockets came up, particularly with women. Gwynedd responded by changing the Antur Performance Jeans so they had extra deep pockets and filmed a video demonstrating the difference between Antur and other high street jeans. Amassing 73,000 Tik-Tok followers and receiving over 237,000 likes for the video about pocket sizes, Antur Supply co is capturing a global audience and highlighting the desperate need for more durable and practical denim. Founder Osian Gwynedd said:
“Documenting the whole process on TikTok meant that I could get instant feedback from thousands of people We listened to the community and even introduced some features based on their demand. The evolution of our jeans from the first prototype to the final product was truly unbelievable and I couldn’t be happier on how they turned out. We’ll continue to listen to our community and let their feedback shape our future designs”.
While aware of the need for better jeans, Gwynedd was also acutely aware of the need to minimise the brand’s environmental impact. Estimates suggest it takes 2000 gallons of water to produce a single pair of jeans with the wider fashion industry accounting for about 10% of global carbon emissions. By producing jeans responsibly that last longer, Antur Supply co. could remove the need for wearers to buy new jeans every six months. To double down on their environmental commitment Antur used eco-friendly metalware and trims made without electroplating, sustainable jacron; a vegan-friendly leather alternative for the branded back patch and an organic spray used in place of the industry standard and environmentally harmful potassium permanganate spray. Combined, these measures mean Antur Performance Jeans are made with no harmful chemicals, less electricity and less water than standard jeans.
Antur Supply Co launch the crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter on the 17th of August. The company are looking for enough funding to scale up the production and marketing for the new jeans to help connect with a wider global audience, raising awareness of the alternative to poorly made fast-fashion jeans and liberating millions of women from the curse of shallow front pockets.
