Each Gem City Apron began as a pair of men’s 100% cotton jeans. We source our denim from A textile recycler on the East Coast. Their sorters hand pick jeans from millions of pounds of clothing THEY RECEIVE EACH YEAR.
The pre-loved jeans are sent to Cincinnati to be manufactured by our partner Sew Valley. During the manufacturing process each pair is carefully cut and sewn to create a durable apron. It takes just one pair of jeans to make our “original gem” apron.
Unusable scraps are then sent to Hand Wash Only creating unique home goods out of upcycled denim.
Any scraps that can not be further upcycled are recycled into home insulation. Remember Clothes are not trash. If you are interested in upcycling our denim scraps let us know.
The beauty of using upcycled jeans is that no two Gem City Aprons are alike and there is some natural wear and tear. We like to call it character!
