Manoeuvres In The Dark

Noko Jeans @ Gallery

Last week, for the first time in the brands two-year history, Noko Jeans moved beyond their virtual quarters and took to the road to exhibit at Gallery in Copenhagen. We got to meet the founders, who shared some of their incredible experiences with us.

The Noko story began in 2008 when after months of setbacks, a small group of Swedes gained rights to visit North Korea, arguably one of the most isolated countries in the world. What started as a desire to still their curiosity about the culture, resulted in the first 1100 pairs of Jeans being produced in the country…

For a while it seemed the story would end long before it began. Jeans have in the past (and are perhaps still in the present day) synonymous with rebellion and progression – Sid Vicious wrote he wanted to be buried in his Jeans and motorcycle boots. In North Korea, they carry a specific stigma, as blue jeans in particular are associated with the decadent, consumerist image of the west. When the country’s biggest textile producer turned down Noko’s proposal they found unlikely partners in a mining company, with a small production of work wear… and so the first 1100 pairs of Noko jeans saw the light of day.

Social media is quickly becoming a necessary part of the day-to-day business of many fashion brands, but in the case of Noko Jeans, it’s an imperative. Entirely new to the fashion industry, the young brand took to using the marketing paths they knew best – Facebook and Twitter. In a little over two years, the denim brand has succeeded in establishing a thriving web shop and a loyal troop of followers for their jeans produced in a country with a total of only three Internet hosts.

The Noko team were consistently made aware that it is never easy to do business in North Korea, considering the country’s political climate. This resulted in them being booted from their first retail venue in the Stockholm department store PUB. Shortly after, the brand’s founders introduced a short-lived Noko Jeans museum, a tribute, not only to the brand, but also denim culture as a whole.

But despite all the controversies they’ve met thus far, something entirely different lies at the core of their idea. The brand marries the key aesthetics of the increasingly revered Swedish denim tradition with glimpses of their mournfully beautiful journey to North Korea, where they say the absence of electricity in Pyongyang inspired the first collection.

With a myriad of cultural impressions woven into the unpretentious design of the pitch black, unwashed denim, each of the first 1100 limited edition pairs come with a numbered, hidden amulet sewn into the fabric, allowing their first customers to join their Noko online community.

So in the end perhaps the physical is the curse whilst the virtual a blessing. The brand now has a solid presence on the Internet where they feel they can maintain a no-nonsense approach to the fashion industry with direct channels of communication with those who matter most – their customers.

Manoeuvres In The Dark is just the first chapter in the Noko story, keep a close eye out as the tale unfolds.

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