Theo Wenner captures Calvin Klein Jeans Fall 2019 campaign, styled by Melanie Ward. Models Abby Champion, Aqua Parios, Ben Allen, Iris Law, Lexi Boling and Selena Forrest front the campaign with creative direction by Cedric Murac./ Hair by Holli Smith

As promised, AOC takes a temperature check on denim production sustainability initiatives at Calvin Klein Jeans, a practice that we’re employing regularly for all the major brands that we feature. Fashionista visited Saitex, an innovative, sustainability-focused factory that produces denim for both Calvin Klein Jeans and Tommy Hilfiger — owned by PVH. We don’t know the percentage of Calvin Klein Jeans produced by Saitex, nor whether the sustainable jeans currently being promoted by Calvin are a significant portion of their total inventory. We do know that PVH takes the topic of sustainability very seriously, having opened a denim sustainability lab. (See article end of this one.)

Located in Vietnam, Saitex is “the denim partner of choice for a host of ethical labels including Everlane, Eileen Fisher and G-Star Raw. Saitex also produces for American Eagle, Gap, J Crew, Madewell, Ralph Lauren, Outerknown and more.

Saitex founder Sanjeev Bahl is actually featured on the Madewell website, as part of their transparency initiative.

Since its founding in 2012, Saitex has grown to five facilities employing 4,500 people producing 20,000 pairs of jeans a day, writes Fashionista, who does a great job of breaking down key certifications that matter if a brand is promoting its sustainability practices.

Next step for this impressive entrepreneurial operation is a mill to produce their own fabrications in 2020. Being built to LEED specifications, the new plant will be "fully covered in solar panels" that will be used to power the machinery. 6,000 trees are being planted in the adjacent lot to offset the plant's carbon emissions. Saitex will be working directly with brands to develop core fabrications that help distinguish their competitive brand DNA in an effort to minimize outside finishing processes that are generally harmful to the environment.

In an almost unheard of strategy for a large factory, Saitex will have no minimums in its new fabric mill, hoping to work with and support young creatives often shut out of the product development benefits afforded to large buyers if they want to leverage them.

Fashionista did us all a great service with this article, even sharing that owner Bahl has invested in Fibertrace, “a technology that creates fabric that can be scanned — no hangtag required — to reveal information about who farmed the cotton or sewed the piece. Though it was initially developed as a way to fight luxury counterfeiting, Bahl is excited about the prospect of using Fibertrace in collaboration with a carbon-positive farm in Australia to make information about supply chains fully traceable and available to curious customers.”

Take five and read on at Fashionista about the Saitex operation.

Back to this sexy ad campaign — created in the great tradition of Calvin Klein Jeans. It appears the brand has linked up with a world-class denim jeans manufacturer in the case of Saitex. There is no doubt that the very definition of ‘sexy’ has a sensual awareness of environment and activism built into the young buyer’s mindset — and their sustainability-focused elders — going forward.

“You want to date me? Whose jeans are you wearing?” Answer truthfully while s(he) grabs phone, opens sustainability jeans brands app . . . and you wait patiently while your near-term fate is sealed. H&M has an app right now that traces the credentials of every item in the store. As I wrote two months ago, you have been forewarned — even in Trumplandia.