How Denim Tears Became one of Hip-hop's Favorite New Brands
Song of The Week: Dave & Jack Harlow - Stop Giving me Advice
This is a really dope song off of the Lyrical Lemonade album that just dropped. Dave tweaked on his verse, and it’s been getting a lot of play from me lately. Overall, it’s a good vibe for Friday.
Run it up, and let’s get to today’s post…
At some point in the past year, you’ve likely seen your favorite rapper or pop star wearing a pair of jeans or a hoodie that has a circular white pattern.
At first glance, this pattern is often mistaken for clouds — it’s not, and that’ll get cleared that up in a sec. However, that brand with the interesting “cloud” pattern has become really relevant in pop culture.
If you’ve only seen it, but haven’t heard of the name before, it’s called
Denim Tears.
Denim Tears has taken the world of streetwear by storm, and though it’s only been around for a few years, the momentum it’s gaining has hypebeasts and regular folks alike excited.
The brand itself was created by Tremaine Emory — a heavyweight in the streetwear space, and in 2024, Denim Tears shows no signs of slowing down.
With that said, y’all know the vibes.
Let’s dig into the Denim Tears brand and all of the ways it’s been in showing up in culture.
And, of course, all roads start with the one and only…
Tremaine Emory
Tremaine was born in Atlanta, Ga, although his family would later move to Queens, New York, where he was raised.
He cut his teeth in the fashion world by working retail and eventually moved to the U.K. After receiving an offer to manage a Marc Jacobs out in London.
Eventually he left, having attracted the attention of Kanye West and becoming his creative director in 2016.
After his stint with Ye ended in 2018, Tremaine went on to become the brand director for the streetwear brand Stüssy, and even found time to open his own storefront with his friend Acyde called No Vacancy Inn.
With time, he became so acclaimed in the fashion world that Supreme caught wind of him.
Supreme would eventually recruit Tremaine into the fold by making him their first creative director ever. Although he achieved some success with Supreme, he eventually tendered his resignation in 2023 after creative differences with its founder.
But in the midst of all of this something profound happened.
The Founding of Denim Tears
“Denim is made from cotton. America is made from cotton. The black experience started with picking cotton. So, denim tears. Metaphorically if you look at a pair of jeans or any garment that’s cotton, it traces all the way back to that.” - Tremaine Emory, The Face Magazine
Between leaving Stüssy & before going to Supreme, Emory felt it was time to start his own streetwear brand, and in September of 2019, he created Denim Tears.
The brand itself is infused with a ton of meaning.
It was founded in 2019 because that year marked the 400th anniversary of slavery, and its designs are inspired by the African diaspora.
It all started with the logo…
Going back to the beginning of this post, a lot of people who wear Denim Tears think they’re wearing a cloud pattern on their pants, but the inspiration behind the logo is far from that.
While looking at artist Kara Walker’s instagram a few years back, Tremaine saw her post a picture with the caption “Merry Christmas.”
What was in the picture, you ask?
It was a Cotton Wreath — the very thing Black people were forced to pick. The foundation of what America was built upon.
Emory felt so inspired that he started researching, and eventually created the iconic cotton wreath on his clothing.
That was an intentional decision, a spiritual one at that. And, it’s the central piece in all of his collabs with brands (more on those later).
In just a few short years, Denim Tears has achieved a wild level of success. This is largely because of Hip-hop’s connection to Emory, and to date Denim Tears has created collections with a ton of different brands.
The Denim Collabs
I. Levi
The Denim Tears x Levi collection is perhaps Emory’s longest running partnership. and has been around since the pandemic.
The first collection dropped in 2020, and featured many of the iconic Levi pieces like the 501’s and jean jackets with the Denim Tears wreath printed all over them.
To promote the collection, Levi did pop up shops, and even created a documentary where Tremaine went to vis his family in South Georgia.
While there, Tremaine talks with his father and grandmother. At one point she recounts having to pick Cotton in her youth, and you can see the pride Tremaine has in showing her the work he’s able to do now as one of the most prolific people fashion.
The most recent Levi Tears collection dropped in Q4 of 2023, and included clothes paying homage to Black bikers.
“In Black biker culture, there is an outsider sense, a danger, a pride, a respect, a commitment to freedom, and a defiance against conforming to a polite doctrine.” - Tremaine Emory, Levi
Late last year, Denim Tears opened their flagship store in Soho, and in anticipation of its opening they launched their Biker themed Levi collection at the same time.
II. Converse
The Denim Tears x Converse collection dropped in October 2021, and allowed Tremaine to put his own spin on the iconic silhouettes offered by Converse including the OG Chuck 70s Hi top and Low top sneakers.
Although they don’t feature his trademark Cotton Wreath, they are in a red black and green color way reflecting Tremaine’s original intent behind starting Denim Tears and keeping his work rooted in Black culture & history.
He even took things a step further by partnering with organizations that help Black voters get to the polls. All of the proceeds from this collection went to this organization and Converse also donated a portion of their proceeds to the the cause.
III. Offset
In 2023, as part of Offset’s solo album rollout, he also debuted his own Denim Tears collection entitled “Offset Tears.”
Fans first saw the collection via the rapper himself — it featured jeans, and orange-ish Cotton Wreaths.
Offset eventually he began giving away pieces (going viral for giving the Colorado Buffaloes collection pieces after a huge win that season).
WHAT NOW?
Just this January, Denim Tears announced their most recent collection Denim University.
In their words, it has a more preppy nonchalance to it and featured everything from Hoodies to hats.
Given its popularity at the end of the 202, I wouldn’t be surprised if more brands step up to collab with Tremaine/Denim and that this year proves to be another breakthrough year for them culturally.
I don’t know about you, but with Spring on the way I could fasho use some new clothes. Think I might add some Denim Tears to my closet — you should do the same.
One.
Dope!