Sophie is a Londoner at heart. She calls herself the Denim Queen, never happier than in denim - dark, light, black or grey. James Dean, Marilyn Monroe, Marlon Brando, Jane Birkin - In her mind denim has always been the ultimate cool. “You can dress it up, dress it down and you always feel comfortable. What else can you say improves with age! Denim just fits into my lifestyle. “ Sophie says.

SophieI first came across E.L.V. Denim in an article about sustainability and fashion. “I was fascinated by their look and concept. I bought a pair of boyfriend jeans to begin with and have been ordering ever since. I have yet to try their made to measure jeans. That might be my next purchase. I obviously love the fact that buying a pair of ELV jeans it is guilt free. Helping to use the resources that we already have rather than creating more waste.

Gemma grew up in the countryside lived in London for almost ten years. She’s a cat person, a homebody and a vegetarian. Likes to relax by doing craft projects but says she doesn't have the attention span for hobbies!

 She is a podcaster, writer and content creator, and designs sunglasses for her brand Gemma Styles Eyewear. Uses her platforms to talk a lot about mental health, sustainability and generally trying to make educating ourselves feel less daunting to allow more people to access learning without the perfectionism.

 “ I try my best to be a good person.”

Gemma first came across the brand on Instagram and became obsessed with the creative upcycling of pairing two jeans colours together. Eventually decided to pop into the studio in East London and ended up falling in love with a completely different pair than she expected to. She says “I really like what ELV are doing in giving new life to old denim and I’m excited to see where the research into recycling technologies goes too.”

Irenie and Olivia are mother and daughter. This is Irenie’s 25th year in London. She grew up in Dublin. Irenie has her own creative studio ‘Irenie Studio Ltd.’ She is a design consultant, interior architect and curator. “The spaces I create are linked together through materials, colours and stories - always a strong narrative.”

“Each space and person is utterly unique and this is what keeps the creative process so exciting.Conversations and friendships are central to my work, I adore every path I have crossed and the great friendship’s I have made.” Irenie says.
Olivia, her daughter, is in her final year of school, hoping to study and work in the creative industry.

Olivia comments on how personal life and work life are always intertwined. She met Anna over 13 years ago as they lived across the road from one another in East London. Irenie would be shooting off on my bike to Universal Design Studio/ Barber Osgerby and Anna always had a fashion shoot or a styling job in the diary and an Addison Lee outside her house! Then Anna started E.L.V. DENIM! Irenie read HTSI. “That amazing photo of Anna on the massive pile of denim. It was time to make an appointment to get over and get fitted and see what this was all about. No surprises, Anna's passion and commitment to her work is integral to her product. The thought, detailing and pure commitment was outstanding. Myself and Olivia were hooked. It took perhaps 10 minutes to find the perfect jean and I have not taken them off.” Irenie often sends E.L.V. photos of her shoes , bike rides and the original hemlines of jeans. “I quite often think, who were the 2 people that inhabited each leg of this pair!! Makes me laugh. Now there’s a story!”

Remy is a Shopping Editor at Who What Wear and optimistic northener living in London. You can find her walking her dog Billie, searching through rails for hidden gems, or frequently changing her hair to suit my mood. As a Shopping Editor her job is to make shopping fun again. "Although im the kind of person who can happily look at clothing for hours on end, I realise most people want to make the process a little more streamlined, so I do the hunting for you to help you find the pieces that will make you feel happier, and more confident every time you wear them. "

Daniel is a Peckham born Londoner, with a passion for advancing underrepresented voices within the fashion world and beyond. Outside of that, he's a wine drinker, trainer wearing, dab hand in the kitchen - "if I do say so myself" - and I can't go a day without listening to music. He is the founder of a diversity, equity and inclusion consultancy called Fashion Minority Report. He says he  "gets to combine a love of fashion whilst helping organisations and individuals to thrive in the space."

Daniel stumbled onto E.L.V. DENIM a few years ago, and really admired the mission behind the business. Since getting to meet Anna, he says he's developed an even greater love and respect for what the team is doing to minimise denim waste. "it's wonderful to see ELV expand into other product categories. I've also been living in my ELV jeans since I got my hands on a pair, and I don't say that about many things!"

Vanessa discovered E.L.V DENIM through our Founder, and followed it from its earliest moments. She’s loved watching it grow and seeing the brilliant change that Anna is bringing to the fashion world.

I love the brand because it is so wearable, I’m always in my jacket – manages to make me to look stylish and individual the whole time and I love that I’ve found my forever denim from somebody else’s has beens!

Jules lives in East London in Dalston with her husband and her 2 kids, Roxy and Cozy. They’ve been in the same spot for 15 years and they love the East side vibe, “it’s hard to leave.”They walk by the canal, swim in the lido, cycle to pubs, and have a world of yoga to choose from. Plus easy access to Central London, Art, Dance and Theatre.

Jules is an Art Director tired Fitness Influencer, I created The VOGA Method as a Stylised Wellbeing Experience Designed to Empower. House of VOGA is Fitness and Fashion fused with Yoga and Dance. It's inspired by Ibiza, House Music, Vogue, and 80s Pop Culture.

Jules bumped into Anna in De Beauvoir Playground with the babies and got chatting Art Directing, Fashion, Ibiza and Styling. She was creating a VOGA Film on Sustainability so styling E.L.V. DENIM for the London Fashion week Pop Up was a no brainer - "Upcycled Stylish fashion at it’s best!I just love my jeans - high waisted, soft and figure hugging. What’s not to love."

Eshita is a global citizen (India, Singapore, US and UK) who is passionate about the sharing economy and building communities. She is the Founder and CEO of By Rotation, the world's leading social fashion rental app. They enable people to lend, rent and sell quality fashion with each other, and thus transform fashion consumption for good.

Eshita discovered E.L.V. DENIM via her dear friend Ravinder Bhogal (Founder of Jikoni) who introduced her to our Founder, Anna Foster. She loves E.L.V. DENIM's approach to circular fashion via upcycling.

"I don't believe as a society we will stop ever completely buying things, so I love that E.L.V. DENIM gives you the excitement of wearing a "new" piece, whereas the product has actually been created out of discarded "old" denim. Genius!"

Elena is the Global Head of Online Sales at Davidz Wirner, where she oversees programming and strategy for the gallery and plans over 40 online exhibitions a year. Elena has over a decade of experience in the art and technology space and previously was the Lead Curator at Artsy. She is also the cofounder of Ebassy Bxl art collection in Brussels.

"I was lucky to be introduced to E.L.V. denim by a friend based in London. There was an instant draw to the handmade process and deep care and rigor in materiality of each. It is not only a more sustainable model, but offers an opportunity for unique self-expression." 

Aja is an author, a writer, a contributing editor, an Aunt, a cat Mum, a partner, a friend and an advocate for a slower more intentional fashion landscape where small brands feel supported and big brands stop having so much power. She is also an American in London, "just what everybody needs" she says laughing.

Aja is the author of Consumed: The Need For Collective Change: Colonialism, Climate Change & Consumerism. On Instagram and Twitter, she regularly educates people about sustainability and avoiding greenwashing from some of the industry's biggest culprits. She also love styling people and helping folks choose clothing they're going to love for many years. She consult for small sustainable and ethical businesses for sliding scale fees as well. She confesses "It's all really fulfilling. My Dad told me a while back that he was proud of me".

"The sustainability world is pretty small so I'm not quite sure when I first heard about E.L.V. but what I love about E.L.V. and so many other smaller brands is how agile you are and how willing you are to try new things, expand your size range and make me a pair of plus size denim. "  Aja loves how small brands are leading the way in upcycling and doing things differently. She thinks they have a way of doing things that the world needs now more than ever and hopefully the world will take note.

"It's not too late to fix this broken system but everyone needs to understand why it's important for brands like E.L.V. and others to exist and prosper."

Tim is the CEO and Director of the Design Museum. He has long felt that he is too old to wear jeans but persists and has now discovered a brand that is sustainable, original and sympathetic to an ageing physique - "although ELV look so much better on the younger" he says.

"I discovered E.L.V. DENIM by word or mouth and through its growing reputation across emerging design and sustainable fashion. I love that the jeans are vintage and have had previous owners and have amalgamated histories but feel fresh and new and have (important) futures too."

Anna Foster is Founder and Creative Director of sustainable denim brand E.L.V. DENIM and a renowned fashion stylist. Growing up in Woodford Green, Anna always had an interest in fashion, and begun styling assisting in her early twenties. Taking everything she has learnt across her styling career, plus the common sense of everyday sustainability, Anna begun developing E.L.V. DENIM. Always loving the functional fabric that denim is, Anna didn’t want to create something from new fabric, she wanted to repurpose vintage denim into new modern, sophisticated styles.

“Having affirmation that other people love what you do, is always going to be the biggest reward.  Our community wants to be part of the change with us, and we want to thank you for creating this chain reaction and spreading the word. The #ArtofUpcycling is a celebration of the journey that starts with unwanted material and ends with pieces that can be loved and worn forever.  “