This year, The Van Gogh Museum will be extending its partnership with the Dutch circular fashion expert MUD Jeans to deliver a second wave of jeans inspired by the artist.

It’s part of the museum’s ongoing mission to inspire people with the art and life story of Vincent van Gogh. Not only that, but it’s yet another step in the team’s strive to deliver a licensing portfolio rooted in purpose, with environmental awareness at its heart.

It started with Floral Street a couple of years ago, a company that combines fragrance with sustainability – using natural ingredients and delivering its ranges in 100% compostable, reusable and recycle pulp cartons. Following this, the Museum partnered with Ecoffee Cup and IZY Bottles for two Van Gogh Museum collections of reusable takeaway cups and thermos bottles. In fact, the brand places great importance in aligning itself with partners who are driving the topic of circularity forwards.

“Our collaboration with MUD Jeans has its roots in a quote from a letter sent by Vincent van Gogh to his brother Theo in 1883, in which he states: ‘Hoping for better times mustn’t be a feeling but a doing something in the present.’ It’s a message that both we and MUD Jeans feels is still relevant – if not more so – today, some 140 years later,” says Marijn Veraart, head of global partnership and licensing, Van Gogh Museum Amsterdam.

It seems fitting then that the MUD Jeans x Van Gogh Museum takes inspiration from those letters by Vincent van Gogh, using his handwriting and a number of his works, including Self-Portrait with Grey Felt Hat and Almond Blossom as the basis of the collection.

And if anyone’s doing ‘something in the present’ it’ MUD Jeans who has been busy driving positive change in the denim sector by developing a ‘revolutionary’ new material made from hemp fibre and recycled denim.

“We love the fact that MUD Jeans is the first jeans brand – a in an industry as high polluting as fashion – to be striving for better circularity, “ says Marijn. “MUD Jeans believes in creating a world without waste and applies circularity throughout their production process.”

It all begins in the design phase. For a start, designing for circularity means MUD avoids leather labels, opting for printed ones instead. It then collects worn-out jeans for recycling – both from its own brand as well as from other brands – by sending them to Valencia to be shredded into small pieces, blended with virgin cotton, and woven into new fabric.

This new fabric travels to Tunisia to a jeans factory where the range is created.

“MUD Jeans is ahead of the curve when it comes to Extended Producer Responsibility as it promotes a future way of doing business where brands take responsibility for the afterlife of their products,” explains Marijn. “The team has also launched the first jeans to be made from 100% post-consumer recycled denim. These jeans were developed in collaboration with Saxion University and are only available on lab scale right now, but the process is ready to be scaled up in collaboration with their production partners. So MUD Jeans are a bit of a pioneer.”

A successful capsule collection for the Van Gogh Museum since launch, the partnership has been working on a new Autumn/Winter 2023 collection these past months. The licensed aspect – the handwriting of Vincent van Gogh’s letters have been applied to the garments using a laser technique, a ‘harmless process in which no chemicals are used.’

“Sustainability is such an important topic on our policy agenda,” explains Marijn. “We realise it’s an extensive journey and we need to take it step by step to make a positive impact for the future. It’s why working with eco-friendly licensing partners is of the utmost importance to us.”

So too, are the Museum’s in-house processes, including its building – a big task considering it is housing the world’s largest collection of Van Gogh’s artwork.

“To preserve this heritage for future generations, we must take good care of it,” says Marijn. “We already hold a ‘BREEAM-NL In-Use’ Sustainability Certificate and have been rated ‘Very Good’ for our building administration and use.

“Meanwhile, DHL Express is responsible for shipping all orders placed in the Van Gogh Museum Shop. In doing so, the express carrier offsets CO2 emissions through its GoGreen Climate Neutral Programme. Through this, the Museum receives an annual DHL Go Green Climate neutral certificate which provides insight into the emissions from the transportation of the shipments, and how these emissions are offset in climate protection projects.

“But the overall strategy and policy for sustainability – with a focus on the daily operation of the museum and our offices, is a continuous piece of work, as is looking into our external partnerships.”

What this all looks like for the Museum’s licensing endeavours is simply more of the same. Selecting the partners that will represent the story of Vincent van Gogh authentically while demonstrating a purpose and commitment to sustainable development.

“We aim to motivate and help our licensing partners amend their production standards which include choice of materials, origin of production, but also from an ethical point of view,” says Marijn. “These standards have to be realistic and set for over a period of time.

“We realise that the entire commercial chain has to cooperate in order to make real impact, and we believe that if everyone contributes, from licensor to licensee, from supplier to retailer and of course the end consumer, we can really make a change.”

For the Van Gogh Museum that begins with one coffee cup and a pair of jeans. But the greater social impact is potentially limitless.