"Filled with themes and variations that will help create $130 billion sales by 2021, the blue jean is an American original with a global appeal. Consumers, around the world, own an average of 5.4 pairs of blue jeans. It would therefore be natural to expect United States to own the highest per capita in blue jeans, given its seasonal temperatures and the fact that it is its birthplace. The truth however, is that denim enjoys the greatest ownership and frequency of wear in warmer and more humid climates. Cambodian consumers own an average of nine pairs of blue jeans, the highest in the survey"

Filled with themes and variations that will help create $130 billion sales by 2021, the blue jean is an American original with a global appeal. Consumers, around the world, own an average of 5.4 pairs of blue jeans. It would therefore be natural to expect United States to own the highest per capita in blue jeans, given its seasonal temperatures and the fact that it is its birthplace. The truth however, is that denim enjoys the greatest ownership and frequency of wear in warmer and more humid climates. Cambodian consumers own an average of nine pairs of blue jeans, the highest in the survey. This is followed by Mexico, with more than seven pairs per person. Germany comes in third for ownership with 6.84 pairs per person. Turkey and Thailand come in fourth and fifth, with an average of 6.10 and 5.12 pairs per person, respectively.

Frequency of wear corresponds to total number owned

The number of days per week global consumers wear their jeans is equal to 60 per cent of the total number of pairs they own, on average. Germany, for example, owns 6.84 pairs of jeans and wears them 3.24 times per week. Notable exceptions to this corollary are Great Britain and Italy. British own 4.66 pairs of jeans and wear them 3.74 days per week; Italians own 5.93 pairs and wear them 4.04 days per week.

Around 35 per cent of the total respondents cite denim as ideal for work, particularly in Mexico (48.5 per cent), Italy (45.5 per cent) and Turkey (41 per cent). For a dinner out, jeans ranked highly among respondents from Germany (52 per cent), Colombia (42.7 per cent) and Thailand (41.3 per cent).

Most Americans (87 per cent) would pay more for a pair of jeans that fit them ‘perfectly.’ While engineering a pair of jeans with a universally perfect fit may prove elusive, comfort emerged in the survey as a key denim purchase driver for 97 per cent of Americans. Since authentic denim is 100 percent or predominantly cotton, there is a comfort component built-in.

Preference for cotton fabric

Cotton is the key to the continuing popularity of the denim category. Perhaps buoyed by a general consumer trend towards authenticity, more than three-quarters of American respondents (76 per cent) cited cotton content as important to their decision to buy a particular pair of jeans. Around 84 per cent of American respondents cited stretch in their denim as a purchase driver, with 63 per cent claiming that they would pay more for a pair of jeans that were made predominantly from cotton, but with some stretch.

Almost 67 per cent of US respondents claimed the inclusion of performance features would influence their decision to buy a pair of jeans. For example, 40 per cent of US respondents said they would pay more for denim that could repel water. This has been achieved already through the STORM Denim™ technology, a textile chemical finish. Forty-eight per cent of US respondents cited moisture wicking as a desirable denim feature that they would be willing to pay more to have. Again, textile finishing chemistries such as the TransDRY™ technology offer this without compromising the authenticity of cotton denim.

Blue jeans seem as popular as ever with global consumers and, interestingly, are very popular in warmer climates such as Colombia and Mexico. While closet space allocations in Asian markets may hamper ownership totals, the enthusiasm for denim is high.