Sarah Tremain: Back to Shop

Emerging Panel Denim

Jeans are a timeless wardrobe essential, and our Emerging Panel Denim offers a fresh and artistic take on this classic staple. Each pair is upcycled from thrifted jeans, featuring side panels crafted from denim printed with Tremain Smith's What Is Emerging? painting.

Just so you know, since these are upcycled garments, the base denim color may vary slightly from the original photo but will remain true to the unique and artistic design.

Product Story

The Emerging Panel Denim is our signature take on upcycled fashion: classic jeans elevated with panels of digitally printed denim featuring Tremain Smith’s painting What Is Emerging? Each pair is sourced from quality secondhand denim and reworked in our studio, giving new life to garments while keeping textile waste out of landfills. Because every pair starts from a different base jean, the exact wash and shade may vary slightly from the photo — a reminder that no two stories, and no two pairs, are ever the same.

Why It Costs What it Does

We believe fashion should be transparent. The price of each pair is calculated using the Sarah Tremain formula: raw materials plus direct labor at forty-five dollars an hour, plus thirty-five percent for studio and administrative overhead, then multiplied by two to three to reach a fair retail price. This ensures we can pay living wages, cover the unseen costs of running a sustainable studio, and keep our business rooted in care rather than exploitation.

What Your Purchase Supports

Every order helps sustain our West Philly studio, supports ethical upcycling, and funds community programming like Mend It Yourself workshops and Emotions in Color events. When you purchase a pair of Emerging Panel Denim, you are investing in slow fashion that values both creativity and community.

Details

Each pair of Emerging Panel Denim is one-of-a-kind, made from thrifted or community-donated jeans and transformed with digitally printed panels featuring Tremain Smith’s painting What Is Emerging?. Because we work with existing denim, the base color and wash will vary slightly, giving each pair its own character. Every garment is reworked and reinforced in our West Philly studio for long-lasting wear. Fits are true to size, available in both straight-leg and flared silhouettes. Care is simple: machine wash cold and hang dry to preserve both denim and print.

Size Guide

Here at Sarah Tremain, I try to make sure our clothing is size inclusive because everyone deserves to have clothing that fits them properly and comfortably.