DENIM RECORDS
Stories we wear. Things we carry.
A collaborative art and music project transforming reclaimed jeans into living records through songwriting and screen printing.
About Denim Records
Every pair of jeans has a history. Faded knees, softened fabric, worn seams and empty pockets carry traces of the people who wore them before.
Developed as part of our 2026 annual theme, Patchwork, Denim Records brings together songwriting and screen printing with justice experienced people to explore identity, personal histories and transformation, reflecting on the present and imagining futures.
The project grew out of conversations with men in HMP Barlinnie about being prescribed jeans to wear and how having clothing chosen for them could take away part of their identity. Clothing is deeply personal, expressing something about who we are, where we come from and how we want to be seen.
These conversations got us thinking about the relationship between clothing, choice and self-expression, particularly within the justice system, where even everyday decisions about what we wear can be made for us. We took these ideas into the Bella Centre, a women’s Community Custody Unit, inviting women to explore these questions through songwriting, visual art and reclaimed denim.
Rather than beginning with a blank canvas, people work with reclaimed jeans that already have a history. By exploring the worn fabric, pockets, seams and hidden spaces, participants gather words, memories and ideas about what the jeans might have carried before, what they could carry next, and what we choose to reveal or keep private.
The jeans themselves become a starting point for making and conversation.
These words become the starting point for both an individual song and a screen-printed design. Working with artists and musicians, participants develop lyrics, rhythms and melodies alongside their visual artwork, allowing each to influence the other. Each person chooses a phrase to make visible on their jeans and a word to keep hidden, deciding how and where they appear.
Through this process, Denim Records explores what we choose to share, what we keep to ourselves and how we express our identities in environments where many everyday choices are made for us. Participants have control over their creative decisions, with no expectation to share personal experiences or explain the meaning behind their words.
Each finished pair becomes a Denim Record: a personal artwork shaped by the participant’s words, experiences and creative choices, capturing something of who they are now and what they want to carry into the future.
Following our first workshops at the Bella Centre, we’re looking forward to taking Denim Records into more prisons, creating opportunities for more people to explore these ideas through art and music.
The Denim Records Archive
The finished jeans belong to the people who created them. Rather than collecting the garments, we are developing an archive of the project through lyrics, design, audio recordings and documentation, with participants’ permission.
The archive will bring together the different voices and creative work that emerge from Denim Records, creating possibilities for future creations, exhibitions, performances and new collections of reclaimed jeans.
