Ep 70—FRESH BLOOD Revisited: A New Generation of Mills with Lucille Ix and Lucas Van de Woestyne

Before we continue with the next episodes in the FRESH BLOOD series, we’re revisiting a conversation that helped define what the series is really about: listening to the next generation already working inside the industry.Andrew speaks with Lucille Ix and Lucas Van de Woestyne, two young professionals who grew up around fabric manufacturing and are now working inside it themselves. It is a useful reminder that denim is a huge industry, but also a small community, and that its future depends on whether people like them choose to stay.Lucille, 22, is based in New York and works across China and Vietnam. Lucas, 27, is based in Ghent, Belgium and works for a denim mill in China with a focus on Europe. Their families have been in the business for generations, and they have known each other since childhood. Their fathers worked together in denim mills in the United States.We talk about what surprised them when they entered the industry. How denim can be massive in volume but small in practice. How relationships hold over decades, even across competing companies. We also talk about how young people are received at shows, and why many veterans want new people to enter the industry and stay.We get into sustainability in plain terms. What their friends actually care about when they buy clothes. Why quality and longevity are easier for consumers to hold than technical claims. Lucas points to a structural gap: mills are expected to innovate, but brands do not always want to pay for the price of that innovation.We also touch trade and geopolitics, the way duties and tariffs can change decisions overnight, and why being informed is now part of the job. We end on what success looks like to them: community, continuity, and the people behind the product.Thank you to our sponsor Inside Denim.Lucille IxMarketing & Sales Assistant, Advanced DenimAdvanced Denim, LinkedIn, InstagramLuccas Van de WoestyneMarketing Director Europe, Freedom DenimFreedom Denim, LinkedInPlease follow us on: Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.