There has been a considerable amount of focus on what drives denim brand loyalty. At the market entry point, fit, comfort, quality, and price can all tighten the knot between brand and consumer. With low barriers to entry and a vast selection, the consumer’s focus is almost exclusively on the product—how it looks, how it performs, and how much it costs. As we move away from mass-market denim and into premium territory, consumers expect much more from brands. They expect a premium product as a bare minimum, but, more than this, they expect a premium experience, both at the point of purchase and when they get the product home. Knowing how to deliver this experience starts with understanding the route the customer took to get to you. For brands and retailers in the premium and ultra-premium denim space, customer can arrive at your door one of two ways. They have either climbed the ladder, or they’ve leapt. The ladder climbers work their way meticulously through each layer of the space, either moving laterally between comparable brands or moving up, rung by rung, through the premium denim market towards ultra-premium territory. The leapers move in a single bound from the market entry point to the ultra-premium denim space. They don’t experiment with middling premium brands. They jump straight to the top rung. Before they can climb or leap, they need to realise that there is a whole world of premium and ultra-premium workwear brands for them to discover. I call this initial discovery their Narnia moment. The curious denim consumer sees a glint of light in the back of their wardrobes. Pushing aside their moth-eaten coats, they notice a set of hinges. They give the panel at the back of the wardrobe a push and it opens onto an entirely new world. Tentatively, they step into this world and start to look around. In this premium denim world, denim is more of a lifestyle than a fashion choice. Fades are not purchased; they are earned. Brands, consumers, and retailers speak in an entirely different language, going into far more detail than might seem necessary at first about how and where the denim is woven and constructed. The ladder climber, stepping into this world for the first time, samples something near the entrance. They make a relatively small investment (perhaps double what they usually spend), and they familiarise themselves with the product. They learn the new rules surrounding wearing and washing, either by educating themselves or through trial and error. As they grow more comfortable in the space, they reach up the ladder for the next rung, investing a little more with this pair and a little more with the next. They move laterally between brands, but they almost never move back down the ladder. The leaper is another matter. Rather than exploring the space fully, they move directly to the ultra-premium brands. As soon as they catch sight of the ultra-premium brands in the space, they leap immediately to that top rung. They don’t dabble, they leap—often without looking. Brands operating in the premium and ultra-premium spaces want to do everything they can to turn these ladder climbers and leapers into loyalists. They want the ladder climber to stop climbing when they reach their product, and they want the leaper to make that leap to their product (and, crucially, to stay there). Unlike the ladder climber, the leaper will head back down the ladder or even exit the space entirely if their experience is anything less than expected, so brands need to do everything in their power to make sure that the experience is exactly as promised. How do they do this? Simple: Brands and retailers need to educate their customers. The premium and ultra-premium denim experience is built on a foundation of a do-it-yourself approach to fades that is not exactly a straightforward process. Wearing and styling the jeans is simple enough, though consumers often have questions in this department as well. Where things get quite difficult, though, is when it comes to washing. Whether they are climbing the ladder or making the leap to that premium or ultra-premium pair, those who are relatively new to the scene need a more hands on approach than they would get at a department store or your typical online shopping experience. They need to be walked through the washing process step by step. It’s not enough to simply say, “Don’t wash them until you absolutely have to.” It’s not even enough to tell them to take extreme care when washing. Every purchase needs to come with detailed washing and care instructions. Ideally, this should be at the point of purchase, but directing the customer towards helpful resources is often enough. Far too many buyers who are taking their first steps into the world of premium and ultra-premium denim are treated as though they are denim experts. They wash their premium jeans the same way they have always washed their denim. The pair that comes out of the washing machine (or worse, out of the dryer) looks nothing like the faded results they were hoping for. For the ladder climber, this is disappointing, but this is where their experimental method helps them. They’ve only invested a relatively small amount in their first pair, so they educate themselves and move either laterally or up a rung to the next brand and try again. Brands can keep these ladder climbers in their stable for much longer if they do everything within their power to educate them about how they should care for their denim. Hand-to-hand denim retailers should be having these conversations with every new customer. This is especially important when the customer is a leaper. If the first experience with ultra-premium denim fails to meet expectations, and especially if a lack of education is at the root of this failure, the customer may sour, not just on the brand, but on the entire premium denim experience. If, for example, the jeans shrink more than expected in the wash, or if the spin cycle leaves unwanted vertical fade lines (both common problems for newcomers), the customer has one question: Why wasn’t I told? Brands and retailers that go out of their way to engage with their customers one-on-one and educate them about care and washing make the leap or the climb seem worthwhile for the purchaser. Never assume that they know everything they need to know about your product. Don’t even assume they’ll read the washing instructions on the garment itself. Take the time to engage with them and guide them through the ins and outs of the process. Inside the industry, knowledge moves freely. Thanks to knowledge-sharing programs and wide-ranging employee education programs, those in the industry bring a tremendous amount of knowledge to market. Calik, for instance, has a training and research program in collaboration with Parsons New School in New York and a Turkey-based Denim Anatomy training program that are helping educate those who are poised to enter and innovate in the denim industry. We need to make sure that this knowledge gets passed on to the customer. With even a cursory denim education, we can help make the customer’s experience of the product richer and more rewarding. Whether they’re a ladder climber or a leaper, the educated consumer will be more likely to come back over and over again to the source of that education.