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The life cycle of a pair of jeans - Madhavi Venkatesan

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TEDEd Animation

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The first pairs of jeans were designed for durability; denim was constructed as a sturdy weave worn by sailors and miners. But over the course of the 20th century, as the demand for jeans has gone up, their durability has gone down. Today, most pairs last no longer than a year. And each new pair you buy has a much higher cost than you might think. Madhavi Venkatesan traces the life cycle of jeans.

It takes almost ______liters of water to grow the cotton needed for one pair of denims.

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Meet The Creators

  • Educator Madhavi Venkatesan
  • Director Sofia Pashaei
  • Narrator Pen-Pen Chen
  • Music Salil Bhayani, cAMP Studio
  • Sound Designer Amanda P.H. Bennett
  • Director of Production Gerta Xhelo
  • Editorial Director Alex Rosenthal
  • Producer Bethany Cutmore-Scott
  • Editorial Producer Dan Kwartler
  • Script Editor Alex Gendler

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