WELCOME TO THE JEANS MUSEUM
The Jeans Museum in Zurich is the world’s only brand-independent museum for heavily faded denim. It was founded by Ruedi Karrer, also known as the Swiss Jeans Freak.
The Jeans Museum is a self-funded non-profit organisation. You can visit on request and we kindly accept donations of your worn-out jeans to be archived and displayed in the Museum.
The Jeans Museum is currently home to over 14.000 jeans and denim jackets. All naturally faded.
Ruedi Karrer was born in the Swiss Alps in 1959. He fell in love with denim in 1973 when his family received two pairs of Levi’s jeans in a clothing donation parcel.
IRON HEART x SWISS JEANS FREAK COLLAB
In celebration of Ruedi’s 50th anniversary as a jeans collector in 2023, the Swiss Jeans Freak collaborated with Iron Heart for a very special pair of jeans.
Made from the brand’s “lightweight” 14 oz. denim, the IHxSJF collaboration included two fits: the classic straight-leg 634 and the more modern and slim-tapered 777.
Both are sold exclusively through Iron Heart’s webshop.
You can read much more about the jeans in a review of them on Denimhunters.
CANDIANI DENIM AND IMJIT35020 COLLAB
On September 8, 2019, Ruedi turned 60 years old. To celebrate this milestone and realise a life-long dream, he partnered with Candiani Denim and IMjiT35020 to create 60 pairs of completely custom-made jeans.
Candiani Denim developed the denim exclusively from scratch for this collaboration. Something they’ve never done before. The jeans are cut and sewn by IMjiT35020.
In the documentary below, Ruedi tells the entire story, and how he hopes this collaboration will spark further support for his vision with The Jeans Museum.
The documentary was co-directed by Thomas Stege Bojer of Denimhunters and premiered at Munich Fabric Start’s Bluezone trade show on September 3, 2019.