Mud Jeans, the Dutch brand credited with pioneering circular denim, has filed for bankruptcy after historic debt overwhelmed a turnaround effort that had only recently pushed the company toward profitability, its chief executive said this week. Read Here
Co-owner and CEO Dion Vijgeboom, who took the helm in January, announced the filing on LinkedIn, calling it one of the hardest days in the company’s history. He said the team had worked tirelessly in recent months to build a sustainable future for the business and believed there was a path forward, but that the financial burden of legacy debt ultimately proved too great to overcome.
Founded in 2012 by fashion industry veteran Bert van Son, Mud Jeans built its identity around a circular business model, using recycled and organic cotton alongside a take-back system that let customers return worn-out jeans for repair, reuse or recycling. Its “Lease A Jeans” subscription model, offering denim through a leasing arrangement rather than outright ownership, became one of the most closely watched experiments in circular fashion retail, and the company has long described itself as the world’s first circular denim brand. In 2022, B Lab named the business “Best for the World” for its environmental performance.
The Amsterdam-based company, which lists 11 to 50 employees on LinkedIn, had been pursuing an aggressive turnaround plan through the first half of this year. According to Dutch outlet NL Times, that effort had produced positive EBITDA and a break-even first quarter, with management projecting 2026 as the brand’s first profitable fiscal year on forecast annual net revenue of 3.1 million to 3.2 million euros. The filing halted that trajectory before year’s end.
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The filing follows repeated attempts to shore up liquidity. In 2024, Mud Jeans completed a community funding round that raised 1 million euros from roughly 800 investors. Just last month, it launched a crowdfunding campaign seeking 300,000 euros, equivalent to about $343,000, to strengthen working capital and inventory management and to support growth in the Netherlands, Belgium and the DACH region. Those measures were not enough to offset the weight of the company’s historic debt.
Mud Jeans’ website has been placed under maintenance and new purchases have been paused, though the company said orders already placed will still be shipped. It remains unclear whether a restart of the business is possible.
Vijgeboom struck a hopeful tone despite the filing, describing Mud Jeans as more than a company. “It is an idea, a community and a blueprint for what the future of fashion can look like,” he wrote, adding that he sincerely hopes the bankruptcy is not the final chapter but the beginning of a new one, and that the brand, its products and its community deserve a future.
The bankruptcy adds Mud Jeans to a list of sustainability-focused apparel brands that have struggled to convert environmental credentials into durable financial footing, even as the wider industry faces pressure from regulators and investors to adopt more circular practices. The company’s collapse comes at a moment when European Union rules on product durability and green claims are pushing brands toward longer-lasting, more repairable garments, a shift Mud Jeans had positioned itself to lead.
The fate of Mud Jeans’ brand, inventory and intellectual property will now be determined through the Dutch insolvency process, with a court-appointed trustee typically tasked with assessing options including a sale of assets or a partial restart under new ownership. Vijgeboom’s statement left open the possibility that a buyer or investor could yet emerge to carry the brand forward, though he acknowledged that outcome remains uncertain.