Jeansland Podcast
This is why I do this. Jeansland is a podcast about the ecosystem in which jeans live. There are an estimated 26 million cotton farmers around the world, and about 25% of their production goes into jeans, which could mean 6.2 million farmers depend on denim. I read estimates that at least 1 million people work in retail selling jeans, and another 1.5 to 2 million sew them. And then there are all the label producers, pattern makers, laundries, chemical companies, machinery producers, and those that work in denim mills. I mean, the jeans industry, which is bigger than the global movie and music business combined, employs a lot of human beings. And many of them, like me, love jeans. The French philosopher and existentialist Simone de Beauvoir, when visiting New York, said, "Everyone in the New York subway is a novel." I never met her, but I guess she made the observation because of the incredible diversity of people who ride the subway system. I'm convinced the people in our jeans industry are like those in the subway. They are unique, with rich and complex stories to tell, and I want to hear them. And deep inside me, I think you might feel the same way.
https://jeansland.co/
Jeansland Podcast
Ep 59: Pakistan’s Vertical Denim System with Rizwan Shafi
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Some businesses are built through planning. Others are built through history, disruption, and decisions made under pressure.
In Episode 59, I speak with Rizwan Shafi of Crescent Bahuman, one of the defining names in Pakistan’s denim industry. His family’s story begins in the years after Partition, moves through cotton trading and textile expansion, and eventually leads to one of the first fully vertically integrated denim and garment operations in the region.
The company’s model was unusual. Fabric, garment manufacturing, and washing were all brought together in one place. Over time, Crescent Bahuman also became the first authorized manufacturer of Levi’s 501 jeans outside the Americas.
We talk about how the company was built, from the original Greenwood joint venture to the difficult years that followed when the company had scale but no market. Rizwan explains what it took to convince customers that Pakistan could produce quality denim and garments, and why Levi’s played an important role in that development.
We also discuss why his father chose to build the operation outside a major city, creating a 600-acre campus that includes the factory, housing for thousands of employees, healthcare facilities, daycare, and education. It was an early attempt to build an industrial ecosystem rather than just a factory.
From there, the conversation turns to Pakistan’s cotton, ginning, traceability, tariffs, women in the workplace, and the shift from long-term relationships to vendor scorecards and transactional sourcing.
Rizwan’s view of the next ten years is direct. Pakistan has the raw materials, the industrial base, and the labor. The question is whether it can build a more connected, transparent, and specialized supply chain around them.
This is a conversation about industrial memory, national capacity, and what it takes to keep building when the rules keep changing.
Thank you to our sponsor Inside Denim.
Rizwan Shafi
Chief Executive Officer, Crescent Bahuman
Crescent Bahuman, LinkedIn, Instagram