What does Denim Tears mean? The white flowers are cotton

On 16 October 2026, Stüssy and Denim Tears were set to release their FW26 collection. If you are waiting on that drop, know what the white ring means first.

I don't read the wreath as decoration. Emory picked cotton on purpose, as a reminder of what he says built America. Wear it because it looks good if you like, but I'd buy it knowing what it is for.

Quick facts

• Founded: 2019, first drop on 7 September 2019 in Lower Manhattan
• Founder: Tremaine Emory, born in Atlanta in 1981 and raised in Jamaica, Queens
• The symbol: the white cotton wreath, "my box logo" in Emory's words in March 2023
• With Levi's: first pieces in spring 2020, then a two year partnership from April 2021
• Brand price: US$210 for a Cotton Wreath Hoodie in black or grey, made in Turkey
• On within: 12 Denim Tears pieces at Utopia, CAD 200 to 500, every one with a wreath, read 16 October 2026

Where the name came from

Emory told Levi's in January 2022: "The thing started as a joke at a dinner party before a DJ set." Everyone said "It looks like your denim is crying", and he said "Denim Tears".

To WWD on 13 April 2023 he gave more detail: torn Levi's he had posted on Instagram, where "the back pocket looked like a ripped up heart". Virgil Abloh or Acyde, Emory's partner at No Vacancy Inn, said the denim was crying. (Levi's own telling says the back patch, so the two versions disagree on which part was crying.)

The jeans came from the Levi's vintage store on Carnaby Street in London, he told Hypebeast in December 2025. Both versions agree on the joke, and to Levi's in 2022 he added: "It's like the attrition of life, Denim Tears."

What the white flowers mean

The brand's Levi's page from January 2020 describes an all over screen print of white cotton wreaths. It says the motif came from a cotton wreath Emory saw on the artist Kara Walker's Instagram.

In his film "The Beauty of Becoming", transcribed by Levi's in February 2021, he says "the cotton wreath, it's like a talisman for Black people". He also says: "Cotton wreath is a call to return back to what built this country."

Talking about Dior Tears on 9 March 2023, he went wider: "Cotton's the thing that built America, helped build capitalism in the world, the UK, and in Europe." So the first thing you notice on the hoodie is also the point of the label.

When it started, and who it works with

Emory, raised in Jamaica, Queens, worked at Marc Jacobs in London from 2010. The first drop came on 7 September 2019, at a pop up in Lower Manhattan called "The Hissing Of Summer Tears". His own account, to Levi's in January 2022: "When I launched the brand, it happened to be exactly 400 years since the first slaves came to America."

Levi's came first, in spring 2020, with a T-shirt, a Trucker Jacket and a 501 built from Levi's own vintage denim. A two year partnership was announced on 21 April 2021, and Cotton Wreath 501s in five colours came out on 4 May 2021.

In June 2020 Emory held back a Converse Chuck 70 "until Nike makes real reforms", and it came out on 22 October 2020. Dior made the Dior Tears capsule with Kim Jones for pre fall 2023. Stüssy has worked with him since September 2022, FW26 included.

Emory was also Supreme's creative director, from February 2022 to 31 August 2023, and his exit letter spoke of "the belief that systematic racism was at play" there. Supreme replied, as Highsnobiety reported, that "we strongly disagree with Tremaine's characterization of our company".

The name is a joke about crying jeans. The cotton is not.

What it costs, and where to buy it

In US dollars on its own site, the Cotton Wreath Hoodie is US$210 in black or grey and US$198 in navy, pink and snow camo, "Made in Turkey." For US$295 you get the Cotton Wreath Denim Pant, "cut, sewn, and washed in the USA". Emory explained it to Hypebeast in December 2025: "these specific jeans are made in the USA because of the relationship we have with this factory."

The brand's own list of where real pieces are sold starts with its website and its stores in New York and Atlanta. After that it names Dover Street Market in London, Los Angeles, New York and Ginza, then APB and Social Status, and not one shop in Canada. African Diaspora Goods, its New York store, opened at 176 Spring Street in SoHo on 15 March 2024.

So in Canada the wreath is a resale buy, and Denim Tears on the shelf is priced in Canadian dollars, at Utopia. The Cotton Wreath Sweatshirt asks CAD 500, the sweatpants CAD 400, a Stüssy Double S Wreath gym tank CAD 200. I would open the pre owned Denim Tears x Levi's Cotton Wreath Jean first, black, size 28, CAD 300, because it is where the name and the wreath meet.

Before you buy the wreath

Buy new from the brand's list if you can, but read the returns: product pages call Cotton Wreath styles "final sale and not eligible for return or exchange". Its refund policy makes one exception: "denim Cotton Wreath products are eligible for exchange only".

The resale pieces ship from Toronto to the US and worldwide, free to Canada and the US over CAD 300, and all sales are final there too. So read how Denim Tears fits before you pick a size. For a first piece I'd take black sweatpants, because the white wreath shows up sharpest on black.

In Savannah, the SCAD Museum of Art shows "Denim Tears from the Pool of Black Genius" until 11 January 2027. A name that began as a joke about torn Levi's has had its own museum show since 14 September 2026.

Common questions

What is the brand with the white flower clothing?

It is Denim Tears, and the white flowers are cotton wreaths, which Tremaine Emory calls his talisman and his box logo. He launched the label in 2019, and Cotton Wreath is the name on its hoodies, sweatpants and jeans.

What is the real price of Denim Tears?

A Cotton Wreath Hoodie costs US$210 on the brand's own site and the sweatpants US$190. The resale shelf in Canada asks CAD 500 for the sweatshirts and CAD 400 for the sweatpants. Where to buy Denim Tears has the rest.

When was Denim Tears founded?

Denim Tears was founded in 2019, with a first drop on 7 September 2019 at a pop up in Lower Manhattan. Dazed wrote on 17 September 2019 that the release "also marks 400 years since slavery began in America".

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