James Bartle is the founding CEO of Outland Denim, the Australian denim brand known for their revolutionary approach to social and environmental sustainability. Driven to create social change, Bartle created Outland Denim as an avenue of opportunity for women from backgrounds of modern slavery and those vulnerable to exploitation and abuse. Outland Denim’s unique business model developed by Bartle has been proven to provide a ‘freedom dividend’, benefiting not only the brand’s team, but their family and community too. In 2019 and 2020 Bartle was named one of Rivet Magazine’s 50 Most Influential People in Denim.

Since launching in Australia four years ago, Outland Denim is in retail powerhouses like Nordstrom, Bloomingdales, and David Jones, and has been worn by the likes of Meghan Markle and Leonardo DiCaprio. Outland Denim is Australia’s first B Corp Certified denim brand, in 2020 the brand was named the winner of the Thomson Reuters Stop Slavery Award, and was the only company to receive the inaugural Global SDG award in more than one category.