Sail the Seas in Jeans Kayak

Artist Luka Mimica lives in a small forest house, surrounded with trees of pine that oversee Brac Channel. His creative solitude is only interrupted by postman delivering raw materials for his works, the latest being a unique naval vessel: a jeans kayak. Made from thirty pairs of trapper pants connected with special glue, this naval unit is fully functional and already had its maiden voyage.

“It was my New Year’s decision,” Luka explained as he was displaying his pants-made vessel. “I always wanted to make my own boat, but it took a lot of research to actually begin construction. The whole project was kept in secret, so people who know me didn’t have a clue what was I working on.”

Artist managed to finish the jeans kayak just before this year’s Croatia Boat Show. Just for fun, he sent the pictures of his work to organizers. They replied with official invitation to the event, which made Luka very happy. “After my presentation on the show, I finally dared to make a test sail back home. You don’t know what you have until it is set above the waves. Luckily, everything went just fine. I was rowing for two hours, merry as a child.”

But why would somebody made a trapper vessel? Mimica notes that blue color of jeans corresponds with azure tones of sea, making the boat quite attractive and tied with its surroundings.  Also, the material is very durable and more than capable to be used in kayak construction. “I used about thirty pairs of jeans, acquired from my folks and friends. Models that were made for females were more elastic, so I used them to form bending spots.

Kayak has four meters in length, and weights about thirty kilograms. It has a very unique feature that most other vessels of the kind lack: a platform for fishing gear. At the moment, Mimica doesn’t plan a serial production, but considers making another kayak. Then, it will join the couple into a sort of ‘jeans catamaran’. Inspired by wonderful nature that surrounds him, this artist will certainly continue to produce original and witty naval means of transport.

Photo: Duje Klaric / Hanza Media