It blew up with Meghan Markle, and now it’s the denim of demand for Leonardo DiCaprio.

The story of how one little Gold Coast company is changing not just the world of fashion but the lives of Third World women deserves its own film. Outland Denim founder and CEO James Bartle’s story is so simple in its inspiration and aims, so complex in its reality and so inspirational in its success, you can almost visualise an award-winning script.

Although James might possess a smile worthy of the silver screen, he is not in this business for the fame, the glory or the money. The fact these side effects have occurred sits uncomfortably, unlike those jeans.

Perhaps the story of Mount Tamborine-based Outland Denim — a brand created with the sole purpose of empowering vulnerable women in developing countries, and which operates sustainably in every single aspect of the business — should not be so surprising, given James’s inspiration came from Hollywood itself.

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“My wife Erica and I were on a date night back in 2008 and we watched Taken, the Liam Neeson film about human trafficking,” says James, now 38 and the father of two young daughters.

“It just stirred something in me. I wanted to go form a vigilante group but my wife convinced me there was a better way. I started researching and then a couple of years later I was lucky enough to travel through South-East Asia with a rescue agency. During that trip I actually saw a young girl for sale on the streets. It was enormously confronting.

“Erica and I thought we have to do something now. We started researching what would be required to create a solution for these women, not a charity or a giveback program.

“Those are great and necessary but they are the band-aid. We wanted to try to solve the problem. We wanted to teach them to fish, not just give them fish.’’

From idea to business launch took six years.

“I had no fashion experience. My wife worked for magazines in Sydney and ran a successful blog, but we had never made a pair of jeans before. Now we had to teach these mostly unskilled, traumatised women.

“But somehow, we did it.”

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Outland Denim launched in 2016 but went viral late last year after the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, stepped out in the brand’s “Harriet’’ black skinny jeans during her official tour Down Under. Literally overnight, the brand became a phenomenon.

Online sales increased by 2300 per cent over the two weeks after Meghan’s appearance in the jeans, while traffic to their website shot up by 1000 per cent in the 48 hours after she wore them.

But the impact can be best quantified with one fact — the sales spike has since allowed 46 new seamstresses, most of whom were victims of sex trafficking or forced labour, to be employed at Outland Denim’s factory in Cambodia.

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If that is not enough, Leonardo DiCaprio recently refused to shoot a denim-centred editorial spread for Esquire magazine unless the said denim was Outland.

“I’m still getting my head around what’s happening,” says James (pictured).

“Our world just blew up.

“We never sent (Meghan) any products, we never communicated with her at all. But she’s a woman with strong beliefs and morals and our brand just aligned with her values. It was and is incredible.

“Then to have someone like Leonardo DiCaprio, who’s a very purpose-driven man, to have someone of his calibre and genuine credibility to support us, that’s the biggest kick we could ask for. And it’s all been organic, we never planned for this. We always had a growth strategy but we had to rewrite it.

“The rapid growth has had its challenges for sure, but being able to give 46 women a new life is a positive that just cannot be overwritten.”

Outland Denim’s goal has always been to give women a framework in which they can increase skills and education while earning a living wage.

Initially they sought to employ women who had already been exploited but are now working to “rescue’’ those at-risk before damage is done.

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“Our factory is the starting point. They earn a living wage, they learn new skills, they receive education and they move on upwards, meaning we employ another woman who needs help.

“We work with NGOs to help these women find us, but as we go on we’re realising that to really solve this problem, we need to get to these women before they are exploited. If they know there is an alternative they can hopefully avoid the desperation that leads to exploitation. Many of these women are mothers. They will do anything for their children and that includes their own degradation.

“We want people to know that these products were built by people. We know each of our seamstresses by name, they earn a living wage and are given support to build a bright future for themselves.

“There’s a range of seamstresses that will work on each pair of jeans and they can choose to write a message that will be printed on the pocket. It’s a really powerful part of the product, especially when somebody buys it and doesn’t realise what’s behind the brand and one day they are washing their jeans and they read this message.”

With a hashtag of zero exploitation, James says the company is committed to sourcing the most ethically and environmentally sound raw materials, from organic cotton pocket linings to recycled packaging, and endeavours to verify its entire supply chain is in alignment with the world’s best practices.

Outland Denim is one of the few businesses to be awarded an A+ in all five criteria of the 2019 Ethical Fashion Report published by Baptist World Aid, as well as being Australia’s first Certified B Corporation denim brand. It was also one of 10 international businesses honoured in fashion technology and business platform Common Objective’s 2019 CO Leadership Awards that celebrate “disrupters’’ in sustainable fashion.

“This business model took a long time to set up and we’re still finetuning it, but it’s actually working and everyone is benefiting,’’ he says.

“I’m fielding calls constantly from other businesses who want to know how we’re doing it.

“You know, green is the new black and sustainable shopping is almost a status symbol now. It was never our intention to be a part of this trend but if it’s leading to a new way of thinking and manufacturing and buying, I’ll take that.”

James is a former professional motocross rider and welder by trade. While he had business experience — owning his own metal fabrication and powder-coating operation — he says starting Outland Denim from scratch was a gamble.

“I sold both my cars, I sold almost everything and went to the bank for a loan and realised I had no collateral. I’d sold it all,” he says.

“I remember my uncle gave me a milk bottle full of gold coins and I was counting them out to see if I could get to Cambodia. We had sausage sizzles, friends donated … it was very primitive.

“But with my wife’s acumen and our experience, we put it together. We didn’t always have the money but we had the drive. It wasn’t easy but I do tell people, if you have a passion, if you have a plan, you can make it.”

As the fantastic fallout from his brand’s brush with celebrity continues, James can see the social changes occurring in Cambodia and at home. Being based on the Gold Coast has its difficulties, but he says Outland Denim’s headquarters will remain here, as the grounding it gives his family is precious.

His travelling is tough on his family, but he can see the influence the brand’s ethos is having on his family.

“My daughters just love the business. They love the people we employ here on the Gold Coast and they especially love going to Cambodia.

“When we were there last year, my older daughter saw a little girl about her age digging through the trash. When she asked me why, I explained they don’t always have enough food to eat, that their lives are very different from ours, there’s no toys, no luxuries.

“She dragged me by the hand back to where we were staying and gathered up all of her toys. Then she walked back across the street to that little girl and gave her everything.

“You know, Meghan Markle and Leo DiCaprio wearing our jeans is incredible and I admire them for what they do, but seeing my little girl live that philosophy to share and to care, that blew my mind.”