Made from denim, Rodin's first couple of pieces took subject less seriously (7)

'took subject less seriously' is the definition.
(as in minoring in an academic subject)

'made from denim rodin's first couple of pieces' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'from' could be 'in' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'in' is found within the answer.
'of' could be 'o' and 'o' is found within the answer.
'rodin's first' could be 'r' (1st letter of 'rodin') and 'r' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'med' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...