Kingpins Amsterdam kicks off April 20-21 with over 80 international exhibitors from all parts of the denim supply chain. This is the show’s first in-person event since 2019 and its first at SugarCity, a space just outside of Amsterdam with 40% more square meters than its former venue at Westergasfabriek.
Factory representatives are eager to get their fabrics back into the hands of customers and reunite with friends and colleagues.
“I believe the moment this community comes together, it will be very special,” said Pierette Scavuzzo, design director of Cone Denim. “You really feel the love for this show, and I think many will be ready to embrace it and take advantage of all the energy, passion and knowledge that is unique to Kingpins.”
Even though Zoom meetings have helped keep the supply chain connected, Prosperity Textiles creative director Bart Van De Woestyne said it’s still difficult for customers to really get a sense of what a fabric or concept, or to really judge an indigo hue. . “Our customers are really looking forward to physically seeing each other again, touching and feeling the fabrics rather than attending online meetings,” he said. “We, on the other hand, need their feedback, face to face.”
The show itself is a chance for companies to showcase their talents. Naveena Denim Ltd (NDL) will create the entrance curtains, signage and flags. It will also host live painting sessions on fabric panels. Toppings manufacturer Turteks Etiket designs the entrance wristbands and food cards. The bracelets are specially made and designed to be worn all year round. Artistic Milliners, Star Fades International and the new Artmill are joining forces to outfit salon staff with bespoke uniforms. Responsibly designed with recycled cotton fabric, sustainable dyes and non-petroleum pigments, the uniforms were produced in Pakistan and Los Angeles.
Prosperity Textiles will feature Galatic, a line of fabrics that is the product of the factory’s commitment to reducing the use of virgin (petroleum-based) polyesters. The fabrics use “plant-based biotech” fibers that are 100% renewable and 100% degradable.
Van De Woestyne noted how Galatic fibers outperform conventional polyesters. “They generate 30% more stretch with a 92% higher recovery rate,” he said. “The fiber is soft to the touch, lightweight and has better moisture retrieval, leaving skin conditioned and feeling like a second skin.”
Prosperity Lux Matte Denim
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Soft feel is also at the center of Prosperity’s Matte Lux Denim collection, which applies the draped hand of lyocell with the look of a classic cotton denim shirt. “Using a proprietary spinning technique, Prosperity’s innovation team has created a range of lightweight denims that significantly reduce shine and offer a wide variety of authentic washes,” said Van De Woestyne.
The qualities that have gained popularity during the pandemic have influenced the collection of mills.
Kilim Denim is tapping into the demand for jeans that require fewer home washes. The factory’s Kilimanjaro collection uses Everfresh acrylic fiber, a fiber from Aksa Akrilik that has antibacterial and “thermal comfort” properties.
For Kipas Denim, durability equals jeans with a long lifespan. The factory’s new Slow Aged fabric concept offers up to three times the tear resistance of other fabrics and four to five times the abrasion performance.
“This high performance in sustainability allows brands to produce durable garments that [consumers] can wear for years,” said Hürriyet Öztürk, Kipas Product Development Manager.
Naveena Denim Mills aims to draw attention to an issue negatively affecting the entire industry: returns. Quoting Statista, Aydan Tuzun, the company’s executive director of sales and marketing, said 48% of online shoppers said they had returned an order in the past 12 months. Jeans made with Self-Fit technology from the factory, however, can fit two sizes up and two sizes down, providing brands and consumers with adaptability. Naveena adds more fabrics with technology and presents items that have 100-110% stretch.
AGI Denim’s collection of colorful Kaleido yarn dyes offers a sustainable solution for brands that are inspired by the dopamine fashion trend. Fabrics are dyed and finished with recycled water certified by SGS, a Swiss third-party certification company. When combined with AGI’s ReFresh bleaching process, Henry Wong, AGI Denim’s Vice President of Product Development and Marketing, said, “You could say these colored jeans are made with recycled water from fabric to garment”.
“[The fabrics] are like our beloved jeans that take on wear patterns and wash beautifully but in the world of color,” he added.
Kaleido collection from AGI Denim.
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Cone’s is building on its Nothing Goes to Waste (NGTW) fabric collection, which debuted at the latest KP24 digital show with a capsule collection designed with Endrime and Jeanologia. The NGTW fabric collection is designed with a “modern, fashion-forward mindset and made with 100% recycled fibers,” Scavuzzo said.
Fibers are a source of novelty for Cone. It will introduce Creora Regen, a synthetic alternative to spandex, to its menu of sustainable stretch fibers, including EcoMade Lycra, Ciclo, Roica and Repreve. Creora Regen is a 100% recycled spandex fiber, GRS certified and made from spandex/spandex scrap. The factory will also launch its USA-grown hemp fabric collection that supports American agriculture and farms.
“We keep all the components close to create the smallest footprint, from hemp from Alabama to plant-based indigo from Tennessee to cotton grown in the USA with fabric woven in our factory in Mexico. “said Scavuzzo.
Cone’s Nothing goes to waste collection
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With a closed-loop approach to raw materials, Arvind Limited incorporates post-industrial and post-consumer recycled cotton into its collection. Aamir Akhtar, Arvind’s CEO for lifestyle fabrics, denim, said in-house fiber production allows for a high level of quality control and traceability through Textile Genesis. Supply chain traceability is becoming the backbone of sustainable materials, he added.
Arvind will also highlight the latest in Quantum Indigo, a “waterless dyeing method” that uses an average of 95% less water compared to traditional methods. The process was originally developed for indigo, but more recently the plant is experimenting with mixtures of indigo and sulfur.
With Blue Infinity, Crescent Bauhuman Ltd. (CBL) aims to provide the industry a “revolutionary” warp dye technology that can create an endless variety of shades of blue without using indigo. All chemicals used in the process are GOTS 6.0 approved. Blue Infinity also meets the RSL requirements of major brands and retailers.
“The capability of this technology is enormous, not least because it creates an infinite amount of shades of blue while reducing environmental stress,” said Zaki Saleemi, vice president of strategy at CBL. “CBL had to think, work and execute this technology in a totally unconventional way compared to traditional manufacturing processes.”
Tonello will showcase the benefits and capabilities of its all-in-one system equipped with No Stone, Core, UP and ECOfree 2. The integrated garment finishing system connects to other new technologies such as The Laser and Metro, the Tonello program for analyzing, controlling and evaluating data.
Rudolf Group’s Offuel, a collection of chemical denim finishing aids that uses alternatives to crude oil and recycled components, comes at a time when geopolitical situations and supply chain bottlenecks make even scarcer resources. The 100-year-old company, which will celebrate its anniversary at the Kingpins Amsterdam party after the first day of the show, describes Offuel as meeting two pressing needs: sustainable industrial practices rooted in renewable sources and cost-effective alternatives.
The “crown jewel” of the product line is Rucogen Upcycle RNB, a specific dispersant for washing denim made from chemically recycled post-consumer PET plastic waste.
New technology comes to life in an inspiring collection of repurposed and repurposed denim pieces designed by Labor Made Inc. Each garment is finished with Offuel products. The intention behind the collection, said Gordon Muir, founder of Labor Made, is to refine how consumers “embrace waste and discarded materials” and transform them into items that reflect contemporary culture and enduring values.