Milano has become the best place to be for jeans. This is what stands out from the last edition of Denim Premiere Vision held on 23 and 24 November, at Superstudio Più in Milan.



The specialsed itinerant trade show has registered high attendance, from both Italian and international visitors, and saw the presence of high-level players from the denim and fashion segments.

Busy halls, a vast crowd of insiders, a rich program of talks involving top speakers, and a happy atmosphere characterised the event focused on presenting s/s 2024 novelties from the denim industry.




"If for our November 2021 edition we had registered good results, this edition was further more beyond expectations," commented Fabio Adami, Denim PV Director. Despite the show had registered a lower number of exhibitors than in past editions, Adami commented: "We hosted 67 exhibitors, 14 upcoming brands, and three trend areas. We also hosted a series of highly inspiring installations and projects like La Colombina, offering the possibility to use an antique handweaving machine, Cotone Organico Sicilia, a cotton grower from Sicily, Alessio Berto's Indigo collection installation, WP Work in Progress' own historical archive installation, a space travel suit developed by Radici Tessuti for astronauts' training, and much more, obviously." And counting all the projects hosted by the show they could be almost 90. "The show worked very well both for its content and as a container," he added. "Our program of talks alone could be held occupying a single day convention focused on some of the denim market's hottest topics," he continued. In fact, among the topics of discussion there were Made in Italy, the jeans creative process, sustainability, education, and more, including a flash mob organised by Isko Luxury by PG Collection.

It has actually hosted prestigious industry speakers like, Nigel Cabourn and Miles Johnson, Matteo Marzotto, Andrea Rosso, Caterina Tonda from Kering Group, La Sapienza University from Rome, Alessandro Bondavalli from Guess, and a selection of exhibitors like, for instance, Calik, Jeanologia, Itema, Cadica, Fashion Art and Isko.

"All these results have been a great source of enthusiasm, and make me think that Milano could become a true European capital of jeans. It's only a pity that local authorities didn't pay much attention to what was happening here. Milan has everything: It has Milan Design Week, various fashion weeks, it's at the top in terms of culture, organisation, economy and sustainability. We have done much to recall attention from the denim world to the city. Now we expect that Milan could give something back to us," he continued. The show, reaching its 15th anniversary, registered the attendance of creative teams from top pret-à-porter brands like Chanel, Fendi, Versace, Etro, Vivienne Westood and Chiara Ferragni along with top brands like Diesel, Replay, Gas and Guess along with German brands including Hugo Boss, C&A, Alberto and Herrlicher.

 

Among main trends, colored denim - both with yarn-dyed fabrics and by using ready-for-dye - remain a must for the upcoming season. Mixing different fibers, while keeping great attention on environmental care, is a must for many manufacturers. Among the most interesting collections some of them presented new creative mixes of hemp with cotton, cotton and Tencel, viscose or recycled polyester, as presented, for instance, by Bossa, Calik, Isko, Sharabati, Kassim, Kilim and S.M Productions, among others.

 

Chottani Denim Industries from Pakistan has adopted and revived century-old natural vegetable dyeing and block printing technique and using hand-carved molds from an antique traditional craftsmanship of local artisans in order to decor it with highly creative ethnic prints. This manual printing process has zero carbon footprint.

 

Pure Denim has presented a new Infinity Denim collection, a highly comfortable, durable and sustainable series of fabrics. The company's new denim offer is made with Good Earth Cotton, a cotton produced according to a regenerative farming program, dyed with its own Smart Indigo technology and using XLance, a long-lasting stretch program produced by Carvico, a special stretch fiber produced without the use of solvents and at low temperatures, as the most sustainable denim is the denim that last for long, as explained by the company's CEO Luigi Caccia.

Advance Denim ha launched a new selection of denims that don't use any virgin cotton, but only a mix of post-industrial recycled cotton added with Refibra, or recycled polyester. This way, the resulting fabrics are more sustainable, though added with greater resistance and more durability characteristics.

Evlox has developed an own series of denims that are already pre-treated and need no additional finishing.

Isko's Isko Luxury by PG Collection has developed a series of new denims recreating special surface leather-like effects recreating, for instance, crocodile and skin-fish effects, but also a selection of fabrics added with silver lurex that can be sued from both sides.

 

A vast presence of chemical specialists also participated in the show. Among others, Officina39 presented a special treatment for ready-for-dye fabrics that can be used at cold temperatures and conveys the same effect of heavily aged jeans while saving resources.

 

Nearchimica offered a series of reactive dyeing that can be degraded with ozone and can be used without permanganate or chlorine.

Zaitex presented its Zetaterra selection of pigments that use low water and energy quantities, and can be used with GOTS and ZDHC compliant auxiliaries.

 

Debuting at this show was Casati Flock, a specialist in the production of flock obtained from grinding recycled textiles, like, for instance, denim. This special dust not only can be used for flock effects, but also for creating a special paper, resin labels or other elements, or can be added on as a decoring element on paper by using special glues that are polluting, therefore they can be entirely recyclable. The company also produces other variants made with FSC-certified or bio-based materials or obtained from recycling leather, cotton or linen, therefore are entirely recyclable.

 

Among technical manufacturers, weaving machine manufacturer Itema presented Isaver, a new mechatronic device and an innovative technology that reduces the waste and the environmental impact of production processes.

Among other projects completing the show's non-pure denim offer was W.P. Archive, WP Work in Progress's archive that collects all the brand's prototypes and research pieces collected throughout it 40 years of life, including the corporate archive of Gianfranco Ferrè that WP acquired in 2014 and also includes rare books and catalogues. The archive, based in Bologna, just near the company, is now open for consultancy and rental of its pieces.

 

The show will take place in Berlin from 31 May to 1st June 2023, but Milan certainly seems the best place for this show to happen, also in the future.

 

 

 

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