Denim aficionados are getting ready for Kingpins Amsterdam, which will be full of events and celebrations to mark its fifth anniversary.
The show, focused on industry novelties of f/w 2019-20, will take place April 18-19, 2018 in its usual Westergasfabriek location. Amsterdam Denim Days, the city denim festival open to public, will not happen for this edition, but instead will move to the second part of the year and will take place October 27-28, 2018.
Sustainability and transparency will be protagonists of this edition of the show. For the first time Transformatorhuis, a space directly next door to the Gashouder and tents where Kingpins takes place, will host 13 companies highly focused on environmental friendliness. Among them there are denim mills Candiani Denim, Orta Anadolu, Arvind Limited and Tejidos Royo along with machinery companies Jeanologia and Tonello and chemical companies The Italian Job, Rudolf Group and Officina +39. Also exhibiting in this area will be The ZDHC Foundation, Product DNA S.A., an IT company providing traceability to supply chains and a production organizer, and indigo producer Bluconnection Pte Ltd.
Elleti Group, an Italian specialized laundry and garment manufacturer, is also participating the show’s new section Transformatorhuis and will present a capsule collection of replicas of historical denim pieces produced according to its most innovative sustainable technologies.
On the eve of the show, April 17, works will start with the Kingpins Transformers summit. The theme of the convention will be “Transparency” seen from different perspectives of the denim supply chain. “Transparency is the ultimate commitment by brands and retailers to share all available information about their products. Today, most brands aren’t held accountable for their product components. But that’s going to change,” says Andrew Olah, founder, Transformers. Panelists will include Robin Cornelius (Product DNA), Christina Raab (ZDHC), Tricia Carey (Lenzing), Ignasi Cubiñà (Eco Intelligent Growth) Baptiste Carriere-Pradal (Sustainable Apparel Coalition), Frouke Bruinsma (G-Star Raw) and Helen Sahi (Avery Dennison).
Many Kingpins exhibitors have focused their collections on eco-friendly products. Arvind is launching “100% denim 0% cotton,” a small new selection of fabrics that employ alternative fibers that can help reducing the market’s dependence on cotton. Berto is presenting a series of fabrics entirely made with scraps from its own production and dyed with low C02 emission technology. Calik Denim offers an updated version of its Oxygene finishing. Cone Denim presents its new Trutone Future Black made by recycling 17 PET bottles for black-stay-black denims. Denim Expert is offering a new sustainable collection that employs Green Screen certified substances only. Foison launches a new collection that when dyed reduces sulfur carbon and sodium release by 80%.
Garmon is launching its new Stretch Care family of sustainable chemicals. Indigo Textiles launches fabrics treated to reduce the need of washing. Kilim launches denim made by recycling post-consumer denim fabric products. Lenzing will launch Blues & Hues, its new Sustainable Denim Wardrobe (SDW) capsule. The launch will introduce new Tencel Denim pieces with Latin-influenced designs and a series of new men’s styles.
Lycra will present its new T400 fibre with EcoMade technology, made in part from a combination of recycled materials such as PET bottles diverted from landfills, and renewable plant-based materials.
From now on Orta will only produce fabrics that employ a new combined indigo dyeing method–Indigo Flow–which drastically reduces water consumption and produces much cleaner waste water without salt formation. Soorty bets on its new Black Forever sustainable home laundering technique that can resist 100 home launderings, though it is obtained by saving water.
Also new is Tavex Renim, a group of fabrics made with recycled cotton and recycled PET fibers, all treated with eco-friendly processes. Tejidos Royo offers new fabrics made by a mix of conventional cotton, pre-consumer cotton and recycled PET, or added with Lenzing’s Refibra.
In addition to the show’s regular two days, several post-show events will happen, most of which will be held at the end of the first day of Kingpins. Among them Candiani Denim will celebrate its 85th anniversary and will launch its first sustainable apparel capsule collection made in collaboration with Maurizio Donadi’s Atelier & Repairs (See our report). From 9 pm Orta will celebrate its 65th anniversary at House Of Orange Studio, while O'Neill will present a special collaboration with Isko in the afternoon and during a party starting at 6pm.
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