The ninth edition of BPD Expo, held in a vacant storefront flooded in natural light in New York’s NoHo last week, was another small but spectacular gathering of denim mills, denim brands, denim designers and denimheads. As producer Bill Curtin, who also owns the BPD Washhouse in New Jersey, put it: “We always try to do something better and something unique.”
The two-day event, which ran July 24-25, featured just ten exhibitors: Tehome Textile (China), Grandtex Denim (Indonesia), Hefine Denim (China), Azgard 9 (Pakistan), Deyao Textile (China), Indigo Textiles (Pakistan), Freedom Denim (China), Rajby Textiles (Pakistan), GKL Denim (China) and Tuong Long Denim (Vietnam) but was attended by such major accounts as J. Crew, Gap and Macy’s according to Curtin.
Freedom Denim promoted its linear stretch Free Fit collection at the show that is “fit forgiving” because of its linear compression, a technological application first used in the medical industry. It also showed its low-weight white denim fabrics that are non-sheer. “I really like Freedom because they think about fabrics from an emotional aspect [of the wearer] and then integrate technology to bridge the gap,” said independent denim consultant Christine Rucci while visiting the booth.
Highlights of Indigo Textiles’ latest fabrics include the Photon collection of laser-friendly denims, the sustainable Blu group, the modern vintage Retro collection and one made especially for plus-size jeans called Beyond.
Meanwhile, GKL promoted its Blue Gold fabrics that use two-thirds less water than standard denim as well as its Crazy Fit Eco group. And Rajby was all about its Denim Reborn line of recycled denim.
As usual, some of the best things about BPD Expo were the non-business areas. The show once again had an onsite shop with vintage denim items for sale and a dyeing station where one could learn how to tie-dye. An embroidery station allowed visitors to have complimentary bags and T-shirts customized and a pink-lit room in the back featured a private, amazing collection of designer jeans and denim from the 1980s including pieces from Jordache, Sasson, Gloria Vanderbilt, Oscar de la Renta Fiorucci and Cheryl Tiegs, among others.
And mega-talented artist Ronen Azulay returned to the show displaying and selling his beautiful creations such as paintings, wall hangings and pillows that he crafts from recycled denim. One of his newest and best-looking works is a large hexagon he created by wrapping a flea-market frame with the fabric.
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