From October 23 until October 28, 2018, Amsterdam will be flooded by a crowd of denim insiders and aficionados who want to understand more about the future of the denim supply chain, its latest offerings for s/s 2020 and celebrate the multifaceted beauty and creativity of indigo products.
“The future of the denim industry and the environment in general is top of mind these days,” says Andrew Olah, founder of Kingpins Show and Kingpins Transformers. “2020 is a symbolic year for those of us who wish to see progress and change for the garment industry–and an important marker for us to take stock of where we are at, collectively. Kingpins is focused on pushing the denim industry to be more environmentally sustainable.”
Kicking off the Kingpins offerings will be “Kingpins Transformers: Innovation,” a summit taking place on October 23 in a new location, the new Circl building in Gustav Mahlerlaan 10, recently constructed according to principles of circularity and sustainability.
The event will feature members of the denim supply chain willing to rewrite the rules of the industry behind raw materials, processes and garments that are safer for the consumers and the planet. Keynote speakers will include Adriana Galijasevic, G-Star Raw; Roian Atwood, VF Group; Tricia Carey, Lenzing; Danielle Statham, FibreTrace; Mark W. O'Neil, Inspectorio; Ebru Debbag, Soorty; and Ralph Tharpe of Indigo Zero. Saitex International, the Vietnam-based company specialized in sustainable manufacturing practices, has paid for all tickets making attendance free for denim professionals and students.
At the Kingpins Show, happening on October 24-25 at Amsterdam’s Westerpark, attendees of the invitation-only event will find about 100 exhibitors. Among them there will be fiber companies, including sponsors Lycra and e3 Cotton, technology and machinery makers, mills and manufacturers, chemical developers, trim suppliers and laundries, showing their s/s 2020 collections and latest innovations for the first time.
New for the show will be a Japanese special section and Taiwan Textile Collective, presenting a capsule of Japanese and Taiwanese mills and resources respectively.
Key events of this edition will be “100 Years of Women’s Garments at Levi Strauss & Co.” by Tracey Panek, historian, Levi Strauss & Co. As Levi's launched the first women’s blue jean a century ago, Panek will review 100 years of Levi's women’s garments and explore stories of the women who wore them. The talk will take place on October 24 at 1:30 pm.
Author, graphic designer and branding expert Nick Williams will explore denim branding's evolution as part of his recent research activities published in his new book Denim Branded. It will take place on October 25 at 1:30 pm.
“Kingpins Denim Trends for S/S 2020. Fit, fabric, finish” presented by Amy Leverton of Denim Dudes will be held twice–on October 24 at 11:00 am and on October 25 at 11:00 am.
Among the new collaborations to be disclosed at the show will be Lenzing’s Midnight Blues, a sustainable denim capsule collection using Tencel Lyocell with Refibra technology. It is a result of a collaboration with emerging denim designer Pawan Kumar. And Elleti Group, a company that offers laundry to garment-making services, will present ReMind, a new collaboration with three former students from Amsterdam Jean School - House of Denim. They’ve designed a small capsule collection of denim pieces treated according to both eco-friendly and traditional finishing techniques.
In addition, Dutch premium denim brand Benzak Denim Developers-BDD will celebrate its fifth anniversary by launching a special edition denim collection in collaboration with Candiani Denim at a party to be held at the closing of Kingpins, on Thursday October 25, at 6:00 pm. It will take place at Buyspad 2, at its newly opened studio that is a 10-minute walk from the Kingpins’ venue.
Read also:
