Kingpins Amsterdam has become the denim industry’s launching pad for new product lines, collaborations and sustainable solutions. Here’s a look at the new stories denim mills and fiber companies will share at the upcoming show, Oct. 25-26 at Westergasfabriek.
Team Work
In the next chapter of Cordura’s “Authentic Alchemie” denim series, the Invista-owned fiber brand showcases cutting-edge Cordura denims based on three key macro trends designated by MaterialsMove CEO and Founder Linda Keppinger. The new series called “Imagination Without Limitation” is inspired by Keppinger’s journeys across the globe, quest for knowledge and her ongoing research of human experiences.
The series is represented in a collection of fabrics Cordura made in collaboration with mill partners, Advance Denim, Artistic Milliners, Arvind, Cone, Kaihara, Kipas and fiber brands Tencel and Cotton Inc.
“We originally introduced our Cordura Denim ‘Authentic Alchemie’ collection last year, where exploring the past enabled us to reinvent the future of our performance denims,” said Cindy McNaull, global Cordura brand and marketing director. “Now, we’re excited to expand our learnings and experiences by collaborating with textile and creative innovator, Linda Keppinger, and her exciting vision of what’s to come in the world of durable fabric technologies.”
The macro trend “Made it for Me” is described as an expression of the Craft Movement, appealing to creativity spirits and the desire to express individualism. The drivers for this trend are authenticity and freedom of movement, which is embodied in denim through customized and embossed graphics, fabrics that look washed and tumbled and stretch and mobility solutions for active lifestyles. Deconstruction, reconstructing or mixing traditional with contemporary hand-finishing techniques are used to make something truly unique.
Related Story
In “Show Me You Care,” Cordura focuses on fabrics made for the long haul. Sustainability and softened strength are crucial elements to the theme as consumers wish to buy less and do more with what they own.
Cordura’s final macro trend, “Faster and Farther,” marks the intersection where technology meets art. The drivers for this trend are extreme performance and hidden science. Denims with super-tech features like moisture management, temperature regulation and lasting freshness help empower the wearer and allow them to do more.
For Lenzing’s newest fiber innovation, Refibra, the lyocell fiber company tapped denim legend and longtime Lenzing supporter, Adriano Goldschmied, to create a 15-piece capsule collection that showcases the sustainable fiber in fabrics from eight global denim mills and one knit mill.
Design, production and laundry processing for the collection took place in Goldschmied’s Los Angeles Genious Group studio. Garments, including men’s button-down shirts and women’s jean jackets, will be on display at Kingpins Amsterdam.
For the collection, Lenzing partnered with Spanish mill Textil Santanderina, which supported the initial development of Refibra fibers, as well as Advance Denim, Artistic Milliners, Blue Diamond, Candiani, Prosperity, Orta and Tejidos Royo. Knitted fabric bases were supplied by Hallotex from Spain.
“Adriano has long been a sponsor of environmentally responsible product development without compromising consumer demand for comfort and fashion,” said Tricia Carey, Director of Global Business Development for Denim at Lenzing. “Working with Adriano and the Genious Group to develop this capsule in Los Angeles provides a remarkable entry of a new sustainable innovation into the denim market.”
Focus on Fabrics
Bossa optimizes denim for spring/summer with a new line of lightweight denim. The mill’s “Light as a Feather” concept provides high power stretch articles with a flat look and soft touch. The line features Tencel and Modal blends, which can be used for tops and bottoms.
Orta finds its comfort zone with Bounce, a new collection of open and soft fabrics with up to 50 percent elasticity. The mill also introduces a new option for lightweight denim with Airful, a line of light and airy denim fabrications.
Arvind’s new Indie Jean includes open weaves, light weights and soft and supple fabrications. The collection takes inspiration from the mill’s in-house traditional handmade Khadi fabrics, resulting in clean and bright looks with a relaxed vibe. The line includes blends of Lenzing’s Tencel and Invista’s Coolmax fibers. Arvind carries that laidback look into a new collection of space dyed slubs on ecru ad indigo. The mill’s range of neppy fabrics dyed in pastel shades make a refreshing statement for the warm seasons.
Every year Artistic Fabric and Garment Industries makes advancements toward the ultimate soft denim fabric. However, the Pakistan-based mill calls the launch of Soft-Tech 3.0 a “game changer.” Soft Tech 3.0 combines three important milling techniques to turn cotton into smoother, more parallel and softer fibers. The mill reports that smoother yarns with many parallel fibers lead to softer fabrics. Developments in cotton mixing, spinning and finishing led to the creation of these super soft yarns.
Arvind has come up with a confluence of denims and chinos. The construction of this crossover product called Chino Denims, involves high warp cover, saturated shades and a very soft hand feel. The all-season collection offers an alternative way to wear denim from work to weekends and is available in multiple colors, from pastels to indigo.
Enhancing authentic denim with contemporary performance benefits is the focus for many mills. Artistic Fabric and Garment Industries introduces new stretch denims that mimic the look of vintage gems. The mill is also rolling out a new range of body sculpting fabrics. Likewise, Orta plays with the concept of time with Chronicle, a line of authentic heritage denim with stretch.
In a new product story “Make Love Not War,” Bossa offers the look of ’90s denim for men and women in power stretch and comfort stretch fabrications. The collection focuses on modern versions of authentic looks with slubs and cross hatch optics, resulting in rigid looking denim that moves. The mill sees opportunities in unisex stretch articles as fashion moves toward non-binary designs. Expect to see colorful denim options, too.
For health benefits, Orta follows up the launch of Biocharge with Bioware. The innovation delivers denim enriched with volcanic ash that contains a sustainable natural absorber of odors that neutralizes bad bacteria to keep the wearer’s skin healthy.
Clean Up
On the sustainability front, Artistic Fabric and Garment Industries bows new denim shades that utilize less than half the water in conventional indigo dyeing for Spring/Summer ’19.
Sustainability is “business as usual” at Orta. Beginning this season, every fabric that is made by the mill will use the proprietary technology, Indigo Flow. The process reduces water usage up to 70 percent, saves energy as no heat is needed for fixing and is applicable to many different types of indigo and sulphur dyeing.
Bossa vows to “keep it clean” for Spring/Summer ’19 by evolving the mill’s Re-Set capsule collection. In addition to expanding its use of organic and BCI cotton, natural chemicals and dyestuff and 100 percent recycled denim, the mill touts Saveblue technology, which uses 17 liters of water to create 1 meter of denim, instead of the average 40 liters. In this concept, Bossa offers recycled and organic fabrications.
Berto is doing its part to encourage a circular system. The mill introduces Recover, a collection of fabrics made with Recover Blue yarn from the Spanish spinning mill, Ferre. Berto says the yarn has the lowest environmental impact in the world, as it stems from the processing of pre- and post-consumer waste blended with polyester obtained from recycled PET bottles. The mechanical yarn process does not require dyes, chemicals or water. CO2 emission is reduced to a minimum and half of the energy used in the process is derived from solar power.
The Italian mill also continues to share its Bio Eco Denim story, a collection of denim fabrics made with GOTS certified organic cotton and organic indigo dye—which is also GOTS certified. The mill describes the collection as “the answer for those who want a traditional denim product developed in full respect of nature.” The natural indigo dye is cultivated from plants without harmful chemicals. The indigo dye is extracted from the leaves through a process of bio-fermentation in water. The waste material resulting from this process is used as fertilizer for the soil itself.
In Amsterdam, Tonello will display the complete Denim Gallery before it returns to the company’s Creative Area in Italy. The gallery showcases designs from 10 designed based on two themes, Reality (which debuted at the April Kingpins Amsterdam) and Vision (unveiled last month at New York Denim Days). For Vision, Tonello used its new ECOfree 2 technology, which allows designers to treat garments with ozone both in water and in air, resulting in effects never seen before.
ECOfree 2 technology promotes lower consumption of electricity and water as well as shorter processing times. Purification costs are reduced to a minimum and the technology results in absolute safety for the operator and for the final consumer.