Kingpins Showcases Wash, Fabric Innovations
During its March 12–13 run at the Marvimon House in Los Angeles’ Chinatown neighborhood, Kingpins welcomed a who’s who of the city’s denim community. As casual as the denim industry itself, Kingpins played host to more than 50 attendees with a sunny, laid-back atmosphere and plenty of shop talk.
Created by New York–based garment and fabric agent Olah Inc., the show counted Adriano Goldschmied of GoldSign and Citizens of Humanity, Kasil, Bread, Agave, Union, Oligo Tissew, Rock & Republic, Juicy Couture, Paige Premium Denim, Farmer, BCBG, Red Engine, AG, Billabong, J Brand and Vince among its attendees.
The biannual specialty denim trade show featured 11 exhibitors, each representing a different segment of the denim supply chain. Exhibitors at the invitationonly Kingpins included denim, twill and corduroy suppliers, hardware manufacturers, makers of dyestuffs, offshore jeans manufacturers, and wash houses.
Andrew Olah, Olah’s co-founder, said the big news for the show was the introduction of FiberMax, a long-staple brand of cotton seed planted in Texas that “makes a very beautiful fabric.” Not as long-staple as Pima cotton, FiberMax has been on the market for some time, but Olah is now helping to export the cotton to Asia and develop new fabrics using the fiber. “There has been some interest,” Olah said, noting that it makes a viable alternative for brands unable to afford the extra-long-staple Pima cotton.
Christopher Enuke—the designer for his own line, Oligo Tissew, and Union brand jeans—found resources for both of his projects at Kingpins. “I found a good factory in China to manufacture denim for Union,” he said.
Dystar, the Charlotte, N.C.–based maker of eco-friendly chemicals for finishing and laundry development, also proved to be an interesting discovery for Enuke. “They are thinking innovatively and pushing the envelope,” he said. “They are listening to the industry’s concerns, and they are looking for a practical answer.”
Jeanologia, a Spanish maker of dyestuff and formulas forgarment finishing, showcased Color Denim Systems, its new garment-dye system for colored denim that “looks like color and works like indigo.” Already being used by two Los Angeles laundries, the CDS technology achieves authentic seam abrasion, highlights the denim’s fabric character and offers limitless color choices.
Moroccan full-package denim manufacturer Atlantic piqued the interest of brands with its Italian design team and duty-free pricing. “More and more people are producing their premium jeans in Morocco for the competitive pricing,” Olah said. “Morocco is competitive [in pricing] to Asia—which is dealing with new labor laws—and Mexico. And the quality is nicer than Mexico, and the fabrics are European.”
Kenny Lai, owner of Tailor Denim Koon Fat, one of the largest laundries and denim factories in China, said Chinese manufacturers are struggling to comply with the country’s new labor and environmental laws. “Business is tough,” he said. “Between the labor laws, insurance for workers, aggressive agents and the poor exchange rate, there is no margin. On every order I’m losing 10 percent. It’s a fight to break even.”
Another Design Studio, a Los Angeles–based design-consulting firm specializing in denim but with the ability to provide all services up to production, made its Kingpins debut. Founded by three denim veterans, Another Design Studio focuses on innovation and function for both large corporations and start-up brands, said co-founder Gary You. With deep denim roots (the trio has worked for brands such as Levi’s, 7 For All Mankind, Olah, Hudson, Joie, Nike, J. Crew and Gap), Another Design Studio has been fielding plenty of interest from international brands looking to bring their denim production to Los Angeles. “A lot of these brands are from countries like India, Korea, Brazil, Japan and Indonesia, and they couldn’t afford to produce here before,” You said. “It was just too expensive, but now the weak American dollar is making it possible. We weren’t expecting that sort of business, but we’re happy to have it.”
Huntington Beach, Calif.–based TagTrends showed itspatent-pending HDMD tags, which pack three times more detail and color onto softer tags. The company, which also produces organic labels and hangtags, is the main global tag supplier for brands such as Rock & Republic, Abercrombie & Fitch, Hudson, Quiksilver and Hollister.
