Kingpins Lines Up Designers to Demo Waterless Denim Wash, Bows Eco Concept
A Spanish company is taking the water out of the wash, and visitors to the Jan. 10–11 run of the Kingpins trade show in Los Angeles will get to see the company’s methods in person.
Spanish research and development company Jeanologia will demonstrate its Twin GFK 3e laser, a machine that treats unfinished denim with light and ozone to create the effects and hand-feel of water washes and sand blasting.
After the Los Angeles show, the Twin GFK e3 will head to New York for the Jan. 18–19 run of Kingpins.
Kingpins organizers have lined up several designers and brands to create custom designs using the Jeanologia technology: Los Angeles designer Henry Duarte and West Coast brands Goldsign, The Gap, Joe’s Jeans, Stussy and Creative Growth for Everyone, as well as New York–based Earnest Sewn and Siki Im, winner of the Ecco Domani Award last year.
Show organizers wanted to include designers and brands from a range of markets—including high-end menswear, graphic T-shirts, surf and skate brands, and “premium-denim heavies”—to participate in the project and to use the laser in nontraditional ways, said Erin Barajas, Kingpins’ show director.
“The Twin is capable of a wide variety of finishes. It can get super-detailed and really acts as a paintbrush on denim. [This] is an opportunity to showcase denim as a canvas, highlight the laser’s flexibility, and ask designers and attendees of the show to see denim in a new and different way. The designers saw the potential of the Jeanologia technology and came back with some really great designs. Some got really creative and others opted for a very minimal look and others produced designs that could go straight to the runway. The best part is that each brand managed to capture its aesthetic.”
The designer collaborations will be showcased during the show’s opening-night parties in each city.
This season, Kingpins’ Los Angeles show will be held in the Cooper Design Space and will feature 30 exhibitors, including Invista, Supima, American Denimatrix, Swift Denim, Denim North America, Kurabo, Tavex and Bluefarm.
The Continuum, a sister trade show, will also run concurrently with Kingpins. The show will target designers and buyers looking to source socially and environmentally conscious companies—from fabric and dyestuff to contractors/factories.
For more information, visit www.kingpinsshow.com.—Alison A. Nieder
