California Apparel News

Kingpins, the global trade show known for showcasing the latest trends and innovations in denim, kicked off in Los Angeles on July 31. The two-day show took over the 11th floor of the Cooper Design Space and featured 37 exhibitors, as well as a “denim university” and three educational denim seminars.

The new incorporation of denim education stemmed from industry feedback, said Vivian Wang, Kingpins’ managing director.

“We heard from many people in the industry that this sort of education—whether it be trend, technical, technology or new innovations—was necessary and desired,” she explained. “We have the unique position of being able to gather these innovators and educators together for our attendees. The reaction was great, and we are definitely expanding our education offerings both domestically and abroad.”

The denim seminars included a talk by BluConnection on sustainable denim dyeing; a 2013 Fall/Winter trends workshop by Amy Leverton, Stylesight’s senior denim editor; and a seminar by Saitex International on sustainable laundry. Olah Inc., organizers of Kingpins, also hosted two four-hour Denim College seminars led by Olah President Michael Morell. The in-depth seminar covered everything from spinning cotton to dyeing and finishing.

BluConnection has created a more environmentally friendly process for dyeing denim that uses hydrogen gas and advanced engineering systems to reduce the amount of water, toxic chemicals and heat than is traditionally used in dyeing. The Singapore-based company is also looking into reverse fuel-cell technology to develop a new method that would use no toxic chemicals and produce no waste, as well as dramatically reduce the amount of energy needed, according to Paul Cowell, BluConnection’s branding and innovation manager.

“In the last five years, because of the spurt in all of the fuel-cell cars, there’s the ability to take all of this innovation that’s been in the fuel-cell sphere and bring it to textiles,” Cowell said. They would like to incorporate the technology into indigo reduction, indigo dyeing and waste-water decolorization, he explained.

Many vendors said the first day of the show was busier than the second and that business was busier than last year.

This year also marked the highest number of attendees ever for the opening day of the Los Angeles show, said Kingpins show director Erin Barajas.

“There’s been a constant flow of traffic,” said Azad Shalom of Basic Line, which was showing in the Kingpins' new Los Angeles section. “We’ve met a few new accounts already.”

The Vernon, Calif.–based company creates embroidery, embellishments, rhinestones and novelty stitching for many denim brands, including 7 For All Mankind, True Religion and Citizens of Humanity.

Also in the Los Angeles section was AGD Enterprises and Olah Inc.’s Style Library.

“We were invited because they wanted to bring in three local companies that were doing something different,” AGD’s Omar Quirarte said.

The company provides specialty denim printing and finishes, and its digital prints and Unitrans glue patterns for picking up foil treatments were especially popular, he said.

Christopher Price, director of marketing and sales for Blue Farm Textile, said his novel shades, pure indigos, high-recovery stretch and lightweight chambray had been doing well with buyers.

“It’s all based on your product and how it plays into the trends at the moment,” he said.

Leverton’s trends for next Fall and Winter included neoprene and plastic coatings, Technicolor prints, jacquard, woodsman-inspired workwear, plaid-accents, metallic disco denim, tweedy and dobby denim, and motorcycle and rock ’n’ roll looks.

Salman Moten of Soorty, a vertical manufacturer based out of Karachi, Pakistan, said floral prints, herringbone, and leather coatings and finishes were popular with his buyers.

The company usually shows at Kingpins in New York and Los Angeles every year, and as of the first day, he had shown to roughly 13 buyers, most of whom were new accounts, he said.

“L.A. was much better than we expected,” he said.

David Appel, the designer behind the Los Angeles brand Cohesive, is a regular Kingpins attendee.

“I come here because I’m always looking for something new, and they’re always up on what the Japanese and the Turkish and everyone are offering,” he said “It’s the best of the best.”

Coverage of the Kingpins show in New York can be found here.