Denim expert Piero Turk: “Nobody needs so many types of denim”

At the Amsterdam denim trade fair Kingpins you can study thousands of new denim qualities every season, as was the case again this week near Amsterdam. They are displayed in endless rows of jeans and fabric samples. The manufacturers easily conjure up 50 new developments out of a hat.

“What nonsense actually,” says the Italian Piero Turk in an interview with FashionUnited. He speaks from his place of residence and work in Italy; This time he didn’t come to mass. “Nobody needs all these variations because they’re not really new or way too crazy for the average consumer. It’s a total waste of raw materials.”

Turk knows what he’s talking about. He has worked as a denim designer for almost every major denim brand since the 1980s. He is now an integral part of the Kingpins. He leads the ‘One Denim’ project for the denim trade fair. It’s a search for the perfect fabric that actually makes the denim fair itself seem superfluous.

A type of denim

The project was conceived during the Corona pandemic and presented at the 2022 trade fair. Since then, a ‘One Denim’ collection has been presented at every October issue. The concept is simple: Turk is assigned to a manufacturer and he is allowed to select a fabric quality based on his expertise. “I always look for a fabric that is flexible,” he explains. “It has to work for a wide leg as well as a straight leg, for jeans, but also for a fashionable jacket or skirt.” It is then up to the manufacturer to develop beautiful variations that show the versatility of the denim.

For the first edition, Chinese manufacturer Prosperity Textile made ten different bag variants from the same denim. Each has been finished with a different wash. “Over time we have continued to expand the variety of styles,” continued Turk. “We want to show that you don’t need new denim every season. With good quality you can go further than you think. That’s the concept of ‘One Denim’.”

The most recent collaboration, unveiled last October, was with Turkish denim supplier Kipas. The inspiration for the collection came from US sports such as ice hockey and American football. Turk chose a pure cotton fabric that has a special treatment to make it feel softer. The manufacturer used this to make sweaters and T-shirts in various shades of blue.

Kipas carried out all this processing himself in his factory, where both fabrics and washes are produced. The collaboration with the US company Cone Denim 2024, however, required a detour: the washing was carried out at Tonello in Italy. Turk says: “Every time the process is different, depending on what the factory can do internally.” In this sense, ‘One Denim’ is also an investigation into where the expertise still lies in the extensive denim supply chain.

chicken feathers

Throughout his career, Turk has seen denim that he doesn’t hesitate to describe as absurd. These include fabrics with chicken feathers in the weft or with so many holes that there was more thread than fabric. He also saw fabrics made from pineapple, banana and bamboo fibers. These have been advertised as sustainable, although this is far from proven. “If you import this pineapple fiber from Central America to Turkey, how is that supposed to be good for the climate? A Turkish factory that uses Turkish cotton seems more sustainable to me.”

He considers many of the sustainability promises circulating in the industry to be unbelievable. He saw a manufacturer that advertised black denim as being ‘waterlessly dyed’. “That’s nonsense. Even if you use foam instead of a water tank with dyes, you need water to make that foam.” Other parties claim that you can wash pants with just a glass of water. “You can spray denim with a fine mist instead of completely submerging it, but that requires ozone. And you have to neutralize that with water. It’s just not true.”

waste

Even if it were true, manufacturers who insist on such sustainability promises would be missing the mark, says Turk. “If the end result is unsustainable, what’s in it for it?”

The waste in the industry is not just in the amount of water and chemicals required for the final product. It is also in the research phase to be able to produce all these new variants every season. “To develop a new denim, you have to invest a lot of money, energy and time. Sometimes the first test fails, then you have to try again, and then again. In the process, meters of fabric are wasted – on something that perhaps no one is waiting for.”

12.5 ounces

So what is the perfect pair of jeans? Turk doesn’t have to think twice. “The simplest: 12.5-ounce denim with a visible twill, which is a diagonal pattern in the weave, made from locally processed cotton.” He appreciates the composition of hemp as long as it is grown locally. The plant has a supporting function for soil life and the material is stronger than cotton. “But spinning and weaving hemp fibers also requires a lot of water, chemicals and energy,” adds Turk. “So it’s not necessarily better.”

His biggest environmental concern for the coming years is Stretch. Although natural materials with stretch are also entering the market, he primarily sees stretch denim with synthetic fibers that are still made from oil. “My dream is plastic-free denim.”

The technology to make pure cotton more elastic is already well advanced thanks to innovative spinning processes. However, the fashion industry is not focusing enough on this, despite circular economy-focused European legislation pushing it in this direction. After all, a fabric made from just one type of fiber is much easier to recycle than a mixture. “You can’t get super stretch with these innovations, but you can get something comfortable that will last for years.”

According to Turk, the special ablutions with which the Kingpins has been hung for seasons are also not necessary. “It’s better to give me unwashed denim. You can then still vary the yarn thickness, the weft density and the color intensity. That’s more than enough.”

Ultimately, it’s about the most wearable look, says Turk. As a brand you can’t go wrong with this. “You don’t have to introduce new fabrics every season. And if a solid quality doesn’t appeal, you simply reuse it in the next collection. Then you don’t produce waste, you can reorder more easily and you don’t waste valuable production capacity.”

MSP

In addition to ‘One Denim’, Turk is also working on a similar project at Kingpins, the ‘Most Sustainable Product’ (MSP). Every year he selects a quality from the collections of selected manufacturers and uses it to design a denim line in consultation. For the upcoming Kingpins issue, the looks are inspired by iconic artists: Matisse, Salvador Dalí, Andy Warhol, Frida Kahlo. He expresses pride in the message behind it: “Sustainability doesn’t mean you’re limited. You can work in an environmentally friendly way and make anything you want.”