The denim fair Kingpins took place as a physical event in Amsterdam last week for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic. On April 20th and 21st all signs pointed to denim in the Dutch metropolis and the event was held for the first time in SugarCity on the outskirts of Amsterdam.
More than 80 exhibiting companies attended the fair, which opened with an upbeat mood on a sunny Wednesday. The companies agreed that while the digital version of the fair set up during the pandemic was practical under the circumstances, it fell far short of replacing the intimacy and physical aspects of the traditional fair.
“It’s been two years since we last saw each other and I think everyone is happy to be back,” said Helen Latham, Senior Strategic Account Manager at The Lycra Company. “There’s a lot of pent-up anticipation – it’s just great to see yourself back in person and not through a screen.”
Lycra had a “non-stop” well-attended trade show, met customers and presented its two key new innovations: Lycra Adaptive Fiber, which consists of a patent-pending polymer that allows jeans to adapt to different body shapes, and Lycra Dual Comfort, a sustainable innovation for ready-made and woven goods.
New location
The new, enlarged location of the trade fair offered 40 percent more space than the previous venue in the Westergasfabriek. In contrast to the previous location, the sprawling factory stretched over several floors and with its robust industrial interior provided a suitable backdrop for the denim fair. While the consensus was that the venue’s expansion was a positive thing, some felt that the more complex shape and additional floors made it difficult for visitors to flow to the stands. However, it is safe to say that every change of location has advantages and disadvantages.
An important innovation was a separate department for sustainability under the banner ‘Transformers’. The fair launched ‘Transformers’ in 2014 as a summit to discuss the positive changes in the denim industry. In 2020, it became a non-profit foundation focused on actively addressing and facilitating change in key areas of the supply chain.
In this area of sustainability, Indian company Arvind stood out: it presented a range of sustainable products, with particular attention to water-saving initiatives such as its ‘Quantum Indigo’, a foam dyeing process that reduces water consumption by 95 percent.
“It’s great to see this dedicated sustainability department at Kingpins,” said Matthew Abbott, a design consultant at Arvind. “It is becoming increasingly difficult to see how sustainable a company really is based on its own claims. So it is good that there is an area like this where business practices and products are reviewed.”
Sustainability is the focus
The new ‘Transformers’ range is just in time as the demand for sustainability continues to grow. Various exhibitors at Kingpins indicated that this is one of the most desired features that customers are interested in when searching for products.
The fair had also launched a new sustainable installation at the entrance to the venue entitled ‘Most Sustainable Product’, where various products from the exhibitors were curated and assembled into a selection of hybrid outfits.
“This is a very exciting new area for us, where customers can look behind all of these sustainable claims and marketing strategies to learn which products are truly the most sustainable,” said Emily Olah, acting executive director of the Transformers Foundation and Managing Director of Kingpins.
She added that in the future she hopes to expand the range further and include different features such as embellishments, pockets or labeling to get a “complete view” of a sustainable outfit.
Concerns about the supply chain
Despite the overall positive mood at Kingpins, the show took place at a time of great uncertainty for the denim and apparel industry. Supply chains have been disrupted in unprecedented ways in recent years by the pandemic and more recently by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Unsurprisingly, many companies at the Kingpins show said supply chain was a key concern given rising inflation and prices for energy, cotton and other commodities.
“We have a lot of problems with the high prices, so that’s the driver that we feel the most. We’ve been talking about sustainability for a long time and we’ve been able to get a good level on that,” said Frank Strathmann, a sales manager at clothing manufacturer DenimAuthority. “But everything is a little spoiled by the high production prices. [Die Unternehmen] are starting to look for solutions to save money, and that’s frustrating all the efforts we’ve been putting in place before.”
However, DenimAuthority has noticed some positive developments in its supply chain. Strathmann said the company has recently received inquiries from brands that used to manufacture in the Far East and are now looking for locations closer to Europe.
China-based Freedom Denim also faced difficulties. “Like many other companies, we are affected by the pandemic and haven’t been able to bring our entire current collection here like we would have liked, so we’re also showing some of our older stuff,” said a representative from the sales team the company. “But we’re all in the same boat – we have to learn to work with that and deal with it when the time comes.”
The Lycra Company is also feeling the effects of widespread supply chain issues. “Currently our products are sold out. Processes are in flux and it’s hard to keep up,” said Helen Latham, referring to the rebound in demand for denim now that the economy has picked up again. “Strong demand is obviously a luxury issue,” she said, but added that the company is now seeing “the first signs” that “consumers are going to stores less” as inflation rises.
The general balance of the event varied from company to company: many exhibitors were happy about a high number of orders and a constant number of visitors, while others said that they mainly did networking and pointed to the Easter holidays as a reason why things might have been quieter than they had hoped. But the general mood was undoubtedly positive. The participants were happy to see each other in person after two long and difficult years, with the end of the pandemic in sight.
This article was previously published on FashionUnited.uk. Translation and editing: Barbara Russ