Kingpins Show, the boutique denim supply chain trade show, will unveil a slate of new initiatives, programs and seminars during its April 24–25 run at SugarFactory in Amsterdam.
This is a milestone year for the trade show, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary as well as its 10th year in Amsterdam. The LYCRA brand, one of Kingpins’ first supporters, will kick things off by sponsoring happy hour at the upcoming Amsterdam show. Additional events to celebrate this dual anniversary will be held later this year.
At the upcoming Amsterdam event, Kingpins will debut several new additions, including:
The Gallery
Kingpins’ Gallery is a new materials trend space featuring the very best fabrics and trims from show exhibitors. The installation is designed to spark creativity and imagination and provide a starting place for attendees to explore new mill and trim products.
Fabric suppliers will showcase a few of their best fabrics among five categories: Manmade, Natural, Performance and Recycled. Swatches will be displayed in an installation that lets visitors touch and feel the fabric to get a sense of the beauty of the textile.
Trim suppliers will display some of their most-iconic products in mood board vignettes or as inventive wearable pieces in a shadow box installation.
The concept for The Gallery is to provide visitors with a space where they can experience exhibitors’ best work with an open mind, free from any influence other than their own inquisitive nature and imagination.
Future Fits Forum
Expanding on a panel discussion held at the New York show in January, Kingpins will launch the Future Fits Forum, led by Michelle Branch, Founder and Creative Director of Markt & Twigs, Inc., the global creative firm specializing in denim messaging.
This two-part initiative includes an installation in The Boxes, Kingpins’ trend and inspiration space, featuring custom garments that explore the evolution of denim fit.
Sponsored by Creora, the Future Fits Forum installation will feature physical garments created by six designers, as well as one digital piece created by an AI designer. To create the pieces, each designer was given two pairs of vintage Levi’s 501 that were rescued from a landfill, as well as new denim fabric made with Creora’s bio-based stretch fiber. The concept is for the designers to take these sustainable materials — a mix of vintage and new — and use their expertise and imagination to envision the next generation of denim fit.
Branch will also moderate a panel featuring four of the designers in the project,
Imogen Nulty, Global Director for Scotch & Soda; Danielle Elsener, founder of zero waste system Decode Mfg.; Floyd Rorije, co-creative director of the Gatto collection; and Lucia Rosin, Founder of creative studio Meidea.
Indigo Museum by Arvind
Kingpins has teamed with Arvind to create a museum piece for the denim mill’s Indigo Museum, which celebrates artisans working with denim and indigo. For the first time, an artist has been selected to create a special museum piece to be displayed at the show. The piece, “Birds of a Feather Flock Together,” by Amit Ambalal was made using wire mesh, fabric, resin and indigo.
These new programs join other signature Kingpins initiatives, including Most Sustainable Product, which highlights the latest developments in sustainable materials and processes from Kingpins exhibitors.
Another recent initiative is One Denim, a diverse collection of denim garments made from a single fabrication. One Denim was designed to demonstrate the breadth of designs that can be created from the same fabric.
Kingpins has also been expanding The Boxes, its installation space for creative collaboration. One returning installation is Key Pieces from Inspiring Wardrobes Around the World, a collection of inspirational garments from designers, artists and other members of the global denim community. Kingpins Managing Director & Global Sales Manager Vivian Wang will moderate a panel discussion with some of the creatives who contributed to the installation.
