January 2018 W www.insidefashionLive.com18

i FRoNtlINe RePoRt: kINGPINS NeW yoRk i

There’s a reason that the denim indus-try loves Kingpins and it’s not just the friendly, fun atmosphere or the range of international mills on display. It’s the fact that the show’s or-ganizers clearly care about the ‘customer expe-rience’ they are offering visitors and exhibitors, and continue to find ways to make each show just that much better – in ways that buyers and suppliers actually find meaningful.

expanded trend dis-plays and quality cater-ing enhanced the fair, but so did ample seating areas (some with tables) where visitors could take a break, write notes or chat with suppliers away from the hive of activity in the booths.

a growing selection of international mills showed at the recent Kingpins new York fair (november 29-30) giv-ing buyers more options at a time when the market is clearly craving newness in creativity, as well as greater sourcing options.

what’s newBringing unexpected but welcome in-

novation were Taiwanese mills a&a Textile Co, 496 Fabric Lab, and Cheng shiang. If

you think Taiwanese mills are only about functional polyester fabrics, these mills will make you think again. as suppliers to some of the world’s leading designers (Cha-nel, Chloe, and others), these mills showed chart-topping fabrics that took denim from a standard casualwear fabric and elevated it to stand side by side next to any of the world’s best fashion qualities.

one of the key sales drivers for the high-end mills is the fact that leading international designers have added denim to their collec-tions. andrew Gn, Chanel, Chloe, stella McCartney and others have taken denim and worked it into ready-to-wear collections, tak-ing denim in an entirely new direction from its roots in jeans and casualwear.

“Designer brands are using more denim, with about 5-10 percent creating their own denim ‘sub-collections’,” said Jonathan Chen at a&a Textile Co. Ltd. (Taiwan).

“More fashion brands are using denim be-cause they can play with denim to create new effects,” he said.

“Luxury brands are moving into denim, while casualwear labels are looking to move up

into the luxury sector by using more unique fabrics and customized jacquards,” said Wayne Chiang at 496 Fabric Lab (Taiwan).

Uniqueness is now the key to success in the luxury market.

“You must make the product special, not just expensive,” said Mr. Chiang. so true, in an age where status logos have been replaced by personalized products that offer great de-sign and quality workmanship.

what’s SellingWhile innovation keeps the industry

fired up, volume sales keep suppliers in business. so what’s selling – in enough volume to pay the rent and keep the lights on – is equally as important as newness and creativity.

here we saw a market shift with mills saying that power stretch was starting to be replaced by comfort stretch in the women’s sector. The move is being driven by the popularity of looser silhouettes such as Boy-friend jeans and wider legs.

although the direction is towards fuller shapes, skinnies are still a big seller at the mass-market level, so don’t dismiss them – or super stretch fabrics – too quickly.

every mill confirmed that vintage looks

Denim Dazzles at Kingpins

annie Liu from taiwan textile Federation henry Wong at artistic Fabric (Pakistan) (2nd from right) with the

Ralph Lauren team

Wayne Chiang at 496 Fabric Lab (taiwan)

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what’s Selling• Generally, power stretch is being

replaced by comfort stretch.

• Customized or unique jacquards.

• Jacquards – especially in lighterweights.

• denim with kevlar for maximum durability.

• Recycled fibers are starting to gain momentum (still mainly in the eu market).

• yarn-dyed solids are outperforming

denim as the focus shifts to Chinos.

• Stretch denim for men’s jeans (in the eu market).

• Vintage remains a bestseller – consumers want authentic denim.

• Rigid fabrics are replacing power stretch in the women’s market as Boyfriend silhouettes gain popularity.

• Super soft hand feel is a ‘must’, even for rigid denim.

• denim with extra drape.

19 www.insidefashionLive.com W January 2018

remain the in-demand quality for both men and women. The key is to keep the look au-thentic but create a super soft hand feel.

“We’ve created an ‘80’s look with modern function,” said henry Wong at artistic Fab-ric (Pakistan), showing Inside Fashion denim that looked like classic Levi’s 501’s but had a very soft hand feel – perfect for today’s Boy-friend jeans.

at the same time, functional fabrics have started to decline, with mills telling us that these products were more of a marketing gimmick than a selling floor success.

although there continues to be innova-

tion in denim, there are bigger opportunities in Chinos, said mills.

arvind’s new Chino Jeans, a hybrid fabric that features a 2-ply yarn woven like a Chino was getting a lot of buyer attention. at Idea Blue, yarn-dyed solids were very hot, with the company saying that there was bigger demand for this than for denim. “There’s

less newness in denim right now so brands are moving to Chinos,” said Terry Kakutani at IdeaBlue (Japan).

another must-have is a soft hand. rigid or stretch, vintage or futuristic, today denim must have a super soft hand. Whether it’s achieved through using finer cotton, adding in Tencel or using special finishing treat-ments, skin-friendly has become as impor-tant as eco-friendly.

Be Unique sitting along side the vintage trend is a

new interest in traditional or heritage looks

that pull from ancient textile processes. Mills such as Tat Fung and arvind intro-duced products that modernized these pro-cesses so that they can be interpreted into mainstream market fabrics.

at Tat Fung, a paper-like coating that was inspired by a Chinese tribal technique that uses egg whites to create a semi-gloss finish that’s waterproof, durable and has a unique look.

arvind took traditional Indian Kadi and reinvented the process creating fabrics that have the look and feel of Kadi, but could be mass-produced.

Sustainability Continues to Gain Market Share

sustainability is no longer a denim novelty; it’s become a standard. so it was not surpris-ing that every mill has brought some element that touches on greener products into their collections. For most, this was the use of re-cycled yarns and/or reduced water and energy in the dyeing and finishing processes.

The challenge is that most brands still only use sustainable fabrics in a small part of their collections meaning that order sizes are small.

“We need the big volume orders to sup-port our sustainable initiatives. smaller or-ders have more wastage so they are less prof-

itable – and less eco-friendly,” said henry Wong at artistic Fabrics. “The volume is necessary to justify the investment in new technology and r&D.”

Business outlookWho can say whether the economy really

has improved, but mills were optimistic about the coming season with everyone saying that they expected business to be better.

Granted the mills we spoke with were those who were at the top of their game, bringing both innovation and achievable prices to the table. still, it’s a crowded mar-

ket with an increasing number of suppliers chasing a decreasing number of buyers.

The supply chain is still over saturated with production as mills and garment mak-ers continue to expand existing facilities and/or add capacity in new locations.

at the same time, retail sales remain slug-gish, and retailers are backed up with inven-tory, especially in the U.s. This has kept the focus on price since most retailers need to have the margins to be able to liquidate in-ventories through the big discounters, such as TJ Maxx, and still make money.

“The market is very tough. There’s a lot of price pressure with competition coming from China, but also Vietnam, India and Thailand,” said Terry Kakutani. “The mar-ket is polarized between either being very cheap or very high-end.”

Most agreed that a key driver was inter-national, high-end designers embracing den-im and bringing it into ready-to-wear col-lections, thus expanding denim’s footprint from jeans and casualwear.

While innovation and designer prefer-ences are essential to keeping the denim business healthy, that ever-unpredictable consumer sentiment remains the ultimate determining factor as to what sells at retail.

Jonathan Chen at a&a textile Co. Ltd. (taiwan)

Bassam arab at alroubaia textile Co. Fourtex (Egypt)

Emiliano Yeh at a&a textile Co.

Jayson Cheung and sam Chan at tat Fung textile (hong Kong)

tejal shah and Viresh Verma at arvind Ltd. (India)

terry Kakutani at IdeaBlue Ltd (Japan)

what’s new • Wool blended with polypropolene (the

same fiber as uniqlo’s Heat-tech uses) for extra warmth. (at 496 Fabric lab)

• Parafin coating on cotton (at Idea Blue)

• textural weaves that look like canvas (at Idea Blue)

• Heavier fabrics are coming back

• Reactive dyes are coming back

• uV sensitive fabric that reveal a pattern under uV light (at tat Fung)