At Kingpins L.A., It's All About Stretch
Boutique denim sourcing show Kingpins continued its global trek with its opening in Los Angeles on July 26, after shows in New York, New Delhi and Hong Kong earlier this year. The trade show featured 28 exhibitors from around the world at L.A. Production Studios on the outskirts of the Fashion District. Vendors included denim mills and fiber companies Kurabo, Rainbow Textiles and Qian Jin.
“These shows are about people having a chance to meet people,” Kingpins founder Andrew Olah said. “We have buyers and suppliers from all over the world—U.S., and Mexico, and Pakistan, and China.”
Brad Mowry, West Coast managing director for Olah Inc., said organizers and exhibitors were pleased with the turnout at the Los Angeles show.
“All the key brands in L.A. have shown up,” he said.
First -time Kingpins L.A. exhibitor Raul Bermell, a sales representative for Karachi-based denim mill Soorty, said business had been “a little busier” at Kingpins New York last week but added that he wasn’t sure if it was because he’s new to Los Angeles.
Bermell said interest in his “power stretch” denim was strong and buyers were drawn to it, especially for women’s jeggings.
Dollen Yah, general manager for Taiwan-based A&A Textile—a denim mill that sells to Jones New York, Armani Exchange, Club Monaco and Esprit—said his super-stretch denim was also popular, along with colored denim and fabrics with metallic sheen.
Margaret Li of Taiwan-based Full Blossom echoed these sentiments, saying that buyers were most interested in her super-stretch denim, fabrics with sheen and colored denim. Li also showed at Kingpins in New York, where most of her accounts are located. She said business is rebounding after the cottonpricing scare, but buyers are still cautious.
“Customers hesitate because they don’t know if cotton is going to go further down,” she said.
Cindy Bellamy, vice president of Karachi-based denim mill Artistic Milliners—which provides fabric for Gap Inc., Zara and Levi Strauss & Co. and full-garment packages for H&M and Zara—said new combinations such as Invista’s DualFX fabric, made from Lycra and T400, does well with buyers because they are great for strength, growth and recovery so “jeans don’t bag at the knees.”
“We’re getting a really good reaction because I would say, overall, we’re seeing companies are becoming much more concerned about recovery,” Jean Hegedus, global marketing director for Invista, said. “With superstretch fabrics, when you get to 30, 40, 50 percent stretch in a fabric, one of the big issues you run into is growth—you know, bag and sag. When you’re stretching the fiber out that much, over time, it tends to lose its ability to recover, so T400 fiber is really, really great at recovering—but it doesn’t stretch that much. By combining the two of them together, you’re getting the best of both worlds —the stretch of [traditional] Lycra and the recovery of the T400.”
New fibers and blends
In addition to maximum-stretch denim, colored denim and fabrics with sheen garnering interest, many exhibitors said blended fabrics were also popular.
“We’ve had great response on new fibers and fiber blends,” Mowry said. ProModal, Lenzing’s hybrid between its Tencel and Modal fibers, has proven to be a big hit, as well as S-Cube, a new stretch innovation.
Jose Otario de Souza of Vichunha, Latin America’s largest denim manufacturer, said his vintage leather denim, first launched at Kingpins in January, continued to be his most popular fabric. Brands such as Calvin Klein Brazil have incorporated it into their collection, he said.
“We import resin from Italy that has been specially developed for the vintage leather denim. You can use it in the summertime, and it breathes normally; it gives you comfort,” de Souza said.
This was de Sousa’s second Kingpins show, and although he acknowledged that traffic was stronger at the January show, he said he was pleased with the response this season.
“It has been a good decision to come to Kingpins because they can put you in contact with main American brands, especially those manufactured in the U.S.,” he said. “Kingpins has always brought very good results to us and the companies we talk to.”
