California Apparel News

At next week’s Kingpins Amsterdam—the denim trade show that runs Oct. 24–25—attendees will see the unveiling of a new collaboration between global textile company Lenzing of Austria and Los Angeles designer Pawan Kumar.

While a preview of key women’s pieces from the collection was held during Couture Fashion Week in New York during September, this is the first time the entire 25-piece women’s and men’s Midnight Blues collection from the New Miuz designer will be seen.

Lenzing’s Tricia Carey, who is the director of global business development—denim, partnered with Kumar to design clothing that would showcase the potential of the company’s Tencel Lyocell with Refibra technology.

“We wanted to carry through the story of sustainability from fiber to factory,” Carey explained as she discussed the Refibra fiber, which is made from post-industrial cotton waste. “Pawan did the designs, and we used Saitex as a manufacturing partner because of their strong belief around sustainability.”

Tapping into the artistic talents of the emerging designer from Los Angeles—who was raised in Mauritius—and a responsible manufacturing partner based in Vietnam, Lenzing drew together a global team for its latest capsule collection. Beyond the collection’s denim, for which fiber is sourced from facilities in the United States, the United Kingdom or Austria, the reach of the project expanded into a larger worldwide initiative to create dresses, T-shirts, sweaters and jackets.

In addition to its core denim pieces, Midnight Blues’ complementary wovens and knits were produced through a network of mills that included Artistic Denim Mills and Artistic Milliners in Pakistan; Orta and Barutcu inTurkey; Blue Diamond and Prosperity in China; Candiani in Italy; Cone Denim inMexico; Hallotex, Tejidos Royo and Textil Santanderina inSpain; and Tintex in Portugal.

Long before Midnight Blues was designed, Carey met Kumar during his time working with Spanish apparel manufacturing–technology firm Jeanologia. At the time, Carey had admired a work of art displayed on one of the company’s walls, which was created by the clothing designer.

“Pawan has a very interesting background. He was born in Mauritius, trained in Spain and now works in the U.S.,” Carey said. “To bring together his connection and vision from Mauritius to create Midnight Blues came off really well.”

While he understands the technical aspects of recent innovations in textiles, Kumar is also able to interpret his vision into a collection that allows the characteristics of Lenzing’s material to shine through.

Inspired by the rich indigo shades of Mauritius’s sky, he sought to elevate the Refibra brand by creating strong, beautifully crafted pieces, which include an impressive spaghetti-strap, sweetheart-neckline indigo gown whose skirt features eight layers of pleating.

“Instead of going for a casual look, I used a clean, sophisticated denim wash in order to enhance the beauty of the Refibra denim,” he said. “I used different shades of indigo but also added some sparkle to add more richness to the Tencel fabric.”

Within the Midnight Blues collection, there exist three distinctive themes—“Floral Enigma,” “Textured Blue” and “Timeless Stripes.” While the hues that appear in the collection were inspired by the colors of Mauritius, the designer admits that living in Los Angeles for nearly three years has influenced the intricate work of his pieces.

“Being in L.A., which can be called a ‘denim city,’ allowed me to learn more about the design aesthetic of America and what people really like here,” he revealed. “I have a global vision and design aesthetic, but being here helps me to diversify further.”

It is the designer’s global design aesthetic that has yielded a new look in Refibra, adding another facet to Lenzing’s technology. Through this collaboration, Refibra has been lifted up to a new level of fashion that expands the potential for this product, which was introduced in February 2017.

“Some of the showcased pieces, like the dress with the pleating, were pushing it to new areas,” Carey said. “We’ve done pleated before, but I don’t know if we’ve done indigo fabric in that way.”

In addition to the women’s pieces, Carey also sees potential for this collection to increase the possibilities for the men’s Tencel denim market.

“Some of the men’s pieces show where the market is now for menswear,” she said. “Men also want a touch of softness without the clothing being drape-y.”

Building upon the important work of established designers is important at Lenzing as it looks toward the future. For Carey, the collaboration with Kumar represents the artistic, technical work of the next generation of designers, but she continues to connect with the past.

“Our last capsule that we did with Refibra was with Adriano Goldschmeid. I loved working with him from a heritage standpoint in denim,” she said. “Working with Pawan, he is bringing in a lot of new ideas, and when you see this next generation of designers coming into market it’s very refreshing.”

As he prepares for the first Kingpins event, where he will show his own work rather than admiring the collections of other designers, Kumar is proud to debut under his partnership with Lenzing.

“The only way to survive is to move. We wanted to show that we are moving forward,” he said. “I am getting the opportunity to show my designs under the Carved In Blue label with Tricia, so it’s a big step for me.”

The collection was developed as a concept capsule, but Kumar will consider special orders for pieces from the line, which is priced from $350 to $3,000.