California Apparel News

The vibe was decidedly cool at the invitation-only Kingpins New York held Jan. 22–23 at Pier 36 / Basketball City on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. The premier high-end denim show was celebrating its 21st year, drawing a crème de la crème crowd that braved extremely frigid weather to see the vetted global exhibitors and their latest offerings and innovations for denim. Visitors were greeted with unique eye-catching installations showcasing concepts including the Tonello Denim Renaissance: The Art of Italian Luxury bridging Italy’s luxury heritage with Tonello’s state-of-the-art technology. A group of emerging Hong Kong designers from The Hong Kong Design Institute and key pieces from Inspiring Wardrobes Around the World included the Future Fit Forum supported by Creora by Hyosung TNC—a curated display and discussion on what fits might look like in the future.

Attendee brands and retailers included Alexander Wang, Carhartt, Coach, Everlane, J. Crew, Karl Lagerfeld, Kontoor Brands, Macy’s, Marc Jacobs, Michael Kors, Ralph Lauren, Scotch and Soda, Supreme, Reformation, Tory Burch, Urban Outfitters and Brooklyn, N.Y.– based J. Mclaughlin, an omni-channel retailer that sells through its own 180 stores nationally and online. Said Alex Casertano, V.P. of menswear for J. Mclaughlin, “I wanted to learn more about denim—it’s a very specific category and there’s a lot of nuances to it, and[Kingpin’s] has great educational lectures and great non-mill resources.”

Fiber makers, textile mills showcase innovation

With sustainability being the top concern in the denim industry, it was exciting to see the innovative materials and finishes being used across the board with denim infused with pineapple, mushroom and a new raw corn material in regen BIO spandex from Pakistan-based Creora by Hyosung TNC. “We’re the only company in the world making 100 percent recycled spandex for denim,” said Arsalan Mazhhar, regional development & marketing manager for Creora.

Turkish fabric mill Bossa was celebrating 73 years showing its denim fabrics from rigid, comfort and power stretch to corduroy in cotton, lyocell, Tencel and for dyeing, prepared PFD white fabrics and shirting. “This is a very good show for us.We’re in the U.S. market 10 years and 5 years at Kingpins,” said Burcu Ozek, Bossa sales manager, USA.

Pakistan-based Artistic Millners, with a presence in Los Angeles, Dubai and now Mexico, provides a complete vertical setup starting with fibers and produces 11,000 meters of fabric a month and 4 million jeans a month. The company was excited to display new technologies including Tencel 2.2, which looks like linen but feels like Tencel. It also had six different lifestyle capsules and technologies including its Shogun collaboration with a Japanese designer. “It was a coincidence when we launched Shogun. The TV show was peaking at the same time and people were very excited and it gave more relevance to the capsule,” said Baber Sultan, director, product & research development for Artistic Milliners. 

Cary, N.C.–based not-for-profit Cotton Incorporated is dedicated to increasing the demand and profitability of cotton through research and promotion. As a natural, circular fiber, cotton is an optimal choice for apparel and home goods. “We bring cotton to brands and retailers within the supply chain, letting them explore a variety of inspirational fabrics that we create on-site. They can then take the fabric recipes and work with their supply chain to replicate them,” said Jennifer Lukowiak, director of supply-chain marketing at Cotton Incorporated.

“Every season we try to impress or inspire our brands to push and do something a little more across the lines both on the denim authentic side and the performance side, from mainline to ISKO Luxury by PG, a special capsule collection designed by Paolo Gnutti,” said Massimo Callegari, U.S. sales manager for ISKO. Callegari added that one of the latest innovations is the Multi Touch, where they’re able to fix the fabric in whatever shape and with embossing just by cooking the fabric at high temperature so there’s no need for extra application or paper on the back.

Coming soon, the Denim Institute & Museum made its debut at Kingpins with a visually stimulating Denim Archives. The Los Angeles– based non-profit school, museum and event space is slated to open in the Los Angeles Fashion District in 2026.

“Big sales are important, but the first page of the Kingpins handbook says, ‘love what you do, do what you love.’ This is what I want people to take away with them, perhaps a piece of information, a friendship, an order,” said Vivian Wang, managing director for Kingpins.