Kingpins transformers

In response to buyers and brands seeking guidance on sustainable resources at Kingpins Shows, show organizers have announced “Kingpins’ Most Sustainable Products” – a new initiative that will objectively vet and identify the top sustainable offerings on the show floor and act as a guide for buyers and brands searching for valuable, reliable information regarding sustainable products.

NEW YORK (May 30, 2019) Interest in sustainable fashion has permeated the fashion industry from the supply chain through to consumers. A recent study shows that consumers are increasingly interested in fashion brands’ eco-friendly efforts - with 75% of consumers indicating they view sustainability as either extremely or very important to them. But designers and brands have little real-time guidance when they are developing their collections for future seasons about sustainable, transparent and environmentally-conscious products, new technologies and fabrications, and important developments made at the mill level.

“Kingpins’ Most Sustainable Products” (MSP) is Kingpins’ answer to the need for objective, reliable information that will allow brands and designers to develop truly sustainable offerings.

“We are often asked by buyers for help finding sustainable products or if we have ‘green’ pavilions or signage designating the ‘eco’ mills. While this is not how Kingpins Show operates, we understand that increasingly designers and brands are actively searching out sustainable products and trying to determine fact from marketing when making their fabric buys,” said Andrew Olah, founder of Kingpins Show. “At the same time, mills and garment makers are making great strides in sustainable production and products and would benefit from increased exposure of their efforts, developments and innovations.”

With Kingpins' MSP, Kingpins will create a vetted list of the 10 most sustainable products each season at Kingpins Amsterdam. Products for Kingpins MSP will be vetted by two denim industry experts, Miguel Sanchez and Paul Mailman. Sanchez is a textile engineer for the Polytechnic University of Catalonia and a 30-year veteran of the denim industry. Mailman has 40 years of textile industry experience, ranging from physical property testing, brand technical support, QA, QC, product development and research through to logistics.

“The goal is to give designers insightful and actionable information regarding sustainable products,” Olah said. “The happy by-product for mills is the exposure and validation of their products on the list, which will be shared with the entire Kingpins Show audience in a report that will be completed after each Kingpins Amsterdam show and shared via newsletter with the media and all Kingpins Show attendees.”

The Kingpins' Most Sustainable Products list for Fall/Winter 2020 can be found here.

For more information, please contact erin@kingpinsshow.com.


About Kingpins The Kingpins Show is an invitation-only, boutique denim sourcing show featuring a highly-edited selection of vendors that include denim and sportswear fabric mills from the U.S., Japan, China, India, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, Pakistan, Thailand, Spain and Mexico; wash houses; full package manufacturers; trim providers; and makers of technology, wash chemicals and business solutions. Kingpins, which launched in 2004, produces biannual shows in New York and Amsterdam, as well as annual shows in Hong Kong and China.