The SKINNY on Jeans

Supply Chain-Wide Denim Innovation on Display at 2025 Kingpins Shows

By Adrian Wilson, International Correspondent, IFJ

As a unique series of shows dedicated to the denim industry, Kingpins rotates annually between Europe, the USA and Asia, and in 2025 to date, editions have already taken place at New York’s Pier 36/Basketball City in January and July, at the Sugar Factory in Amsterdam in April and at ADM More in Hangzhou, China, in May.

There is a special ‘extended family’ feel to these events, despite the fact that the denim business is in reality fiercely competitive and faces inevitable headaches in 2025, not least from the latest market chaos being unleashed by fluctuating tariffs.

Made in Japan

The 2025 shows have so far been characterized by some inspiring displays, such as Made in Japan, featuring a mix of artisans, denim mills, and manufacturers, including Betty Smith, Big John, ICE, Ideablue, Japan Delivery Service, Kurabo, Kuroki, Rainbow Textiles, San Marino, Showa, and Teijin Frontier.

“Japanese denim has been central to Kingpins since our very first show in 2004,” says Kingpins CEO Vivian Wang. “We especially appreciate the quality and craftsmanship of Japanese denim fabric and jeans makers and have created a special section within the Kingpins shows to highlight the work of a curated selection of companies.”

Stretch Yourself

Seven of the world’s most progressive denim mills, meanwhile, provided the advanced denim fabrics for the Stretch Yourself showcase – a design exploration project by 30 fashion students at the House of Denim Foundation’s Jean School in Amsterdam – the first and only denim educational institution in the world – in cooperation with The Lycra Company.

“What excited me about this project was that we started with an educational segment on sustainability and innovation involving all the mills and kept it open for the students to design whatever they felt like,” said Mariette Hoitink, co-founder of the House of Denim. “The mills provided the students with super special fabrics, and the students worked day and night to come up with the final results and took an unexpected take on stretch denim.”

Application Innovation

As far as fibers are concerned, cotton remains king in denim production, but the major mills have thoroughly explored all other natural and synthetic fibers.

Lenzing’s Tencel, for example, is increasingly finding favor for additional soft hand feel. At recent Kingpins shows, Lenzing Hong Kong featured its Application Innovation Collection 25, developed with mill partners and featuring the versatility of Tencel, Modal and Ecovero fibers in a wide range of denim styles.

Lenzing Modal was also employed in combination with Recover’s regenerated cottons in the Neela circular denim collection of Sapphire Fibers.

For this collection, a zero-dyeing approach was made possible by Recover’s embedded fiber technology, which has achieved rich denim shades of blue and black without the use of indigo rope dyeing. Unlike conventional denim, which requires extensive washing to achieve the desired finishes, these fabrics eliminate the need for additional laundry processes, significantly conserving water and energy while preserving the core denim aesthetic.

Alternatives to Spandex

In 2025, denim is also inconceivable without a degree of stretch; but it’s well known that conventional elastane/spandex can be problematic when it comes to recycling and also when seeking to meet bio-based objectives. The three key manufacturers of stretch fibers – Asahi Kasei, Hyosung and Lycra – are all responding to this problem with new alternatives.

Lenzing’s fibers also featured in the Saisei Collection, developed by Japanese brand Kaihara Denim, which incorporates Asahi Kasei’s Roica EF recycled stretch fibers. Meanwhile, China’s Advance Denim introduced the LoopTy collection, combining Tencel with Roica V550.

Developed with a special polymer technology that undergoes partial degradation under ISO14855-1 conditions, Roica V550 is the world’s first Cradle-toCradle certified stretch yarn with Material Health Gold Level certification.

Lycra EcoMade

Meanwhile, The Lycra Company’s EcoMade fiber is set to launch commercially later this year. It was exhibited in the first pair of jeans produced for the US Agolde brand by Turkish manufacturer Orta.

Sourced from annually renewable dent corn from Iowa, EcoMade is composed of 70% renewable content and has the potential to reduce the carbon footprint of Lycra fiber by up to 44% while delivering equivalent performance to the original Lycra fiber. It is a one-to-one replacement requiring no re-engineering of fabrics, processes, or garment patterns.

“We pioneered Lycra fiber 65 years ago, and this marks the most significant advancement since its inception,” said Arnaud Ruffin, vice president of brands and retail at The Lycra Company. “The denim industry has already made strides toward sustainability with solutions for cotton and polyester. Now we are extending that progress to spandex. While we developed this technology a decade ago, the market wasn’t ready. But as the industry embraces circularity, the time for action is now.

Sourced from annually renewable dent corn from Iowa, EcoMade is composed of 70% renewable content and has the potential to reduce the carbon footprint of Lycra fiber by up to 44% while delivering equivalent performance to the original Lycra fiber.

“It is compatible with all existing production technologies and, most importantly, offers full traceability from the field to the finished product. Our goal is to transition 30% of our global Lycra fiber production to Lycra EcoMade,” said Ruffin.

The 7 Styles for 7 Days project at Kingpins events has showcased how stretch denim made with bio-derived Lycra EcoMade fiber can transform wardrobes throughout the week, and was realized in collaboration with Diamond Denim.

Future Fit

In the Future Fit Forum displays at Kingpins this year, Hyosung presented its multi-functional Creora and regen elastanes in denim creations from mill partners, primarily based on regenerated Levi 501s.

New regen BIO+ and regen BIO Max are both made with a higher amount of renewable resource content. At the same time, Creora 3D Max is an RCS-certified, 100% recycled regen elastane made from industrial waste.

“Brands take various paths toward sustainability, utilizing recycled and bio-based materials or designing recyclable products and providing customized solutions that meet their specific requirements is essential,” said Simon Hong, Hyosung’s global denim marketing director.

Double Finishing

It’s little acknowledged that denim garments have become increasingly technical products over the years, because unlike most other apparel, they are extensively finished twice – firstly as fabrics, and then after being turned into finished garments – in processes that are mainly unique to the sector.

Advanced denim laundries employ a unique set of technologies to create a wide range of surface design effects on already cut and sewn garments.

When they leave the sewing factory, denim garments are stiff, deep indigo and lacking the visual effects such as fading, whiskering or distressing that most consumers now associate with fashionable jeans. The laundry’s job is to simulate natural wear and tear, soften the fabric and sometimes adjust the sizing, shrinkage or color tone.

Desizing

This treatment typically begins with desizing, which removes the starch and other finishes used during weaving and garment construction. It is an essential preparatory step that opens the fabric structure, allowing further treatments to be more effective. Following this, enzyme washes are often employed involving cellulase enzymes that digest the cotton’s surface fibers in a more controlled and environmentally friendly manner.

Next comes bleaching or fading, which lightens the color of the denim and creates contrast using chemical bleaches such as sodium hypochlorite or potassium permanganate. However, more modern laundries increasingly favor ozone and laser technologies, which reduce water usage and chemical waste.

pattern, from realistic wear zones to logos and complex graphics, allowing for mass customization without the inconsistencies of manual labor.

Major denim brands are widely adopting laser technology, and it is again supplied primarily by Jeanologia and Tonello, both of whom continuously improve their laser hardware and software capabilities.

Ozone Fading

Ozone technology, pioneered by Jeanologia, headquartered in Valencia, Spain, and Tonello, of Sarcedo, Italy, uses oxygen molecules to oxidize the dye on the fabric surface. The denim garments are placed in a closed chamber where ozone gas is introduced. The gas reacts with the indigo dye, lightening it to achieve various fade levels and wash-down effects.

This process drastically reduces water and chemical use with minimal energy consumption and no hazardous byproducts, since the ozone decomposes into oxygen.

Laser Finishing

Lasers can meanwhile etch patterns such as whiskers, honeycombs, or other fade lines onto the fabric with great precision and consistency, mimicking the look of naturally aged jeans.

The high-energy lasers, guided by computer-controlled software, burn away the top layer of indigo dye on the fabric. The laser can be programmed to etch any

At 2025 Kingpins shows, Tonello’s Renaissance Collection has demonstrated the extraordinary detailing possible with modern laser technology in replicating the designs of Italy’s Old Masters on denim garments.

Craftsmanship

“Everyone owns at least one pair of jeans, but many outside the industry don’t realize the level of innovation, craftsmanship and technology behind them,” says Vivian Wang. “Kingpins doesn’t really operate like a traditional trade show. We draw a mix of big retailers and brands, as well as contemporary and designer labels and people across the entire supply chain. We’re a platform for the industry to meet, get inspired and learn.”

Adrian Wilson is an international correspondent for International Fiber Journal . He is a leading journalist covering fiber, filtration, nonwovens and technical textiles. He can be reached at adawilson@gmail.com.