Kingpins Celebrates 10-Year Anniversary in Amsterdam with Fashion Show, New Initiatives and Updated Show Floorplan
Top denim brands, manufacturers, mills and suppliers attended the trade show at SugarFactory
NEW YORK | November 2024 | Kingpins Show, the original jeans supply chain sourcing event and global denim platform, drew nearly 1,200 attendees from more than 550 international companies to its Kingpins Amsterdam show, held October 23-24 at SugarFactory.
Among the attendees were representatives from brands and retailers including Bestseller, Inditex, Givenchy, Levi’s, American Eagle Outfitters, Hugo Boss, Ganni, Esprit, PVH, Mexx, Kings of Indigo, Mudd Jeans, Tommy Hilfiger, Big Star Jeans, ASOS, Macy’s, Gap, Good American, Calvin Klein, Triarchy, Target and Free People.
This year marks the 10th anniversary since the first Kingpins Amsterdam show and to celebrate, show organizers kicked off the opening night party with a spirited marching band and a traveling fashion show that paraded through the showfloor leading exhibitors and guests to the Happy Hour party on the second floor.
The fashion show featured designs from among the show’s exhibitors, including AGI Denim, Naveena – NDL, Neela by Sapphire Fibre, Raymond UCO Denim, SM Denim Mills, Denim Privé, Artmill, Tonello, Dinghui Fashion, M&J Group, Guangzhou Winwin Textile, Vicunha, Lucky Textiles Group and ISKO.
“The theme of Kingpins Amsterdam was ‘reflection,’”said Vivian Wang, Kingpins’ Managing Director & Head of Global Sales. “2024 was a double anniversary for Kingpins. In addition to our 10th anniversary in Amsterdam, we celebrated our 20th anniversary in New York earlier this year. As a result, we spent much of the year reflecting about our history and all the people in our denim community who have been on this journey with us. It was gratifying to have the community in Amsterdam to celebrate with us as we prepare for Kingpins’ next chapter. And we’re grateful to have many of our exhibitors supporting the denim community through sponsorship, enhancing the show and making it even more meaningful.”
This season, a reconfigured floor plan brought seminars, food vendors, workshops and initiatives to the second floor of the former sugar factory. The first floor of the industrial space included all 120 international exhibitors from across the denim supply chain.
The show also featured a slate of Denim Talks seminars, workshops and initiatives designed to educate, inform and inspire, including Planet Indigo Workshop, a natural dyeing tutorial and workshop hosted by Panther Denim x Shiuse.
The Denim Talks seminars spanned a wide range of topics including trend and inspirational subjects, such as “Key Pieces from Inspiring Wardrobes,” curated by Douglas Gunn, owner of The Vintage Showroom, and a Spring/Summer 2026 denim trend presentation by Denim Dudes’ Shannon Reddy.
On the more-technical side, Juan Manuel Gomez, Creative Leader of R&D for Officina39 / Pelco – Prointex, discussed innovative wash and finishing developments in “Creative Washes Past & Future,” while Sebla Onder, Marketing & Sustainability Manager for Orta, discussed “Innovative Materials – From the Lab to the Loom,” with a panel of textile industry experts.
There was plenty of inspiration to be found In The Boxes, Kingpins’ installation space for creative collaboration, including Mushroom Rodeo, curated by AGI Denim and Evocative, which explored the creative possibilities of pairing denim with mushroom leather; and Artful Weave, an immersive space created by Isko Luxury by PG, that showcased the interaction between art, fashion and music.
Scattered throughout the two-floor SugarFactory space were opportunities to explore, learn and celebrate. Among them, Most Sustainable Product, Kingpins’ initiative highlighting the cutting-edge sustainable products and processes from show exhibitors, and One Denim, Kingpins’ look at the wide scope of design that can be achieved with a single fabrication.
Arvind brought a piece from the Arvind Indigo Museum. “Indigo Fragmented Crack,” a sculptural work in blue and gold, was on display at the entrance to the show.
Textile finishing technology company Jeanologia, celebrated its 25-year history with “The Light Revolution,” an interactive installation exploring the history of denim finishing with lasers.
DOWNLOAD PHOTOS FROM THE SHOW HERE
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.
In 2023, Messe Frankfurt became a shareholder in Kingpins. Under the agreement with the 800-year-old trade show organizer, Kingpins continues to operate independently as a platform for the industry to meet, network and share information and insights.
