Textile Insight

textileinsight.com January/February 2018 ~ Textile Insight • 33 – tech vs. handcrafts – so, too are the approaches to denim's environmental responsibility. For example, Bluesign participation in 2017 Kingpins gatherings, in addition to exhibiting at Blue one at the Munich Denim fair, is an indication of the Swiss company's interest outside traditional outdoor, where Bluesign has a strong foothold. CEO Jill Dumain sees growth opportunities within the denim market, and is energizing company efforts to get the fashion industry involved in Bluesign certification. A new Bluesign partner is Anubha Industries, a specialist for denim and advanced fabric solutions based in Surat, India. Exhibiting at Kingpins NYC, Anubha managing director Aditya Goyal explained his company's mission to take sustainability seriously. "It's not just the design of the facility, but the chemistry used. It's about processes and production and also cleaner chemistry," explains Goyal. The development of an input stream management in the production process will help Anubha achieve standards for an environmentally friendly, safe production. "Denim sourcing teams understand that they can't ignore environmentally responsible practices in denim," Goyal states. "Some brands have understood this for years, but more companies are starting to believe that product has to be sustainable. Denim is inline with that." Sustainability is also playing out as digital printing enters denim. "There is a lot of waste reduction with our technology," says Adrian Peirse, director of Hong Kong-based Intech Digital Technology. At Kingpins NYC, the Intech booth drew interest for printed product — some of which looked just like denim despite being made of silk, linen and/or fiber blends. The company promotes a "Zero-D" solution that "eliminates the wasteful polluting dye printed products, as well as customized speed to market manufacturing." According to Peirse, the company can create printed fabric to make 1,000 pair of jeans per day. A video of the company's process can be viewed online at this link: bit.ly/2A32Ejq New digital tech that combines customization with cost effectiveness continues to emerge on the product development side as well as digital printing. Kingpins exhibitor MYR is a new software that serves as digital portal connecting all the players in the denim supply chain and as such provides information to create tailor-made looks on denim garments. According to company representatives, the versatile program allows users and suppliers to exchange ideas and streamline the sampling process for greater efficiency and less waste. O Colorful workwear is a strong trend for the season ahead. Solving Denim Dilemmas INVISTA: Fit, comfort and appearance are the most important factors when purchasing a pair of jeans according to a comprehensive market research survey conducted by Invista, a study that identified product dilemmas, shopping dilemmas and communication dilemmas associated with denim. According to Invista's Jean Hegedus, global segment director denim & wovens, a successful solution was found in Lycra dualFX jeans and a promotional campaign in partnership with online resource Who What Wear. "The goal was to introduce Lycra dualFX to millennial women who typically spend two hours a week researching product and trend, and are avid shoppers," said Hegedus. The multi-element campaign included strategic content, videos and get- ting the audience involved in "co-creation" of product. Highlights to date include: over 28 million impressions overall; over 6 million video impressions; more than 1.5 million impressions for the Curated Shop and over 53,000 social engagements. Lycra dualFX was introduced in denim six years ago, born out of the super stretch trend and Invista's investment in making a good quality, high-stretch product that offered the stretch of Lycra and the recovery of T400. "This recent effort pulled it all together and made a clear and concise message to this target audience," said Hegedus. O

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