Blue Cast: Endrime’s Mohsin Sajid Shares Impressions of Kingpins
Kingpins Show returned in-person for the first time in over two years this April. We enjoyed getting back to Amsterdam to see friends again, and the city provided a great backdrop for a busy weekend of denim exploration.
To reflect on the Kingpins experience, Tricia Carey chatted with denim consultant Mohsin Sajid on the latest episode of Blue Cast. Over the course of his career, Mohsin has moved from working at Oki-Ni designing for brands like Levi’s Japan to being a denim design consultant for labels and retailers like Abercrombie & Fitch, Zara, Primark and Guess. He more recently has shifted his focus upstream from brands to mills. “It’s been a lot more enjoyable designing and developing fabrics that would influence the market,” he said.
During Kingpins, both TENCEL™ Denim and Mohsin’s studio Endrime—which he runs alongside his wife Sadia Rafique—had a lot to present to attendees. “We had a lot that we did over the past two-and-a-half years that we could finally show to everyone in person,” said Tricia.
One of TENCEL™’s featured collections was our Bast Recast creations that mix hemp and lyocell. Endrime led the design for the project, from garment development to branding. “Over Covid, you couldn’t really see the fabric. So it’s the first time for a lot of people to see those TENCEL™ lyocell and hemp innovations,” said Mohsin.
Endrime also delivered a small yet impactful design by creating a TENCEL™ mini jean jacket, which Tricia noted was a “big hit.” This miniature topper joins the TENCEL™ mini jeans, creating a tiny Canadian tuxedo.
In addition to Bast Recast, Endrime was part of collaborations with Cone Denim and Naveena Denim Mills that were featured at the show.
With Cone, the studio developed a zero-waste concept that used TENCEL™ and hemp. The styles developed include touches like screw-on buttons.
NDM tapped Endrime for Future Cellulosic, a workwear line using TENCEL™ and cotton. At Denim Days after Kingpins, NDM and Endrime hosted an art workshop that used denim as the canvas.
With 2021 launches including TENCEL™ Modal with Indigo Color technology and matte TENCEL™, Kingpins marked the first time that Lenzing was able to physically show these innovations. Tricia also enjoyed seeing how mills were using fibers like TENCEL™ x REFIBRA™ in their collections, and how these materials were explained. “This education element that’s been harder to do virtually, that’s what you get by being in person,” she noted.
During the episode, Carved in Blue also asked industry figures including Adam Taubenfligel from Triarchy and Dion Vijgeboom from Mud Jeans to share their thoughts on Kingpins.
As designer Miles Johnson put it, “I feel like I’m at a party.” We couldn’t agree more.
Listen to the episode here.