Sneak Preview: What’s New for Autumn/Winter 2018-19
A new season brings fresh indigo ideas, creative concepts and next level of innovation.
Mills are preparing to debut their Autumn/Winter 2018-19 collections at Kingpins Amsterdam (April 19-20), Denim Première Vision in Paris (April 26-27) and Kingpins New York ( May 10-11), enhancing familiar concepts like sportswear and sustainability with new technology and insight gleaned from research, testing and collaboration.
In some ways these innovations are season-less, with mills looking for ways to satisfy designers’ demand for lightweight, drapey fabrications into fall, durable denim that lasts for seasons and Future Black denim that never fades out of fashion.
Here’s a preview of some of the key stories for Autumn/Winter 2018-19.
Blended Family
Soorty set out to create “second skin silhouettes” that blur the border between sportswear and casualwear with Denim Active. Garments in the capsule collection are light and allow ease of movement, while reflective tapes are designed for wearer’s safety. The collection features lightweight bi-stretch fabrications made with performance and sustainable components like TENCEL® branded lyocell fibers, Coolmax® EcoMade, Coolmax® All Season and Thermolite® IR.
Prosperity Textile is tackling cold weather months with TENCEL® fibers and wool blends, offering an ultra warmth and rich hand feel. Bossa aims for coziness by applying special mechanical techniques to fabrics made with TENCEL® fibers nd Lenzing Modal® fibers.
Global Denim is rolling out 12 new fabrics in its new RealSoft category, a range of fabrics with TENCEL® fibers their construction. The materials offer a lighter feeling on the body and excellent drape. Orta’s solution for soft drape denim is Soft Tone. Designed with a premium denim character that combines touch appeal and mobility, the line includes SoftTouch power stretch with Lenzing Modal® fibers and modern authentic looks with TENCEL® lyocell fibers.
Blends with linen add seasonless texture and drape . For a classic blend of TENCEL® fibers and linen, Bens Mode has a range of lightweights in patterns and textures. Nien Hsing mixes their fabrics up with TENCEL® fibers, linen, spandex blends.
The unique fiber composition of the “Boho Collection” from Imatex is specially developed by the team of technicians and designers in Italy. The Imatex team studied the options and realized the optimal construction fabrics is based on 100% TENCEL® fibers in the warp woven with special recycled yarns in the weft.
Hyper stretch fabrics with Dyneema and TENCEL® fibers in one of Soorty’s newest “blending experiences.” Dyneema takes stretch fabrication to a new realm with its fiber that is 15-times stronger than steel.
Others mills, including Artistic Milliners, Cone Denim, Advance Denim and Kipas, are tapping Cordura® branded fibers for strong and durable denim. The mills are diversifying their offering by blending Cordura® and TENCEL® fibers for softness. Tavemex North America is developing fabrics with resistance to the abrasion by incorporating ceramic finishes and steel yarn.
Sustainable Special
Twin Dragon complements its investment in eco-friendly fibers, such as TENCEL® fibers and their own trademarked Forever Black ®, with the launch of pre-reduced Liquid Indigo and Eco-Finishing. When used together, the mill states there is a reduction of environmentally hazardous chemical discharge by 85 percent.
Santanderina continues its use of Lenzing’s Refibra™ branded lyocell fibers, the first cellulose fiber utilizing post-industrial cotton waste for pulp on a commercial scale. The mill describes Refibra™ fibers as a combination of “the best of two worlds” and says it is “one of the most ecological wood-based fabrics on the planet while reducing waste ”
Proving sustainability and performance can cohabitate, Prosperity has developed fabrications with a new warp that blends high quality combed cotton yarn and TENCEL® fibers, and a weft made with dual-core stretch made with eco-friendly Repreve®. The mill reports that the elongation performance is over 40 percent, allowing extra freedom of movement.
In keeping with its sustainable DNA, Soorty recently developed Zero Water Herbal Blue, a dyeing and finishing process that reduces water usage up to 90 percent. The process consists of organic cotton, recycled polyester, TENCEL® fibers and natural indigo.
Meanwhile, Global Denim is introducing a new water-saving dyeing process called Ecolojean. The technology requires zero water in the dyeing process, and ensures that 100 percent of the dye stays in the yarn. Ecolojean also requires less dye consumption, less energy and less CO2 footprint to the environment.
Back to Black: Future Black
Black denim returns with a bang for Autumn/Winter 2018-19 as a concept we call Future Black using dope dyed Lenzing Modal® BLACK fibers.
ADM rounds out its selection of ProModal® branded fibers in performance denim with Lenzing Modal® BLACK fibers. Soorty’s collection also includes high stretch fabrication made with up to 88 percent of Lenzing Modal® BLACK fibers.
Tavemex North America aims to develop soft and light fabric with a denim appearance with Lenzing Modal® BLACK fiber. The mill will also launch a new ready-to-dye collection to be optical bleached and dyed in trendy colors like burgundy, olive and camel.
Additionally Prosperity touts new fabrics with Lenzing Modal® BLACK fibers. Consumers will enjoy the softness of the jeans, and will benefit from the components’ super color retention performance.
Royo is banking on Lenzing Modal® BLACK fibers to enhance two collections of fabrics: Mesu and Stretchmax. Royo’s Mesu family uses TENCEL® fibers to obtain soft and silky sensation fabrics intended for unisex fashion. Stretchmax features blends of Lenzing Modal® fibers and cotton to achieve the desired stretch effect with low shrinkage values. The mill is also planning to expand its use of Lenzing Modal® BLACK fibers with a new range of intense black sportswear slated to launch in July.