Denim Insiders Describe the Future for Indigo Knits
Indigo-dyed knitwear may not be new, but the potential audience for these styles has grown during the pandemic as loungewear became the leading fashion.
More than ever, consumers are seeking out comfortable clothing. Indigo knitwear is stepping up to give consumers their denim fix in fabrications that allow for more ease. Even outside of Covid, indigo knitwear fits into consumers’ increasingly active lifestyles.
We asked some members of the denim community about indigo knits’ place in the future of denim.
Aamir Akhtar, CEO of Arvind Denim – India
“Indigo true knits is the next big thing in denim. This category truly addresses today’s consumer’s need of a flexible lifestyle—spanning loungewear, casualwear, sportswear and workwear.”
Adriano Goldschmied, founder of Genius Group – United States
“Indigo knits, especially as tops, have always been a secondary offer in the denim collections. Today, due to strong innovation in the fabric, indigo knits stand in a much stronger position and are competing to the traditional denim in the consumer wardrobe.
“As an indigo lover, I started in the ’80s to dip white T-shirts in indigo, and then I made bleached washes and discharge prints. However, after my intense frequentation of Japan and learning from their deep indigo culture, I started using yarn indigo dye knits that are much richer and more sophisticated. When I launched in Italy in the ’90s, my first AG collection all the sweatshirts and T-Shirts were in indigo.
“The big change came anyhow much later when we started to think about new fabrics in indigo designed to make jeans, bottoms and leggings. In 2015, I created a specific line of knit fabrics called In the Loop dedicated to bringing the knits into the jeans concept with the intention of creating a new segment as a bridge between athleisure and the traditional denim. In the line we’ve been developing a new generation of stretch fabrics with the diagonal look of denim but with an incomparable 360 degrees of stretchability. It was the birth of the indigo legging and jeans.
“At that point I was ready for the next step that is the era of comfort and loungewear. We’ve been using blends with TENCEL™, modal, hemp and organic and recycled cotton, the perfect fabrics for a casual look that is the appropriate answer to a market that makes the comfort and hand feeling as a first priority.
“It is clear that today the indigo knits have a very strong potential and are adding a new strong area of business. They bring a new kind of consumers to the big family of indigo lovers.”
Carme Santacruz, creative and denim designer at Jeanologia – Spain
“Indigo knits have been part of the culture of indigo, popular in Japan in its authentic version, we rediscovered them through the fashionable jog jeans. Now indigo knits can be the way of wearing denim in a locked down pandemic world where comfort and coziness drive the new essentials.
“The characteristic indigo fading finds new ways to express its authenticity and nostalgia through sustainable technological versions that allow us to enjoy their vintage splendor while reducing the environmental footprint in the garment finishing stages.”
Lucia Rosin, founder and head of design at Meidea – Italy
“Indigo knits is a fundamental part of denim’s future because it gives shape, through technology and sustainability, to a wider expression of products that help to live better.
“We have changed the way we live and move, both in the pre-pandemic period and now, after this strong impact that is changing our world. Wearing extremely flexible and performing clothing, which gives pleasant sensations and without constraints like knit garments can do, has become fundamental.
“Commuting, high adaptability to lifestyle, work from home and the request to live constantly in an active and sporty way are now emerging needs to be met. The indigo knit blends and transforms them all into a new blue code.”
Patrick Silva Szatkowski, marketing department at Santoni Spa – Italy
“Life has been changing and our needs as well. We are constantly looking for fine clothes which perform well in any time of the day, from the professional sphere to our active and social time.
“Knitted fabrics not only possess stretch and provide freedom of movement, but they also have good handle and are highly breathable. ‘Denim’ like knitted fabric combines the appearance of woven denim with the knitted structures’ characteristics such as flexibility, softness and comfort. These innovative indigo knitted fabrics are setting a new trend within the growing activewear market.”