Enrico Forin of Advance Denim on Athleisure, Premium Denim and Chinese Manufacturing
Enrico Forin, development and marketing manager at Advance Denim, has a double perspective on denim: he works for a mill based in China, a growing location for denim manufacturing, but lives in Amsterdam, one of the top sources of denim culture and trends.
In the 25 years Forin has been in the denim industry, the largest shift has been the recent takeover of stretch jeans. He said, “I remember that 80% of the denim was rigid, nowadays, it is completely the opposite.” He continued, “Now people are looking for comfort, so they want to wear tailored denim, but with a comfort feeling. This is the biggest change that I saw in the last 25 years.”
As stretch remains dominant, athleisure will also stay strong in denim. Forin said that women are not likely to go back to rigid fabrics anytime soon, though these fabrics may make their way in with certain styles, like boyfriend jeans. In Amsterdam, where many denim trends begin, people are currently wearing super skinny pants, and this may become more prevalent elsewhere. Forin said that the concept of yoga denim is likely to stay strong, and brands will continue to look for denim fabrics in the performance and outdoor categories that have qualities like being windproof and water-resistant.
One of the differentiating factors for premium denim, now that most jeans have stretch, will be how fabric holds its shape. Advance Denim is currently working on a fabric with extremely high recovery. Other characteristics that will continue to be important to premium denim will be high-quality fabric, fibers and color.
Forin also counts Lenzing fibers as an important differentiating factor in the quality of denim. Advance Denim is one of the first mills in Asia to use Lenzing fibers, and it began as a novelty in China because of its ability to transform denim. Forin said of fabrics created with Lenzing fibers, “We know that this fabric has more value in terms of look, in terms of hand feel, and of course we love to collaborate with Lenzing because we believe in their product. We know that people love this feeling.”
As trends in denim change, so do trends in locations for manufacturing. China is a relatively new country in denim manufacturing, while there are mills in Europe that are almost 100 years old.
“People are convinced that in China you can have only very low quality product, this is basically because, of course, in the past, everything probably was low quality, but I have to say while I was working in Hong Kong and in Asia, I found more and more nice product and innovation,” Forin said. He explained that though denim was not a popular fabric in Asia until recently, now a lot of Asian mills have invested in new technologies and are competitive in the market.
Forin predicts that in terms of where denim manufacturing will go next, factories will spread to Myanmar in Asia and manufacturing will also spread in Africa. “Africa is the one that is going to create more interest because, of course, it’s quite new,” Forin said. “It basically does not have any history related to denim. But let’s see, because this is something that is happening now.”
Carved in Blue: What is your favorite city for denim style and inspiration?
Enrico: I will say New York. But recently I found that Amsterdam is also quite a nice city to feel the denim, basically because, of course, it is an international city. You can see people from all over the world, and you can always imagine who is coming from where. And then on top of this, many shops are open already here, and they are going to open some others very soon, which are the shops where you can see the latest innovations, the iconic brands.”
Carved in Blue: What is the main thing you love about the denim industry?
Enrico: Every day is a good day to learn something new. It’s not a product that you invent and then is there forever. It’s something that every day you have to reinvent, to modify, to change, to study again. The fabric you are convinced that today is the best one, tomorrow is not anymore. You always have to look at what can be the next step, what can be the next fabric, what can be the fabric in two years. Looking of course at what was happening one year ago, two years ago, what the history of denim was, why denim changed from work clothes to fashion.
Carved in Blue: What advice would you give someone trying to start a career in denim today?
Enrico: I will say that if they have the opportunity, to spend some time on the production plant. I mean, to have the possibility to see how the denim is made, to see how the yarn will be dyed, to see how the yarn will be woven.
I feel very lucky because in my life I spent time in production also, where you can really feel the product, where you can see the denim coming out from the machine. And from there you start to open your imagination to start to think of what you can have from this fabric.
Carved in Blue: What does “Carved in Blue” mean to you?
Enrico: Two interpretations appeared immediately in my mind: the first is that “carved” means also “sculpted,” and that is what a pair of indigo jeans means to me, it’s like a “blue sculpture” since with different treatments, or simply wearing every day, they will be “carved” on you and can be really your unique piece.
The second is that I believe every denim lover should have their DNA “Carved in Blue” since indigo is a passion that will stay for the entire life!