Kingpins New York Preview: What to See at Orta and Soorty
On Jan. 22 and 23, Kingpins New York will gather more than 70 exhibitors at Pier 36’s Basketball City to share their latest lines.
Before the show kicks off this week, Carved in Blue caught up with some of the participating mills to hear what they will be presenting at the show, including their TENCEL™-containing concepts. Read on to hear more about collections from Orta and Soorty.
ORTA
New York is the setting for this edition of Kingpins, but it’s also one of the inspirations for Orta’s collection The Tourist. The mill’s Spring/Summer 2026 line was inspired by three different destinations in the summertime: New York, St. Tropez and Kyoto.
St. Tropez is all about quiet luxury. Referencing the beachy spot in the French Riviera, the assortment has blues that mimic the water and browns inspired by the iconic and longstanding beach club Le Club 55. There are also nods to yachts and plays on maritime dressing, including stripes.
For Kyoto, Orta is paying homage to Japanese denim craftsmanship. There are linen blends, broken twills, jelt denim and chambrays.
New York focuses on the feel of fabrics, with soft, breathable, lightweight textiles. This concept includes Natural Comfort, in which yarns are spun in a specific way to add stretch without spandex.
Another Orta concept leverages Lycra’s spandex made from bio-derived Qira BDO from Qore. Lycra replaced about 70 percent of the spandex fiber inputs with Qira, which is made from industrial corn. Grown in Iowa, the corn is cultivated on farms that mostly use wind power and rainwater. Qira offers a renewable alternative to fossil fuel inputs.
SOORTY
For Spring/Summer 2026, Soorty is looking at Denim Horizons. The collection merges tradition and innovation with three different concepts.
Nodding to nostalgic American fashion, the California concept has four fabric families, including a durable Workwear selection and laser-friendly Fast Fade pieces that can easily be given a worn look. Old Friends offers vintage-inspired looks made with modern, more sustainable techniques like salt-free dyeing and Soorty’s Zero Waste Water dyeing technology. Finally, Flexible Friends offers authentic denim looks with bi-stretch for comfort.
Roam is made for those who seek adventure, with naturally based designs. Soorty worked with Rudolf Chemicals on this concept, and incorporated biomimicking solutions like water repellant finishes inspired by lotus leaves. Within this concept, EverFit features jeans with strong recovery so they won’t bag out, Flexible Function includes bi-stretch fabrics for comfort and movement, and FiberX includes fibers with performance properties and sustainability attributes like moisture management from Umorfil Technology, cooling from Coolmax EcoMade, and circular Repreve polyester.
Finally, Beyond present bold innovations. Natural Soft features extremely soft fabrics, including some made with TENCEL™ blends, whereas Naturalis uses linen. Textural incorporates weaving patterns like herringbone, dobby, ripstop and Bedford, while Natural Start is a range of ecru colored fabrics. Rounding out this concept is Shape Sync, which provides customizable stretch.
Fitting in with consumers’ wellness goals for the new year, another Soorty launch is Collagen Denim, which uses Umorfil Technology that extracts amino acids from fish scales. This creates fibers, including viscose and polyester, with embedded collagen peptides that support skin hydration.