The last edition of Munich Fabric Start, the Bluezone and Keyhouse, held on 3-5 September 2019, in Munich’s MOC-Zenith Hall, have recalled attention from many international fashion and jeans insiders from Germany, Northern and Southern Europe.
Sebastian Klinder, managing director, MFS, commented the results of this edition: “MFS makes a substantial contribution to redesigning the textile future with the current exhibition formats, the very well attended and high-caliber keynote speeches, panel discussions and lectures. The past two days in the Bluezone showed a platform with a growing community, presenting product innovations for a broad market. The showcases at Keyhouse also confirm that content and communication are the essential key factors for novel collaborations.”
He continued: “The future of the textile and fashion industry is more than ever determined by new and very complex subject areas - sustainability and digitization. In the new editions of Bluezone and Keyhouse, we are already demonstrating these relevant requirements in many areas, which in the future demand an even greater commitment from us as trade fair organizers with concrete performances and the promotion of a necessary dialogue.”
The hottest topics of Bluezone
Bluezone, with its about 100 exhibitors, showed f/w 2020/2021 collections and a series of products specifically catered upon the needs of the German market. The event was characterized by a friendly and cool atmosphere, and by lots of informative conferences – including Sportswear International’s two sessions of “Women & Denim”. Also networking activities along with business meetings between exhibitors, buyers, and insiders, even if sometime alternating busier moments with calmer ones, ran cooly.
Among most significant trends seen there was a predominance of blue hues, in most different shades – from the lightest ones to the darkest pitch variants – and much less black, white or pastels. Lettering, slogans, handwritten elements and drawings characterized many denim pieces as seen in the newest “All Related Collab Project” trend area, a section of the show that involved eight renowned denim designers. Iconic denim pieces completed the area showing new inspiring denim interpretations, outfits and creations.
Tie-and-dye is the real must of the season. Strong contrasts between blue and white, but also among a wider mix of hues, handmade irregular motives and patterns were on show as seen at Envoy, F’Blue Denim and Niggele & Küpfer Textile, just to name a few ones.
How sustainable meets cool
Ecofriendly developments never stop astonishing and becoming always more visually interesting. Vicunha used OrganIQ Bleach, a new 100% biodegradable bleaching agent that needs no neutralizing and can be applied onto denims made with organic cotton and a mix of recycled denim fibers.
Naveena Denim Mills has just launched its Trustainable capsule in collaboration with the Greek jeans brand Salt & Pepper Jeans and Officina +39, Italian manufacturer of sustainable chemicals for the fashion industry. This special ecofriendly fabric has an authentic though new wrinkled effect surface and is highly stretchy.
Tintes Egara and Officina +39 developed a special dyeing system using recycled dyeing substances that uses very little water as it fixes colors by inserting the garment in a microwave oven and releases extra dyeing substances in water that can be recycled for many washes.
Performance is key
Lighweight and stretch fabrics are a must – especially as highly requested by the German market. Calik, for instance, presented a series of denims that weigh maximum 8-9 oz denims, though keep the same performance of their denims.
Orta is offering denims made with Triple Core, a new evolution of Dual Core fibers. The new fiber has a cotton touch, though guarantees higher stretch performance and less pockering effects.
Envoy has launched various projects including its new E-Jacket, a special denim jacket made with recycled polyester and completed by a rechargable and removable warming system hidden in the back of the garment.
Special celebrations
Candiani Denim and Ruedi Karrer, aka The Swiss Jeans Freak, presented the first pair of custom-made jeans celebrating the collector’s expertise and passion for denim, and his 60th birthday. The jeans will be produced in a limited numbered edition of 60 items only and sold to fans of the product. Earnings will support Karrer’s Jeans Museum enlargement.
Sourcing the future
The show unveiled a new pavilion – Sourcing – hosting about over 80 expert garment manufacturers from various countries including Italy, Morocco, Portugal, Tunisia, Turkey, specialized in most different fields including jeanswear, jersey and knitwear, bathing suits, underwear and outerwear.
Picks from Keyhouse and MFS
Keyhouse hosted many innovative projects such as Orta’s Solar Clean, a new chemical treatment that, once it is applied onto white fabrics they get cleaned by simply exposing them to the sun.
Soorty presented Re-Feel, a new fabric made with 100% recycled pre-and post-consumer yarns, though guaranteeing good performance. Holst Centre, a Dutch research centre specialized in developing printed electronics, can produce ultrathin sensors and monitors that can be integrated in garments through a heat-bonding procedure.
Among innovative products seen at MFS, Tintex launched Colorau, responsibly colored fabrics with antimicrobial properties that use natural dyes extracted from natural plants such as thyme, boldo, peppermint, chestnut and gambier in a variety of jerseys made with fibers including cotton, lyocell and wool.
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