NEW YORK – The new Continuum boutique textile trade show on sustainability, which ran alongside the established Kingpins at its recent launch in New York City plans to run again in July.
“I considered this event a tipping point and Iʼm glad to say that we went over it, and weʼll go on to do more shows,” co-founder Anne Gillespie told Ecotextile News. “We already have a lot of interest from exhibitors for the next show, and the unsolicited feedback weʼve received from attendees has been incredibly encouraging.”
The small-scale event with around a dozen exhibitors aims to provide an intimate setting for buyers to sit down and have a conversation in much the same way as Kingpins gives a boutique-eye view of denim to its visitors. Itʼs more of a quality rather than quantity experience as Gillespie puts it: “Thatʼs what the Continuum show is about; quality over quantity, and the first ever event revealed that this is what the industry is looking for. Visitors did not have to hunt and peck through a vast array of companies that may or may not have been making ʻgreenʼ claims; they were able to connect directly with suppliers that had been vetted for their innovative and meaningful solutions to the social and environmental challenges that face our industry.”
Exhibitors included denim brands such as Bossa and Badjatex, which offers organic and recycled cotton denims; Garmon & Bozzetto, which dyes garments with ʻreduced water, energy and chemical useʼ; Genencor was marketing low impact fading and bleaching technologies through the use of enzymes; and Jeanologia displayed its laser machine for denim finishing together with denim bleached with ozone.
Due to a joint registration process with Kingpins – something that will change next time – Gillespie was unable to break down a visitor list but said, “over 250 companies came to the venue, and we think that roughly 25 major brands were at Continuum such as Quiksilver, PPR, Victoriaʼs Secret, Rogan, Wal-Mart plus many more from smaller brands,” she said.
The second edition of the Continuum Show will be held on July 24 – 25th in the same venue as Kingpins. “It will be bigger, better and bolder, and as committed as ever to empowering the textile industry to make a difference,” promised Gillespie.
Source: ECOTEXTILE NEWS
