The LYCRA Company, a global leader in developing innovative and sustainable fibre and technology solutions for the apparel industry, exhibited its latest advanced technologies for stretch denim and wovens at Kingpins Amsterdam, on October 18-19, 2023. The company’s Strategic Marketing Director (Denim, Wovens, Ready-to-Wear) Ebru Ozaydin speaks to Fibre2Fashion about the show, The LYCRA Company and its products.

1.    How has The LYCRA Company’s experience at Kingpins evolved over the years?

The LYCRA Company has been an exhibitor of Kingpins Show for many years. We were one of the main sponsors in the past and still participating both Amsterdam and New York Shows all year long. This year, in November, Kingpins Hong Kong is back after a while, and we will be part of it as well.

2.    Kingpins is known as an exclusive, invitation-only forum for the denim community. How does this exclusivity shape The LYCRA Company’s approach and expectations for the event?

Kingpins is taking the pulse of the industry with a community-minded approach and creating a meeting point to share innovation, sustainability and future trends for the entire value chain. The show provides an opportunity to meet our key customers as well as strategic innovation partners with a focus on “creating value” for denim consumer.

3.    What makes Kingpins Amsterdam a unique platform for The LYCRA Company to showcase its innovative fibres and technologies?

As a fibre technology company, being at the beginning of this value chain, the show offers an exclusive solution and unmatched opportunity to meet both upstream and downstream customers as well as selected raw material producers under the same roof.

4.   Are there any collaborative projects or partnerships that The LYCRA Company is planning to announce or highlight at this year’s Kingpins?

As The LYCRA Company we value collaborative projects and often launch and showcase capsule collections with our strategic partners. This year, we are proud to offer brand new fabrics developed with our LYCRA® ADAPTIV fibre, LYCRA® XFIT® fabric technology and LYCRA® EcoMade fibre family; specifically, COOLMAX® EcoMade and THERMOLITE® EcoMade. They will be available both in our booth and our strategic partners’ collections from all over the world.

5.    With sustainability being a major theme in recent fashion discussions, how does The LYCRA Company plan to contribute to this narrative at the Kingpins Show?

At Kingpins Show, we will be sharing our second annual Planet Agenda Update which   summarises our sustainability achievements for 2022 and tracks our progress against 2030 targets.

‘Planet Agenda’ is the name of our sustainability framework that touches every aspect of our business and is built on three pillars:  product sustainability, manufacturing excellence and corporate responsibility. The sustainability goals outlined in these documents are organised around these pillars and align with five of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 

6.   How does the LYCRA® ADAPTIV fibre differentiate from other fibres in terms of performance and sustainability?

LYCRA® ADAPTIV fibre is a revolutionary polymer that proactively adapts its unique chemistry to a wearer’s functional needs. The key benefits of the technology can be summarised as

•   EASY AND SOFT STRETCH

•   FIT FLEXIBILITY

•   SHAPE RETENTION 

•   DURABLE AND LONGER WEAR LIFE

The technology supports freedom of movement with comfortable holding force and gives soft shaping on the wearer’s body, avoiding restrictive compression. Offering maximum comfort for all shapes and sizes, even after repeated washing.

Fit Flexibility offers a stress-free shopping experience for customers whilst potentially reducing returns for retailers. 

7.    How does LYCRA® XFIT® technology compare in terms of sustainability with other stretch technologies?

LYCRA® XFIT® Technology is a patented innovation by The LYCRA Company to offer new design opportunities in bi-stretch denim. Today, high shrinkage and high growth of fabrics on warp direction are the key quality issues of traditional bi-stretch denim. LYCRA® XFIT Technology provides a powerful tool to overcome this industry problem. It offers greater flexibility in yarn selections to create various fabric types.

The technology supports a stable fabric stretch with easy control for better size consistency, low warp shrinkage per cent for 360 stretchability. That offers ‘Better Fit’ to ensure prolonged wear experience for the consumer. It exhibits less compression compared to traditional bi-stretch jeans for delivering maximum comfort. In fabric manufacturing, better dyeing uniformity, saturated cast, deep shades, improved colour fastness are additional benefits. It is also possible to create two layers of denim for warmth.

8.   How does The LYCRA Company ensure that these new fibres and technologies adhere to global sustainability standards?

As part of our product vision, we create resilient fibres that deliver on our brand promises, use fewer finite resources, extend garment wear life, and ultimately can be recycled or composted at end of life.

9.   Can you explain how the LYCRA® ADAPTIV BLACK fibre and LYCRA® ADAPTIV XTRA LIFE fibre differ in their functionalities?

These are other segment innovations, not for denim and woven categories.

10.    How do you plan to educate or spread awareness among consumers about the benefits and innovations behind LYCRA's products?

With 89 per cent global consumer awareness, our brands help them stand apart. The LYCRA® brand has over 60 years’ experience innovating unique fibres for the clothes consumers love to wear. During this time, LYCRA® fibre has become renowned for its quality and durability, and it has become the most recognised brand of spandex fibre in the world today. People choose it for its exceptional elasticity, lasting shape, and the comfortable fit it delivers to all types of apparel. Not every garment that stretches contains our fibres, so brands and retailers choose LYCRA® hangtags with our brand name on it, which consumers can make sure they are buying a garment made with LYCRA® brand name they know and trust. Furthermore, our website is a great source for consumers who want to learn about our fibre technologies, sustainability platform and innovations.

11.   How does The LYCRA Company work with mills to ensure the best quality of fabrics integrated with your fibres?

Great Minds Think Alike!

The LYCRA Company has always been in close contact with all value chain members to elevate the value of sustainable innovation. We look innovation process as co-creation, understanding consumer insights and their future needs conducting rigorous research in order to offer sustainable solutions for creating value-rich-experience. It is exciting to collaborate with right partners who have the motivational mindset and the capability to mobilise innovation with their resources.

12.   How do you see the future of LYCRA’s role in the denim and woven garment categories?

The LYCRA Company has a renowned knowledge and expertise for sustainable innovation in denim and woven categories. We have a wide portfolio of patented fibre and fabric technologies, and it keeps counting.

Having the responsibility of Global Strategic Marketing for Denim and Wovens category, The LYCRA Company will continue to focus on understanding the end consumer, their pain points and needs to offer enhanced garment solutions – and making sure EVERYONE’s heard! This is our unique strength to analyse and respond timely to the market, LYCRA® ADAPTIV fibre technology is a great example as it is a revolutionary fibre innovation for fit flexibility for all genders and body shapes that is inspired from changing lifestyles and offering adaptability.

Second, following our product vision, extending garment wear life with durable fibres and scalable recycled and renewable offerings is our company’s vision for a sustainable future.

13.   How do you envision the future of sustainable fashion, especially in the denim industry?

The denim industry is pretty unique with its focus on circularity in fashion industry since 2000’s. Terms and approaches change and evolve but the vision stays same – how can we transform for the better? How can we still keep consumers’ interest but create innovative solutions with manufacturing excellence and low-impact materials? How can the entire value chain support each other to offer the best solution not only for the consumer but also for the planet? In addition, now digital transformation is part of our industry’s agenda to support zero waste practices as well as transparency & traceability.