Celebrating our Sister Company, Kassim, at January 2024 Kingpins in New York

Kassim Denim is our sister company. We often use the fabrics they create in our garments. Kassim has a spinning and weaving facility that has GRS and GOTS approvals, which means they have a full range of sustainable raw material embedded in their yarns and fabrics. Annually, Kassim’s production capacity is 56 million pounds of yarn and 40 million metres of premium quality denim fabric.

Kassim’s booth was set up the night before as we ran around setting up the Core collection, the Authentic collection, and the Black Myth collection. We also displayed our CleanCore partnership front and centre and passed out magazines on our 2023 topic of impact. Clients visited and asked about the updates and changes Kassim is making and got inspiration for their future designs. 

Denim Illusions by Kassim Denim

The team also set up the Denim Illusions, a set of seven hidden images lasered into high-quality denim and weaving together a story about what needs to happen to the denim industry and by the denim industry in order for the planet to revive. We had several participants enter the competition to win a customised denim jacket by the artist @ogmille. All they had to do was share a photo of the denim illusions on their Instagram story and tag @kassimdenim and @kingpins_show. We’re hoping to grow the denim community and grow the awareness of what we can do together. Our only hope is that Kassim and Denim Privé accomplish this more and more at each Kingpin's show and in each creative endeavour. 

The Denim and the Partnerships

The Kassim booth displayed a full range of denim, our three staple collections and our various partnerships. All denim had tags highlighting the makeup of the denim and ultimately, the sustainable efforts Kassim puts into each pair. While Lycra and Tencel (which we highlighted in our Kingpins blog in November 2023) are strong and present, we were happy to showcase our Pure Zero pathways and our more recent partnership with CleanKore. 

Pure Zero

Pure Zero is Kassim’s campaign for the roadmap to net zero carbon emissions. What is behind the Pure Zero campaign? Adopting renewable energy sources, BPA free recycled polyester, regenerative agricultural practices, innovative recycling processes, and investing in carbon offset projects to mitigate our remaining emissions. Oftentimes discussions around zero carbon emissions get overlooked but Kassim is keeping that goal front and centre to essentially have zero emissions by 2050. More on this to come in our Spring Magazine of Changemakers to debut at April 2024 Kingpins in Amsterdam.

CleanKore

CleanKore takes the traditional denim production setup and machinery and adapts it to be more sustainable, cutting out dangerous chemical use and inefficiencies, saving resources and money. They do this through patented technology that changes how yarns are dyed at the denim mill, which keeps the core white. The lack of yarn penetration is what leads to an improved sustainable product. Specifically, CleanKore eliminates the need for potassium permanganate spray and the neutralisation process at the garment washing. We’re looking forward to the inauguration of Kassim podcast called Denim Threads, wherein we kick it off with Ryan Ripley, the Vice President of Operations at CleanKore. More on that later!

Conclusion

We’re so proud of the Kassim team and the hard work that went into January 2024 Kingpins in New York. There are some exciting projects in the work for Denim Privé for the April 2024 Kingpins in Amsterdam that we can’t wait to unveil. Stay tuned.