Denim Premiere Vision, an industry torn between commercial imperatives and ecological challenges

Enthusiastic discussions, reunions, smiles, negotiations and trends… On June 5 and 6, manufacturers of the blue fabric and specialists from European brands who had come to discover the autumn-winter 2025-2026 proposals of some 80 exhibitors gathered at the Superstudio Piu in Milan for the Denim Première Vision show. It was a dynamic session that attracted more than 2,000 visitors and a host of international brands, despite a complex context for the sector, affected by a slowdown in consumption in the mid- and top-range market segments.

“The particularity of this period is that the sector is not facing a single challenge. The players have little medium-term visibility, which affects their strategy,” says Fabio Adami Dalla Val, the show’s director. “Inflation is one point, particularly in Germany, which is the biggest denim market in Europe, but tensions between China and the United States are also having an impact on business, and the closure of the Russian market has affected several players, as have logistical problems in Asia and on the Panama Canal. With no visibility, players are looking for reassurance.”

In the aisles of the show, the observation is that, even if visitors are interested in the latest style proposals and are looking for innovations, 2024 is a complicated year and caution is the order of the day.

“2023 was a market bubble. In 2024, it’s more complicated, but we’re going to get back to pre-Covid-19 levels. I think we’re heading towards a normalisation of the market,” says Paolo Biondaro, head of international accounts for Italian specialist Elleti. What’s complex is that demand is still there, but brands are waiting much longer before placing their orders. However, there is always a search for innovation and new products.”

Faced with this context, upstream players are seeking to broaden their scope, with the Italian company specialising in denim treatments seeing its customers develop sporty proposals, now offering garment-dye on polyamides and developing treatment solutions for accessories.

FashionArt, which was taken over by Chanel at the end of 2022, is also exploring this avenue. The company offers solutions involving blends of materials, and is also developing techniques for using denim to make accessories and bags. All of this is done with the aim of creating something new and different. On the operational side, the company has bought a launderette to optimise its response times for customer deliveries.

“Turkish giant Isko’s approach this season is to focus on the fashion applications of its developments in fabrics and cuts. It has segmented its offer into five concepts. We wanted to respond to the market,” explains the manufacturer’s stand. “We need to combine innovative technology with advanced fashion.”

While in recent years the focus has been on eco-responsible innovations that have transformed the top of the denim industry pyramid, are we seeing a halt in this trend?

At a round table discussion with denim legends Marithé Bachellerie, Jimmy Taverniti, Adriano Goldschmied and François Girbaud, two opposing views were expressed.

“New designers are totally blocked by the luxury giants, who hijack every single trend. It’s impossible for them to express themselves. As far as recycling is concerned, that has to stop. We’ve been talking about it for 40 years. But it’s not possible to recycle one piece of shit and then have a double piece of shit. We’re heading for disaster. It’s up to the industry to change,” thundered François Girbaud in his legendary outspokenness.

Adriano Goldschmied disagrees: “There are a lot of limits, but technology is changing the scenario. We need to align technology and design. Digitalisation offers incredible possibilities, while bringing prices down and enabling us to move faster. The age of biotechnology opens up the possibility of breaking out of the oil age. And recyclability means we can not only reuse products, but also create new materials. Waste is the new oil! It’s the future of the industry.”

At the show, even if in the short term the discussions are commercially pragmatic, the players present who are targeting a premium universe are teeming with more responsible solutions and projects.

For the first time, Naia, the cellulose fibre division of industrial giant Eastman, had a stand at the show with a solution specially developed for denim. It was a welcome alternative to traditional practices in the sector… and reassuring for a part of the industry that may have been put off in recent years by innovations that had not reached the industrial stage.

Isko, via the Re&Up solution developed by its parent company Sanko, is offering brands and distributors the chance to recycle their old textiles to create a new 100% recycled denim fabric. This has already been deployed in its lines, and the group is planning to develop other alternatives in order to reduce the need to use agricultural land to source its materials.

In Italy, a local approach is being developed. This autumn will see the first harvest of Sicilian cotton from a project run by Eurotessile, Berto and FashionArt. To ensure the end-to-end traceability of their products, the transalpine companies have decided to grow their own cotton. A responsible and above all collective approach to meeting the challenges facing the industry.