By Andrew Olah
CEO/Olah Incorporated
Founder of Kingpins Show
New York, N.Y.
Quest for Quality Cotton
I have just returned home from the first Global Denim Awards event, which was conducted on Oct. 30 in Amsterdam, Netherlands, and I’m more confident than ever that quality cotton continues to be in demand from mills and apparel brands around the world.
Bayer’s e3 cotton program sponsored this prestigious event – the first of its kind in the world of denim. It was a competition of six emerging designers with no previous denim experience and included six of the leading denim mills in the world.
In conjunction with the Amsterdam-based fashion recruitment agency HTNK and Kingpins, our denim trade show, the Global Denim Awards culminated in a fashion runway show displaying the original denim creations of the six aspiring designers.
Quality cotton is necessary for mills to produce the best fabrics that are used by today’s cutting-edge designers.”
– Andrew Olah
Winners were selected by a panel of international denim experts that included Adriano Goldschmied, Jason Denham (founder of Denham de Jeanmaker), Rene Strolenberg (cofounder of Tenue de Nimes, Amsterdam), and Norma Quinto, journalist at Women’s Wear Daily.
Dutch designer Jonathan Christopher, a freelance designer from Rotterdam, won the first Global Denim Award. His prize was a check for 10,000 euros, which was presented on behalf of e3 cotton by Jeff Brehmer of Bayer CropScience.
Exciting Event
The panel also recognized the Turkish denim mill Bossa as having produced the best fabric during the competition.
It was an exciting event, for sure. But, for me, the success of this event only underscored the importance of cotton to the denim world. In fact, more than 40 percent of the world’s cotton is consumed by the denim industry. And quality cotton is necessary for mills to produce the best fabrics that are used by today’s cutting-edge designers. Denim, as we know it today, would not be possible to make without cotton.
Bayer CropScience, with its e3 sustainable cotton program, Certified FiberMax and Authentic Stoneville brands, not only helped to make the Global Denim Awards possible but also illustrated the versatility of quality cotton in today’s market to a global audience of fashionistas and denim makers.
For more information about the Global Denim Awards event and Bayer’s continuing commitment to cotton quality, go to www.olahinc.com or www.e3cotton.com.
From Fiber To Fabric
• Global Denim Awards – a big success.
• Denim industry needs quality cotton.
• Cotton has proven versatility.
• Cotton & denim are obvious partners.
• Designers need reliable cotton supply.