Kingpins NY gets ready for the July 2026 edition, as it centers on community building & innovation

Kingpins is set to return to New York this week for its summer edition, placing community, innovation and responsible design at the center of the event.

Taking place from July 22 to 23 at Pier 36/Basketball City, Kingpins NY will showcase leading denim manufacturers, mills and more, representing the global supply chain, including Advance Denim, Artistic Milliners, Bossa, Isko, Unspun and Tencel by Lenzing.

In addition to its broad array of exhibitors, Kingpins NY will offer key networking opportunities, panel discussions, and special installations that showcase the future of denim. Community Tapestry, a collaborative effort between the Kingpins Show, Woven by Sarab, and several international denim mills, returns this edition, with Mahmoud Abdul Khsyaem, founder of Sarab NYC, working with ten international denim mills to create ten tapestries which will be on display. Each one unique, the tapestries will be put up for sale, with 50 percent of the sale proceeds going to Fabscrap NYC, a local nonprofit that gathers fabric waste, making it available to artists, students, designers, and makers while recycling what remains.

The Lildenim Styling Session will unite four designers for a special conversation on where denim is going next, including General Experiment by Laurence Wei, Cleioner by Kendrick, Gekka by Nicholas Lu, and Greco by Benjamin Greco, while Oak & Acorn is partnering with Kingpins NY, Marist University, and Artmill for a reinterpretation of the brand’s signature jumpsuit, picturing it as a “future artifact of American workwear” and studying how the next generation can sustain the traditions of labor, utility, repair, and circularity. Botanical Alchemy - Part II: Still Blooming, by Tonello and MN Dye Studio also returns this edition, presenting a new chapter in low-impact, natural dye innovation.

Focusing on transformation and educating the next generation of the denim industry, Kingpins CEO Vivian Wang notes that it’s the event's responsibility to “welcome new people” into the denim community, be they students, emerging designers or consumers who love denim. “We’ve always been deliberate about connecting directly with consumers, because the future of this industry isn’t only in mills and trade shows — it’s in the people who are just starting to discover what denim can be,” said Wang in a statement. “Finding those people and pulling them into the fold is one of the things I care about most.”

Acknowledging that much of the denim industry’s strength lies in its diversity and power to connect, she emphasises the importance of engaging with all stakeholders to create a strong community. “That’s what makes Kingpins special. It’s a community that’s always learning, always evolving, and always making room for the next generation.”

“Kingpins has never been just about doing business. It’s about building a community where knowledge is shared, relationships are built, and every generation has a place.”