Kingpins, Messe Frankfurt Join Trade Show Forces
Two giants of the textile and denim trade show industry are joining forces. Messe Frankfurt, which puts on more than four dozen textile shows in 11 countries, announced on Tuesday’s its partnership with Kingpins Show, a leading global denim supply chain trade show.
Kingpins CEO Andrew Olah praised the extensive “knowledge” that the new shareholder will bring to the must-attend jeanswear event.
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“We were never ‘show people’, we were ‘industry people,’ whereas Messe Frankfurt is an 800-year-old exhibition company with all the knowledge, technique, and data needed,” Olah said, adding that the partnership was an aspiration of his company since its inception. “Now almost 20 years later, a kind of dream has occurred—now we are both ‘show people’ and ‘industry people.’ We know this collaboration will really grow each other’s opportunities and quality.”
Kingpins helps diversify Messe Frankfurt’s offerings, according to one executive close to the organizer.
“We are pleased that with Kingpins we are strategically complementing our worldwide textile trade fair portfolio in a meaningful way,” said Detlef Braun, executive board member for Messe Frankfurt GmbH, the German parent company. “The international events of our textile business network ‘Texpertise’ cover the entire textile value chain. With the planned participation of Messe Frankfurt Inc. in Kingpins, we are adding an important premium brand in the denim sector and rounding off our existing portfolio.”
Kingpins is maintaining its operational identity even as Messe Frankfurt becomes a shareholder that will bring its “global network, unparalleled resources, and industry-leading expertise to strengthen the Kingpins Show’s position as a premier denim platform,” it said in a statement.
“Our partnership with the Kingpins Show is rooted in our admiration for their distinct vision and innovative approach to the denim industry,” said Messe Frankfurt president and CEO Constantin von Vieregge. “We recognize the opportunity to learn from Kingpins, and together with our expertise we believe we can continue to be the stage for business encounters in the denim industry.”
Kingpins started as a small denim show in New York City in 2004 and on Thursday will conclude the two-day Kingpins New York at Pier 36/Basketball City. Seven years ago Kingpins expanded its tour into China and in 2015 instituted a focus on sustainability by introducing its Transformers series of summits dedicated to making the jeans industry “…more environmentally viable, socially responsible and financially sound through education and discussion.”
