In 2019, as part of an ambitious program to improve excellence in the industry, Kingpins Show began the process of requiring all exhibiting denim mills at its Kingpins Amsterdam show to meet or exceed standards in the areas of corporate social responsibility (CSR), environment and chemical usage.

 
Kingpins believes that industry trade shows are in a position to simultaneously help the denim industry be more responsible and support brands and retailers choose best-in-class suppliers by requiring exhibitors to comply to the highest industry standards.

 
Kingpins Show, which hosts denim supply chain shows in New York, Hong Kong, China and Amsterdam, has found few denim suppliers have made serious efforts toward establishing CSR standards. Under its new protocols, Kingpins Amsterdam is requiring all exhibiting denim mills to provide proof of compliance with one of the many existing industry standards and certifications, such as SA8000, WRAP, BSCI, ETI, FLA, or SEDEX-SMETA.

 
Additionally, Kingpins believes that the adoption of a clear and unified approach on sustainable chemical management in the denim supply chain will reduce complexity, increase transparency, improve communication and ultimately lower costs - both in certification and in evaluation tests of chemical substances.

 
To this end, Kingpins Show is collaborating with The ZDHC Foundation to develop the show’s sustainability protocol.

 
Now, Bangladesh Denim Expo has announced that it too will be requiring denim mills exhibiting at its shows to meet or exceed standards in the areas of corporate social responsibility (CSR), environment and chemical usage. BDE will use Kingpins Show’s CSR and chemical responsibility standards as a template for its exhibitor requirements.

 
“Our objective is not only to promote and improve the denim industry within Bangladesh, but also to encourage sustainable, transparent business practices that benefit both the people of our country and the global environment as a whole,” said Mostafiz Uddin, founder and CEO of BDE. “Like the organizers of Kingpins Show, we believe that trade shows have the opportunity to hold the industry accountable and we are proud to be at the forefront of this movement.”

 
BDE’s upcoming show, set for Nov. 5/6 in Dhaka, will be centered around the theme of “Responsibility,” will host approximately 100 exhibitors.

 
“When we started the process of requiring CSR, environmental and chemical standards from our exhibitors, we hoped that other trade shows would follow our lead and adopt similar protocols,” said Andrew Olah, founder of Kingpins Show and Kingpins Transformers. “We wanted to set the example and encourage other events to use their influence to help guide the industry into a more responsible and sustainable direction. Kingpins believes that trade shows must be a force for good - not simply act as a platform upon which the industry performs financial transactions. Bangladesh Denim Expo implementing our standards is hugely gratifying.”

 
Kingpins will assist BDE by supplying it with the guidelines and requirements it has developed for Kingpins exhibitors. Other shows wishing to enact similar protocols are encouraged to reach out to Kingpins. “We want more shows to collaborate with us,” Olah said.