Sponsored by Cotton Incorporated and Cotton Council International, the two-day Global Denim Event began with a top-level discussion, "Expanding Your Denim Business", featuring Mr. Xu Wenying, President of China Cotton Textile Association and Dr. Li Yi, Professor of Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Additional global leaders in the denim textile and apparel industries joined them and shared their opinions on the development of the denim market. Other major presentations included global market perspectives, innovations in denim, and insights into key denim markets around the world. In addition, the event took a special look at denim's environmental footprint as industry leaders shared their approach to sustainability from each segment of the denim supply chain.

"Cotton Incorporated has been hosting international cotton denim events since the mid-1980's. This year, Cotton Incorporated has partnered with Cotton Council International to create this important global event. By expanding this event internationally, we recognize the ever-changing and expanding landscape of textile partners," said Mr. J. Berrye Worsham, President and CEO of Cotton Incorporated.

 "We have invited denim business leaders and innovators from around the world to share their expertise and experiences. We are proud to facilitate this valuable exchange and sharing of ideas, intended to assist those attending for their individual businesses, as well as communicating to the textile and fashion industries worldwide the importance of denim and cotton as perhaps the most important fabric and fiber in the world. Denim has certainly become a global industry," Worsham concluded.

By holding this event in China, the two sponsoring companies demonstrate their commitment to the promising Chinese market, and the growing importance of both the trade and consumer opportunities throughout Asia.

More than 200 guests are attending the event, including representatives from well-known denim brands and textile companies from Italy, Germany, China, South America, the United States, and more. They are joined by journalists from local and international media.

During the two-day conference, held at the Regent Shanghai hotel, attendees will be able to witness a special exhibition, the "Word of Denim", displaying cutting-edge denim innovations and technologies - from a water-repellant/wind-resistant finish to a fabric application that aids in keeping denim darker, longer to recycled denim for housing insulation.

Denim ranks as one of the all-time most popular fabrics. An examination of the current denim market, trends and a look towards the future is of great significance.

Denim fabric has a long, rich history, and most fashion historians agree that denim was in widespread use throughout Europe as early as the 16^th Century. Mr. Levi Strauss introduced denim to the gold panhandlers in California in the1850's. In the 1940s, U.S designer Claire McArdell transformed denim into a new class of casual wear for women, opening the .floodgates for how we dress today.

Of course, James Dean, Marlon Brando and scores of Hollywood stars, along with Ralph Lauren, helped the public emulate the casual American "look". Today, denim has become the most popular single fabric and it is beloved in its jeans form by people all over the world. Globally, nearly 90% of consumers own at least one pair of denim jeans, and they wear them an average of three days a week, according to Cotton Incorporated's Global Lifestyle Monitor^TM.

Denim has become a lifestyle necessity. Thanks to the creativity of designers, a sketchpad of possibilities for denim has been expanded, running the gamut of mass-market prices all the way to costly couture.  And, it's not just jeans but denim blazers and coats, flirty skirts, ballet flats and other denim fashion items that are often worn to the office, seen on the couture runways of Karl Lagerfeld and Jean Paul Gaultier, and in the streets of Tokyo and Milan, cities recognized as leaders in the design, manufacturing and finishing of denim jeans. Yves St. Laurent, the revered French designer, once said, "I wish I had invented blue jeans. They have expression, modesty, sex appeal, and simplicity - all I hope for in my clothes."

It is innovation that has evolved global denim ownership to an all-time high. Funded by U.S. growers of upland cotton and importers of cotton and cotton textile products, Cotton Incorporated has committed major research funds to the development of denim technologies over the past decades. At the "World of Denim" exhibition, Cotton Incorporated is showcasing these timely innovations that will aid in keeping denim's momentum moving forward. Among many others, the STORM DENIM^TM and STAY TRUE COTTON^TM technologies are very impressive.

The STORM DENIM^TM technology combines water repellency and wind-resistance protection with the inherent breathability of cotton. Applied in garment form, the STORM DENIM^TM technology does not limit fashionable embellishments or effects, and does not affect the hand of the garments. It is an ideal technology for workwear, as well as extreme sports' categories.

The STAY TRUE COTTON^TM technology helps indigo-dyed and tinted denim retain their original color, longer. Untreated denim can lose as much as 17% of the garment's original color after 10 home launderings. With the STAY TRUE COTTON^TM technology, it takes 25 home launderings to show a small (7%) decrease in original color intensity. The technology is also being optimized for black denim. This is particularly important at this time as recent research showed that consumers say that their next denim purchase will be medium or dark blue.