Transformation of a Men's Shirt - Apparel Resources

RNI No. 67969/98 DL-(S)-17/3202/2012-14

Posting Date: 11-12th

Apparel Onl neI N D I A May 16-31, 2014 Price ` 50/- Pages 60

Transformation of a Men's Shirt FROM A SHIRTDRESS TO OUTERWEAR FOR WOMEN

Spectra Shades International focuses on a defined business strategy...Fabrino: Creating Magic with Manual Screen PrintingTex-File H2F

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CONTENTS May 16-31, 2014

WorldWrapGrowth Outlook for US Retail SalesSpring, summer, fall, winter... may be the 4 seasons that traditionally defined the shopping cycle, but today retailers work on anything between 7 to 15 seasons, all designed to get shoppers into their stores...

HubUpdateMumbai the corporate home of textile business

The fascination of Mumbai is much beyond the glamour of Bollywood, and today this throbbing and vibrant city is the nerve

centre of almost every major corporate in the country...

Tex-FileNew developments propel companies associated with denimOngoing innovations and unearthing new end uses of denim is what is keeping denim alive for years....

H2FSpectra Shades International focuses

on a defined business strategy...Spectra Shades International has seen many ups and downs

in its nearly two decades journey as a buying agency...

FashionBusinessTransformation of a Men’s Shirt From a casual shirtdress to outerwear for womenWith the influx of 90’s fashion, it is no surprise that Spring 2014 runways were swathed with androgynous looks...

ValueAdditionThe Sheer World of Lace

Classic trends never die, similarly some fashion elements never seem to fade away completely – and lace is definitely one such element. Whether used as a piece of accessory or a complete

garment, lace has become a style statement...

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due to which they have limited reach. On the other hand there are some mill owners who are big and have strong reach and connections, but they are very few in numbers to really make a difference. Apparel industry’s political approach remained week and in last few years Government does not have focus on apparel industry. In our country there is a general feeling that whenever a problem arises than only the Government tries to find solutions.

Animesh Saxena, MD, Neetee Clothing, Gurgaon unfortunately, this sad situation will continue until and unless apparel is clubbed with textile. In the textile chain only weavers and fabric manufactures have some focus of Government. Secondly, apparel manufacturers and exporters have the image of being rich people and it sounds like they don’t have genuine issues. Nobody in various Governments realizes that apparel manufacturers being the last in the value chain are doing the maximum value addition and creating opportunists for others also. Indian political structure needs money and funding while I don’t think that our industry gives any kind of such fundings. Various bodies, associations and industry councils are also responsible for this situation.

Lalit Gulati, President, Apparel Exporters and Manufacturers Association, Delhi We are fully prepared along with the AEPC, and whichever Government comes to power we will give a presentation to them and ask for required facilities. Though, we are doing the same for the last many years, now the situation is different as earlier inflow was good but now Government has to produce jobs. Various Governments remained supportive in the past and we are expecting more support now as apparel industry has the capability to create jobs.

Manikam Ramaswami, Chairman, Loyal Textile Mills, Chennai Lack of honesty is the biggest reason for the failure of our industry’s voice at national level. How many of the 45 million people employed in our industry are

getting PF, ESI etc., and to be honest only a tiny part of this huge workforce. So, only this small workforce is worth mentioning and recognized as the strength of Indian textile and garment sector. It is sad, but our industry is not honest and how can a dishonest person/industry raise a voice... until and unless we become compliant we will continue to suffer. First, we have to gather courage to be compliant and then we will have conviction; it is the only solution to get noticed strongly at the national level.

Hari Kapoor, MD, Allied Export Industries, Noida It is unfortunate that everything is being governed by politics and though our industry is best from the point of view of employment generation, but most of the manufacturers in our industry are at micro, small and medium level,

Though there are 45 million people employed in the Indian textile and garment sector, this strong industry is never considered a force on the national level, be it elections, policy making or budget formation… Why do you think this industry has failed to be national heavyweight despite serving a major national agenda… employment generation?

TO P I C O F D E B AT E

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MAY 16-31, 2014 | Apparel Online India 9

The recent hike in minimum wages in Karnataka, which is the highest hike ever in the state, is one in a series of hikes across the country of minimum wages… Though the industry understands the need to increase wage rates, they are worried of the impact on competitiveness, just when business was improving? Is there any solution to this Catch-22 situation… What is your company doing to balance the increased cost of production?

Q U E S T I O N

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Be a part of our latest discussions...Post your comments on

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Deepak Aggarwal, MD, BL International, Noida Our industry lacks in unity and this is the biggest reason why our industry has failed to be a national heavyweight despite serving a major national agenda of employment generation. Majority of the exporters think only about their own issues and growth, with no real collective effort to be projected as a combined force. Various associations, councils are also responsible for this situation and their working system, their procedure of selection of their representative is also one of the causes for the same.

Sunil Sethi, President, Fashion Design Council of India, Delhi I do not agree with the thought that this industry is neglected, as Ministry of Textiles has done a lot for the industry especially for weavers. It has initiated many schemes and big projects according to the requirements of the clusters. Even garment exporters get various benefits from the Government from time to time. The various stakeholders of the textile and apparel industry should do their best to get the benefit of these schemes.

Vijay Singh, Director, Shilpayan Décor, Jaipur There are three main reasons for this

unfortunate situation and biggest is our priority, wherein we just focus on completing our orders, worker awareness is not a prime concern for industry and if worker is not aware, it can’t be our strength. Secondly, are we fulfilling the requirements of the law so that we can ask for benefits and more things for our industry? A company may not necessarily be compliance certified but it should abide by each law, if industry as a whole is more responsible, it will definitely fetch more attention. Thirdly, there are many associations in our industry and all of them think only about their cluster and members. All these bodies should work as a single body or come on a common platform for collective growth.

Ashwani Kumar, Director, Chairman Fashions, Delhi Our industry is not united, especially in the domestic segment. Besides, we are also unorganized and therefore are being neglected too. A good example is the case when excise duty was imposed on domestic brands; to show off unity almost all units and offices were closed but in reality business continued from back door even on those days when industry called for strike.

mindtree


Starting the year is Easter, being the first buying season of the calendar year, and

though sales are expected to be lower than the US $ 17.2 billion last year, forecasted to reach about US $ 15.9 billion, according to an NRF Easter Spending Survey conducted by Proper Insights and Analytics, yet experts are maintaining a positive outlook. “Improving economic conditions and rising consumer confidence should push consumers to return to spending habits this spring,” predicts Jack Kleinhenz, Chief Economist, NRF. Since Easter traditionally marks the ceremonial start to spring, 42.9 per cent are expected to purchase new spring attire, such as bright Easter dress clothes for their children, spending an average of US $ 22.71; total spending on apparel is expected to reach US $ 2.6 billion.

After one exciting retail season ends, another one begins as July kicks off, with 4th of July and Back to School (BTS) buying, which is also well known as the second biggest shopping time in the year with brands and retailers reinventing ways to ensure that students and parents spend. BTS brings in around US $ 70 billion in sales

each year, and for many brands, this represents a vital share of their overall yearly revenue. The shopping spirit is even higher when Halloween approaches proving to be more of a treat for the retailers. Much of the season’s popularity can be attributed to the influence of popular series and films such as Twilight, Supernatural, The Vampire Diaries and the Harry Potter films. Also, the US retail industry pays attention to Halloween sales for clues about how much of an influence holiday festivities can have on consumer spending to plan for the big Christmas season.

No doubt the biggest sales season of the year, holiday buying has always provided the much needed boost to the fourth quarter results of every retailer in the past. For some retailers the holiday season can represent anywhere between 25-35 per cent of the total annual sales. Last holiday season the US retailers drove a 2.7 per cent increase in sales due to promotions and discounts despite six fewer days and the cold weather conditions that kept shoppers away from stores, according to the retail industry tracker ShopperTrak. This increase reflected a reviving economy as retail sales between Thanksgiving and Christmas

rose for the fourth consecutive year, even though the people walking into the stores fell by 14.6 per cent during this period. Although the discounts offered not only boosted overall industry sales but also hurt profits at many other stores including Zumiez Inc., Walmart, Target, Sears, Cato Corp, Sainsbury’s, M&S, Tesco, American Eagle Outfitters Inc, Bed, Bath & Beyond, Family Dollar, etc. “The discounts needed to be deeper and they needed to be longer,” states Joel Bines, Managing Director, AlixPartners, a consulting firm.

To tap into these special occasions, retailers continue to seek innovative ways to communicate with consumers to build a compelling cross channel shopping experience, while introducing fresh collections aimed at each season. Most retailers deploy mobile and social marketing strategies that integrate with e-Commerce sites, which offer consumers capability to connect with brands across their channel of preference to make purchases for shopping seasons such as BTS, Halloween, Holiday Sales, etc. “Many marketers make the mistake of approaching these holiday seasons as a one-off campaign, it might be a

Spring, summer, fall, winter... may be the 4 seasons that traditionally defined the shopping cycle, but today retailers work on anything between 7 to 15 seasons, all designed to get shoppers into their stores. The major goal of the retailers during the ‘seasons’ is to get people to buy impulsively, something that they do less these days. These special seasons, riding on the back of major holidays/events like Halloween, Easter, Thanksgiving, Back to School, 4th of July, Black Friday and of course Christmas have always brought in shoppers, and even the most hard hit do spends beyond the usual, bringing the much needed relief for retailers and to some extent also responsible for carrying many retailers/brands through the tough slowdown...

The National Retail Federation 2014 economic forecast projects that the retail industry sales (which exclude automobiles, gas stations, and restaurants) will increase 4.1 per cent up from the preliminary 3.7 per cent growth seen in 2013, while online sales in 2014 will grow between 9 and 12 per cent.

GroWTh ouTlook for uS reTaIl SaleSIn 2014 retailers look towards holiday season to tap consumer spending

worldwrap


once-a-year execution, but the customers you create during that time are still yours for the remainder of the year, not to mention years to come,” reasons Bines. Therefore, it is valuable to have a long-term plan in place to tap consumers at different points throughout the year. A campaign to refer in terms of generating a relationship with their consumers is American Eagle’s “Live Your Life” campaign, which tapped real people including bloggers, surfers and students to star in it.

Further looking positive ahead…Last year, the Government’s payroll tax increased at the start of 2013 and its shutdown in the fall, both of which put a dent in consumer spending. While teen retailers like Abercrombie & Fitch and Aeropostale fell out of favour with consumers and investors in 2013, JCPenney, Lululemon and Toys R Us saw big management changes. Also, Canadian Hudson’s Bay bought Saks, and brought in an entire new management team; Walmart stores dealt with continued labour-related protests and Target had its point-of-sale systems compromised at the worst possible time. Although home values and equity markets

are rising and gas prices are falling, still consumers wage is seeing a stagnant growth. But nevertheless retailers are still looking towards a positive 2014 in terms of sales.

When survival is getting hard for everyone due to the harsh economic climate and people are reluctant to spend, let alone splurge on themselves, these seasons are a major source of survival for the retailers. The National Retail Federation 2014 economic forecast projects that the retail industry sales (which exclude automobiles, gas stations, and restaurants) will increase 4.1 per cent up from the preliminary 3.7 per cent growth seen in 2013, while online sales in 2014 will grow between 9 and 12 per cent. “Measured improvements in economic growth combined with positive expectations for continued consumer spending will put the retail industry in a relatively good place in 2014. Though headwinds in the form of the looming debt ceiling debates, increased health care costs, and regulatory concerns still pose risks for both consumers and retailers, we are cautiously optimistic and hopeful that the economic tides will change in 2014,” concludes Matthew Shay, President and CEO, NRF.

Major holidays/events like Halloween, Easter, Thanksgiving, Back to School, 4th of July, Black Friday and Christmas have always brought in shoppers

worldwrap


The latest research by Canopy has found that wood made from the world’s

most endangered forests such as the tropical rainforests of Indonesia to the great northern Boreal Forests is routinely making its way into clothing, as rayon, viscose, modal and other trademarked fabrics. Globally these forests are cut down, pulped and spun into suit jacket linings, dresses, skirts, T-shirts and tank tops and also the dissolving pulp/viscose industry is poised for continuous expansion posing an increasing risk to the forest ecosystems around the world. “With commitments from Zara/Inditex and H&M, the world’s two largest and fastest supplying clothing brands and now with support from Stella McCartney, Canopy’s ‘Fashion Loved by Forest’ initiative is building growing market demand for greater supply-chain transparency and more sustainable viscose supply. It is sending a strong signal to the dissolving pulp and forestry sectors that sourcing regions and logging practices will have to change to meet the demand for fabric free of ancient and endangered forests by 2017, claims Nicole Rycroft, Executive Director, Canopy.

Through this initiative, brands have committed to track their supply chain while identifying fibres originating from endangered forests and work with their suppliers likewise in eliminating all the fibres sourced from these critical forest region. To achieve this,

brands will embark on research and development into alternative fibre sources, including building on the use of recycled materials and finding enormous potential for fabrics made from agricultural residues such as wheat and flax. “Also, when brands source cellulosic fibre, they will ensure that it is coming from FSC-certified plantations as it is a commodity product and most brands are still unaware that their fabric can even originate from endangered forests,” asserts Nicole. The Fashion Loved by Forest initiative in-turn helps these retailers understand that the brand’s reputation could suffer if the issue becomes a source of controversy. “While clothing brands know fashion and textiles – we at Canopy know about forests and supply chains. We are helping companies with credible certification systems which would provide assurance that the fibre they are sourcing is being responsibly harvested,” informs Nicole.

Until Canopy undertook the research to follow the threads of fabric from the dissolving pulp

Brands commit to eliminate endangered forest-based fibres

Fashion industry CheCks deForestation

In purview of the social and environmental initiatives that the garment industry is increasingly undertaking, many retailers are changing operations to incorporate various sustainable efforts associated with garment manufacturing. Amongst them is environment organisation Canopy’s latest campaign called ‘Fashion loved by Forest’ in collaboration with brands/retailers like Quiksilver, Lululemon Athletica, Prana, Patagonia, Loomstate, Eileen Fisher, and the more recent inclusion of H&M, Zara/Inditex and Stella McCartney. Apparel Online talks to Nicole Rycroft, Executive Director, Canopy, to understand why brands are increasingly focusing on the environmental impacts of garment production and what would be the impact of the new initiative on the manufacturing industry.

© A.S.Wright – Ancient red cedar tree in the Great Bear Rainforest

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Kohl's receives EPA's Sustained Excellence AwardThe American department store retail chain, Kohl’s, is being recognised by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a recipient of the ENERGY STAR partner of the year through Sustained Excellence Award for the company’s continuing leadership in protecting the environment through superior energy-efficiency initiatives.

Being an EPA ENERGY STAR member since 1998, the department store chain currently has more than 860 ENERGY STAR-certified locations, more than any other US retailer till date. In 2013 alone, 69 stores received ENERGY STAR certification, surpassing the company’s goal to reach 800 certified locations by 2015. “Kohl’s is proud to be a leader in energy-efficient practices and set a positive example in how we design and operate our facilities. Not only do energy-efficient buildings reduce our carbon footprint, investments in features like lighting upgrades and solar installations make smart business sense,” informs Ken Bonning, Kohl’s Senior Executive Vice President.

Kohl’s uses the ENERGY STAR portfolio manager to track energy performance of all its facilities, assess opportunities for enhanced energy performance and implement best practices. The company also constructs new stores with the intent to pursue ENERGY STAR’s “Designed to Earn” designation. These stores are eligible to earn ENERGY STAR certification after maintaining superior energy performance for one year in operation. “Kohl’s has earned EPA’s highest ENERGY STAR award – the 2014 Partner of the Year – Sustained Excellence Award – because of their unwavering commitment to helping consumers become increasingly more energy-efficient,” says Bob Perciasepe, EPA Deputy Administrator.

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industry back to the forests of origin, this practice was largely unknown to clothing brands. Nonetheless, challenges such as lack of awareness and knowledge surrounds Canopy’s campaign which they are trying to tackle through increasing awareness and knowledge. Further, by not only supporting brands to implement their commitments, Canopy will also work alongside key suppliers within the cellulosic supply chain.

This move could have impacts on both ends of the fabric life chain. According to data from the Council for Textile Recycling and the Environmental Protection Agency, textiles constitute 5 per cent of all landfill waste. The average American throws away 70 pounds of clothing and other textiles a year. While 30 per cent of the rayon and viscose going into clothing comes from dissolvable pulp sourced from ancient forests, forests-based fabrics represent 5 per cent of the total US $ 1.2 trillion global apparel industry, and that number is poised to grow. “Working with Canopy, we are excited to take the additional step of encouraging leaders throughout the supply chain to support conservation in endangered forests and use alternative inputs, for example recycled clothing,

so our actions create lasting change,” states Henrik Lampa, Environmental Sustainability Manager at H&M.

Till date, Canopy has been successful in creating broader awareness of the problem amongst the clothing brands and consumers, while increasing motivation to address it in a meaningful way. Helpful in mobilizing the apparel sector are globally recognized brands such as H&M, Zara, Eileen Fisher, Lululemon Athletica, Quiksilver and others, sending a signal to the entire clothing industry that the use of fibre from endangered forests is, and should be, taken seriously. With H&M and Inditex supporting the initiative in the wake of their strong purchasing power, the message is reverberating throughout the supply chain resulting in capturing the attention of the dissolving pulp sector, the logging industry and Governments. “Dissolving pulp is projecting significant growth, as 15 mills are planning to expand, convert, or open new capacity in the next three years. Given this expansion agenda, the impacts of the clothing sector on the forests would continue to increase – which is why leading and progressive brands are shifting to a greener path now and finding alternatives,” concludes Nicole.

Canopy’s role so Far Developed sourcing

policies to protect endangered forests,

Are tracking where their fabrics originate,

Are eliminating fibre and fabrics from forest hotspots globally, and

Are supporting the development of fibre and fabric solutions. © Grewal Canopy – Model wrapped in moss

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‘Button’ up with leaders in Accessories....


The British Designer, Stella McCartney,

who has a longstanding partnership with Adidas, has created a new water-saving T-shirt as part of the sportswear giant’s “DryDye” global initiative. The technology which is pioneered by DyeCoo Textile Systems, Netherlands, uses pressurized carbon dioxide in place of water to colour textile fibres, resulting in not just reduced water consumption but also less energy and fewer chemicals than conventional dyeing methods.

For Adidas by Stella McCartney’s Fall/Winter 2012 collection, McCartney has designed a blue-and-white leopard-print T-shirt with batwing cap sleeves and a round scoop neck. “It’s been incredibly exciting to work with this amazing new technology that uses no water at all in the process,” says Stella McCartney. Over the summer, Adidas has produced 50,000 DryDye T-shirts and since the production of a single T-shirt requires up to 25 litres of water during the dyeing stage, the company estimates that it has saved a total of 12,000,00 litres of water.

BGMea, GIZ sign Mou for sustainable garment manufacturing

Recently the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers

and Exporters Association (BGMEA) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) aiming to bring sustainable development in the garment manufacturing industry in Bangladesh. Through this MoU, GIZ will implement a joint project by both the Governments of Bangladesh and Germany to help the Bangladeshi garment industry to enhance their environment-friendly capacity.

Under the initiative, a total of 16 Bangladeshi garment firms would be given support on environment issues like energy conservation, improving chemical management, and implementation and operation

Patagonia invests in textile processing

adidas by Stella McCartney offers Water-Saving “drydye” T-Shirt

Outdoor apparel company Patagonia has announced

an investment in CO2Nexus Inc., based in Denver, for a new textile processing method which uses liquid carbon dioxide and is claimed to use no water and reduce energy consumption and waste generation.

This announcement marks a significant investment made by Patagonia through its US $ 20 Million & Change Fund launched in 2013 to help innovative, like-minded start-up companies to bring about solutions to the environmental crisis through business. “Quite simply, processing textiles and apparel requires huge amounts of energy and water – and both are in crisis. CO2Nexus is a great fit for US $ 20 Million & Change – it’s a young company using business and innovation to bring about positive benefits to the environment. Patagonia is proud to invest in their success,” said Rose Marcario,

CEO, Patagonia. CO2Nexus’ unique system, called TERSUS®, can process textiles using the same CO2 that provides fizz to beverages. The process is fast, with 20-30 minute cycle times, and requires no separate dryer, conserving significant energy as a result.

of effluent treatment plant. “The implementation of the MoU would bring a change in long-term environmental issues,” said Riaz Bin Mahmud, BGMEA Vice-President (Finance). Working on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for

Economic Cooperation and Development, GIZ Bangladesh is currently focusing on three priority areas in Bangladesh – energy-efficiency and renewable energy; rule of law/justice; and adaptation to climate change in urban areas.

Bangladeshi garment firms would be given support on environmental issues.

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Cintas introduces sustainable apparel line ‘ar red Suiting’Cintas Corporation has lately introduced its new AR Red Suiting Collection, which is made with DuPont Sorona, a renewably sourced fibre, which reduces carbon dioxide emissions used in the manufacturing process by 63 per cent. Offering solutions to organisations to go Green, the specialised service provider company collaborated with Austin Reed brand for this collection which consists of both men and women.

“Cintas is committed to identifying sustainable options that not only lessen the impact of our manufacturing processes, but also allow our customers to reduce their environmental footprint. Our partnership with Austin Reed has resulted in environmental friendly and fashionable garments,” states Melanie Boyle, Manager of Sustainability, Cintas Corporation.

It marks a significant investment made by Patagonia to help innovative, like-minded start-up companies to bring about solutions to the environmental crisis through business.

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A city where the modern blends seamlessly into the old, the rich co-

exist with the poor and the successful inspire the strugglers, Mumbai is home to many companies from our industry like Alok Industries, Mandhana, Bombay Rayon Fashions, Raymond, Creative Group, Texport Group, Kaytee Exports, The Shirt Company, Zodiac, Opera Clothing to name but a few. While Mumbai is the management base to all, there is a consensus that the city has lost its sheen as a garmenting hub. “There is no doubt that we cannot operate from the city competitively, so there is no option but to take the factories elsewhere,” says Manish Mandhana, MD, Mandhana Industries. Most of the garment factories of the company are in Bangalore, but the latest expansion is happening in Tarapur, where the company already has presence for their textile business.

Next manufacturing base for Mumbai companies…Indeed, it is interesting to note that while earlier Mumbai based exporters were expanding with factories in Bangalore and Tirupur, when spiralling real estate cost made it impossible to put up a new

A city where the modern blends seamlessly into the old, the rich co-exist with the poor and the successful inspire the strugglers, Mumbai is home to many companies from the textile and apparel industry.

venture in the city, but with these two destinations now facing crises of their own, they are no longer on the preferred list of manufacturing destinations. “We are among the first companies to shift our factories to Tirupur, when the region was still at a very nascent stage of development. No doubt, having factories in Tirupur supported our growth, while our office in Mumbai was the marketing front, but now with processing issues and growing shortage of trained labour, the edge has been lost,” says Premal Udani, MD, Kaytee Exports.

Increasingly, in a fresh wave of expansions over the last few years, factories are moving back closer to the city outskirts. With manufacturing clusters fast coming up in Tarapur, Bhiwandi, both of which were earlier mostly about fabrics, Thane, Vapi, Umergaon, Daman, Kolhapur, Osmanabad and Islampur. “Earlier we moved our production to Tirupur, Bangalore or at the most Vapi region. However, too many factories in these areas and shortage of labour have created peer competition, which is unhealthy and is seen in the form of attrition, poaching and higher wages or salaries compared to peer factories. So it is important to search for new areas like

Garments manufacturinG expandinG on the outskirts

Mumbai the corporate home of textile business

The fascination of Mumbai is much beyond the glamour of Bollywood, and today this throbbing and vibrant city is the nerve centre of almost every major corporate in the country. Even though many manufacturing units have shifted out of the city, the think tank of most companies’ still drive inspiration from this commercial capital of India and the Textile & Apparel Industry is no different. Old timers still recall how Purshotam Amersey of Milton’s, Shantilal Liladhar of Hiralal Gulabchand, Captain Nair of Leela Lace and Premila Wagle of Paville Fasions, all from ‘Bombay’ were among the first to setup an export business doing roaring trade with the US, Europe and Russia and inspiring a whole generation of apparel exports both in Bombay and Delhi. Team AO was in Mumbai recently and it was intriguing to see how the city still remains a preferred base for many exporters and buying offices…

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adopting towns or villages whereby you can run your factories based on minimum wages and corporate social responsibilities, thereby keeping cost control on production, which is the key to success in any product,” reasons Dilip Trivedi, Chairman, The Cotton and Textile Corporation.

Not letting go of the roots in Mumbai, companies are searching for newer hubs that can give them competitive advantages in production. “With overheads involved during production in Mumbai becoming unmanageable, we had to look for cheaper alternatives, so about seven years ago when we needed to expand we went to Daman, where the Government was giving incentives for setting up a factory, with Daman too becoming crowded with many other exporters like Creative Group, Mudra Lifestyle, Banswara Garments to name a few also setting up factories, our new unit for lingerie manufacturing in collaboration with Italian partner is coming up in Umergaon, near Vapi,” shares Sanjay Jain, Director, Opera Clothing, which has its showroom, product development team and sampling unit in Mumbai.

Kalpesh Kabra, Partner, Kalp Exim points out that the factories which have moved out are the giants for whom paying the high rents, maintenance costs, high volume of staffs and their expenses play a major role in achieving the breakeven and adding to the profits. On the other side there is tremendous growth in the small scale factories which operate from the small industrial galas and typical

Mumbai chawl area like Dharavi, which is today Asia’s biggest production centre in terms of industrial output values. “The other advantages are 24 hours power, big wholesale markets like fabrics, accessories, utilities in the range of 60 minute radius. Vast variety in articles from locally made to imported ones and good transportation like trains, easy for air and sea cargo are some of the points which make Mumbai attractive,” says Kalpesh.

Having head office in Mumbai makes sense...When the industry was evolving it was essential to have a sales office in Mumbai as overseas customers had easy access of Mumbai. Also, being a commercial hub business sense, language and communication skills too were far better than other areas. “Now communication is not a barrier and customers have also evolved, they do not hesitate to travel further within India and more and more buyers visit factories out of Mumbai, as they would like to view their production and review deliveries,” says Dilip. Yet, most of the exporters have retained their centralized showrooms in the city and with many other attractions in Mumbai, some exporters/buyers also shared that it is easier to ‘entertain’ buyers in the city after a tour of the factories at the outskirts. “Global buyers prefer to travel to best international connections and good food. Mumbai serves them all, entertainment, 5 stars, night life business and tourism combined. Even they travel to other states they prefer to be in Mumbai as good choice for international connections,” says Kalpesh candidly.

It is also the base for many buying offices, which even though the factories have moved out of the city continue to operate from the metropolis, like OAGN (buying wing of OTTO), Indiska, Shah Safari, Synergies and one of the oldest buying operations in the country, In-Design. While many liaison offices started their offices from the city, some like Macy’s and JCPenney preferred to move to Delhi, as a majority of the factories were in the region, but many others continued to thrive in the city. “We are traditionally a Mumbai based company and as a buying office two prime areas of concern are shipment and documentation, and both are at close quarters in Mumbai, with easy access to port and corporate offices of major banks in the city,” argues Percy Vasunia, General Manager – India, OAGN. However, the buying office does have regional representation in Delhi and Tirupur, their two major sourcing regions. “The office in Mumbai acts as centralized point of centre which is very easy to co-ordinate between various vendors

manufacturing the single articles into various production centres,” adds Kalpesh.

According to the industry the core strength of Mumbai is fashion creativity and understanding new ideas of the world and keeping themselves update on the current trends. “At most other manufacturing centres, more customer centric ideas are utilized to reproduce samples,” says Tarun Sharma, MD, DTM Resources, a manufacturer of high-fashion and designer garments in Mumbai. Many small fashion factories still operate in Mumbai as personal check is required on small runs of production, also since the FOBs are very high it is easy to factor in the higher cost of production. “Mumbai is vibrant and if you have fashion articles and requirement for high value garments then the city has a lot to offer with facilities like constant electricity, water, supplies, accessories and quick results,” says Tarun.

Mumbai also acts as the biggest wholesale market to walk in buyers from various nearby states and international buyers. “Often we also find buyers from Sudan, Egypt, Gulf countries shopping around Mumbai streets and also looking for wholesale stuff and most of this stuff is produced in Mumbai itself. These stockiest doesn’t depend on the other states due to logistical issues, taxes, etc.,” avers Kalpesh.

Another category which is a favourite from Mumbai is men’s shirts and ladies tops with almost all exporters including the vertical ones mastering this category. “The region is well known for casual shirts as most of the mills in and around Mumbai are manufacturing fabrics for the same,” says Harish Arya, MD, Sushila International. Specialising in polyester cotton shirting fabric under the brand name Sushitex, the company has expanded with a garment unit of 100 machines to produce shirts at Umargaon where many garment units are coming up.

Mumbai is totally hi-tech. with good internet connection, interrupted power, CCTV footages, so it is not very difficult to manage the control operations from Mumbai. Indeed, while it may seem that Mumbai is no longer a garmenting hub, but with expansions happening on the outskirts, the region is again picking up and becoming an important centre for garment exports. “No buyer can ignore Mumbai and the way the dynamics is changing I can see Mumbai rising again to regain its lost glory,” concludes Ajay Sabharwal, MD, In-Design, the oldest buying office in the city working on very high-end products and who has seen the transition of the city over the last nearly four decades.

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Ongoing innovations and unearthing new end uses of denim is what is keeping denim alive for years. With Italy and Turkey becoming very expensive and exclusive, concentration of denim fabric manufacturing is now in Asian countries primarily the Indian sub-continent as both China and Japan are focusing on the premium segment of the world market. India with 27 denim manufacturing companies is producing 1 billion metres/annum and the capacities are being added continually across the country. The recently held Indigo, a small fair, saw three denim fabric companies showcasing their latest developments in denim namely Modern Denim, Nandan Denim and Kassim Textiles from Pakistan. Besides, fabric there were a few dyes and chemical companies like Archroma and DyStar along with a sole technology provider Lectra and button manufacturer Preet Buttons who were directly addressing the denim industry... denim

new developments propel companies associated with

wider width looms; we already are into home textiles through terry towels. In fact, Modern Terry Towels was the first company in Asia which was fully vertically integrated,” informed Panchal.

Producing 30 million metres per annum of denim fabric, Modern Denim have also tied up with Ahmedabad based company Globe Textiles to produce 2000 denim bottoms per day. “The best part is that Globe Textiles has its own washing plant and has partnered with us for their exports and brands business. They don’t have fabric manufacturing and we don’t have garment manufacturing so we complement each other. With a mill culture approach you can match garmenting, it’s

its coated and laminated denim along with knitted denim. Kiran Panchal, President (Marketing) shared, “In shirting we have number of varieties; very high value fabrics using compact yarns. We have also come up with embroidered denim which is now picking up as trend in the international market.”

The other attraction at Modern Denim’s booth was its home textile products. The company has partnered with Amber Home, a Mumbai based home furnishing made-ups company, to convert its denim fabric into denim made-ups such as bed linen, table linen (some with tie&dye, some with patchwork) and kitchen linen for both international and domestic markets. “For this we have a

To be ahead of their completion both in the domestic and global market, most

denim companies are working closely with fibre, machinery and dyestuff makers on exclusive basis to add value to products which could sell at a premium. The companies are investing in research and development for value addition like stretch denim, coating, fluorescent neps, knitted, two faced denim, printed denim and jacquard denim.

At the Indigo, Ahmedabad based Modern Denim as always came up with some new concepts in denim, showcasing developments such as facer fabric – in which there are two colours on same fabric. Besides this it also exhibited

Most of the denim companies are working closely with fibre, machinery and dyestuff makers on exclusive basis to add value to products, which could sell at a premium. The companies are investing heavily in R&D.

Imtiaz Ishaque, General Manager – Sales & Marketing, Kassim Textiles

D K Jain, Director, Nandan Denim

Kiran Panchal, President (Marketing), Modern Denim


difficult,” stated Panchal who strongly feels that India has a very bright future in denim manufacturing and the industry just needs to discover more and more end uses of denim.

Producing 84 million metres per annum and claiming to produce more than 2,000

different types of denim fabric varieties ranging between 6 to 14 ounces, Nandan Denim (Chiripal Group), Ahmedabad showcased its power stretch, smooth finishes, clean look and double yarn quality denim. Nandan is on its way to becoming the biggest denim fabric producer in India

Pakistan based Kassim Textiles showcased its high-end denim developments both for bottoms and tops. Kassim which earlier just focused on bottom fabrics is now equally giving importance to denim top wear fabrics.

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preet Buttons launChes eCo-Friendly produCtsBeing the only accessory supplier, Preet Buttons & Fasteners Industries attracted much attention with its recently launched range of environment friendly denim accessories. Preet Buttons, recognizing the need of environmentally sustainable trims, setup its own indigenous R&D to develop new finishes that are trending in the market, since they are currently being imported by the Indian exporters in order to meet compliances.

Playing an important role in the compliance of products, as per several product safety acts and regulations, such accessories are in great demand. “We have developed new finishes that are nickel free, chromium free, phosphorus free and lead free for our exporters manufacturing for European buyers. We are also nominated by a few buyers. In the domestic market we supply for brands like John Players, Mufti, Spykar,” said Manpreet Singh, Director, Preet Buttons & Fasteners Industries. With a two decade history of servicing the apparel industry, the company based in Delhi now has a nationwide presence as an accessories supplier and has been a favourite amongst its customers due to its unparalleled and quality customized solutions.

Manpreet Singh, Director, Preet Buttons & Fasteners Industries


and hopes to reach 112 million metres per annum by 2015; the company is investing Rs. 1,200 crore in the expansion. “We have tied up with various international brands to ensure that our new capacity is fully utilized. In the next few years, we hope to reduce reliance on the domestic market and concentrate more on the export markets. This in turn will take the market share for exports to 30-35% with the rest accounted for by the Indian market,” shared D K Jain, Director of the company.

Participating for the first time at Indigo, Pakistan based Kassim Textiles showcased its high-end denim developments both for bottoms and tops. Kassim

and China are going to be quite big markets for us, and while we have succeeded in the Chinese market to some extent, the focus now is to penetrate deeper into the Indian market, which we are already servicing as nominated suppliers of G-star.”

Kassim’s premium range starts from US $ 4.50 to 5.50 per yard and 85-90% produce of the company is being exported while the rest is deemed export, so local usage is nil. “Because of high duty, we are unable to sell in the Indian market. If the duty is reduced by 50%, from the current 30% to around 15%, then we shall have very bright prospects in the Indian market,” said Imtiaz according to whom Pakistan

which earlier just focused on bottom fabrics is now equally giving importance to denim top wear fabrics. The company is doing a lot of cotton polyester to high-end fabric blends like tencel and modal; with both high density and stretch. The company has also come up with a lot of innovations in finishes like coating, over dyeing and printing. While interacting with team Apparel Online, Imtiaz Ishaque, General Manager – Sales & Marketing stated, “The feedback which we have got from the US and the European market is that India is missing the premium line, so we thought we could showcase our premium collection here. We feel that in future, India

has around 17 major players in denim. Many of the mills are expanding their capacities and a majority of them are vertically integrated from fibre to garments with a few from yarns to garments. “As Turkey is getting expensive, the business is coming to Pakistan as Pakistan used to work with Turkish People so the technical knowhow of the fabric has been derived from Turkey,” adds Imtiaz who was happy to get an enquiry from a visitor from Columbia. “We do regular business with the country, I am surprised to find Columbian customer in India; this buyer took interest in our product and he deals in premium range,” shared Imtiaz.

leCtra strengthens its Foothold in india

Lectra, a world leader in integrated technology solutions, which has always been a forerunner in innovation activities and participating on global platforms, made a strong presence at the third edition of Indigo held recently in Noida. The company exhibited its latest technologies and conducted a seminar on the advancements of technologies relating to denim.

Hari Kenkare, Lectra’s Marketing Coordinator in his interaction with the Team AO talked about the company’s stand in the Indian market sharing that Lectra has strengthened its operational foothold in India in the last two years; going from being managed by an agent to being directly present in the country. “We are a young subsidiary compared to the global level and are still developing. Historically business in India is more manufacturing based while Lectra offers solutions ranging from design, pattern making, 3D, PLM and manufacturing. But that area is now evolving and developing,” said Kenkare. Initially, when Lectra started operations in India, it followed a dual model, having an office in Bangalore as well as an agent handling services.

The company is positive about its future in India as it believes that not only manufacturing technologies but Design and 3D technologies are finally catching up. Despite having a great potential, the country’s investment in technology has not evolved to an extent Lectra had expected. This, Kenkare believes, is due to the lack of ample exposure to the international market.

As a part of its marketing strategy, Lectra promotes its software such as CAD and CAM through the education system of the country. This is what they call ‘teaching the teachers’ and is a way of providing training to the next generation of industry leaders. The workshop conducted by Kenkare on the first day of the expo, was also aimed at enlightening the students of various institutes like IIFT, IAM and TIT&S, about the various advancements in technology relating to the denim industry. The areas on which he focused were Fabric, Figure, Fit, Finish and Finance – or the five F’s as he called it. “When this the idea of workshop came in; I thought of how the denim industry is organized and what are the key entities which affect the business that would benefit from the infusion of technology,” said Kenkare explaining the genesis of the five F’s. The workshop was industry-centric focusing not only on the products and services Lectra is offering but on the denim industry as a whole. The presentation included some interesting new technologies like catalytic clothing, spot free denim, moisturizing denim, etc.

Lectra covers the complete process of designing, PLM and the cutting room. None of its competitors cover this entire spectrum. Therefore, while they may face competition in individual areas from other solution providers like Gerber, TukaTech and Optitex in the CAD department, Lectra finds its edge in the fact that it provides an end-to-end solution for everything from design to cutting room. A lot of the features are compatible with each other and are synchronized effectively because of the same.

Hari Kenkare, Marketing Coordinator, Lectra

Preet Buttons has developed new finishes that are nickel free, chromium free, phosphorus free and lead free for its products

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Among the oldest ways to print, screen printing is even today a very tedious process wherein every screen needs to be created individually from scratch... they can’t be copied. Even with technology coming in at the designing and the final printing stage, the skill and creativity of setting up the screen manually remains. Capitalizing on the opportunity for newer applications, Amit Mehta, a young entrepreneur in Noida has made manual screen printing so very creative and cost-effective that it has generated a lot of curiosity and also business for Fabrino, a company started by his father Anil Mehta 40 years ago as a processing house...

Fabrino

“When I think about creating any design I just think how to bring down the cost and give identical and equally appealing product to my customers.” – Amit Mehta

Till Amit joined his father about 14 years ago, Fabrino had five clients with steady business, but this young

NIFT graduate gave the company a new identity and today the company has 175 customers across India catering to the international brands and retailers by supplying innovative fabric with unique printing and washing to the manufacturers of bags, accessories, footwear, garments and home furnishings. “The way of doing business has entirely changed in this last 14 years; I cannot fully take credit for the change, as I only responded to the changing need of the market,” says a modest Amit. He adds, “Fourteen years ago we were working with 4-5 major customers and the quantities were so huge that we didn’t feel the need to add more customers; also the customers at that time were providing us the designs or coming up with the specific requirements. But, now we work more as a design house where we develop our own creations with our extensive R&D.

We refer to a lot of forecasts, trend magazines and get a lot of inputs from NIFT faculty, the buyers and my designer friends.” Based on forecast for the next season, Fabrino is already out with its S/S’15 prints and colours.

Equipped with dyeing and table screen printing facilities at its Noida unit, Fabrino outsources weaving with its own specifications to various weavers. “We follow all international compliance norms; we have AZO free, GOTS and REACH certifications,” informs Amit. He adds that screen printing has changed so much that in certain designs one cannot make out whether it’s done manually or on automatic screen printing machine. “These days everything is computerised; the artworks, design creations, uniform overlaps; it’s as good as done on rotary or a flat bed. The basic preparation of screens is the same as done on a rotary or flat bed, only manual screen printing requires expert labour that can apply uniform pressure and control the screen skilfully,” adds Amit.

Creating MagiC with Manual SCreen Printing

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Though realising the advantages of moving on to automation which has advantages like saving on space cost, warehousing along with faster bulk production, Amit justifies his preference for sticking to manual printing. “In my view people prefer more variety than going for bulks. The quantity per design per colour has really gone down, though no doubt the overall business has increased because the number of designs and colours has increased, so the volume business remains the same. In manual screen printing you can print any volume... very small to a very big lot, say 100 metres to 2000 metres..., the flexibility is there and any variations can be controlled on screens. I even do 10 metre orders,” he argues.

dyeing there is a ‘lot to lot’ variation which cannot be controlled so easily, yet they still prefer to do the process manually. He adds, “I do all the designs myself and based on these, specialisations are developed. Basic strength lies on how you conceptualize a project... rest works on the systems which we have developed. There are a lot of my designs which people tried to copy but they couldn’t.”

Sticking to 100% cotton and other natural fibres, Fabrino is mainly catering to companies which are making products from canvas or twill linings from 6 to 24 ounce. “The best thing that the customer gets from me is that they can freely share their creative desires – fabric of one, colour of another, print of third, and

cost-effective,” shares Amit. The other interesting development is leather suede look on canvas bags; which according to Amit amazed even leather bag manufacturers. “When I think about creating any design I just think how to bring down the cost and give identical and equally appealing product to my customers,” continues Amit.

Certain designs done by screens, which look similar to that of digital printing, is another very fascinating development by Fabrino, as it cuts down cost substantially. “We have developed prints with photo tone affects all done on screens and they are extremely cost-effective; we have sold a lot of this particular project to Target Stores,” reveals Amit. The cost of digital print look fabric is

Breaking the myth that in manual screen printing only 5-6 colours can be played upon, Amit uses 19-20 colours with ease. “There are certain designs/finishes which are really difficult to do on machines because there are certain factors which one can control only manually like keeping a gap between the two repeats so that you can allow it to properly dry for better colour production before putting next screen on to the design which is generally not possible in the automatic machine because it moves at a constant speed,” informs Amit.

Finding no difficulty in colour consistency though colour mixing at Fabrino is done manually, Amit claims that very rarely the recipes fall short in perfection. “We keep checking the colour consistency all through the production; if there is any deviation we control that,” says Amit, adding that while there are minor variations in printing, in

Pastel shades are going to be strong in S/S’15; combination of pastels and neon tones, a lot of floral designs, washed effects, wax and oily finish are in

we can get it done. Even if they have their own designs we do that too,” says Amit.

Interesting & Innovative Creations by Fabrino...Amit shares that pastel shades are going to be strong in S/S’15; combination of pastels and neon tones, a lot of floral designs, washed effects, wax and oily finish are in for leather goods and leather bags. “We are soon coming up with folk embroidery patterns. It is not the conventional embroidery with thread but it would give the feel of embroidery on the fabric and created through printing with certain textures over it. This will drastically reduce the cost of the fabric and it will give options to the customers to highlight the embroidery at certain places to give it an embroidered look and not to do overall embroidery which will make the production faster and

1/10th of the digitally printed fabric and is available for mass production, the buyers who are not so particular about the intensity or the sharpness of the colour are now opting this option, as they get a ‘look-alike’ option for digital prints at much cheaper price.

The other eye-catching development is different weave effects like herringbones, hound’s-tooth effect through screen printing which looks very exclusive. “We have developed vintage look, fox linen effects; these are cotton fabrics which would give you the effect of linen, a good substitute for pure linen. It’s all done with finishing and printing but if some special texture needs to be given then that’s given at the weaving stage,” avers Amit who has also done enzyme wash and stone wash effect on fabrics with screen printing along with denim look for Coles on Canvas; if one doesn’t see the back side, it would look 100% denim.

“i believe in one thing, rather than expanding in terms of volumes it’s better to grow in newer things. i don’t want to print ordinary things which others are doing; i want to create new designs.”

“i am doing big volumes for customers like walmart, primark and Carrefour. there are a few buying houses who recommend us to these buyers as we met all their compliance standards. we use the best of raw material available. recently we got some orders from primark; the order quantity is generally from 25,000 to 30,000 metres for one project. my monthly capacity is about 3 lakh metres/month which i process in my factory.”

“exporters from all over india visit our showroom in noida and naraina (delhi); they collect the samples, they give displays to their buyers; if the buyers want certain changes in colour or prints in our designs we do that for them with our own inputs too.”

Leather suede look on canvas bags

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Tex Find

Recently, Scandinavian science and design students have developed a promising new member of the cellulose family: Ioncell-F, which is a textile created from plant material and ionic liquid. Like other cellulose fabrics, Ioncell-F is also a wood-based fibre and is produced by dissolving wood chips into an ionic liquid to obtain a pulp, which is further processed to create the finished fibres that can be spun into yarn. The ionic liquid and wood pulp form a solid bond due to which this fibre is much stronger in comparison to viscose. While viscose fibres weaken when wet, the fibres of Ioncell-F stay steady and do not change.

Regardless of the tedious and complex production methods involved, the resulting fabric made of all-natural materials, has a high water retention property and yields no toxic chemical residue. Ioncell-F requires much less water for production, even lesser than rayon. The fabric is still under research and testing, in order to create a product that can be scaled up for mass-production.

Ioncell-f: new Sustainable fabric of the future

DTPC to help handloom village in Kannur get a facelift

Good days are coming for the weavers

of Kannur who are going through immense hardships as the District Tourism Promotion Council is working on a project which aims at not only boosting tourism in Malabar but revive the handloom industry in Kannur, the land of looms. The project will be setting up a handloom village in Azhikode and on its implementation will provide comprehensive benefits for the handloom industry which is currently passing through a phase of crisis. The final Government clearance is expected this month end after which the work will start.

Under the project, the front portion of all the houses in the handloom street will be redesigned to give a uniform look. Also the entire street will be paved with interlock bricks.

Suraaj Linens is relentlessly pursuing Digital Printing in its Home Textiles range

Mumbai based Suraaj Linens, manufacturer

of home textile products and primarily catering to the European and US markets, has come up with a new range of home textiles that reflect trendsetting patterns, fabrics and styles. “For this line, we have focused on adopting new processes and procedures that add value to our products. The designs have been created and carefully selected by our designers and incorporate styles we foresee this year. The catalogue with bright colours and bold designs is made for

the summer, as well as a sneak peek into our more subdued Autumn/Winter collection,” says Rajesh Jain, Chairman of Suraaj Linens.

Suraaj Linens keeps technology at the forefront to quickly adapt to the ever changing world of textile production, and today digital printing is what the company is pursuing relentlessly. The company has also developed its own range of recycled cotton. “Our recycled cotton range has the least affect on the environment and the potential of being offered at very good prices,” states Rajesh.

India to setup Organic Cotton Secretariat

Representatives from the Indian organic cotton

industry have agreed to setup a new organic and fair cotton Secretariat to focus on industry policy, manage and identify resources and provide support services to accelerate the growth of the organic cotton sector. The Organic & Fair Cotton Secretariat which will build an enabling environment for developing responsible organic cotton supply chains; create a credible Indian organic brand; and enhance livelihoods for smallholder organic cotton farmers.

The Secretariat would focus on three areas such as policy and advocacy, identifying and leveraging resources and providing support services – covering social, technical, legal, research and impact aspects of cotton production – to accelerate the growth of the organic cotton sector. “The organic cotton sector faces a global shortfall of up to 50% by 2015. It is time for action to prevent a gap developing between demand and supply which could be as big as the current world production. The Time for Action report outlines the key areas where

the Indian cotton sector has recognized the need to work together on joint action plans. We hope the clear commitment from industry leaders will forge a strong future for organic cotton,” said Alison Ward, CEO of Cotton Connect over the move.


from inception to delivery, it starts with an inquiry going on to sampling, order placement, production monitoring, on-site quality control, shipping and logistics,” continues Tania. Working with an importer, the company does not face any problems as the process flows and communication between the buyer, the agency and the factory remains smooth.

While catering to coir mats from Cochin, terry towels from Modern Terry Towel in Ahmedabad, bathmats from Panipat and so on, the buying agency has a pan-India vendor base. It works with two different sets of vendors, one who are tried and tested, and with whom the company has been regularly working with and the others, which the company comes across through B2B websites and fair directories. Before finalising any vendor, the company does a thorough onsite inspection. As the buyers, who are mostly the importers, are increasingly stressing on the importance of compliance, Spectra makes sure that they comply to such requests with an internal inspection or inspection through nominated labs. “For instance, if a factory says that they are Disney or Primark approved, we convey the same to our buyers and ask them whether they still want to get the audit done. If they say yes, then we get an audit done by their nominated labs like SGS, Bureau Veritas, etc. whichever they say. Also if a factory says that they are OEKO-TEX certified, we see whether it’s valid for the next one year, or if they say they are WRAP certified, we check their certification,” states Tania. Although costs are high to get compliances in place within factories, but Spectra’s buyers ensure that they support the factories and even pay for certain audit procedures. “We were working with a

One of the most important business strategies that the agency undertook during the economic recession was to diversify its

product portfolio; so the company which formally started off as a buying agency for home textile products ventured into various lines such as apparel, furniture and accessories. By increasing its portfolio of offerings, the agency was able to get more enquiries from its existing customers. “We put in more effort to interact with buyers on a personal basis through our US office in Greenwich, which earlier was not needed. We had to keep on improvising, go the extra mile and keep giving them constant offers,” informs Tania. Secondly, the company took membership of Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts (EPCH), through which they started visiting each and every fair that took place, whether big or small. “There was no fair that went unnoticed from our end. We made an effort to make ourselves more aware and visible, trying to offer the buyer as much more as possible and eventually the business did pick up. We had to push; it became hard but it was that ‘push’ which got us more work,” claims Tania.

At present, the company works directly with importers of Home Furnishing such as S.S. Dweck & Sons Inc. USA, Babeetalk USA, The Sunday Fare, who further supply to retailers such as Walmart, Target, Walgreens, Cosco, Ross, etc. Also, the company does project based business for restaurants and nightclubs for the European market primarily through Link Capital Growth S.L. Spain. “We work as a buying agency, not a buying house, so we are not exporting anything rather we are the representative, the ‘eyes & ears’ of the buyers in India. We execute everything

H O M E F A S H I O N F U T U R E

Ventures into high-end and eco-friendly products focuses on a defined business strategy...S p e c t r a S h a d e S i n t e r n at i o n a l

Spectra Shades International has seen many ups and downs in its nearly two decades journey as a buying agency, including the recent recession, but now with the US economy improving, business is finally getting back on track. Emerging victorious during difficult times is the high-spirited woman, Tania Bhalla, who stands firmly behind the company’s success story.

“After visiting the IHGF last year, one of our buyers started working with almost 4 factories in cushion covers – embellished, embroidered, Kashmiri art and printed – and the volumes which started with 2,000 pieces, after the first run jumped to 25,000 to 30,000 pieces.” Tania Bhalla, Director, Spectra Shades International

OEKO-TEX certified crib bedding with 'Confidence in Textiles' branding


H O M E F A S H I O N F U T U R E

factory in Karur (Tamil Nadu) that had a very big setup with all compliance certifications except the C-TPAT, for which the buyer paid US $ 1,200 to get the audit done,” adds Tania.

Through a compliant set of vendors, Spectra offers its buyers a vast product folio of coir mats, blankets, throws, cushions covers, towels, rugs, bath and rubber mats, carpets, etc. out of which floor coverings and kitchen are amongst the biggest product categories for the company. The agency does up to 2-3, 40 feet container loads a month for one of its biggest buyers, with about 15,000 pieces in one container. Working on economy variants which go up to FOB US $ 3, the company has also started doing high-end products such as satin sheet sets, which range between US $ 15-30, depending on the thread count and high-end cushions which are fully embellished.

From high-end product ranges the company is moving towards baby furnishing with a new line of OEKO-TEX certified crib bedding. Adhering to the US compliance for baby products, the company is offering a range of products that are eco-friendly such as the eco-teether, where babies can munch on the rail of the crib or the cot without any hazardous chemicals. “The entire OEKO-TEX line and finding resources and related infrastructure which are running on this system is very expensive, however, factories are also very well aware of the changing trends in the market and are working on it,” maintains Tania. Though the company has recently started focusing on high-end and eco-friendly products, going forward the company also aims to get a bigger and better portfolio of buyers, while focusing on being a specialised team for sourcing home textiles, furniture and accessories and not divert from it.

Being small yet influential, the buying agency is a complete quality-oriented setup working with ethical values such as not taking any kind of monetary gain from suppliers; thereby maintaining the trust of their buyers till date. “We believe that it is a very competitive industry and to survive we have to prove

to our buyers that we are worth it. We believe in giving hands-on service, we

give our buyers weekly updates; we do constant sourcing for new ideas and provide quick response time. Also, our

strength I believe is our experience, the fact that we are a close knit family oriented business with a personalised touch which really

works in our favour,” concludes Tania.

Working on economy variants which go up to FOB US $ 3, the company has also started doing high-end products such as satin sheet sets, which range between US $ 15-30, depending on the thread count and high-end cushions which are fully embellished.

Hong Kong InternatIonal Home textiles and Furnishings Fair disappoints due to low footfall Despite being an important fair, the 6th edition of the HKTDC organized Hong Kong International Home Textiles and Furnishings Fair turned out to be disappointing for more than 100 Indian Home Furnishing companies who participated. “This time we could only get 12 buyers while last year the figure was 40. The last day of the 4 days exhibition was quite a waste and quality of buyers was not up to our expectation,” reveals Sachin Pahal, Buyer Account Manager, Anubhav Terry Craft India, Panipat. The feeling was shared by most exhibitors, many of whom are regular participants. “We have been participating for the last four years but next time we will take part in Heimtextil rather than this fair. We felt cheated,” bemoaned Ramesh Verma, Founder, Diamond Export, Panipat and Chairman, President Handloom Exports Manufacturing Association, Panipat. The exhibition saw maximum participation from Panipat and Delhi-NCR based companies along with a

few from South India. Easter vacation along with the concurrent Canton Fair in China was seen as the major reasons for low buyer footfall during the exhibition.

The buyers who visited the fair were mostly trading agents of Hong Kong and from countries such as Japan, Taiwan, Australia and Korea, whereas visitors from EU were very rare, which was one of the major reasons for the disappointment of Indian participants. Vinit Pathak, Merchandising Manager, IACS Noida informs, “We can expect an order execution from 3 to 4 new buyers whom we have met at the fair, but their small quantities are an issue.” This, however, has proved advantageous for participants such as Surinder Sharma, Owner, Abbs International Inc., Panipat who claims, “A few Japanese buyers may work with us because their smaller quantities are possible from exporters like us in India. I was surprised that Japanese buyers were keen on prices. Our edge in cotton products and better quality compared to Pakistan and Bangladesh proved a major support for us.”

More than 100 Indian home furnishing companies participated in the fair

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With themes revolving around the Need of Identity, the Spring of 2015 is a time to reconsider. Indulging in contrasting principles of Technocracy and Art as an Expression, such paths are charted out which are more substantive than popular – whether for correcting forlorn decisions or for discovering the sole purpose of life.

FORECAST SPRING/SUMMER

2015a summer of transition…

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With technology running hand in hand with our analog lifestyle, it inspires and directs

us to move ahead of the present standard of living. Modern hybrids between the concept of laser cut and the clean aesthetic of smart tailoring never seem to tire. From futuristic cuts and contour with splendid fabric detailing, the silhouettes draw inspiration from the edgy, uptight and symmetrical nature, engineered outlines in form of geometric shapes are incepted. Fabric manipulation, fabric folding techniques, bodycon panels, and shapes drawn from pattern-making tools like the French curve are present. Four-sided geometrical constructions like trapezium and vertical long box are cut to depict the transient but structural nature of the theme.

This theme gives birth to innovations and innovations bridge the gap between the

consumer and the producer. Retail, distribution and manufacturing are on the verge of revival due to a revolutionary emerging technology: 3D Printing. Now ideas can be translated into concrete objects with little regard to the machinery or skill accessible. With the use of leather, PU and other apt fabrics along with plastic structures, silhouettes created are tapered overalls and detailed corsets with crystalline and amorphous appearances, knee length shift dresses in premium quality satin, polyamide, acrylic and Victorian structured skirts with 3D printed geometric structures.

Engineered Designs

3D Printing


Specific than the known specificities, a new microscopic territory is explored, built in

alien structures. Ethereal colours accelerate explorations and flora and fauna are acutely dissected. As structures get familiar, geometry is traced in scales of a fish and wings of a fly, in DNA structures and cell formations. This season will witness a time when floral prints would not merely be oversized blooms but will narrate a story of the fertile pollens, dreamlike cell formations and petal contours on delicate fabrics. The story takes shape from fluidity in fabric and through uncomplicated silhouettes that strengthens the presence of embroidery or print on maxi gowns, flared dresses, tulip dresses and unisex tops.

People are currently caught up in an unending search of finding themselves,

unearthing an identity and on a quest of exploring oneself and the attributes inherent from birth. Art reinforces this theme through maps, landscapes and architecture and technology plays a vital role by tracking movements and marking locations through advanced GPS and GIS systems. The general look of the theme is restrained fluidity. The cape coat is developed in an A-line cut, drop shoulder sleeve takes full form on straight dresses and oversized long tops, the sporty sweatshirt charts a comeback and pleats on skirts and dresses – knife or box – create a great illusion of a folded map.

The technique of the ‘hand’ cultivates an alternative culture, breaking from the shackles

of orderly production to further discover the spontaneity of handcrafted wonder. Shunning uniformity and predefined norms of construction, the product is meticulously finished; processes of creation become longer, reflecting in its structure the mind of the creator. Handlooms become a second home as ideas are spread across the length of warps and wefts. Explored voraciously, untainted materials fulfil an appetite for all things natural and traditional means of dyeing and printing – tie&dye and ruching – draw a league of eccentric artists and skilled craftsmanship. The garments created are flowy, minimalistic and exude a crafty feel.

Bio DNA

Mapped Identity

Handmade

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Gathering diverse thoughts onto the open streets, in one solid space as a means

of expression is what the theme symbolizes. Expressing yourself is the easiest when the art form has no boundaries, extending from paint to print to sculpture. Diverse people, diverse thoughts and every man will put together the same ingredients in a manner unique to themselves. The key shapes of this theme are hinged on asymmetry and body hugging silhouettes, from midi-length dresses and roomy cropped trousers to irregular hemlines, wrap-arounds and high slit skirts which pave the way for innovation and experimentation.

Lost in a classic, modern-day chaos, the city man feels uprooted in concrete

jungles, without a real sense of place and people. He is succeeded by missing links and broken memories, ones he frantically struggles to make sense of. People travel back to locate ancestral lines and revel in childhood trivia while they ruffle through several ethnicities for a vacant space. Feisty cross wraps welcome a plethora of silhouette adaptations – from wrap skirts and dresses to androgynous robe coats. Draw stringed kaftans together with kimono style tunics induce the need of relaxation with tapestry, detailed fringes, hand cut feathers and crafty paneling.

The focus is on finding inspirations from ancestral tribes and also manufacturing within

the USA. No doubt the economic slowdown over the past few years has left deep scars and consumers, designers and retailers are determined to rise above the chaos caused from the derailing with greater commitment to search for answers from within. There will be a more self-contained USA with greater belief in its roots and manufacturing skills. Incorporating leather and denim vastly on overalls, drawstring pants, straight column dresses with an abundance of zippers, denim washes, patchwork whereas, the construction of the silhouettes will remain rigid yet simple.

A Collage State of Mind

Native American

Made in US


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For a detailed report on these themes and analysis of past, present and future trends, you can subscribe to our quarterly FFT magazine at [email protected]



Out of all the various interpretations of the men’s shirt, the most sought-after of these is

the shirtdress. The popularity of this silhouette has further given birth to several contemporary trends. The loose, languid form has been reshaped and moulded into a feminized version by cinching the waist via drawstring or belt which was exercised by the likes of Nina Ricci and Victoria Beckham and creating ruffles which were a favourite at Tod’s. Designers incorporated more intriguing details in their versions, than the typical, by including cutouts at the shoulders like Christian Dior did and adding front slits which were present in Vionnet’s pastel collection of long shirtdresses. Indian exporters too are inspired. “We are doing a lot of shirtdresses and tunic styles for our spring collection in cotton and cambric. Geometric prints, patchwork, mix-and-match and using two-three different prints in one garment is what is getting picked up by our buyers,” shares Pankaj Sanon, Manager, A.P. Handicrafts. He seemed satisfied with the category and its growing demand in the market, showing a desire to explore it further.

Moving on from the shirtdress and touted as summer’s freshest trend – the crop top, wasn’t left inhibited from the shirt rage. While some, like the bandeau and bralets, were instantly familiar pieces on the runway, others, like the cropped shirt, were

entirely new to the eye. When an inevitable and welcomed evolution of the crop top trend has been merged with a shirt which is an instant classic, the final product undoubtedly ends up lending itself to both feminine and masculine interpretations. Aanchal Ahuja, Director, Ahuja Textile Traders carries out this combination by merging collars and double pockets with heavy embroidery work on their cropped shirts. “We are making the product more feminine by using animal prints and shades like peach, lilac and orange which are apt for the summer,” informs Aanchal. Alexander Wang and No. 21 were two designers who tapped into this trend by using crisp white shirts in cotton to portray their modern age laidback looks.

While designers moved on from the shirtdress and the cropped version of a men’s shirt as a main product at the Autumn/Winter ’14 runways, they meekly borrowed the detail elements such as, cuffs, placket, collar and yoke and used them on other silhouettes.

With the influx of 90’s fashion, it is no surprise that Spring 2014 runways were swathed with androgynous looks where women’s fashion took a serious masculine turn. A men’s shirt has been borrowed and fashioned in various ways to fit the changing needs of the consumer and the trends. Designers have successfully altered a shirtdress and the newly introduced cropped shirt to seem more feminine additionally; detail elements like cuffs, collars and plackets have been attached to other silhouettes in the same vein. More and more exporters are catching on to the Fall 2014 runway trend of using a shirt as outerwear, and many have already caught the trend for spring, producing shirt inspired dresses…

TRANSFORMATION OF A MEN’S SHIRTFROM A CASUAL SHIRTDRESS TO OUTERWEAR FOR WOMEN

Alexander Wang

Christian Dior

Vionnet

faShionBUSineSS


Nandini Pal, Designer, Bershka Inditex agrees, “The clientele that we cater to is very young, teenagers mostly, so we definitely are on board with the cropped shirt trend – not very dressy instead loose and casual.”

While designers moved on from the shirtdress and the cropped version of a men’s shirt as a main product at the Autumn/Winter ’14 runways, they meekly borrowed the detail elements such as, cuffs, placket, collar and yoke and used them on other silhouettes. Stella McCartney, Roland Mouret and Alexander Wang are among a few who experimented on these lines. Whereas, there are still only a few exporters who have shifted their focus from the construction to the fabric and pattern, Pushpa Shahi, Senior Merchandiser, Creatnet Services throws light on their collection, which is in line with the trend, “Fabrics such as cotton, cambric, poplin and viscose modal are present in our womenswear pieces this

time and we are also playing with typical men’s patterns like plaid and pinstripes.” There is an increased use of oxford, mélange, broadcloth and dobby too, agrees Karthik Gupta, Partner, Aadi International sharing that they are also working with cotton poplin, Egyptian cotton and stripes for the coming season.

The A/W’14 runways showed a clear departure from casualwear and instead ventured into the realms of outerwear. Needless to say, the collections were less obvious as they did not only toy around with the length of the garment but transgressed to the unthinkable. While Hugo Boss and Rochas used the turned down collar on straight coat dresses, Louis Vuitton attached a forward pointing collar with a zip running down its gleaming A-line version. Then there were designers who used all three elements – collar, placket and double front flap pockets – on a belted midi length coatdress in 3.1 Phillip Lim’s case

and a metallic short coatdress in Saint Laurent’s. While speaking to exporters on whether this trend has caught on to a wider audience, the response was mixed but the idea appealed to all and many were interested in trying it out. “We are definitely considering shirt and coat hybrids since I can see traces of it on the runways. But one silhouette we’re already working on for the upcoming winter is the overshirt which can be worn over something; say a tank top or a crop top,” avers Nandini.

Out of all these exporters, Creatnet Services was the only one who have already caught on to the trend and confirmed the usage of shirt collars on their jackets and coats. Sooner than later, the paradigm shift of a shirt to outerwear silhouettes will inspire more people to experiment and follow it. As long as the general perception towards the idea is a positive one, this runway trend is going to translate well for mass fashion too. Hugo Boss

Louis Vuitton

faShionBUSineSS


The BlInd SIdeRunways for Autumn/Winter ’14-15 flirted with the idea of a school girl who minds her P’s and Q’s while still maintaining the reputation of a rebel. From collared shirts to swinging ties to pleated skirts, what stood out were the blinder pleats on skirts, revealing two different tones at once. Damir Doma, Richard Nicoll and Hervé Léger by Max Azria chose to use shades of white and cream beige on the inside of their knife, as well as box pleats to bring their primary shades into the spotlight. While a metallic approach was taken by Salvatore Ferragamo where the garments were covered in gold at random, Bottega Veneta, too, experimented with a shimmering print on one and uneven pleats on another. This runway trend can be easily executed on thick box pleats using two or more different shades.

faShionreSoUrCe

COLOUR STORY A/W 2014-15 by FASHION FORWARD TRENDS

Burberry increases prices as Mulberry reduces them

Britain’s labels, Burberry and Mulberry

have revealed their pricing strategies for the coming year, while the former is raising its prices, the latter is reducing them. Mulberry’s CEO Bruno

Guillon has revised the structure of the company to compete with more affordable names, such as Prada and Balenciaga.

The brand which issued a second profit warning in three months very recently will make the move knowing that the impact will be short-term, but asserted that it is needed to assure the company’s future financial growth. Burberry, announced strong results in Asia with the warning that the strengthening pound may yet hurt sales. The brand’s Finance Chief Carol Fairweather revealed that if rival retailers altered their prices, Burberry may follow, noting that unfavourable exchange rates could knock £ 30 million off its profits next year. The Sterling has risen around four per cent against the US dollar over the past six months.

Jil Sander appoints new Creative Director

Rodolfo Paglialunga has been named the

Creative Director at Jil Sander. He has formerly worked at Prada as the womenswear Design Director and at Vionnet as the Creative Director. He will be showcasing his first collection at Milan Fashion Week

Spring/Summer 2015, this September. Before Paglialunga, it was Raf Simons, who took over the label from July 2005 to February 2012, before leaving for a top job at Dior when Sander herself returned to the label, only to take leave again 18 months later.

Genetic Denim gets major investors to expand

Genetic Denim, which was founded by Ali Fatourechi,

is going to upgrade from being a jeans label to a lifestyle brand with the help of two investors, Peter Morton, Co-Founder of the Hard Rock Café and Jimmy Iovine, Chairman of Interscope Geffen A&M Records and Co-Founder of Beats Electronics. This financial influx will aid the

small denim label, which currently

employs 30 employees and has annual sales of around US $ 50 million. The funds will go towards launching

their first print ad campaign, adding to their design staff and furthering other business operations

including sales, finance and marketing. They are also expanding their menswear collection by including T-shirts, peacoats and blazers, which will

hit stores this time around next year.

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Classic trends never die, similarly some fashion elements never seem to fade away completely – and lace is definitely one such element. Whether used as a piece of accessory or a complete garment, lace has become a style statement an iconography used to express individual identity and femininity. Seen on the runways, season after season for a few years now, lace has certainly become a crucial design element in terms of value addition. Sidelining from the conventional and traditional use of lace in hemming and ruffling, now many distinct interpretations have been seen in collections offered by exporters. And to facilitate this growing trend, lace manufacturers and suppliers are producing varieties of laces, by every possible technique to bring out innovation and creativity in this segment.

From traditional hand knotted to intricate machine designed

THE SHEEr World oF lAcE

Being an epitome of femininity, delicate laces have gone past that phase when they used to be only popular during springs.

Whether cutwork, crochet or chemical, laces in all varieties have become an essential trim for value addition in garments

and home-furnishings. Be it knotted laces used as sleeves and back yoke of a

top or bobbin lace used to create decorative cushion covers, execution becomes a very interesting part when creativity gets hold of a perfect medium. Talking about the wide usage of laces in their recent

and upcoming collections at Jayshree International, Sandip Kumar, Assistant Designer of the company shared, “We are using different types of laces in cottons, nylons and schifflies for value addition in our S/S’15 collections. We draw on appliqué lace flowers on nets and jerseys, we use them as ruffles and pleats, we even make stitched and cut-out flowers from laces. Styles with lace embellishments get picked up the most by our buyers like DKNY and Armond Ferri.”

Already seen to be ruling the fashion front and retail space – lace in amalgamation with various other fabrics are predicted to continue impressing by an assortment of ground-breaking applications in the upcoming seasons as well. Witnessed on the Spring/Summer ’14 and Autumn/Winter ’14-15 runways, laces came through in countless possibilities of applications illustrated by numerous designers. Honor,

Lela Rose and Wes Gordon experimented with cut-out lace, in the form of appliqué and patchwork with the base fabric in distinctive eye-catching patterns. Altuzarra and Dolce & Gabanna preferred to play hide-n-seek with the sheer aspect of lace by covering the needed with opaque silks and satins. Christopher Kane re-created the effect of a delicate viral web in Swiss lace and inserted the result in a floral pattern with finesse in the evening dresses.

Being an epitome of femininity, delicate laces have gone past that phase when they used to be only popular during springs. Now they have shown tremendous prevalence in Fall Collections as well. Be it creating layered frill on flannel trenchcoats or crocheted lace elements thrown all over a skirt, fall collections are also welcoming lace as a collection staple. Interestingly, lace has always been favourite value adds for Indian exporters, who are very much clued on to the trend. “Presently we are producing A/W’14 collection for Vero Moda, and for them we are creating tops, dresses, jumpsuits and light weight jackets with lace details. We are using cotton, poly-cotton, polyester and nylon laces in varying width for the styles. Filet laces and embroidered laces are quite accepted which are put on the neckline and back in different patterns. We create 3D flowers and bows in different sizes and also mix the delicacy of lace with fabrics like jerseys and denims,” shares S.K. Satyam, Assistant Designer, Shahi Exports.

valUeaddition


Lace is not only becoming an important value adding element in form of a flower or a cut-out fabric but it is also adding value and chicness to garments by being incorporated with different fabrics. The soft and sophisticated lace can be used with leather in panels, denims in hemlines, velvet in layering and the possibilities are never-ending. Starting as what was once a technique to be carried out by hand, now many machines and technical knowhow is available to create new innovative laces. For instance, when applying a chemical lace, if the stitching area is water-soluble or non-heat-resistant material, then it is stitched with embroidery threads forming a continuous motif, and after the design has been made the stitching areas are removed and only the embroidery remains.

Extensively using GPO laces in their collections, Arjun Sehgal, Head Designer, Mariko, shared how they are providing newness to the application. “As we emphasize mostly on embroidery and the brands we work with like Elcorte, always demand for value additions on the garments, we tend to take up laces as one of our very main elements in collection making. We are getting GPO laces in different patterns and motifs and then we are patching them over the translucent fabrics,” informed Arjun. No doubt, machines have made lace making a much easier task than it earlier was. “We are able to obtain laces, earlier unheard of, like the cut-work lace or broderie anglaise lace, where lace constructed by removing threads from a woven background, and the remaining threads wrapped or filled with embroidery and tape lace, where machine- or hand-made textile strips are formed into a design, then joined and embellished with needle or bobbin lace, through various machineries.”

Lace can be interpreted in various possibilities, such as, in corsets, in shirts, in front or back panels in tops and patch-worked with leather in trousers

Lace manufacturers and suppliers are now developing different types of laces in different designs to cater to the requirements of the industry. K.C. Astir & Co. Pvt. Ltd., one of the oldest manufacturers, exporters and dealers of all types of laces, have been developing different types of Cotton Lace, Knitted Lace, Nylon Lace, Crochet Lace, Lace Necks and Guipure Lace using various machines like Nippon Mayer from Japan, Krenzler Braiding machines from Germany, Raschel Jacquard machines, the latest computerized Comez Crochet machines from Italy and many more. Ashok Sharma, Representative of the company informed, “For our S/S’15 collection, we are doing highlight embroidery in florescent colours on lace and knitted fabrics, and we are also doing schifflie work and chemical mix. Various patterns in GPO laces are being incorporated as value additions. As our forte is in laces, we have the laces being highlighted in various styles like tunics, tops and shorts. We are also experimenting with different paneling and layering patterns. We are introducing a new line in our collection, which are micro-lace fabrics with eyelet.”

Other lace manufacturing and supplying companies like Jaina’s Angelo Impex, Super Tech Laces Tirupur and Netflex (India) , which specialize in Crocia Laces, Cotton Laces, and other varieties like Neck Patches, Gross Grain Tapes, Nylon Tapes, Fancy Laces and Sequence Laces, effortlessly help in the progress of this growing segment. Starting from the range of needle laces and tatted ones to the chemically developed laces in all types, shapes and patterns – are all set to rule the world of fashion!

Lace is not only becoming an important value adding element in form of a flower or a cut-out fabric but it is also adding value and chicness to garments by being incorporated with different fabrics. The soft and sophisticated lace can be used with leather in panels, denims in hemlines, velvet in layering and the possibilities are never-ending.

Already seen to be ruling the fashion front and retail space – lace in amalgamation with various other fabrics are predicted to continue impressing by an assortment of ground-breaking applications in the upcoming seasons as well.

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Tirupur: Gene Garments adding new unit; focuses on training

Tirupur based Gene Garments is in the process

to commission a new unit on 30,000 square feet area, which is expected to be fully operational by the first week of July. The company, having already 650 machines, is looking to initially install another 150 to 175 machines in the new facility and the expansion is mainly for the existing buyers. Producing apparel for men, women and kids, the 47-year old company has a vertically integrated setup from yarn singeing to garmenting with good business in Europe and the US.

Gene Garments is now also focusing on training to tackle the problem of labour shortage and is running the Arum Garments Training Institute with 60

machines. S. Vijayaraghavan, Plant Engineer and who is closely associated with the training department, sharing details of the training efforts with Apparel Online said, “We prefer

working on salary basis rather than piece rate,

but local workforce asks for piece rate, so we train and recruit candidates from nearby and remote areas

also. We are taking help from

some NGOs and Government agencies to

get the trainees. If other similar organizations come forward and support our effort, we can open more training centres in various cities.” The company offers initially 22 to 28 days’ free training with salary/stipend and the candidates are trained to become multi-skilled operators.

Jaipur: Shilpayan Décor finds success in Russian market

Russia is not an easy market to work in but some

exporters are doing very good business in the country from a long time and few of those who have entered recently are also getting good orders. Shilpayan Décor, Jaipur which is exporting top-end dresses to Russia from the last three years, recently added three new buyers from the same region and is sure of more orders from these buyers. “With new buyers and consequently wider experience with them, our understanding about the Russian market is being developed and we are now more confident of working in this market, which will help to add more and more new customers from the country,” says Vijay Singh, Director, Shilpayan Décor.

The company is supplying high-fashion garments with average FOB of US $ 8.5 and normally the order size is of 5,000 pieces in each style for the wholesaler buyers. “Though agents are a must for this market, our

experience is that payments are safe. We feel that we can get good business from here, but it needs to be explored deeper,” concludes Vijay, who is producing 25,000 pieces per month and mostly exporting to Japan and Europe.

High-fashion garment of Shilpayan Décor for Russian buyers

erode: five P Venture exploring high-end denim market

Five P Venture, a sister concern of Edge Hydra Venture, Erode, a buying house for home textile

products, is exploring high-end denim market with its handloom, organic cotton and natural dyed based denim products. The R&D on this project is continuing from the last six months and samples are now ready. NP Ponnusami, Director – Technical (Textile Division) informed Apparel Online, “We are looking for buyers for this niche and

high-end product as our denim products are not for mass market. Three Australian designers have helped us to create these samples and once we get the orders we will start production also.”

The company wants to uplift the weavers in Erode and nearby areas, and is also encouraging them

to produce handloom denim rather than low-end products like bed sheet which they are doing already. “As organic is in high demand and denim products are something which creates maximum pollution so we are expecting good buyers for these products. It will be a big boost to the local weavers,” says Ponnusami. Working from last three years, Edge Hydra Venture is sourcing terry towel, bed linen and other home textile products from Erode and Madurai for the US and Middle East market worth Rs. 25 crore per year.

Allied Export Industries, one of the well known export houses of Noida, is planning to start

in-house digital printing and is looking to very soon install 4-5 digital printers. As of now the company is outsourcing its digital printing requirements. “We want to have digital printing in-house in this Financial Year before we start spring/summer orders. Our planning is to create good capacity for the same as some basic expenditure remains equivalent whether you install a single or 4-5 digital printers, but good capacity decreases the cost. We are expecting good market support which will help us to consume this capacity,” informs Hari Kapoor, MD of the company and veteran of the industry.

The company is having well divided business in various continents and has good buyers in Brazil, Spain and US, and the digital printing facility is targeted at all of these buyers.

noida: allied export Industries to invest in digital printing

NP Ponnusami, Director – Technical (Textile Division)

It is good to see

that companies are coming forward for

training and attracting young workforce for the

shop floor by paying them stipend for training period.

indUStrYwire


(L to R) Dr Darlie O Koshy, Director, IAM; Rahul Mehta, President, CMAI; Virender Uppal, Chairman-AEPC; Ritu Beri, Designer; and Sunil Sethi, President FDCI at the MBA course launch

indiaCanvaS

All set for Heimtextil India The launch edition of Heimtextil India, from 19 – 21 June at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi is set for roll out. Raj Manek, MD, Messe Frankfurt Trade Fairs India claimed that companies like D’Decor Home Fabrics, Dicitex Furnishings, Dimora Furnishings, Birla Century, Portico New York, Reliance Industries Ltd., and many others have confirmed their participation. Heimtextil India will highlight innovations in digital fabric printing.

The show will host the South Asia Digital Textile Conference, a one-day event in which industry executives will discuss international trends and recent developments in digital technology. The show is scheduled to run along with Ambiente India, for interior decor and home accessories market which will also make its debut on the same dates.

FIDH claims labour rights abuses and grave human rights violations in Indian factoriesFIDH (International Federation for Human Rights), which represents 178 human rights organizations in 5 continents has claimed in its report ‘India Garment Workers Report 2014’ that labour rights abuses and grave human rights violations, including bonded labour, are prevailing on India’s garment factory work floors.

The report as claimed is based on FIDH mission of observation featuring visits of garment factories and on-site hostels as well as interviews with local trade unions, NGOs and experts in the states of Tamil Nadu, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. The report said that current corporate social responsibility requirements are unable to conceal precarious working conditions.

I N D I A S N I P S

indiaCanvaS

The core responsibility of the Apparel Export Promotion

Council, as the name suggests is to promote garment exports from the country… this is a fact that no one can deny. What is a major concern is that the AEPC is failing not only in its duty to organize BSMs in foreign markets successfully, but is also shaking off the responsibility of ensuring buyer visitation.

Apparel Online had reported in its last edition (AO May 1-15, 2014) that the BSM to South Africa was a major disappointment for the participants, and on collective demand the AEPC has been compelled to return 50 per cent of the participation charges, amounting to Rs. 77,500 per booth as compensation regarding the same. Though this may seem very generous and reasonable, in reality the accompanying letter from the Chairman of AEPC is a shocker…! The letter clearly states that the Council would not take any responsibility for the turnout of the buyers for future events. How can an official and premier body of apparel

exporters wash their hands off from what is their prime duty?

The letter by Chairman, AEPC (Apparel Online has a copy of the same) says, “AEPC will not be responsible for the turnout of buyers/buying agents for any BSM/fair/show, etc. The Council will have no liability whatsoever for any kind of refund or payment in this regard.”

Reacting strongly and objecting to the contents of the communiqué, exporters say, “They are wasting our money, time and possible business growth. If they cannot take responsibility of inviting buyers, buying agents at their own fair, what else can be expected from them? In this case AEPC should be dissolved.”

Though the anger has been growing from the last few years, but the outcome of the recent BSM in South Africa, really acted as the boiling point leading to a personal meeting with Chairman at Johannesburg and the decision was taken to give compensation as mentioned above. Rather than giving a healing touch and promising better events in the future, the letter is a setback for participants due to two reasons:

First, this is not a cash refund and participation amount will be credited and can be offset only against participation charges towards any other export promotion event within the current financial year 2014-15. In case the facility is not availed in 2014-15, then the amount will stand lapsed. Secondly, as above mentioned, AEPC refuses to be responsible for buyer visitation in such events. Then what is the credibility and purpose of these events, question exporters.

“Are they returning the money or asking us to waste more money, time and resources by participating in another event with the clear announcement that buyers may not be there… How can they say like this? AEPC and its system has become a nexus focusing only on personal interests,” said an extremely disappointed and disillusioned exporter. Exporters are also agonized because despite all this, the AEPC is misguiding the exporters by publishing false information in its home magazine… Will AEPC improve itself or the same ‘gloom’ will continue in the name of export promotion…?

Giving new direction to the fashion industry, the Indian

Institute of Apparel Management (IAM) recently launched a specially designed MBA

programme in fashion business for a rapidly expanding apparel industry in India. A motivational speech by veteran designer Ritu Beri and a panel discussion

amongst industry stalwarts including Sunil Sethi, President FDCI and Rahul Mehta, President, CMAI, regarding the scope of fashion management in India, marked a momentous introduction to the course at its Gurgaon campus.

It was a proud moment for Dr Darlie O Koshy,

Director, IAM and former Director, National Institute of Design. “Having sensed the growth of the fashion industry, we realized that the apparel industry needed more than just general management graduates from IIMs and the likes. Having an understanding of the changing trends and being able to scrutinize the history of the fashion industry in India and in the world at large, is important to successfully manage a fashion brand. The IAM has therefore conceived an MBA programme in fashion business,” informed Koshy to the industry guest present at the event.

Participants at South Africa BSM vent their anger at callous functioning of AEPC

IAM Introduces MBA in Fashion


Garment exporters of Bangalore have been facing

great difficulty in getting labour and now, with effect from 1st April 2014, they are to pay an average of Rs. 1,560 more per month to every worker of the factory, a huge financial burden for the industry already struggling to stay competitive. On the other side, workers were extremely happy as it was the highest ever one time hike of Rs. 60 per day in their minimum wages. It took more than three years in court, after Garment and Textile Workers Union (GATWU) had approached the High Court in 2010 challenging an earlier notification and seeking

Apparel Exporters & Manufacturers Association

(AEMA) formally launched its first event Retail Source India, to be held at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi from 19th to 21st July 2014. Lalit Gulati, President, AEMA said that the time was ripe to boost the domestic sector, as India is now moving the China way, where large garment capacities are getting diverted to the domestic sector, and this is the main reason to organize a common platform where manufacturers, retailers and the fashion creators can drive the benefits from each other and

revision of wages. The High Court in its judgment in March 2013, said that wages should be revised after conducting tripartite talks which included workers, managements and Government representatives.

Going a step further, the Government is also in the process of fixing minimum wages for workers in cloth dyeing and printing units. In the same notification it was announced that now there will be three zones in the state as against the 4 zones existing earlier. These zones, based on location have difference of Rs. 5 to 20 even in the wage of helpers. Though the hike has been done with

grow together. “It may be a trend for exporters to focus more on domestic, but our prime concern is to promote small and medium level domestic players through this show. It will make the supply chain more organized and bridge the gap between buyers and sellers,” said Gulati.

Lending his support to the event, Sunil Sethi, President, Fashion Design Council of India, insisted that retail model in India would be successful. Hari Kapoor, MD, Allied Export Industries, showed enthusiasm about the domestic market. “Earlier we used to say to ourselves, we are exporters

the consent of representatives of garment industry, it will have a strong negative impact on the industry and especially on small- and medium-level players. Even giants like Madura Fashion & Lifestyle (Aditya Birla Group) are already paying more than minimum wages to its operators but they too claim that it will put heavy impact, as all entry level trainees get minimum wage and they will now get more and as a cascading effect, experienced operators and other staff will ask for more.

On the other side, in North India, Noida-based factories face the heat more this time as just three months ago, in January, there was

an increase of Rs. 266 per month for unskilled and Rs. 293 for semi skilled and Rs. 328 for skilled worker, and with effect from 1st April it has again been increased by Rs. 346, Rs.381, Rs. 426 for unskilled, semi skilled and skilled, respectively. Now in Noida, one has to pay minimum Rs. 6,362 to unskilled worker while it was Rs. 5,200 in 2013. Currently, Delhi is leading in highest minimum wages, having seen a recent hike of Rs. 468 per month for unskilled workers. Delhi and Bangalore has a difference of almost 25 per cent in the salary of a helper of a garment unit. Haryana is not behind in the race as from 1st July there will be another hike.

but now we feel proud to be manufacturers,” he said.

AEMA is sure of about 150 participants and 10,000 visitors at the show which will include giant chain stores, retailers, brands, online retailers across the nation. Business to Business meetings to be held during the event will be an added advantage of the show. Lalit Thukral, President, Retail Source India, and Prakash Dudani are doing road shows in various cities, meeting with various

stakeholders for the success of show. Along with many domestic manufacturers, brands and exporters were also present at the event.

Karnataka: Maximum ever hike in minimum wages

Retail Source India: A move of AEMA towards domestic market

AEMA officials and industry representatives at the official launch of Retail Source India

indiaCanvaS


EU GLOBAL APPAREL IMPORTS — JAN.-DEC. 2013

Country/Category

Jan-Dec. 2012 Jan-Dec. 2013 % increase/decreaseQty Value Qty Value Qty Value

WORLD Knitted 2113.61 323921.86 2347.26 335226.37 11.05 3.49Woven 1811.04 335531.33 1941.98 335875.37 7.23 0.10Total 3924.65 659453.19 4289.23 671101.74 9.29 1.77

CHINA Knitted 862.13 12556.20 964.59 12479.78 11.88 -0.61Woven 937.70 14824.93 964.77 14095.66 2.89 -4.92Total 1799.83 27381.13 1929.36 26575.44 7.20 -2.94

INDIA Knitted 103.54 1778.96 117.87 1927.36 13.84 8.34Woven 86.99 2240.57 91.74 2195.38 5.47 -2.02Total 190.53 4019.54 209.61 4122.74 10.02 2.57

BANGLADESH Knitted 446.18 5130.91 528.93 5773.50 18.55 18.55Woven 239.00 3265.88 309.01 3902.89 29.29 19.51Total 685.18 8396.79 837.94 9676.39 22.29 15.24

SRI LANKA Knitted 42.68 755.80 44.58 751.05 4.44 -0.63Woven 32.56 627.91 30.25 556.76 -7.10 -11.33Total 75.25 1383.71 74.83 1307.81 -0.55 -5.49

PAKISTAN Knitted 58.01 509.81 67.13 587.51 15.72 15.24Woven 61.23 753.03 67.54 803.66 10.30 6.72Total 119.24 1262.84 134.67 1391.16 12.94 10.16

VIETNAM Knitted 30.94 462.41 30.65 465.80 -0.94 0.73Woven 64.62 1287.08 69.59 1347.62 7.69 4.70Total 95.57 1749.49 100.24 1813.42 4.89 3.65

Qty. & Value in mn Kg & mn Euro

Sri Lanka: Textile & garment exports increased 6.6 per cent

In February 2014, Sri Lanka’s earnings from exports of textiles and garments grew by 6.6 per cent to US $ 396.2 mn, compared to earnings of US $ 371.6 mn recorded in same month last year. ‘External Sector Performance – February 2014’, issued by the Economics Research Department of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, claimed that two key trends in Sri Lanka’s textile and garment trade, an increase in apparel exports to non-traditional markets and a higher local value addition in the clothing industry.

Spain: Home textile exports increased 20 per cent

Spain’s home textile exports touched € 79.44 mn during the month of February 2014, registering a rise of 20.7 per cent compared to the same month in 2013. The Spanish Institute of Foreign Trade (ICEX) claimed that home textile products worth € 79.44 mn during the month of February, whereas the imports of home textiles by the country amounted to € 92.89 mn during the same month.

Cambodia: Garments and Textiles grew by 5.81 per cent

Cambodia's exports of garments and textiles grew by 5.81 per cent to US $ 374.93 mn in the first two months of the current year, compared to exports of US $ 354.33 mn made during the same period last year. Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia claimed that from January to February 2014, Cambodia exported US $ 159.83 mn worth of garments & textiles to the US, followed by US $ 63.93 mn to the EU, US $ 49.1 mn to Canada, US $ 31.95 mn to Japan, and US $ 70.12 mn to other markets.

TRADE SNIPSBuying from EU picks up as Economy stabilizesEU Import Analysis – Jan.-Dec. 2013

exportStatiStiCS

Analyzing full year apparel import statistics for the EU in 2013 it is heartening to see that both value and volume of imports showed growth over the year, with values increasing 1.77% and volumes rising 9.29%, the average UVR of imports in 2013 decreased from Euro 16.80 (per kg of fabric equivalent) to Euro 15.64 (per kg of fabric equivalent). The feedback from Indian exporters also suggests that retailers from the EU are buying better than last year…

Bangladesh biggest gainer in the EU

Aided by GSP advantage in Europe, Bangladesh saw the maximum gains among the countries reviewed. The country registered gains of 15.24% in value of exports and substantial increase of 22.29% in volume of exports, while the average UVRs, is lower at Euro 11.55 (per kg of fabric equivalent), down from Euro 12.25 (per kg of fabric equivalent) last year.

India end year with gains in exports

Indian apparel exports saw value of exports over the year 2013 increase to the tune of 2.57%, while quantities increased by 10.02%. The average UVRs are down from Euro 21.10 (per kg of fabric equivalent) in the same period in 2012 to Euro 19.67 (per kg of fabric equivalent), clearly indicating that exporters in India are making effort to be price-competitive.

EU Economy forecast positive for 2014

The European Commission’s winter forecast foresees a continuation of the economic recovery in most Member States and in the EU as a whole. After exiting recession in spring 2013 and three consecutive quarters of subdued recovery, the outlook is for a moderate step-up in economic growth. Following real GDP growth of 1.5% in the EU and 1.2% in the euro area in 2014, activity is seen accelerating in 2015 to 2.0% in the EU and 1.8% in the euro area. These figures each represent an upward revision of 0.1 percentage points compared with the autumn 2013 forecast. The forecast remains based on the assumption that the implementation of agreed policy measures at EU and Member State level sustains improvements in confidence as well as financial conditions and advances the necessary economic adjustment in Member States.

The labour market is characterized by slowly stabilizing employment, with unemployment remaining high, as labour market developments typically lag those in GDP by half a year or more. In keeping with this pattern, the outlook is for a modest rise in employment from this year onwards and a decline in the unemployment rate towards 10.4% in the EU and 11.7% in the euro area by 2015, with cross-country differences remaining very large.

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ITEM-WISE PERCENTAGE INCREASE IN TOTAL APPAREL IMPORTS BY EU FROM INDIA AND BANGLADESH: JAN.-DEC. 2013 AS AGAINST JAN-DEC. 2012

APPAREL TYPE

Total Imports by EUExports to EU

India Bangladesh

Qty % Change

Value % Change

Qty Actual

Value Actual

Qty % Change

Value % Change

Qty Actual

Value Actual

Qty % Change

Value % Change

Babies Wear 1.18 -1.34 13.04 249.48 11.19 9.53 15.54 333.80 37.77 27.17

Foundation Garments 2.56 -0.86 0.34 16.67 5.50 10.96 2.84 89.28 39.33 50.97

Jackets & Blazers 19.15 -1.63 1.98 48.04 -1.47 9.20 5.40 72.39 76.65 69.84

Ladies Blouses 18.77 3.83 17.46 563.05 0.66 0.69 9.80 195.63 15.60 18.83

Ladies Dresses 14.31 -1.08 17.56 485.07 4.76 -5.49 9.77 131.42 14.70 15.49

Ladies Skirts 2.49 -2.27 4.46 90.54 -11.26 -13.99 6.11 68.73 7.19 6.93

Legwear 8.56 5.35 1.23 15.10 -5.57 -4.45 0.96 8.36 97.29 78.12

Men's Shirts -0.43 -5.83 13.41 496.73 11.06 -5.96 91.29 1170.86 6.12 4.13

Nightwear 9.49 2.83 19.78 205.43 18.43 13.26 15.10 160.77 26.93 18.17

Suits / Ensembles -1.88 -10.28 1.61 30.42 -5.54 -5.86 1.57 18.24 31.51 29.95

Sweaters 16.76 5.13 11.75 196.70 23.86 16.73 141.26 1702.78 22.27 12.31

Trousers 10.59 3.38 29.63 460.78 24.50 7.55 258.99 2868.91 35.83 22.24

T-Shirts 5.75 1.11 37.69 635.92 16.53 10.78 222.21 2183.32 12.63 7.48

Undergarments 6.01 2.90 7.58 117.59 2.43 6.17 13.72 196.61 46.67 40.55

Value in mn Euro and Qty in mn Kg

Babies wear growth category for India

Many exporters mainly in knitwear are looking at babies wear as growth segment. In 2013 the country registered 11.19% growth in volumes and 9.53% increase in value. Value addition and differential fabric washes are the main reason for growth in this segment

Trousers register increase in imports by the EU

Trousers are a popular category, and even in the recession time there is a positive growth in the demand for the product in the EU. The import of trousers both in terms of value and volumes were up and category registered an increase in value in 2013 of 3.38%, while the volumes over the same period in 2012 saw an increase of 10.59%.

Men’s shirts dominate exports from Bangladesh

Bangladesh has seen continuous growth in this category over the years and today it is among the top four products exported from the country. In 2013, Bangladesh exported men’s shirts worth Euros 1,170.86 million, registering growth in values of 4.13% while volumes were up 6.12%.

India losing hold in blouses and ladies dresses

Ladies blouses and dresses have been a popular category of exports from India, but over the last few years, exporters have lost business in this segment, which is a cause of worry. In the year 2013 while ladies blouses saw stagnation with only 0.69% increase in value and 0.66% rise in volumes, ladies dresses were down (-) 5.49% in volumes with 4.76% increase in value.

Undergarments core program for EU

Undergarments are among the core basic categories imported by the EU, and growing category for many manufacturing destinations including India. Over the year 2013, the segment registered increase in value of 2.90%, though volumes were up 6.01%.

Export of T-shirts see major growth from India

India has been seeing growth in the export of T-shirts to the EU over the year and many believe this is due to shift in orders from Bangladesh. Over the year the country registered remarkable gains in both value and volumes of 10.78% and 16.53%, respectively.

The Japanese market is a focus market for Indian exporters, yet they need to be cautions as the economy is facing some difficult times. Retail, however, has remained strong and the year saw increase in apparel imports from most destinations …

Imports by Japan in 2013 saw a substantial increase in value of 21.29% from the previous year, while the volumes increased by 3.29%. Knitted garments registered an increase of 3.27% in volumes, while the volume of woven garments increased 3.34%. The values were up in woven garments by 19.97%, while those of knitted garments were up by 22.67%.

Exports from India were up by 13.20% in value, though the volumes were down (-) 4.00%. There was a significant decrease in volumes of exports of woven garments of (-) 10.35 %, while knitted garments saw an increase in volumes of 17.02%.

As in other importing countries, Bangladesh remained on track with value of export increasing 41.99%, volumes rose by 46.20%. The gains are from both segments, with woven garments registering increase of 42.33% in value and 19.08% in volumes. Knitted garments saw increase in values of 41.53%, while volumes increased 67.45%.

Vietnam has also continued to register an increase in both value and volume of exports by 37.32% and 19.77%, respectively to the Japanese market.

In 2013, China registered increase in the volume of exports of 1.42% the values were up by 17.35%.

Japan Apparel Imports Jan. – Dec. 2013

India exports to Japan sees 13.20% growth in value

exportStatiStiCS


Finding the right partner is fundamental to Britannia’s expansion policy, and through partnership with

Aranganathan J, (known as AJ), MD, Sainmarks Industries, they entered the Indian market around 5 years ago tapping into his expertise of the market as well as the product category. Concentrating on good business knowledge and a sound working environment for its people, Paul who has very rooted beliefs comments, “if you look after your people they look after the customer, and if you look after the customer you grow your business.” No wonder, the company puts great emphasis on choosing the right partner for its global operations.

In a partner the company looks for good business knowledge and one who cares about doing ethical business and for the people involved in it. “I think the Western-developed world is quick to judge and perceive that our integrity is better than the Asians, but the reality is that it’s just different. If we believe this then we have the basis to work together in terms of values with different beliefs and that’s what drives the way in which we want to do business in various countries,” says Paul. While entering any new market, the company’s first and foremost focus is on developing relationships with its partners. “We have an edge over some large players because what they do is go into a market and work according to what they think is right, which I think is an inevitable degree of imposition,” reasons Paul.

In the larger global structure, the Indian subcontinent is at the ‘heart’

of Britannia’s future growth, as the company firmly believes that the region has a lot of potential and opportunity. After setting up a strong manufacturing base in Tirupur, the company is now ready to open its second factory in Delhi to provide better customer service to the north. Even though they are late entrants into the Indian market, Paul feels that the time is right. “It was more about where our retailers were pushing us; and our retailers from the UK pushed us first to China, Turkey, and Sri Lanka. So India curiously was something that came late,” informs Paul. Though the push came late, the company is focusing its attention to the growing Indian market as there is an increasing demand from the retailers to source from the country. “As the cost in China is growing very quickly, India is becoming more competitive and its quality and standards are improving. For me the quality of Sri Lanka for many years was far higher than India, but with technology advancement the business in India has grown and the quality has improved significantly. I would say now India is at par with other preferred countries,” claims Paul. The Tirupur factory is wonderfully laid out, creating the right working environment with lots of open spaces, greenery and natural light; it is also planned for the premises to have a woven facility with the latest European machines.

Apart from India, the company also works in Bangladesh and has seen various improvements in the country mainly post the Rana Plaza tragedy. “Improvements in terms

With a growing network of worldwide sales and production facilities, Britannia Garment Packaging is always close to where its customers are, serving them with timely delivery of high-quality labels and packaging through facilities in many countries including India and Bangladesh. Being geographically diverse in their services, the company works as a single entity – ‘One company worldwide’ – where its customers receive the same level of consistency in quality. Through a global strategy of entering a new market through partnership, the company focuses on the importance of people and ethical values to grow business. On one of his whirlwind visits to the country, Paul Brownhill, Group Chief Executive, Britannia Garment Packaging, shares with Apparel Online the guiding vision that drives business at Britannia...

Britannia Garment Packaging’s amalgamation of global and local strengths defines its growth strategy

FocuS on people and ethical valueS

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Paul Brownhill, Group Chief Executive, Britannia Garment Packaging

During the last 5-10 years garments have become more perishable. Though the price of the label is very small but if it’s not delivered on time then the cost implication is very high, as the product doesn’t make it to stores within a specific time frame and the manufacturer is penalised.”


of the working environment, safety measures, being treated fairly, etc. is evident in Bangladesh today. The worst we can do is to pull out and go somewhere else. So I think it’s really important to continue to invest in the right ways, which we have done through the new factory,” claims Paul. The company has also started an investment programme in Sri Lanka. “We moved into new premises last year and we have already started to build a production capability which will be supplemented during May with the addition of a Xerox digital press to complement our digital infrastructure in our other countries,” informs Paul.

Doing ethical business is at the core of expansion for Britannia including safety measures and compliance, which also forms a major crux of its day-to-day operations at all its facilities. The company is also working towards recycled environmental friendly boards and the new factory setup in both Bangladesh and India is such that reductions in electricity costs are taken into account, balancing both cost and the environment.

Working with major UK based retailers, it’s important for the company to provide transparency and visibility to the brands, while maintaining on-time deliveries. The company works through nominations from a majority of UK based retailers, one of its biggest clients being George Clothing, which is a part of Walmart. “I have to say that Walmart is really taking a lead on compliance issues particularly in Bangladesh,” shares Paul.

Recognising that the garment packaging market which is already worth in excess of US $ 3.5 billion is continuously growing as the demand for labels is increasing, from a single label to multiple ones on the product, Britannia is expanding its reach and manufacturing capabilities. “When retailers are in more than one country they try to cater to all those countries through labels or wash labels in multiple languages sometimes 30 so the label is getting longer. But this is also an opportunity for us to manage the data and to improve our services, not only in India but also Turkey, Egypt, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, etc.,” maintains Paul.

Interestingly, the sampling for various retailers is happening where the bulk of its products are sourced from; for instance, if a buyer wants to source

25 per cent from China and 25 per cent from India, the sampling will take place in both the places to attain the same level of consistency. “Because of the shrinking lead times, if we sample in only one country, then we have to wait for the other country to sign off which makes it difficult to complete delivery on-time. That’s why the sampling happens in both the countries where the materials are sourced from,” reasons Paul. However, the product development of the company still primarily takes place in the UK factory, while a small portion of it in India and Honk Kong.

Though the company started its initial business with its UK factory, today it has spread its operations across 9 countries, while still maintaining the UK manufacturing facility. “We are very proud to say that we produce in England. I think there is going to be a continuous requirement in the UK and we have stood by that over the last 15 years when many of our competitors have significantly reduced in the UK. The ‘Made in Britain’ movement is surely happening but it’s still small,” says Paul.

Working with local partners has provided a huge impetus to Britannia’s business as its global turnover, which five years earlier was around US $ 12 million, has now increased to US $ 30 million. This synergy between the local and global has pushed the company to look at new market opportunities in South-East Asia, North and South America, Mainland Europe and also manufacturing in Africa as the need for garment packaging suppliers to be close to where garment production takes place increases. Still, the company faces challenges not just in terms of finding the right partner to enter a new market but also to find the right board material, fabric, inks and getting the right quality and consistency which is of prime importance to the retailers when the product hits the stores. But the company is confident of achieving the right partner and suppliers and is aiming towards future growth through having the right team, the right people and right ethics in place. “In terms of people without question we are confident, and in terms of technology we are heavily investing in our technology platform, ERP, MIS capability to achieve visibility and also provide the retailers with transparency,” concludes Paul.

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“My Indian textile market experience and their global technology create a beautiful synergy which helps us to reach our goals,” reveals AJ about the value that the partnership between Britannia UK with India has brought to his business. Working with people through technology, the company enjoys an edge over competition with over 20 years of experience in the garment packaging industry and also has good working relationships with factories. Being close to garment factories, “we know what they want and the delivery schedules of those product categories so our services are exemplary,” asserts AJ.

With a manufacturing capacity of 1 million woven labels and PFL labels within a day through its technologically equipped modern facilities, the company sees further room for growth in terms of its manufacturing capacity. Already servicing the South of India through its factory in Tirupur, such as Chennai, Bangalore, Karur, Mumbai, etc. the company is looking to service the North India business through the new setup in Delhi. “Although we have a setup in Tirupur but buyers are not happy with the distance of travelling and communication therefore opening a Delhi factory will help in catering to the customers in the Northern region,” says AJ.

While AJ helps in certain elements of the product development with the global office, he believes that the learning in terms of technology that he has absorbed from the UK office has enabled him to manage his operations better than before. With decades of experience in the packaging industry and our global technology, AJ is confident about working in the North and spreading business in the region.

Paul Brownhill (L) with his Indian associate Aranganathan J, popularly called AJ

AJ shares his experiences of working with a global partner


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HANGERS / PACKAGING ACCESSORIES

THREADS / YARN

EMBROIDERY FABRIC / LACES

EMBROIDERY FABRIC / LACES

ELASTICS / TAPES

BUTTONS / BUCKLES


3A Clothing Imparting Knowledge on “SOURCING FROM INDIA” to the Future Buyers of India

It has been nearly two decades since Anu Chaddha, Managing Director of 3A Clothing started doing business

with Scandinavian countries. Over these years, Anu has developed great understanding of the problems and questions that buyers face when sourcing from India. Taking this as a cue, she has taken the initiative to promote India as one of the most lucrative sourcing destinations in the world. “I get a chance to travel often for work and when a senior faculty of KEA, School of Design and Technology, Copenhagen, Denmark asked me to talk about “Sourcing from India” to her students, I took this as a challenge and felt it was an appropriate platform to engage students and talk about the strength of my country. These students are the designers and buyers of tomorrow and it felt great,” says Anu, seizing the opportunity.

First and second year students of “Purchasing” and “Technical Design” who came to hear Anu’s lecture about India

and the pros and cons of working and cooperating with suppliers in India were very impressed. The response clearly indicated that the students found her lecture very educational and inspirational and were very pleased to get an opportunity to talk with an Indian supplier who had answers to all their questions. “I wasn’t aware that India was doing so many product categories; also I thought that it was only silk they were doing,” remarked a first year student.

In the two-hour session, Anu talked about India as a country, its culture, the work

environment, product strengths, how Indian companies typically work and how easy it is to source from India as one of the biggest boons is the English language here, besides high-value fashion products and flexibility of giving small orders. “It’s the third time I have been called to different fashion schools to interact and of these, two of my sessions were in the same school in the last two consecutive years. It’s my way of giving back to the industry as well as be an ambassador of my country,” passionately shares Anu.

Students who thought that India was just about silks, were floored with the variety of Indian fabrics which Anu showed them

Anu Chaddha with Faculty & Students of KEA School of Design & Technology, Copenhagen

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PK

Build-in presser foot lifter solenoid Double Switch

Ordinary

JK-SHIRLEY IIEHigh speed direct drive integrated computerized lockstitch sewing machine.

Build-in Presser Foot Lifter

After establishing a Liaison office in Bangalore, Jack has recently opened a second office in New Delhi to localize the service in the fast growing Indian market and provide quick and satisfactory service. Besides local staff to handle maintenance, repair training and new product promotion, a permanent Chinese salesman will be available to address all queries.

Jack opens second office

LOOKING TO RECRUIT 3-5 full-time local service staff at both offices, for details contact

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JANAKSONS INTERNATIONALThe Right Partner The Right Choice

JANAKSONS INTERNATIONALThe Right Partner The Right Choice

X-42, Ist Floor Okhla Industrial Area Phase-II, New Delhi - 110 020. Tel: 91-11-4105 3199, 4105 3299, E-mail : [email protected]

BRANCH OFFICE:Bengaluru | Kolkata | Ludhiana | Mumbai | New Delhi | Pune | Tirupur

www.janaksonsintl.in

Acclaimedas the best

by usersglobally!

We are now nearer to our

BENGALURU Customers with

a new Office

Transformation of a Men's Shirt - Apparel Resources

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