Xfit Lycra and Black lycra for denims

Two new innovations from LYCRA are expected to give a great fillip to the usage of lycra in Denims and add value to the denim garments.

Xfit Lycra: Xfit lycra is a latest patented technology which allows 360 degree movement in the fabric besides fabric stability and shape retention.All this allows a user to move in any way. How would this help the denim garment manufacturers??
The manufacturers will be able to produce garments for a wider range of buyers. Currently stretch garments are mainly limited to the Ladieswear and Childrenwear. Xfit may help in increasing the usage of stretch garments by Men also.. Let’s wait and watch how the brands are able to encash this development.

Black lycra fibre: A very interesting development for the Denim and the Lingerie Industry.. What traditionally happens is that when stretch fibres are used in the garments and they are washed repeatedly, the strech fibre shows up due to discoloration.
With the Black lycra fibre, the black and dark garments will remain dark even after washes(provided the other fibres in the fabric do not lose color)..
This fibre would be very useful for the Dark and Natural denim garments and help them to remain darker for a longer period. Some of the ladies Stretch Jeans may even end up looking a little darker(if designed so)..

On the whole it is a good news for the denim industry …

Marketing campaigns by Indian Denim Brands

The premium denim brands in India are launching niche campaigns to push their them deeper into Indian psyche.

WHY? : Obvious answer is more sales. But the need for various campaigns has also been accentuated by the fact that various International Brands like Ralph & Lauren, Diesel and GAS have become more aggresive in India . Another positive factor which is motivating the brands to invest more in campaigns is that the usage of high-end jeans in India is set to pick up with more and more offices (particularly in IT & BPO industry) allowing semi-casual wears.

SOME CAMPAIGNS….

WRANGLER – Go Clean – ‘Clean Skin,Clean Bikes,Clean Jeans’ : Clean jeans is obviously the ‘Clean Look denim ‘ – an effect which is achieved through mercerising the denims . But why ‘Clean Bikes’ and ‘CLean Skin’ ? Well, Wrangler has tied up with Castrol and Kaya Skin clinic to together take on the young and hep newly employed crowd of India who are very concious about their looks..Also Wrangler feels that distressed look is out and raw rinse look is in..
LEE: The tagline for the campaign ‘HISTORY ROCKS’ AND ‘LEE SKINNY‘ is ‘Not for the masses” sends a clear message. These jeans are for upwardly mobile only who want to look apart from the crowd..
LEVIS” ‘SAY NO TO PLASTICS’ – This campaign of Levi’s is targeted to bring the attention of the consumers on the Red Loop of Levi’s. Also, it means that they are looking at consumers with some attitude who want to be seen as proactive in environmental conciousness.. Though Levi’s claims to have a good response after the campaign, I have my doubts over the efficacy of such campaigns in India..

Others in the line include Flying Machine’s ‘CREATIVE CULT‘ campaign . As I mentioned before, ‘Flying Machine’ has been relaunched as a high end brand with prices of Rs 1800 & up.

IT & BPO workers have become a formidable (somewhat homogeneous) group of cash rich young people which various industries are targetting to tap in their own way. So Denim Industry was not expected to remain behind such ideas come to even our politicians(CPM) who want to unionise this group!!!!!

Shuttle looms for denim – TOYODA

There is a growing interest in the shuttle looms in the denim industry to produce the authentic denim. The Japanese and the Italians are the ones using these looms the most.
Lets take a look at how does a typical denim shuttle loom from TOYODA and its shuttle looks like:

Victoria Beckham launches her own dvb line of denims

Victoria Beckham launched her debut denim collection this week in New York to a multitude of photographers, television cameras and journalists.

Beckham has boosted her profile by unveiling her dVb collection of denim jeans, skirts and shorts at Saks department store on Fifth Avenue.

Wearing her own white jeans, silver heels, and a sparkly, silver vest, Victoria posed for photographers before heading upstairs to sign autographs for fans waiting in line.

The dvb jeans will have large star stitched on the back pockets and will cost around USD 250/- (dark denims). The dVb range also includes retro style sunglasses.

I think its a lot easy for these celebs to launch their own labels which ride comfortably on the strength of their popularity. However, the real test comes within a year of the launch when the publicity dies down a little and the Jeans has to perform.. Lets wait and watch how dvb performs.

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US Jeanswear Industry facts

Here are some quick facts of the US denim industry :

2006 US Jeans sales : USD 15.8 billion
% of total apparel sales : 12.7% (thats a lot isn’t it?)
Premium denim as % of total Jeans sales : 4.3% in 2006
Growth of Premium denim sales in 2006 : 23% !
Average price of jeans purchased by 19-24 years old : USD 32.88
Average price of Jeans purchased by 25-34 years old : USD 28.29
Average pairs of jeans with the US women : 8.1 and they wear it 4.19 times a week .. WHEW..

Stretch Denim for Men in India

We have seen various kinds of denims being worn by Men/Boys in India. These started from 14.5oz heavy denims initially to Multi-Counts and Slub denims in the 12-13oz range currently. The Denim fabrics have undergone a great metamorphosis in terms of their structures ,looks, feels and washes..

Though all these changes have been readily accepted by the Indian male, I am still waiting for the next BIG TREND in MEN’s Jeans to pick up and that is the STRETCH FOR MEN.

Stretch Jeans have been typically associated with the women since they look for skin tight jeans enhancing their figures. Even this segment has been slow to pick in India due to conservativeness. But there is another feature of the Stretch that has not been fully exploited and that is COMFORT.

Men look for comfort – esp the office goers.. However, they are not vocal in their demand for the same. But I personally think that there is a great potential of MEN’s STRETCH JEANS in India. Though there have been attempts by some brands to bring out Stretch Collections, but they have been more of an effort to fill the gaps rather than create a large new NICHE segment for sale..

So, if the Jeans producers in India are listening , please do your research and market Stretch Jeans as a BUSINESS CASUAL with Comfort fits . Such jeans are not expected to have the visual effects of a Stretch Jeans but only the comfort effects of the same…

Lets wait and watch who catches this oppurtunity in the best way

The Japanese Denim Industry

The Japanese denim industry is revered the world over for its innovativeness and its capability to set trends in the Denim Industry.
It would be nice to have a look at some facts and figures relating to the Japanese Denim Industry.
Denim Exports : 2006 about 56 million sq mtrs.
2007(till march) about 15 million sq mtrs.
Jeans :80 million pairs (approx) produced in Japan p.a
:20 million pairs(approx) imported p.a
Export markets : China,Hongkong, US, Vietnam and Italy.

Main Denim producing areas in Japan : The Hiroshima perfecture, The Okayama perfecture and the Mihara Area.

DENIM MILLS

KAIHARA DENIM
Produces about 36 million sq mtrs of denim p.a
Exports about 60% of production.
Offer about 600-900 items to buyers every year.(good)
Investment since 1970 – about USD 500 million.
More than 300 looms at six mills.
Strengths : Great cotton mix and Dyeing process..
Kaihara has no plans to go overseas for production as they are quite comfortable in Japan…This shows their belief in their own capability to be highly innovative ..

KURABO INDUSTRIES
Currently focusing very much on Stretch fibres and are looking at
advanced versions of stretch denim by using XLA stretch yarn,Xfit
lycra and T400. This is to take advantage of the Skinny Jeans
fashion that is currently still strong.
Developments 2006-08 : Emphasizing on the Ocean BLue colors under the Ultra Marine
Blue Brand name.
:’Wave’ – A line developed from a specially designed slub yarn .
:’Air Spinner’ – third line that features very soft denim.

NISSHINBO INDUSTRIES
Capacity : About 12 million sq mtrs p.a

Developments : As per the marketing manager of Nisshinbo – ‘Masanharu Tanaka’
the NEW TREND would be a return towards NATURAL LOOKS. This
would mean that innovative looks using Indigo and other yarn
dyeing material.
:Liquid Ammonia Treatment: Nisshinbo is also know for the
development of the liquid ammonia treatment of Denim Fabric. The
denim fabric is dipped in liquid ammonia (about -40 degrees C)
which enables it to regain its original shape , thus giving back
natural softness to the fibre. One of its five ammonia treatment
plant is used for treating Denims.

Other developments in the Japanese denim Industry :
The DUCK TEXTILE CO. has introduced a JERSEY DENIM - a denim made of knit fabric. This fabric looks like woven fabric but has the qualities of the knit fabric.
Another development doing the rounds in the Japanese Denim Industry is the effort to keep the core of the cotton yarn undyed .. Though this normally happens in the Rope Dyeing method, but the effort is to have much more undyed portion through HAND DYEING which will give very good after washing effects…

1945 Levi’s from Japan?

It may seem improbable that the most authentic vintage versions of the most famous American Apparel brand – Levi’s – have to be bought in a some ‘Hinoya Plus Mart’ in Japan…
But it is true as New Times Reports . The vintage Levi’s with the most authentic accessories including Scovill Zippers , can be found in this obscure mart in Tokyo.
So much so that Levi’s has been forced to sue them . And of course that has not been without a sense of guilt since Levi’s itself has not been able to produce such authentic versions of their own Brand!

Well, we can all trust Japanese to go to any levels to achieve perfection and beat everyone . The same applies to denims also. It must also be marveled that the Japanese are still able to produce and sell their Denim Fabrics at their prices inspite of the fact that this fabric has been commodotised to a large extent ..Hats off to them..

Premium Jeanswear launches in India

‘Business Casuals’ approach in many offices in India is pushing the demand for premium jeanswear in India. Many companies are relaxing the norms of wearing Jeanswear into office (even in weekdays) provided they are ‘Clean’ While media houses and BPOs have traditionally been open to casual wear at work, an increasing number of IT and BT companies are now following suit..

Wrangler’s(India) new ‘Truly Clean Look’ has received a very good response from professionals. Says Janani Subramanian – business head of Wrangler India – ‘This audience is responsible for 40% of our Clean Jeans sale’.
Other brands are not to be left behind. Flying Machine (from Arvind Brands’ stable) is set to launch a premium line soon in the price range of Rs 1800 to Rs 4000/-. Dockers from GAP is set to launch a premium denim line this month in the price range of Rs 2000/-

High disposable incomes and the need to feel COOL at workplace is turning into money making oppurtunity for the premium denim manufacturers asper Times of India report
Also, it creates oppurtunity for the Denim Manufacturers who can come out with fabrics which are suitable for these kind of jeans . A major part of the fabrics used by these brands is and shall be the ‘Mercerised’ denims with Multicount ringspuns and fine slubs as per the current trends. ALso dark denims are important for this Target Audience….

Tavex acquires denim facilities in Mexico

The Tavex Group of Spain(Madrid), which already owns manufacturing facilities in the city of Puebla in México, is working to expand its capacity through the acquisition of the denim manufacturing facilities of the company ACOTEX in Puebla and Tlaxcala . This will take the capacity of Tavex in Mexico to about 30 million metres pa.
“Our objective with this investment is to increase Denim production in the differentiated products segment (Authentic and Premium lines) in North America,” comments Herbert Schmid – the CEO of Tavex.
Well, its a good move by Tavex since they must have bought these facilities at relatively easier prices due to the not so good condition of Denim.

It also shows that the Europeans are proving to be better at managing the Denim – especially since Denim has turned into a fashion product with lot of differentiation required. American companies had a better hold on denim when it was a basic product and few qualities could be produced in huge quantities.