The Ludhiana flat knits market, having niche in sweaters/gents pullovers, generates a turnover of about Rs. 11,000 crore out of only Rs. 1,000 crore that is coming from exports. Whether it is export or domestic, there are plenty of reasons which are motivating the garment manufacturers towards design with greater focus on product development. Apparel Online talks to various players on directions for the hub in product development.
There is unanimity on the fact that Ludhiana requires more and more focus on design and the efforts being done today are not sufficient. Feeling the need of the hour, the Knitwear Club has taken a step by forming Designers Club where designers get a platform to offer their services to the garment manufacturers. “Through Designers Club, we are trying to work as a bridge between the industry and the designers. We are planning to organize a display of these designers’ collections to motivate the Ludhiana industry,” says Vinod Thapar, Chairman of Knitwear Club. Thapar agrees that consciousness about product development is growing by the day. “Earlier Ludhiana industry was very much dependent on Hong Kong for inspiration, but now they are visiting more and more countries like Italy, UK and Turkey, so now we have more collections and similarly more offerings for our customers. This trend is continuously increasing,” he says.
Medium level players who are working in both the export as well as domestic market are more conscious about the importance of product development. They are going for new and latest technology in designing. Mukesh Jain of Sharman Wollens is now going in for Stoll machines to get better designs. “Since we are trying to add new markets for exports as also going deeper into untapped domestic territory, only better designs can help us, as in quality we are already doing our best. So adding new and best machines will help us in product development,” reasons Jain.
Increasing customer expectations, the transformation of hosiery into a luxury rather than a necessity and short winter seasons are other reasons compelling the garment manufacturers to offer more and more new developments in flat knits. “Ludhiana’s major share is into the domestic market and the last winter season was too short and most of us were left with stocks, so we have to focus more on our designs so the customer should buy it as a luxury not as a requirement. Even customers pay more if he likes the designs,” avers Rajinder Bushan Maini of Maini Hosiery Works and Senior Vice President of Knitwear Club.
Design and product development start from the yarn and fabric stage, but Ludhiana is still lacking in this area as most of the garment manufacturers are depending on the yarn suppliers and are not happy with the developments being offered. Sudershan Jain of Sarjeewan Knitwears and President of Knitwear & Apparel Manufacturers Association of Ludhiana says, “How much can we play with the same kind of blends we are getting year on year. Our suppliers should do development at their end, so we can be more creative and be able to offer more concepts. Even visiting more and more countries can’t help in product development if you don’t have resources to experiment.” To overcome this issue, few garment manufacturers are importing yarns from Italy, Korea and China and successfully giving better products to their clients. “We are importing from Italy and Korea and they give ample variety and developments like various blends, gauge and weight compared to Indian suppliers. It makes our work very easy and our designers have more opportunities to innovate,” says Nitin Goel of Goel Knits.
As the export market is very competitive, exporters are also looking more towards their product developments. Varun Mehra, CEO, Nagesh Knitwears claims, “From last one year we are making products in 16-18 gauze which are the finest, our focus is to make more detailed and intricate designs to fetch more value. “We are increasing our sampling and R&D budget, and now even developing in-house yarn. Still the efforts are not enough looking to the market conditions,” concludes Naresh Jain, Production Head, RN Oswal Hosiery, one of the biggest flat knit manufacturers in the country.
