FCI Group, AMCS Textiles, Ananta Group and now Shanta Group all have realized the growing potential of suit manufacturing in Bangladesh. “We were not looking for any expansions in the garment segment considering the global recession and the labour unrest problems we are facing, but we found suit manufacturing to be more technology-oriented than labour-driven, so with more machines taking care of the operations, labour issues will impact less,” reasons Khondokar Jamil Uddin, Founder-Director, Shanta Group.
Shanta Garments, a US $ 200 million group well known for their casual bottoms, especially cargo pants with four and six pockets and denim trousers with different wash effects, has recently started manufacturing dress pants. The company has been involved in various businesses since its inception, but the passion for Khondokar still remains garments, and its association with brands such as Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren, Next, Marks & Spencer, American Eagle, GAP and Levi’s says it all.
The Group’s decision to enter the formalwear segment with a suit manufacturing unit is influenced by the fact that this segment has grown into a promising business for Bangladesh and Vietnam because of the low labour and material cost, and also because some entrepreneurs from China are looking for manufacturing opportunities in Bangladesh. “I am in talk with a company from China for a new suit manufacturing unit and if everything goes as planned, we will launch our new unit in 2013,” claims Khondokar.
The group has grown tremendously in a span of a few years because of its proactive approach on acquisitions and joint venture partnerships. The strategy has helped them in entering a joint venture with a textile unit in Sri Lanka as part of their expansion in the region.
Apart from denims, Bangladesh’s strength has always been in manufacturing chinos, cargo pants and boxer shorts in bottoms, and there aren’t many factories in Bangladesh that can work on formal patterns like the dress pants, as the companies are either not equipped technologically or do not understand the market and are even afraid to train the workers for the right skills required to stitch dress pants, but for Khondokar it was a challenge which has to be taken head on. “Tommy Hilfiger has given us a good share of the dress pant business, a segment with a new found popularity in the US,” shares Khondokar.
Almost 60% of the capacities in Shanta Garments is reserved for Tommy Hilfiger; they are also the only unit in Bangladesh manufacturing bottoms for Ralph Lauren, maintains Khondokar. “We have good relations with Tommy since 1993-94 and they have always co-operated with us, in fact they have been so happy with our services that they haven’t given their orders to anyone else for the past 18 years. When Tommy and Ralph Lauren first came to Bangladesh in search of manufacturers, we were the first and only factory in Bangladesh to work for them,” claims Khondokar.
