Although much smaller in size compared to the inaugural version last year, the recently held second edition of the denim Expo – the two-day extravaganza – witnessed participation of major domestic and overseas entrants representing global brands, retailers and local manufacturers. Irrespective of the size, both the exhibitors and the visitors were happy. “Our basic aim behind organizing the event is to showcase the growing strength of bangladesh’s denim fabric manufacturers to the global and local buyers while providing them the choice of fabric and finishing from the best mills of the world,” says Mostafiz Uddin, Managing Director, Denim Expert Ltd. and organizer of the event.
It is interesting to note that today bangladesh hosts 4 denim events in a year while it held none three years back. not only that, the show was managed very professionally, personal attention was given to the visitors, keeping in mind their need for comfort, food and client meetings. However, regular hosting of such events has raised questions pertaining to the quality and inventiveness of such dos, more so from the visitors’ perspective who look forward to meet a fresh lot of exhibitors every time they visit the event, for which one needs to seriously introspect and rework the strategy to keep their interest alive.
Zakirul Alam, Director, Zas Apparels was highly impressed with the quality of the products and expressed his happiness by saying, “I feel proud to see the capabilities of domestic companies which are at par with other countries.” Rodney J. Reed, Managing Director, Reed Consulting who was equally overwhelmed with the quality of exhibits, termed them, ‘world-class’. Sharing his thoughts with Team AOB, Mahmudul Hoq, CEO, Yester Jeans Ltd. observed, “I’ve spotted a few very interesting non-denim developments from Kohinoor mills of Pakistan.”
Thumbs up to denim mills for elevating from copying to creating trends
Application of natural fibres like jute and wool in denim, attracted many buyers
Knitted denim still going strong
High-level stretch and recovery aspects are key focus areas
Innovative weaves with two-tone effect in warp & weft
Bangladesh had almost all major players present at the event, showcasing some fascinating developments in denim. “Everyone should come to bangladesh. It’s no longer a basic market as has been perceived for so long, and has matured a lot in terms of creativity and design sensibility,” observed Nicola Stopka, Product Developer, Hermes OTTO International.
“When most exhibitors are present to make sale or get buyers’ nominations, my target is to show what all bangladesh can offer to the fashion buying fraternity, making it a platform to build our image,” stated Gazi Mahbubul Alam, Director, Mahmud Group, who launched his new development – super stretch denim at the denim Expo and a few developments in non-denim like twills.
At a time when many big names from overseas are walking away with all the laurels, another idea behind organizing the denim Expo was to bring the bangladeshi denim fabric mills, which have matured a lot over the years in terms of product development, to a single platform that would help them get the recognition akin to those given to Isko denim of Turkey or for that matter Arvind or Raymond uco from India. “Our vision is to be acknowledged and recognized as a branded denim fabric manufacturing company. The buyers who are seeing our fabrics along with those from the Chinese, Turkish, Indian, Thai and Pakistani companies, are amazed at our product development capabilities. They are now also able to compare the price and evaluate on the spot which is the best-suited product for them. many of our top mills have now improved and alleviated their creativity and started developing their own yarns based on international forecasts rather than following what’s being produced by the top mills around the world, which was the practice earlier,” pointed out M.S. Hasan, Director, Amber Group, who strongly believes that given the abundance of jute, the inherent and indigenous fibre of the country, bangladesh can become a trendsetter by using the same in denim as it hasn’t been done by any other country till now.
So far, the denim mills of bangladesh have been dependent on International shows like Texworld, Kingpins, bread & butter and the likes to get an insight and understanding of what the international denim majors are offering. now at denim Expo, it’s the turn of international brands to see and understand the capabilities of the country and its potential to become one of the most sought after product development hubs in the coming time. Md. Jamal Abdun Naser, Director, Shasha Denims Ltd. remarked, “The same buyers who were getting their garments made in bangladesh but were nominating denim mills from China, Turkey, India and Pakistan, are now developing faith in the bangladeshi mills as we are able to offer them quality fabric and at a competitive pricing.”
Echoing similar views, Shohel Rana, Director, Marketing & Merchandising, Nassa Denim asserted, “The show has definitely met our expectations and we want to tell the world through this fair that bangladesh also can do fashionable and valueadded products.”
Developments Which Caught Attention…
Jute application on denim, a huge hit for Nassa Denim
Visited by representatives from all the major international brands like Zara, H&m, m&S, g-Star, to mention a few, the most appealing product of the company is denim with jute patches and blends. “Traditionally, jute has been our strength. Through our R&d, we have developed denim with jute blend. This product will give us price advantage to a great extent as it is much cheaper than cotton and also as a raw material it is available in plenty in bangladesh which plays to our advantage,” averred Shohel Rana, Director-Marketing & Merchandising, Nassa Denim.
Working closely with wgSn for its latest developments, nassa also launched its wool blended denim at the expo. “we are investing a lot on the R&d to come up with our own developments. we have also introduced the ‘Fit’ concept wherein we offer our buyers to select the fabric and fit or style from our collection and then place the orders rather than they giving us their styles for conversions,” adds Shohel.
Two-tone & yarn-dyed denim checks ushered in maximum queries for Amber Denim
With the help of a strong in-house design team, Amber denim (aka Partex) showcased its new developments in twill core (premium cotton spun yarn) with good recovery property for skin-fit denim bottoms. The other interesting developments of Amber were its two-tone denim (using 2 colours in the weft) and yarn-dyed check denim for shirting. As reactive dye is used in this fabric, the colour doesn’t change or fade even after the wash. Indigo and sulphur colours have been used in the products to give a vibrant effect. “The yarn-dyed check denim is an absolutely new development in bangladesh. A lot of buyers had a keen look at it and have asked us to send them the samples,” shared Habibul Islam (Rony) DGM (Marketing & Sales), Amber Denim, as per whom, Amber is now planning to set up a garmenting unit along with a washing plant in Rupganj, which would make the company vertically integrated. “we are coming with 10 lines to produce 8,000 units per day. The washing capacity would be of 20,000 units per day. Once production starts, we shall add 10 more lines in our sewing section,” added M.S. Hasan, Director of the company.
Shasha Denims displays its knitted-look denim and 100% stretch fabric
The highlight product of Shasha has been its knitted denim in woven construction. The other interesting product was its 100% stretch and 80s’ vintage-look. Keeping sustainability at the forefront of its business strategy, the company has used tencel, modal and organic cotton blend in its denim fabrics. The happy order position has allowed the company to go for expansion. Md Jamal Abdun Naser, Director, Shasha Denims shares, “Presently our production capacity is 1.8 million yards per month, and by 2017 we want to take it to 3.5 million yards per month.”
Malwa Denim comes up with new weaves and colours in denim
Showcasing its S/S ’16 collection, malwa denim from India displayed new colours and a lot of new structures and weaves in its assortment. “Knit indigo was strong in last 3-4 seasons, so we have given a little twist to it by playing on the weaves which gives twill lines on the back side and a plain indigo-look at the front. This fabric is fetching a lot of enquiries from the visitors,” shared Mayank Jain, Vice President, Marketing, Malwa Denim, who also informed that malwa has expanded at its backend by adding 10,000 spindles which would enable the company not to outsource yarns any more. “we also have plans to put up another dyeing line,” added mayank
Raymond uco showcases its selvedge denim
Known for its premium quality, Raymond uco, which was represented by its local partner Raymotex Corporation, exhibited its selvedge denim that attracted many buyers. The company also showcased its super stretch and hyperflex in woven knitted denim. “Earlier super stretch demand used to be for ladieswear only, but now even men are demanding super stretch denim for more comfort and lighter weight,” shared M. Kamal Uddin, Managing Director, Raymotex Corporation.
