A perfect location, well organized event, innovative products, quality visitors and serious business discussions; all these things make for a successful business show. And the second edition of Galleria Intima witnessed all these in an effective manner. Organized recently in Goa by Intimate Apparel Association of India (IAAI) the event, which was dedicated to the sourcing of raw materials for the intimate apparel manufacturing industry, witnessed over 1200 visitors out of which 850 were intimate apparel manufacturers. More than 55 companies from 15 countries displayed newly developed fabrics, laces, trims and technology for intimate apparels, especially lingerie. As media partner of the event, Team Apparel Online interacted with many big players of the industry, about the market and new developments. No doubt, the past few months were tough, but now the sentiments of the industry are up and a majority of the companies are sure to achieve 15 to 20 per cent growth in the running year, and consequently raw material suppliers are also upbeat of growth prospects.
Vertical integrated companies and big fabric mills with latest developments were the attraction of the show, as the industry strongly feels that there are not enough suppliers for the category and there is a dire need for more ancillary units. “The products on display are indeed impressive, I have seen a lot of beautiful laces and fabric from Korea, displays at Bhoomi Textiles and PS Fashion was also really interesting. We could meet a lot of very good suppliers making very good quality products, which we are not using yet. Apart from new suppliers, our exiting supply partners come up with new developments to show at the exhibition,” said Rakesh Grover, MD, Groversons, Delhi and President of IAAI.
Among the companies that had innovative products was Ginza Industries, a well known lingerie brand. The vertically integrated company producing yarn, fabrics, accessories and lingerie is catering to buyers like Walmart and Carrefour. “We are working with most of the lingerie manufacturers in India and they are very well aware about our products and services. I am at the event to see what more is required to be done for our industry. There is a definite need to become more professional in our approach. Trust me, if we can provide quality products, there is a huge scope in the market, be it domestic or international and we need not worry about the competition from Bangladesh or Sri Lanka,” said Ashok Sethia, MD, Ginza Industries. Elaborating on his future plans he adds, “Ginza has been focusing more on fabrics and lingerie components but now we shall be focusing more on lingerie, both for export and domestic markets.”
Being vertically integrated has helped Ginza to offer competitive price to its customer. Witnessing a 10 per cent growth last year, the company is looking at 30 to 35 per cent growth this year. “Through continuous strategic backward integration, we have reached to a point where we are producing most of the components in-house, which makes us cost-effective and facilitates quality controls across various levels of value addition. Besides this, having state-of-the-art infrastructure helps us to offer quality products to our customers,” reasoned Agneesh Bhardwaj, Sr. Manager, Ginza.
Another integrated setup that attracted attention was Komal Texfab, Ahmedabad which has facilities for 10 tonne knitting, 15 tonne dyeing and 15 tonne AOP (all-over prints) per day, besides 700 stitching machines. The company displayed spandex blends, cotton spandex, and micro modal spandex, micro cotton fine gauge in an innovative way. “Indian brands have limited option in high quality innovative fabric sourcing and we helped them by offering the same. Our main focus in now AOP and lot more new techniques of prints like embossing, mixing of two different technologies of reactive dyes with plastisol dye,” informed Rajesh Bagrecha, Director, Komal Texfab, which is providing fabrics for buyers like Next, Tesco, H&M and many more.
Innovation was the buzzword, and SVG Fashion of Mumbai had developments using thick and thin yarns, modal and cationic fabrics and various combinations of embroidery and prints. “Customers are becoming more aware by the day and want newer products all the time, so it is important to create trends continuously that ignite his/her imagination,” said Rajkumar Agarwal, MD, SVG Fashions. The company participated to meet the brand owners/manufacturers directly and get useful feedback as it does business mainly through distributors. The company that is expecting 10-15% growth is also looking for expansion in all of its verticals with heavy investment.
With a legacy of three decades in woven fabric, Mangal Textile Mills, Ahmedabad started knitted fabric division just one-and-a-half years back producing 10 tonne fabric per day. Shrey Sekhani, Director of the company said, “We have very interesting developments in prints and motifs, moreover, our expertise in knitted fabric along with embroidery fabric makes comfort for brands/manufacturer as he can source both things from us in same colours for perfect matching.” With a capacity of 5 million metres per month of printing fabric and 19 schiffli embroidery machines, the printing forte of the company attracted many visitors at the show.
Alok Industries, Mumbai – a volume oriented player and producing 40 tonne knits fabric, per day is exporting 60 per cent to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, while the rest of the 30 per cent is supplied to Indian apparel exports. Now it is also looking for organized domestic market and has recently started working with Being Human, Vitamin, Gini & Jony, etc. besides Little Lacy, Maxwell Industries and Page Industries in the intimate industry. “We are looking for the customers who can work on our terms & volumes. We are also expanding our capacity in about next 20 months and expect to produce 70 tonne a day,” informed Paresh Narvekar, Sr. Marketing Manager – Knits. Normally, the company takes orders of 3 to 5 tonne per day and at least 500 kg per colour shade. Alok offers wide variety in knitted fabric like yarn dyed, jersey, ribs, interlock, jacquard, mercerizes and in expansion it will start manufacturing fleece to cover the winter wear segment of intimate apparels which requires very good brushing technology. It displayed at the fair a nice variety in polyester jacquard, comparatively a new fabric for bras, burn out prints and cotton spandex jersey.
Specialized in discharge, direct and pigment prints on knitted fabric, Bhoomi Textiles have the capacity of 8 tonne per day. Niraj Shah, a Textile Engineer and Director of the company feels that in terms of fabric, the market has been dominated by few companies and brands which did not have many options; so armed with experience of working with top retailers of the US and UK, and with expertise in value addition, they are giving the new options to Indian brands. Bhoomi Textiles has developed many innovative yarns in modal, viscose, cotton with finer count and more stretchability and displayed plenty of awesome prints. The company looks at domestic market as a good option and has recently enhanced its capacity by 20 per cent to meet increased demand.
Innovation in Laces…
Among the many Indian and Thailand companies at the event, Chanty from Germany was an attraction with its high fashion laces. Presenting the latest collection of laces for Winter 2014/15, it offers numerous options with great focus on trends. Matthias C. Hartmann, MD of the company is very enthusiastic about Indian market and is looking for growth as the intimate apparel market picks up pace in the country. “We are just two years old in India and are in the process of understanding the Indian market. We have seen that Indian brands are now moving towards fashion from basics and this creates opportunities for us with our highly trend focused laces. In fact, our focus on fashion will help Indian brands to develop their products and move up the value chain,” says Hartmann. The company is represented in India by Stuti Exports Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai and combining the strength of both, in product and market understanding, Chanty is expecting 20 per cent growth in its overall business over the next few years.
As Intimate apparel industry is looking for more and more quality suppliers, new players are also exploring the opportunities and their product variety and specialization is serving this segment. Three decades old Sahiba Fabrics from Surat entered this market just six months back but has received tremendous response from the industry. With a range of offerings including fancy net fabric, various kinds of laces like rachel, chemical, multi colour laces, along with embroidered fabric it displayed a lot of verities in prints. “The technology being used by us is very rare in India and we have good capacities, our product development follows what Europe is manufacturing and what is in demand there. So we are well in advance all the way,” says Aman Saluja, Director, Sahiba Fabrics. The company is getting good orders from domestic manufacturers across the country and is continuously expanding its capacities to cater to the growing demand.
Special Accessories for Intimate Wear…
Garware Bestretch, Pune (RBG Group), an expert in rubber tape, is dominating the export market with 80 per cent of production going to more than 70 countries. It has a kind of monopoly in India producing rubber tape, as there are very few players in this segment. “Rib tape having rib surface made with pure rubber is the latest product of the company, designed for waistband of sportswear, active wear and Bermudas as these garments require high width elastic. The fitting of these elastics remain the same after many washes and it gives strength to the garment. When its rib surface goes to the machine it doesn’t require talc which makes it convenient for the operator,” informs Ajay Gandhi, Dy. Manager – Sales & Marketing, Garware Bestretch.
A rubber tape gives best comfort to the wearer even after many washes, while its parallel product knitted elastic uses yarn, which can shrink when it comes in contact to water. Another advantage is its mark free comfort, as it never creates marks on the human skin while the same is common in knitted elastic. An environment-friendly company, Garware Bestretch is Oeko-Tex and ISO certified, and its products are REACH compliant. The company is working with all top brands of India like Lux, VIP, Jockey and many more besides having major presence in exports.
Kohinoor Elastics, Indore is another big player that offers narrow fabrics, woven jacquard elastics and knitted elastics. Sriram Subramaniam, GM – Sales & Marketing, claims that today Jacquard elastics is more in demand as it is good for branding purpose. The company, which is getting good demands from exporters, is also catering to small requirement like 3,000 metres per order to help the manufacturers.
With the variety of products like woven tapes, woven labels, fabric printed labels and yarn dyed twill tapes elastics etc., Arrow Textiles Ltd., Nashik is getting good demand for many of its products. “Demand of woven edge label is growing as it doesn’t require heat and blade cut and is used piecewise during manufacturing. With no raw edges the labels give comfort to the wearer,” reasons Madhusudan S., Senior Sales Manager. Woven tapes between widths of 8 to 25 mm are also in demand and since Scottish checks are in demand in shirts, Indian companies are trying to give the overall feel by applying tape on collar and pleat. According to Madhusudan, polyester substrate printed labels are also in demand as it is difficult to copy. The company dealing with both export as well as domestic market is sure about good growth.
Purely into the domestic market, Sachinam Fabrics, Surat also displayed variety of tapes and elastic. Anil Baid, Director of the company claims that he uses pure spandex and nylon yarn mainly to give the best quality. He felt that merchandisers or product development teams should come to such shows, as presence of only owners and top level management does not serve the purpose. Jacquard, printed elastics was highlighted by the company at the event. J S Fabtex, Delhi was an interesting company offering hook & eye tapes, nylon coated, silver ring slides and customized solutions in logo embossing. Dealing mainly with the domestic market, Jitender Jain, Director of the company feels that demand was less in the past few months although he was positive about coming season. “We are also offering lower quantity in customized orders like 1000 dozen of hook and eyes,” he said.
Associated with many international companies, Abhay Industries, Mumbai offers wide variety of products for the intimate wear industry like warp knitted fabrics, laces, moulded bra cups, bra cup machines and many more. Its latest development, moisture wicking sweat observant, anti bacterial, anti odour bra cup under the name of its own sister concern Ampio Industries, was a hit with the industry. Coolmex fabric is being used inside in these cups.
One of the biggest accessory suppliers to the Indian intimate apparel industry, Kotak Overseas has plenty of products in its product basket and is continuously increasing the profile. At the show, the company displayed a lot of developments in various segments, like in accessories it has come up with new closure clips which are very useful for swimwear, 100 per cent cotton foam cup bra was also appreciated as the company claims that in India it is being manufactured exclusively by them. The company also displayed few products which give 3D effect after dyeing. Enthusiastic with response at fair and overall market, Nikhil T Kotak, CEO of the company said, “We are coming with many more new developments in our machinery division; our foam/fabric moulding machines already has 40 installations in India. Our next offering to the industry is indigenous dyeing machine which will be able to dye elastic and such other components in nylon, cotton and polyester. It will be perfect for small order production. We have already booked its orders.”
Market for intimate wear is on the rise…
Manufacturers of intimate wear are very upbeat of future growth though the market was not good in the past few months. “Although we maintained our growth, we had to develop new strategies and start working in areas where we were earlier not working to generate sales,” says Rakesh Grover, MD, Groversons.
He further adds that the mindset of manufacturers needs to change. “Manufacturers like us have a lot of money to invest in property and real estate but we should invest in our industry too, the ROI may be a little late but the end result will be far more rewarding. Groversons has grown just because of new innovations, expanding supply chain and deeper market reach. I am sure that we will achieve 35 to 40 per cent growth in the current financial,” he says candidly. Groversons Group, with a turnover of Rs. 105 crore, offers its Paris Beauty, Queen of Hearts, Miss t, Sparsh, Poems and Sunaina brands of bra, panties, slips & camisole sets.
Though growth is anticipated, the companies are concerned about the market volatility, which could upset all calculations. “We achieved 20 per cent growth last year and it is tough to say about the current year looking to the market conditions. Yet, we are hopeful that we should see growth whatever the conditions are,” says G. Ashok Reddy, Director, Lovable Lingerie Ltd., Bangalore. Endorsing similar views, Sunil Pathare, Vice Chairman and MD, Maxwell Industries, Mumbai says, “Normally, our industry is growing at the rate of 18 to 20 per cent per year, so I expect the same, but to get there we are focusing more on designs and R&D.” With a turnover of Rs. 220 crore, the company owns brands like VIP, Frenchie X, Feelings, Eminence, Leader, and Brat.
Despite tough conditions, few companies are also looking to enhance their product basket as it is a concrete way to be strong in the market. Ashok Kumar Todi, Chairman, Lux Industries Ltd., Kolkata is planning to now focus also on ladies intimate apparel as this category is doing very good in the market. “From the last six months, market sentiments are not good and still the scenario has not improved, but one should remain positive as we saw good rains and plenty of cotton production. As a company, Lux Industries is doing well in the domestic as well as in international market, targeting premium, basic and economy segment of men, women and kids innerwear,” informs Todi. The company is also into thermals under the brand Lux Cozi.
Another big integrated player in the innerwear market TT Limited, Kolkata, is very proactive to ensure growth. “Last season was really negative for the domestic market but we are hopeful and are focusing on new offerings, improvements in our units like training and also our commitments. There is scope for ample growth in our industry, but we have to be fully prepared for that,” says Sanjay Jain, MD, TT Limited.
Apart from such already established top Indian brands, big export house like Pratibha Syntex Ltd., Indore is also exploring the opportunities in innerwear for the domestic market. “No doubt market is uncertain and challenging, but if we will penetrate today, we will be able to get the leading edge in the next 2-3 years. We want to bring our domestic share up to 25 per cent in the next few years, which is currently just 5 to 10 per cent. We are in discussion with major brands and retailers and the direction is very positive,” avers Shreyaskar Chaudhary, MD & CEO of the company. Shreyaskar realizes the challenges of working in an unorganized market, so the approach will be very personal with great focus on product development.
Not only the Indian companies, even top world players like MAS Holding, Sri Lanka accepts that big challenges are there and it is the time to do the best. Ajay Amalean, Director, MAS Holdings, Sri Lanka observed, “Right now market is really very tough and there are a lot of challenges so our growth may be conservative at about 10 to 12 per cent, but it also depends on the market. We want to do the best what we can as speed, flexibility, commitment and trust are really important for the customers.” Apart from fabric, the company manufactures intimate wear for Victoria’s Secret, Marks & Spencer, La Senza, GAP, H&M and has its own brand ‘Amante’.
