The second edition of Infashion witnessed a good visitation, primarily from the domestic industry. The show predominantly showcased fabrics for menswear namely yarn dyed and linen shirting fabrics along with suiting and denim fabrics. One trend which caught AO’s Textile Team was that many traditional suiting companies like SKNL, Donear, Arviva Industries, Banbury Exports, Topman, Beekalene have forayed into linen fabric for shirting which depicts that linen demand in India is on the upsurge. There were a few companies like Morarjee and Bombay Rayon which showcased printed fabrics for women’s wear.
A majority of the exhibitors were happy with the visitation as for many it was an opportunity for networking/PR and for others meeting new prospective clients. Overall feedback from the visitors and participants was positive. Along with the exhibition, seminars were concurrently organized where leading textile and retail giants expressed their views on industry related topics.
Highlighting the growing demand for fabrics Ramesh Poddar, Vice-Chairman & MD, Siyaram Silk Mills and President, FAITMA states, “We find that the per capita availability of fabric – which was around 30 square metres during the years 2000 to 2005 – has now considerably increased to around 44 square metres. It is also observed that the textiles purchase per capita in 2009 was approximately Rs. 1,754 compared to only Rs. 1,027 in the year 2000 – a drastic increase of over 70 per cent. The increased purchasing power reflects is an opportunity and I am quite confident that the industry will leverage this opportunity to ensure profitable growth.”
Emphasizing on the growth potential of the industry, stalwarts stressed on the need to urgently upgrade technology to produce superior and globally competitive products. The panelists stressed the importance of Government support by forming liberal policies for facilitating smooth functioning of domestic and international commerce. The industry captains also highlighted the need for integrated manufacturing and best practices to optimize production, focus on waste reduction and increase profit margins.
“Going forward, creativity will be an important factor for the success of the textile industry. Innovation and research in fibre is of utmost importance to produce high quality end product. Surat being a manufacturing hub daily produces 35-40 million metres of synthetic fabric. This can be further increased through automation, modernization and Government support,” said D.R. Mehta – President, Textile Association of India.
Voicing his opinion on skilled labour S.N. Modani, Managing Director, Sangam (India) Ltd., shared that the industry is witnessing dearth of skilled labour making it only imperative to invest time and resources in training manpower. “Subvention of interest rates and access to loans from financial institutions will help boost demand,” he said.
[bleft]“Going forward, creativity will be an important factor for the success of the textile industry. Innovation and research in fibre is of utmost importance to produce high quality end product. This can be further increased through automation, modernization and Government support,” D.R. Mehta – President, Textile Association of India.[/bleft]
Fabric Displays…
Linen demand growing fast
The demand of linen fabric is growing fast and many companies have entered into linen manufacturing in recent times. Donear which started as a suiting fabric manufacturer forayed into cotton fabrics about a year back and now has started manufacturing linen too. Vineet Talwar, Sr. Vice-President —Marketing, Donear Industries Ltd. shares, “We are showcasing 100% linens; we started linen production just a few months back for both domestic brands and exporters and it is doing very well. Besides linen we are also showcasing our liquid ammonia treated fabric (wrinkle free cotton fabric). Donear which is amongst the first three in suiting fabrics (PV and PW) is also a serious contender for that position in cotton fabric too. We are getting fantastic response from retailers, brands and wholesalers.
Mumbai based Vrijesh Natural Fibre & Fabrics showcased its branded linen ‘Fiesta’. Atul Agarwal, Director of the company claims that their linen brand is the second biggest brand in linen in India after Linen Club. The company started its business as linen exporters and five years ago it forayed into the domestic market. “Linen is ideal for Indian weather and that is why it is picking up so fast and we are trying to create our dealer’s network throughout India. We are not so much keen to work with the garment exporters as pricing is a big issue for them and secondly they want cheaper fabrics; they want linen mixed with cotton,” states Agarwal who is exporting linen to leading designers in Europe and the US like Giorgio Armani, Ralph Lauren and the likes. The company is also exporting linen scarves and home furnishings like curtains, table linen etc. Vrijesh has its own weaving set-up in Vapi with 72 looms and produces linen from western European flax.
Mumbai based Beekalene Fabrics, producers of PV and PC suiting and yarn dyes shirting fabrics, has also forayed into linen fabrics. Ravi Mehra, Director of the company who is catering to both the domestic as well as export market shares, “Linen demand in India has suddenly gone up. As we have been making fabrics for men’s wear we thought to start linen production too as its demand is growing in geometric progression.” Beekalene’s total fabric production is 2 lakh metres per month. “We have a small process house in our unit and now we are going for full-fledged dyeing house within this year. All our units are in New Mumbai,” informs Ravi.
Shree Krishna Silk from Surat too showcased its linen fabric, besides linen the company also manufactures pure silk, bemberg and viscose fabrics. “We are known for our natural fibre fabrics and our focus is women’s wear,” avers Rajesh Parekh, Managing Director, Shree Krishna Silk.
The universal appeal of Denim
From India, Sangam and Bhaskar were present to showcase their denim range. However the most interesting denim fabric was from Pakistan. Siddiqsons Limited which for the first time came to India showcased its knitted denim range. According to M. Saeed Shafiq, Director of the company as per their market intelligence there is no player in India who is doing this fabric. “We thought of showcasing this product in India as it would be easier for us to penetrate the Indian market with a niche product. We are doing both knitted denim fabrics and garments made with cotton and lycra.”
Siddiqsons is a composite unit producing yarns, fabrics and garmenting. The company has its own dyeing and processing unit. With its offices in Canada, Europe, China and Bangladesh, the company is exporting its products to the US, Europe, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Brazil. Now the company is very keen to do business in India. With 36000 spindles, 36 million metres/annum denim production and 5.4 million pieces of garments, the company’s total textile export (yarn, fabric and garments) is around US $ 1 billion.
Bhilwara based Sangam India showcased its latest range of denim fabrics like satin lycra’s, cotton lycra and silky denims. The company introduced its branded denim wear aarp’s at Infashion. The brand is for the domestic market targeting men in the age group of 16 to 40. “We are targeting to sell through MBOs and are also planning extensive promotional campaigns targeting consumers in mini metros, 2 and three tier cities. In two years time, we are looking at exclusive outlets once we introduce casual shirts and T-Shirts too in this brand. We are also looking at E-commerce and very soon we’ll have an E-commerce portal,” shares Gaurav Chaudhary, DGM — Planning & Publicity. Sangam has recently increased its production capacity in denim fabric to 40 million metres/annum.
[bleft]The demand of linen fabric is growing fast and many companies have entered into linen manufacturing in recent times. besides fashions the fabric is ideal for Indian weather and that is why it is picking up so fast.[/bleft]
Prints & Embroidery
Though Infashion was predominantly a menswear fabric show, there were a few companies like Bombay Rayon, Morarjee Textiles, Topman Exports, which showcased their printed and embroidered fabric collection for women’s wear. Morarjee Textiles showcased its latest developments in prints in cotton fabrics. The company is catering to all leading international brands and retailers like M&S, Tesco, Zara, Paul Smith through the factories based in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. The company is also exporting its fabric directly to the Middle East, Brazil, Turkey, Europe and African countries.
“We are primarily doing 100 per cent cotton along with some 100 per cent viscose and cotton lycra-stretch fabrics. In yarn dyes we are making premium fabrics by using Giza cotton mostly for formal wears. In prints 80 per cent is for ladies wear and 20 per cent for men’s shirts and ladies tops,” shares Anil Gupta, General Manager – Marketing, Morarjee Textiles Ltd.
The company has its manufacturing, processing and printing unit in Nagpur with 124 looms producing 5.5 lakh metres/month fabric. The company has around 7 lakh metres/month processing capacity. Presently the ratio of export and domestic selling is 60:40. “We are putting the new Zimmer machine which would be operational by month of April. With this machine our printing capacity would be enhanced by 1 million metre/month to take total capacity to 2 million metres/month,” informs Anil.
Topman Exports Ltd., based out of Mumbai, is basically a suiting/shirting manufacturer in PC, PV and 100% linen fabrics that showcased its hand embroidered fabrics and laces for the haute couture segment along with its regular range in suiting and shirting. “Since 2002 we have diversified in haute couture embroidered fabrics and laces catering to top most fashion designers in Europe. Now we are planning to enter into Indian market as well and that is why we are participating in this show,” shares Kirti Agarwal, Designer & one of the owners in the company.
PV/PC Suiting & Yarn Dyes Shirting Fabrics
Infashion had maximum exhibitors in this category. SKNL, Siyaram,Grasim, Donear, Banbury, Sangam, Subh Laxmi Syntex Ltd. to mention a few, showcased their newest development in suiting fabric. Sangam showed latest range of fabric which consisted of cationic polyester viscose 65/35 blend, weft stretch Lycra, reverse blend in PV 48/52, polyester viscose flex, poly wool, various designs in fine count in PV.
In shirting fabrics, yarn dyed fabric were showcased by Vardhman, Napolean Mills, SGS Silk Mills, Duratex Silk Mills Ltd, to mention a few. Duratex Silk Mills showcased its 100 per cent cotton yarn dyes, 100 per cent cotton jacquards, rayon, double cloth and cotton lycra fabrics. “We do constant R&D to get new designs and constructions. We are exporting our fabrics to about 20 countries and supplying fabrics to leading brands in India along with garment exporters,” states N.K. Agarwal, Director. Duratex with a production of 10 lakh metres/annum has 250 looms, and has recently added 100 high speed looms. “We are replacing the high speed looms with the old ones so that we can increase our production,” shared Agarwal.
