Author: Sandeep Agarwal

Report on Spanish Denim Jeans Consumption 2010-2014

We had done the analysis for the ITALIAN market in the last report and this time we are covering the Spanish market. Spain is again an important country in the EU with a population of over 46 .77 million and a per capita income of about $25617.55. Letâ€™s have a look at some vital figures from the Spanish denim market to get a broader framework of understanding about the denim market which includes the followings:

Table No.	Particulars
1	Imports of Jeans into Spanish Market from 2010 to 2014 from within EU and respective share of important countries from EU in SPANISH market.
2	Imports of Jeans from EU28 into Spanish Market and their prices from different exporting countries worldwide.
3	Imports of jeans into Spanish Market from 2010 to 2014 from around the world â€“ table and graph.
4	Share of Spanish market of EU28 v. â€˜Rest of the worldâ€™ with a graph.
5	Share of exporting countries in the market of SpanishÂ 2010-2014
6	Exports of jeans out of Spanish Market into EU countries 2010-2014
7	Exports of jeans to rest of the world 2010-2014
8	Net consumption of jeans in Spain 2010-2014
9	Per capita consumption of jeans in Spanish Market 2010 v. 2014

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EU28 COUNTRIES

Letâ€™s start our analysis with the imports of jeans into Spain from within EU.Â In the diagrammatical explanation below, we can observe that Spain imported about 9.11 million pcs of jeans from countries within EU IN 2014 â€“ highest among them being from Portugal. Other important countries were France, Italy, Netherland, and Denmark etc. However, it needs to remember that these jeans could have been the ones that are re-distributed after importing from other countries or a part of them having been produced in EU. Itâ€™s interesting to note that the total jeans imported from within EU have shown only marginal growth and that from 8.8748 million pcs to over 9.111 million pcs in the span of five years. One fact which is rather more interesting that , between the year 2013 and 2014 , the import went on diminishing side.

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Country	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	% of 2014
Portugal ( PT)	0.67	2.69	2.93	3.52	2.45	26.93%
France(FR)	2.08	1.84	1.83	2.05	2.00	22.04%
Italy(IT)	1.72	1.42	1.25	1.21	1.09	11.99%
Netherland(NL)	0.86	1.04	0.96	0.98	0.95	10.47%
Denmark(DK)	1.13	1.22	0.99	0.95	0.94	10.35%
United Kingdom(GB)	0.30	0.27	0.24	0.53	0.55	6.12%
Czech Republic(CZ)	0.30	0.35	0.29	0.29	0.39	4.26%
Belgium(BE)	0.65	0.37	0.36	0.36	0.34	3.69%
Ireland(IE)	1.04	0.31	0.41	0.40	0.19	2.18%
Poland(PL)	0.03	0.09	0.14	0.18	0.08	0.87%
Others	0.04	0.09	0.13	0.18	0.09	1.06%
Total	8.87	9.73	9.54	10.66	9.11	100.00%

From the above analysis, it can be easily drawn that Portugal holds about 27% market share followed by France with about 22%Â share from among the EU countries from which Spain imports denim jeans. . Italy and the Netherland are the two other countries which are making shipments to Spain in good quantities. One point to remember is that it is not really certain whether the EU countries which are exporting to Spain are manufacturing such jeans in their own country or not. They might be also importing these jeans from other countries and re-exporting to Spain. Eg Netherlands is home to many large retailers and brands which might be importing jeans from their suppliers around the world and re-routing these jeans to their own sales channels, stores in Spain.
The volume of jeans , however , from EU countries remains more or less stable around 10 million pcs in the period 2010-14.

Prices of EU

The table and theÂ graph below shows the import prices of jeans from EU countries. Italian exports are the most expensive and, more often than not, these would be Made It Italy jeans. Ireland , at lowest of about Euro 4.7 probably is re-exporting cheap jeans imported as it hardly has any jeans production.Â

Country	Pcs( in million)	Average Price(Euro/Pcs)
Protugal(PT)	2.45	7.77
France(FR)	2.00	10.45
Italy(IT)	1.09	28.70
Netherland(NL)	0.95	18.92
Denmark(DK)	0.94	13.90
United Kingdom(GB)	0.55	19.88
Czec Republic(CZ)	0.38	24.92
Belgium(BE)	0.33	15.07
Ireland(IE)	0.19	4.73
Poland(PL)	0.08	13.83

IMPORTS FROM AROUND THE WORLD

The major imports into Spain are not those which are coming from EU countries but from countries around the world â€“ especially from Asia. Bangladesh holds the largest share of 30.26% of Spanish market in 2014 whereas Pakistan and Turkey come next with 24.18% and 14.23% share. The total quantity imported in 2014 was about 86 million pcsÂ as compared to about 73 million pcs in 2013 showing a very robust growth of about 18%. China , with about 11 million pcs shipped to Spain was a poor fourth supplier .

Country	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	Â Â Â Â Â % growth inÂ 2014
Bangladesh(BD)	7.421	10.955	15.606	20.017	26.047	30.26%
Pakistan(PK)	7.459	9.230	11.852	13.029	20.813	24.18%
Turkey(TR)	13.686	12.001	10.551	9.424	12.255	14.23%
China (CN)	27.764	22.597	20.724	16.239	11.501	13.36%
Morocco(MA)	8.833	7.998	6.612	5.611	5.169	6.01%
Cambodia(KH)	0.041	0.828	2.590	4.900	5.137	5.97%
Tunisia(TN)	1.349	2.003	1.354	1.722	2.208	2.57%
Egypt(EG)	2.661	2.032	1.710	1.081	1.512	1.76%
Others	1.876	1.653	1.743	1.457	1.426	1.66%
Total	71.090	69.297	72.742	73.480	86.067	100.00%

TOTALÂ JEANSÂ IMPORTS INTO SPAIN

The total imports of jeans into Spanish Market can be now summarized up in the table below with shipments coming from both within EU and from outside. The share of EU shipments in the Spanish market is about 9.57% whereas 90 .43% comes from rest of the world in 2014. If we look at the quantities imported from 2010 to 2014 from EU countries, itâ€™s very apparent that there is only a marginal growth in the quantities however, if we look at the figures of World, itâ€™s quite surprising that in the year 2010 and 2011 , there was an adverse growth ,however after that , the quantities have been gone up from 69.297 millions to 86.067 million pcs which is very encouraging for the denim industry.

Year	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	%
World	71.090	69.297	72.742	73.480	86.067	90.43%
EU	8.8748	9.7305	9.5395	10.6583	9.1114	9.57%
Total	79.9648	79.0275	82.2815	84.1383	95.1784	100%

TOTAL CONSUMPTION

The total consumption of jeans in Spanish Market can be calculated with the table below.

The first two columns show the exports of jeans to rest of the world and to EU countries. From the below figures, it can be derived that total exports in 2014 were 52.3447 million pcs as compared against 31.7821 million pcs in 2010. Even after the hit of recession worldwide, Spain has shown very surprising export values.

Imports value were surprisingly higher as compared to export value. The total imports were 95.1784 million pcs in 2014 and in the year 2010 , it was 79.9648 million pcs only. It has been assumed that there was negligible production of jeans in Spain during this period.

Year	Exports outside EU28	Exports to EU28 countries	Total Exports	Total Imports	Balance consumed(+/-)
2010	6.0443	25.7378	31.7821	79.9648	48.1827
2011	10.1493	25.3552	35.5045	79.0275	43.5230
2012	11.1688	26.7134	37.8822	82.2815	44.3993
2013	13.5978	31.1515	44.7493	84.1383	39.3890
2014	17.7656	34.5791	52.3447	95.1784	42.8337

PER CAPITA CONSUMPTIONS

The per capita consumption of jeans in Spain can be calculated below

2010

Total Net Consumptions 48.182 Million Pcs

Total Populations 47.02 Million

Per Capita Consumptions 1.02 Jeans Per Person/P.A

2014

Total Net Consumptions 42.8337Million Pcs

Total Populations 46.77 Million

Per Capita Consumptions 0.915 Jeans Per Person/P.A

From the above analysis, it can be drawn that from the year 2010 to 2014, the per capita consumption has slightly decreasedÂ from 1.02 Jeans per person per annum to 0.915 Jeans per person per annum. Also the population of Spain in 2014 is lower than that in 2010. Both taken together, it would mean that the absolute consumption has been much lower. In fact , against 48 million pcs of jeans consumed in 2010, only about 43 million pcs have been consumed in 2014 showing once again that the European markets are more or less saturated for consumption of jeans.

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December 7, 2015

Denim Glasses | A Wow !

On the recent trip to Denim by PV I visited the booth of Vicunha , Brazil. Being old friends and being an innovative company it is always interesting to visit them . In one corner, I could see a section for sun glasses and was a bit curious to understand how Vicunha got involved in some thing so far unrelated to denim. I went to the glass corner and saw that the frames had that denim print. I thought to myself that perhaps its another denim look alike product using the denim look to attract the denim lovers ! The brand name mentioned was Mosevic and looked quite an interesting product. However when Vicunha and Mosevic team explained to me that the frames are made of real denim fabrics â€“ it was quite a revelation !. It took some time for the fact to sink in and to accept that the sunglass frame can be made of REAL SOLID DENIM FABRICS.

But it was a fact and the concept looked awesome. Denim found its way into the peopleâ€™s wardrobe , in their bedroom as furnishing fabrics, during sports as activewear and umpteen other places and now it has invaded another bastion of human body â€“ the eyes !

I asked Jack, founder Mosevic, to share some information on how he came up with the idea and developed it . He says

â€œI have always had a passion for eyewear and knew that I wanted to take on an eyewear project and turn it into a business venture. My background is in design and not in eyewear manufacture and so I knew that I needed to come up with something different. When the idea of working with denim struck me, I knew that this could be the unique product that I was looking for. 4 years later and I still believes I’m right!. After graduating in product design I was working on a project that involved using composites. I’d been thinking of interesting eyewear projects for a while and it’s when I realised that denim could replace the normal composite fabrics that I knew that I was onto something. I straight away went and bought a pair of old jeans to try it out and make a pair of glasses. They weren’t very good and that is why it has taken 4 years to get the design nailed.â€

The procedure

â€œIt all starts by infusing layers of denim with resin and pressing it in a mould to create Solid Denim. Then, a home built CNC milling machine is programmed to cut out the shape of the frames/arms. The branding is laser etched into the inside surface of the arms and the hinges are secured into place. Hand sanding and polishing brings out the glossy finish on the inside surfaces and the edges and Mosevic has developed some techniques of restoring the outside surfaces to that recognizable denim texture. The frames and arms are then assembled with the lenses and everything is checked to make sure it fits a pre defined template.â€

The glasses are hand made in the UK and cost upwards of Euro 200 a piece ! Jack mentions

â€œAt the moment I dont think that there is any other way of doing it. We are the only people in the world that know how to produce the glasses like this and so it has to happen this way. The nature of the product means that they have to be hand made. This has it’s advantages, I think that people like the idea of sunglasses being hand made in the UK and this is a selling point.â€

And thanks for the pair of beautiful glasses â€“ Vicunha and Mosevic !!

December 5, 2015
ITMA 2015 – Sustainable Innovations
ITMA is the worldâ€™s largest textile and garment machinery exhibition ,which is held every four years in a different country and has been always a focal point for a large number of highly qualified international visitors and top decision makers. Held in Milan this year after a 20 year gap, the show was welcomed not only by the city but by the industry as well.

In the last few years there has been an increased , sustained and market pushed focus on sustainable technologies which could help in saving of energy, chemicals, water and other resources. In this article, we bring out information on some of the companies who showcased their sustainable technologies and products.

Jeanologia , Spain

Jeanologia presented a complete combination of machines which can enable the jeans manufacturer, as the company claims, to have ZERO contamination. The process involves usage of different machineries from the company to eliminate different environment harming steps. It involves-
- Combination ofÂ three main technologies – laser, wet and dry ozone G2, e-Flow nano bubbles – to reduce use of water and chemicals by 90% and energy by 50%.
- Doing away with the usage of pumice stone , manual scraping and potassium permanganate by usage of advanced features ofÂ laser which can be attached to existing laser machines.
- The complete system to create a high level of eco-sustainability bringing ZERO contamination benefits to the producers.
The company calculates EIM â€“ Environmental Impact Measure to arrive show how usage of different processes can make an impact on sustainable production.

Tonello , Italy :Â NoStoneÂ® And Water Brush

In a collaboration with Levi Strauss & Co. ,Tonello announced the latest award winning technology – the NoStoneÂ®.Â The new process is designed to overcome economic, mechanical and environmental limitations of existing stone-wash processes. The thrust of the innovation is to eliminate the use of pumice stone ,replacing it with a stainless â€“steel abraders ,attached to the washing machine. The process is entirely mechanical and not chemical in natureÂ and the company claims the following advantages of the process.

The Advantages of NoStone are as under :
- Eliminates usage of pumice stones
- The effect is similar to that of of stone-wash
- All logistics, transport, mining and storing activities related to stones can be done away with
- Doing away with the costly cleaning and maintenance operations
- No need to dispose the sludge, stones and to purify waste water.
Water Brush By Tonello

The second denim finishing technology announced by Tonello is the WATER BRUSH. The water brush helps whitening and abrasion process for jeans as it uses jets of water to bring out the abraded look on the jeans.Â Â Unlike permanganate and manual brushing , which cause irritation and also harmful for the eyes ,skin as well as for the respiratory system , this Water Brush from Tonello is claimed to be totally ecological as it runs on water but consumes none. The water brush requires only one operator for its operation while the Permanganate and manual brushing needs considerable labour .

In essence, the technology of Water BrushÂ consists of:

â€¢ A robot that whitens and abrades the garment by spraying water under high pressure;

â€¢ A central column to alternate two mannequins, one in the loading/unloading position and the other in the working position;

â€¢ A tank for collecting the water, with a filtration and recirculation system.

The system offers much reduced environmental impact and no health risk for the end user as the company claims.

Officiana+39, Italy

The company brings out RECYCROM â€“ the dye made with 100% recycled textile powder. Basically the process involves recycling used clothing material into colored powder and dyes . These dyes can then be used for dyeing various textile items with eco-sustainable inputs and not environment harming chemical dyes.
November 28, 2015
Denim In-Fashion Dhaka | 2nd-3rd March, 2016

After the success of the fourth edition , Denimsandjeans brings the 5th Edition of the show to Dhaka on March 2nd and 3rd.

Denim has gone posh. From Alexa Chung for AG Jeans to Marques Almeida and even Prada , designers are using style and history to createÂ nostalgia and style reinvention. Denim has been growing continuously in the last decade but what new has happened is that the high fashion has joined the bandwagon of denim affiliation.Â This season with Pradaâ€™s Spring 2015 menswear show, denim started becoming a catwalk trend. Gucciâ€™s was sun-bleached or on neat shirt-waisters with giant pockets. Dolce & Gabbana embellished their womenâ€™s jeans with rhinestones. Burberry, meanwhile, brought the denim jacket on to the catwalk at both their menâ€™s and womenâ€™s shows. The collection wasÂ full of 70s-style jeans nostalgia with stitching highlighting pockets and boot-cut shapes, teamed with bobbly jumpers and flat sandals. . Prada, Louis Vuitton, Stella McCartney, ChloÃ© â€“ mix denim with the other big trends of the season For a few seasons now, many fashion editors have been seen more in Junya Watanbe patchwork jeans than the once universal Cocktail dresses.

All these developments lend credence to the idea of denim quickly capturing space as a Â FASHION CLOTHING. And this prompts us to choseÂ DENIM IN-FASHION as the theme for our next show on March 2nd and 3rd, 2016. Look out for the fashion denims at our next show !

For starters ,check out the show video hereÂ for the last show and a Â report on the show here.

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November 27, 2015
Orta Blufrequency SS`17 Story
Orta, the Turkish denim mill, brings out an innovative denim collection â€“ ORTA BLUFREQUENCY – for the SSâ€™17 season. The collection comprises some high tech fabrics aimed to appeal to the technology driven generation. The company aims the collection to be a sustainable, technology driven product and targets it for smart city residents of tomorrow.

In Ortaâ€™s own words

â€œORTAâ€™s immersive technology, ORTABLUFREQUENCY aims to sense our skinâ€™s frequency and responds in harmony. It is embedded in the denim fibers that support our body. These fibers â€œfeelâ€ what is happening around us, detecting any movement in our physiology. In other words, movement is translated by ORTAâ€™s adaptÄ°ve stretch patterns, enacted by human body. Our bodyâ€™s frequency describes the field of energy and information that surrounds and interpenetrates the surface of our skin. ORTABLUFREQUENCY ultimately adapts to our movement and allows the smart fibers to resonate with our skinâ€™s frequency. Frequency changes everything. ORTABLUFREQUENCY responds to our behaviour. It impacts the way we feel and the way we move every day. With it, we feel taller, slimmer and more alive. ORTABLUFREQUENCY resonates with the collective and senses the frequency. It is the ultimate feeling of the sound of blue. ORTABLUFREQUENCY denim is a catalyst, an energetic exchange that responds to our movement and surroundings.â€

SYMBIOSIS

A unique concept designed by ORTA with EmanaÂ® technology, Symbiosis is built with yarn made of polyamide with bioactive crystals, absorbing heat and transforming it into long infrared rays. The rays interact with the body, stimulating the skin. The effect,as per ORTA, helps in feeling taller, slimmer and more alive.Bio-Kinetic Denim absorbs body heat and returns it in the form of far infrared rays to improve the appearance of the skin.ORTA claims that Bio-Kinetic Denim delivers a constant bioactivity, taking care of the body even when youâ€™re not! Bio-Kinetic Denim is constructed with EmanaÂ® Black, the dark and stylish edition of EmanaÂ®, a polyamide 6.6-based smart yarn with incorporated bioactive minerals. By absorbing body heat, these minerals emanates far infrared rays back to the skin improving its firmness and reducing its imperfections.

Bio-Kinetic Denim allows for improving blood microcirculation in the skin as per the company and helps in ;
- increasing elasticity, tonicity and softness of the skin;
- reducing cutaneous imperfections and orange peel skin;
In order to achieve the aesthetic results, it is recommended to wear Bio-Kinetic Denim with EmanaÂ® Black for at least 30 consecutive days, 6 hours daily.

AMPLIFY

Amplify features a multi-directional â€œCognitive Stretchâ€ built with ORTAâ€™s new smart fibers. The perfect denim to push past limitations with high authenticity and recovery coupled with a zero-gravity feeling. The fabrics are designed to be high stretch and high recovery.

OCTAVE

Octave defines denim equilibrium from heat to sleet. and can be broken down into three distinct summer flavors:
Black Iceâ„¢– reflects the power of the sun, utilizing a permanent UV protection factor over 30.
White Lightâ„¢ – acts as an external guard against liquids
Cool Airâ„¢ – keeps the wearer dry on the inside with moisture wicking qualities.

REVERB

Reverb brings together vintage authenticity and looks with modern functionality. Featuring that cloudy salt and pepper aesthetic of a well worn pair without the stiffness of outdated denims, with Cognitive Stretchâ„¢

SYNTHESIS

Synthesis soothes the skin when the heat blankets our bodies, providing temperature control for the summer months. Utilizing a combination of lightweight elasticity and alchemic fabrication, ORTA says that the denim hugs the body with a gentle touch, making fun in the sun last all day long.

VAPOR

A cure-all for the consumer who wants everything and wonâ€™t settle for less. Luxuriously light and comfortable, Vapor offers a kind of freedom to go with the wind, permeating even the most inaccessible reaches of our world with ease.
November 25, 2015

VF Grows In Activewear | Financials 2015

VF Corporation, with well known brands in its stable like The North FaceÂ®, VansÂ®, TimberlandÂ®, WranglerÂ®, LeeÂ® and NauticaÂ® , is a global leader in the design, manufacture, marketing and distribution of branded lifestyle apparel, footwear and accessories. The companyâ€™s highly diversified portfolio of 30 powerful brands spans numerous geographies, product categories, consumer demographics and sales channels. Denim and jeanswear is one of the key segment where VF brands have a powerful presence . A study of VFâ€™s financials gives an idea of the direction company is taking and some idea on how consumers are reacting to various segment offerings.

In this report we have done the detailed analysis as well as comparative analysis for the 3^rd Quarter 2015 and a comparative analysis for the same period last year besides a summary on the 9 months results of this year.

1. Revenue Segmentation for 3rd quarter of 2014 & 2015 (in millions)

Particulars	Amount ($) (2014)	% (2014)	Amount ($) (2015)	% (2015)
Outdoor & Action Sports	2180.88	61.95 %	2296.55	63.57%
Jeanswear	750.45	21.32%	747.87	20.57%
Image wear	292.53	8.31%	291.54	8.07%
Sportswear	163.44	4.64%	161.70	4.48%
Contemporary Brands	99.38	2.82%	83.19	2.3%
Other	33.77	0.96%	31.97	0.88%
Total	3520.45	100%	3612.82	100%

In 3^rd Quarter 2015, VF Corporationâ€™s total revenue was $3612.83 million, out of which Jeanswear was $747.87 million which is a 20.57% share of total revenue. The share of jeanswear has fallen marginally while Outdoor & Action Sports has taken a big jump of about 2% in sales. This is not surprising as Activewear is the current flavor of the consumers and VF, like many other brands, are trying to are struggling to keep their denim sales to the same levels. The increase of about $100 million in VF sales can be mainly attributed to the Outdoor and Action Sports segment .

If we look at the total sales in 9 months for VF , we will find that only Outdoor & Action Sports is the segment which has a positive growth while all other segments are experiencing a sustained fall in turnover. The increase of sales this year of about $260 million can be wholly attributed to OUTDOOR segment. This clearly shows how important this segment is getting to be for VF. And not only VF, it is true for many other brands who have a diversified portfolio.

3. Comparative Sales Analysis for first nine months for 2015 and 2014 (In millions)

Particulars	Sales Amount 2014 ($)	% ( 2014)	Sales Amount 2015 ($)	% ( 2015 )
Outdoor & Action Sports	5034.67	57.85%	5299.78	59.12%
Jeanswear	2046.61	23.52%	2055.73	22.93%
Image wear	805.73	9.26%	823.22	9.18%
Sportswear	435.05	5.00%	439.55	4.90%
Contemporary Brands	293.74	3.38%	257.61	2.87%
Other	87.50	1.01%	88.10	0.98%
Total	8703.30	100%	8963.99	100%

For the first nine month of 2014, the sales figure was $8703.30 million while for the same period in 2015, the sales increased by about 3% amounting $8963.99 million. The major part of this increase is contributed by Outdoor and Action Sports and a small contribution by Contemporary Brands. Jeanswear is on a shrinking mode as it reduces marginally trying to keep the share of 2014.

4. Share of different segment in the total profit in 3^rd Quarter in 2015 & 2014

Particulars	Amount ($) (2014)	% (2014)	Amount ($) (2015)	% (2015)
Outdoor & Action Sports	475.44	67.50%	487.93	68.48%
Jeanswear	157.00	22.29%	157.00	22.26%
Image wear	42.86	6.08%	41.83	5.87%
Sportswear	22.98	3.26%	23.19	3.26%
Contemporary Brands	4.87	0.69%	0.59	0.08%
Other	1.19	0.17%	0.35	0.05%
Total	704.34	100%	712.50	100%

The story is not much different when we consider the contribution of different segments to the profit margin. Though the absolute contribution of the Outdoor segment was expected to be the highest, the % share also increased in this case while all other segments reported reduced profits . Jeanswearâ€™s contribution to the profitability was almost same though a bit reduced.

On the whole, VF is increasingly becoming a corporation getting its maximum turnover and profits from Activewear segment and looks increasingly focused in this area as more and more energies of the organization get diverted to this high return segment.

November 24, 2015

J Brand Spring Summer 2016 Lookbook

The main message that one gets from J Brand SS16 lookbook is that LINEN IS IN . â€œLinen is a huge message for us,â€ said Bruno â€“Head of Design- at J Brandâ€™s spring presentation. â€œItâ€™s not a very stable yarn but the technology has changed so you can use it to do denim.â€
J Brand seeks to tackle the hot summer with cool indigo dyed and plain white linens in chambrays and very light weights. Skinny jeans, baby flares, some sexy briefs , bandeaux tops , indigo gowns etc are all part of the seasonâ€™s collection.

November 23, 2015
Levi`s And Pendleton

Leviâ€™s and Pendleton â€“ two iconic brands come up for another colloboration toÂ create a new collection of winter staplesÂ for a second time. Premium Leviâ€™sÂ® denim and PendletonÂ® Wool use an exclusive print inspired byÂ Native American designs and some deep indigos. The collection is entirely made in USA and pays tribute to workwear history of both companies. The collection includes aÂ Levi’s trucker jacket and traditional work shirt lined with Pendleton’s classic Native American fabrics, done in a rich indigo palette, as well as a signature Pendleton blanket, lined in Levi’s denim.

LEVISÂ® X PENDLETONÂ® TRUCKER JACKET :

This classic trucker is lined with PendletonÂ® wool in a black, navy and gray design through the torso.

MATERIALS & FEATURES :

100% Cotton
Heavyweight Denim
Torso lined with PendletonÂ® wool

LEVISÂ® X PENDLETONÂ® WOOL WORKSHIRT :

This standard work shirt features an indigo wool fabrication with a patterned lining across the shoulders.This collaboration uses a special year-round weave, with yokes lined in the collaborationâ€™s unique patterned wool. The work shirts feature a blanket-lined upper panel and are crafted from a wool-denim blend unique to this collaboration.

MATERIALS & FEATURES :

100% Wool
Midweight Plain Weave Wool
Soft drape that will get better with age
Chest pocket
Patterned wool lining through shoulders

LEVISÂ® X PENDLETONÂ® WOOL BLANKET :

Exclusive collaboration print inspired by Native American designs, but scaled up to create a unique take on a classic PendletonÂ® style. This blanket is made from 22oz. wool in a standard queen size (60×80 in.). The limited-edition blankets feature a rugged denim backing and an exclusive Pendleton pattern.

MATERIALS & FEATURES :

100% Wool
22oz. Wool
Print inspired by Native American designs but scaled up to create a unique take on a classic PendletonÂ® style

November 16, 2015
Siwy Denim spring Summer 2016 Lookbook

In this age of body being the booty,Â Siwy jeansÂ brings out cheeky spring offerings with some very sexy shorts and some super stretch body hugging jeans in ligher indigos for Spring 2016. Founded in New York in 2005 and currently based in Los Angeles, Siwy’s focus has always been top quality, perfectly finished jeans and shorts that look sexy onÂ womenwithout sacrificing comfort and a soft feel and often worn by celebrities like Kate Moss, Selma Blair, Megan Fox, Nicole Richie and Sienna Miller and others.
The images from SS16 lookbook speak for themselves !

November 15, 2015
Sakiori Denim From NakedandFamous
Sakiori is a type of fabric construction in which regular yarns for the warp and thinly cut strips of fabrics are used for the weft. Sakiori became popular during the Japanese Edo period, when laws that forbid luxury were issued.Â Under these laws, common people were not allowed to use or make new fabrics.Â The people began recycling old fabrics and turning them into something new.Â The home manufacture and use of sakiori clothing and hearth covers in rural areas of Japan disappeared anywhere from 50-100 years ago, although a few individuals and some historical preservation societies still weave this cloth today.

NakedandFamous â€“the brand from Canada, tries to bring a SakioriÂ denim back with some alterations. The Canadian brand is always at the forefront of bringing some different denim products to the customers. The fabricÂ is made using a specially developed yarn that gives the appearance of Sakiori when woven into fabric.Â The yarn is created byÂ twisted colored yarns along with white big slub yarns, resulting in a random horizontal stripe yarn.Â 3 different shades of blue were used to create the twisted yarns.Â When weaving, the yarns are used in rotation to produce the look of Sakiori fabric.

Sakiori Denim compared to 150 year old Edo period sakiori cloth. Exterior (Top) Interior (Bottom)

Special yarns developed to create Sakiori denim.

The Sakiori Denim is available now exclusively at Barneys New York .Naked & Famous Denim’s Sakiori jeans are crafted of dark blue cotton-blend Japanese raw denim with some details below :
- Five-pocket style, belt loops, slightly tapered legs, logo-stamped blue leather patch at back waistband, logo-embossed silvertone rivets and button
- 96% cotton, 4% polyethylene
- Made in Canada
November 12, 2015

US Women Jeans Imports Rises 2.2 percent While Men`s Jeans Imports Fall 2 Percent | 2015

The US imports of denim apparel including jeansÂ show an overall fall of 0.3% in the period Jan-Sept,2015 compared to the same period like last year. This shows the total demand for denim jeans and apparel is almost same with a marginal fall. However, the total demand of denim apparel in US still lags behind that of 2013 figures by a good margin. Against a total imports of denim apparel of about 522 million pieces in 2013, the country is struggling to even reach a figure of 500 million pieces in imports . In 2014, the imports stuck at 479 million pcs and are likely to be similar quantity this year- may be with a slight fall as we see the figures of 2015 till September.

US Imports of Denim Apparel (in million pcs)

2013	2014	2014 (Jan-Sept)	2015(Jan-Sept)
522	479	354	353

The US market is more or less a saturated market and theÂ fashion , styles , market shares of brands, prices etc are the main parameters witnessing changes. The quantities and average consumption have reached a ceiling which was defined in 2005.

However looking a bit deeper we find some interesting dynamics. The womenâ€™s jeans seem not to be losing their sheen as the imports and hence sales are witnessing a growth for this segment. The imports of womenâ€™s jeans increased by about 2.2% in the year 2015 and at the same time, the menâ€™s jeans imports fell by about 2% creating a net balance on import figures.

Letâ€™s look at the figures of womenâ€™s and menâ€™s jeans and denim apparelÂ imports and their respective prices below. We will also see interesting info. on changing dynamics of supplier countries for these two segments.

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Womenâ€™s Denim Apparel Imports (2013-2015)

	2013	2014	2014 (Jan-Sept)	2015 (Jan- Sept)
Quantities in million pcs	245	217	160	164
Av. Import Price (USD/pc)	8.02	7.90	7.96	7.87

From the above table, we can see that the imports of denim apparel for women has shown an increase of about 2 % in the current year till Sept 2015. The average price remains more or less same in the last 4 years â€“ hovering around $8.00 . Extrapolating the figures of current imports, it is likely that the figures of denim imports for women will cross 225 million pcs in the current year.

Menâ€™s Denim Apparel Imports (2013-2015)

	2013	2014	2014 (Jan-Sept)	2015 (Jan- Sept)
Quantities in million pcs	269	256	188	185
Av. Import Price (USD/pc)	8.16	8.14	8.12	8.07

When we look at the menâ€™s denim apparel, we find that the figures of imports reflect a fall in imports this year of upto 2%. From a high of 269 million pieces imports in 2013, 2014Â closed at about 256 million pcs and 2015 seems likely to close lesser than 250 million pcs. This reflects that menâ€™s jeans market is still not out of the tough time that has been going on for the market in the last few years . The price for menâ€™s jeans is a tad higher than womenâ€™s but is more or less the same.

Letâ€™s now look at how the two segments of denim market are being catered by supplier countries from around the world. First we look at womenâ€™s jeans and its supplier countries.

Women Denim Apparel Supplier Countries 2015 (Jan-Sept)

Country	2013	2014	2014 (Jan-Sept)	2015 (Jan-Sept)
China	118.80	104.21	74.5	77.1
Bangladesh	26.14	24.06	18.5	18.6
Pakistan	11.45	11.88	8.5	8.5
Vietnam	12.43	11.26	8.9	9.2
Mexico	11.45	10.88	7.9	6.1
Cambodia	10.43	9.95	7.5	8.1
Egypt	9.25	7.57	5.9	5.2
Nicaragua	10.08	6.56	5.3	2.5
Sri Lanka	5.02	6.25	4.5	4.5
Jordan	6.19	6.23	4.8	4.9
Indonesia	6.77	5.06	3.9	7.0
Lesotho	2.69	2.87	2.0	2.7
Kenya	2.90	2.66	2.2	1.9
India	2.72	1.98	1.4	2.0
Philippines	1.33	1.28	1.1	0.7

Note: All figures in million pcs.

From the above table we can see that China continues to dominate the women jeans market in US . Though its share has fallen over the years, it is still the largest supplier of womenâ€™s jeans to US. Bangladesh comes second after China followed by Pakistan and Vietnam. While Bangladesh and Pakistan have been growing their exports, Vietnam is a surprising challenger and it is expected to grow much faster once the TPP deal is implemented. Also, surprisingly, Mexico stands nowhere where the womenâ€™s jeans are concerned as the country could not gear itself up to cater to fashion products. Another country which has shown sudden spurt in exports is Indonesia. It has almost doubled its exports of womenâ€™s jeans to US.

Menâ€™s Denim Apparel Supplier Countries 2015 (Jan-Sept)

Country	2013	2014	2014 Jan – Sept	2015 (Jan-Sept.)
Mexico	109.1	105.2	77.1	75.8
Bangladesh	46.1	43.5	32.5	30.8
China	36.9	30.9	22.2	22.4
Nicaragua	13.6	12.0	8.7	9.5
Egypt	11.2	11.1	8.3	8.3
Lesotho	12.1	10.9	8.3	8.0
Pakistan	9.1	9.2	6.6	7.4
Vietnam	6.5	7.7	5.5	4.1
Cambodia	4.9	5.3	4.0	3.5
Indonesia	3.6	3.9	3.2	2.7
Colombia	3.0	2.4	1.9	1.8
Haiti	1.9	2.1	1.6	1.4
Mauritius	0.6	2.1	1.5	1.2
India	1.8	1.8	1.2	1.6
Guatemala	2.5	1.8	1.5	0.9
All Other:	6.3	6.1	4.5	6.0

Note:All figures in million pcs.

Mexico comes back in picture when we consider the menâ€™s jeans and apparel as it is the number one supplier to US . However, Bangladesh manages to displace China as the number 2 supplier as it has done in EU also. Bangladesh has shown great figures in the last 2 years and have surprised analysts and industry people. The country that has shown growth in exports despite falling imports of mens jeans is Pakistan â€“ which on the strength of its growing industry has been able to increase its exports despite fall in category imports. India, on a small base , has also shown improved exports.

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November 10, 2015

Bhaskar at Fashionim | 4th Denimsandjeans.com Bangladesh Show
Bhaskar Denim (India) was one of the sponsors at our FASHIIONIM event at our Denimsandjeans show at Dhaka. They displayed some of their latest products on the ramp including dobby weaves, fine count fabrics,greys and blacks, prints and jersey fabrics this is what they have to say about their participation and collection.
â€œ We as Bhaskar Denims were there in Denimsandjeans Show in Bangladesh to highlight once again that we are the â€œNeoMasterâ€ of Denim. We are targeting to play a key role in this playground. Future conjectures lead us to these 4 main concepts for this season driven by the new-trend living styles , consumer needs & expectations. These concepts are; Innovate , Invigorate , Illuminate and Initiate.
1. Innovate is the new innovative fabrications by intermingling technology with more traditional forms of artistry. The concept where craft & innovation intersect and fuses the distant past with the far future to create a world where fantasy becomes reality. One of a kind products and slow processes built with character and authenticity.
2. Invigorate is a new developing group for those who are free minded. It has become necessary to cater to the global and social reality of an independent minded populous. They can go anywhere & in any direction. Single living style, single journeys and unfollowable. Brave and responsible. Good for active life, comfy and energetic. fresh, adventurer, functional and technological.
3. Illuminate is a passionate story about the salvation of all things that makes us human. Something about earth, something about humanity and also about sustainability. It’s respect to all… Exploring the power of simplicity.Trying to heal the World and its all living creatures. Emotion , instinct and intuition & better World for next generations. Otherwise mechanized & computerized society is coming to an empty World.
4. Initiate is a concept of luxury just for ourselves. Life is too short and we are very precious so we are deserving. We need to reward ourselves. Something different than ordinary. Enjoy your limited time with high quality for unforgettable memories. For better understanding of all concepts ,you have to touch and feel the difference of high quality fabrics from Bhaskar Denim.â€
November 5, 2015