Denimandjeans | Global Trends, News and Reports | Worldwide

Category: denim

  • The Japanese Denim Industry

    The Japanese denim industry is revered the world over for its innovativeness and its capability to set trends in the Denim Industry.
    It would be nice to have a look at some facts and figures relating to the Japanese Denim Industry.
    Denim Exports : 2006 about 56 million sq mtrs.
    2007(till march) about 15 million sq mtrs.
    Jeans :80 million pairs (approx) produced in Japan p.a
    :20 million pairs(approx) imported p.a
    Export markets : China,Hongkong, US, Vietnam and Italy.

    Main Denim producing areas in Japan : The Hiroshima perfecture, The Okayama perfecture and the Mihara Area.

    DENIM MILLS

    KAIHARA DENIM
    Produces about 36 million sq mtrs of denim p.a
    Exports about 60% of production.
    Offer about 600-900 items to buyers every year.(good)
    Investment since 1970 – about USD 500 million.
    More than 300 looms at six mills.
    Strengths : Great cotton mix and Dyeing process..
    Kaihara has no plans to go overseas for production as they are quite comfortable in Japan…This shows their belief in their own capability to be highly innovative ..

    KURABO INDUSTRIES
    Currently focusing very much on Stretch fibres and are looking at
    advanced versions of stretch denim by using XLA stretch yarn,Xfit
    lycra and T400. This is to take advantage of the Skinny Jeans
    fashion that is currently still strong.
    Developments 2006-08 : Emphasizing on the Ocean BLue colors under the Ultra Marine
    Blue Brand name.
    :’Wave’ – A line developed from a specially designed slub yarn .
    :’Air Spinner’ – third line that features very soft denim.

    NISSHINBO INDUSTRIES
    Capacity : About 12 million sq mtrs p.a

    Developments : As per the marketing manager of Nisshinbo – ‘Masanharu Tanaka’
    the NEW TREND would be a return towards NATURAL LOOKS. This
    would mean that innovative looks using Indigo and other yarn
    dyeing material.
    :Liquid Ammonia Treatment: Nisshinbo is also know for the
    development of the liquid ammonia treatment of Denim Fabric. The
    denim fabric is dipped in liquid ammonia (about -40 degrees C)
    which enables it to regain its original shape , thus giving back
    natural softness to the fibre. One of its five ammonia treatment
    plant is used for treating Denims.

    Other developments in the Japanese denim Industry :
    The DUCK TEXTILE CO. has introduced a JERSEY DENIM – a denim made of knit fabric. This fabric looks like woven fabric but has the qualities of the knit fabric.
    Another development doing the rounds in the Japanese Denim Industry is the effort to keep the core of the cotton yarn undyed .. Though this normally happens in the Rope Dyeing method, but the effort is to have much more undyed portion through HAND DYEING which will give very good after washing effects…

  • 1945 Levi’s from Japan?

    It may seem improbable that the most authentic vintage versions of the most famous American Apparel brand – Levi’s – have to be bought in a some ‘Hinoya Plus Mart’ in Japan…
    But it is true as New Times Reports . The vintage Levi’s with the most authentic accessories including Scovill Zippers , can be found in this obscure mart in Tokyo.
    So much so that Levi’s has been forced to sue them . And of course that has not been without a sense of guilt since Levi’s itself has not been able to produce such authentic versions of their own Brand!

    Well, we can all trust Japanese to go to any levels to achieve perfection and beat everyone . The same applies to denims also. It must also be marveled that the Japanese are still able to produce and sell their Denim Fabrics at their prices inspite of the fact that this fabric has been commodotised to a large extent ..Hats off to them..

  • Premium Jeanswear launches in India

    ‘Business Casuals’ approach in many offices in India is pushing the demand for premium jeanswear in India. Many companies are relaxing the norms of wearing Jeanswear into office (even in weekdays) provided they are ‘Clean’ While media houses and BPOs have traditionally been open to casual wear at work, an increasing number of IT and BT companies are now following suit..

    Wrangler’s(India) new ‘Truly Clean Look’ has received a very good response from professionals. Says Janani Subramanian – business head of Wrangler India – ‘This audience is responsible for 40% of our Clean Jeans sale’.
    Other brands are not to be left behind. Flying Machine (from Arvind Brands’ stable) is set to launch a premium line soon in the price range of Rs 1800 to Rs 4000/-. Dockers from GAP is set to launch a premium denim line this month in the price range of Rs 2000/-

    High disposable incomes and the need to feel COOL at workplace is turning into money making oppurtunity for the premium denim manufacturers asper Times of India report
    Also, it creates oppurtunity for the Denim Manufacturers who can come out with fabrics which are suitable for these kind of jeans . A major part of the fabrics used by these brands is and shall be the ‘Mercerised’ denims with Multicount ringspuns and fine slubs as per the current trends. ALso dark denims are important for this Target Audience….

  • Tavex acquires denim manufacturin facilities in Mexico

    The Tavex Group of Spain(Madrid) – the famous denim company of Europe – which already owns manufacturing facilities in the city of Puebla in México, is working to expand its capacity through the acquisition of the denim manufacturing facilities of the company ACOTEX in Puebla and Tlaxcala . This will take the capacity of Tavex in Mexico to about 30 million metres pa.
    "Our objective with this investment is to increase Denim production in the differentiated products segment (Authentic and Premium lines) in North America," comments Herbert Schmid – the CEO of Tavex.
    Well, its a good move by Tavex since they must have bought these facilities at relatively easier prices due to the not so good condition of Denim.

    It also shows that the Europeans are proving to be better at managing the Denim – especially since Denim has turned into a fashion product with lot of differentiation required. American companies had a better hold on denim when it was a basic product and few qualities could be produced in huge quantities.

    However, we will see in the long run that this product will get shifted to Asia almost completely as the costs of productions go up in all European and American nations.

  • US Denim sales of high priced Jeans slows down

    Costing above USD 100/- the high-end Jeans in US, from names like 7 for all Mankind, True Religion, Rock&Republic etc , had been experiencing a high growth rate of sales in US – about 48%.
    However, this year, their growth rate has been reduced to about 24%     – which is quite a drop ..
    The high-priced jeans still have about 5% of the Denim Market, but this share may not increase as dramatically as it was before.

    The Reason ? It seems that denim’s place in teens’ hearts and closets is being taken by dresses, accessories and cute tops.

    Overall sales of Jeans in US dropped 1.2% in March …..

  • UK Jeans sales expected to be @ 3 jeans/second!

    Three pairs of Jeans will be sold in UK this year every second ! . Why?
    Because the demand is increasing in the UK and the total pair of Jeans sold in UK will be around 86 million pairs in 2007 and the total amount spend by Britons on Jeans will be about GBP1.5billion..

    What does it mean? It means that:

    the per capita sales of Jeans in UK will be around 1.4 .
    the average price of Jeans sold in UK will be around GBP 17/-
    there will be an increase of about 40% in volume since 2002..

    Who is benefitting from this increased demand?

    Mainly the Own-label jeans made by the likes of George at Asda, Marks and Spencer and Topshop have seen by far and away the largest increase in sales compared with branded jeans.
    Between 2004 and 2006 , the Own-label Jeans sales grew by 41% and accounted for about 24% of the market.

    Where is the market expected to reach?

    The Jeans market is expected to touch GBP2.1 billion by 2012 as per Miss Ihekweazu of Mintel . She also says “With some jeans costing around the same as a cup of coffee, many more people can afford to have several pairs of jeans.” and hence the increase is further expected.

    But will the prices of Jeans keep on going down?
    The jeans sales are getting polarised between Discounted Jeans and the High Street Jeans with a very significant difference in prices among them. This polarisation is expected to continue . However, how much lower the prices can go further ? I don’t think it can be too much. ALready the Discounted Jeans are selling at prices which leave hardly anthing for the Manufacturer or Retailer. Asda is selling Jeans at GBP2.99.. It will be really difficult to better these prices..

    Anyway, lets stay tuned and watch..

  • Asda(UK) slashes prices of Jeans to GBP2.50

    The existing price of jeans in George department of ASDA – at GBP 3/ – were already quite low and now they have reduced them further to GBP 5 for two pairs ie GBP 2.5/pair.. Its incredible how ASDA can sell jeans at these prices..It has previously faced criticism from the anti-poverty group over the working conditions of workers in Bangladesh. However, it has been able to fend them off..
    If we look at the selling price of these jeans, it is very difficult to see how the costings can work out at these levels.Lets see a hypothetical breakdown
    Freight cost : about 10 pence per jeans.
    Profit (which I think is the minimum Asda must be keeping) – 20% on sales – 50 pence.
    Storage and other costs : about 10 pence. Total 70 pence.These are the barebone expenses I am considering and the actuals will be higher.
    So it would mean that the exporter from Bangladesh would be exporting at about GBP 1.80 which is about USD 2.50.. Normally a jeans uses a minimum of 1.2 meters of fabric and if we take the lowest current prices prevailing in the market in Bangladesh – about USD 1.40/m (for 13.75oz) then the cost of the fabric comes to about USD1.68.. So we have about USD 0.82 left for the Bangladesh garment factory to cover all its costs…

    Anyway, its a good strategy by ASDA to get volume customers. Even if ASDA is not earning much on this product, it may be making up by more profits that come from sales of other products to the same customers.COOL….

  • Evisu (Japan) to open the first store in US

    Evisu – the premium Japanese denim brand , is to open its first store in North America later this summer.
    Evisu is quite popular and has sort of cult status in US and it was logical that they encash this status.
    The store will be given a Japanese touch with films from Japan being filmed and the option to buyers to personalise their jeans by hand painting.
    evisu-ny-store-1.jpg
    ‘Before anyone did anything, Evisu did everything’ – Nice catchline…

    evisu-ny-store-2.jpg

  • Angelina wearing J Brand Jeans

    I really wonder what is so special in the J Brand Jeans…Can know only when I lay my hands on a pair someday…..
    So many celebrities have been wearing these jeans that it has acquired a cult status Angelina Jolie is the latest one among the many who like these jeans…

    angelina-jolie-j-brand-jeans.jpg

    Source:Denimology

  • Colored Jeans – spreading out further

    As I mentioned before, colored jeans is catching up as a trend in the Jeans’ Fashion this year.
    Quite a number of International celebrities,including Ashley Simpson and Rachel Bilson, are seen endorsing this trend by wearing these jeans.. (see below)
    But will this trend be picked up by the masses ? There are very good possiblities as the fatigue factor for the BLUE DENIM may cause a temporary shift to other colors.. Lets wait and see..

    colored-jeans-trend-celebs-3.jpg

    colored-jeans-trend-celebs-1.jpgcolored-jeans-trend-celebs-2.jpg
    Source:Denimology
    Update:8th August 2008
    I agree with Alpesh, ( in comments) that the color denim would use more of reactive dyed colors rather than sulphur dyed.

  • Shoes and more from Japanese denim?

    Adidas has launched trainers ,hats and sportswear made from ‘Japanese Denim’ and the collection is called ‘Materials of the World’ . For Japan, they have used denim from Japan and will use materials from each country specifically for the collection of that country.. The famous ‘Selvedge Denim’ of Japan has been used for this collection (in Japan).
    adidas2.jpg

    Idea behind: To tap the emotional connect with the well known materials(textile) of a country .

    adidas-trainers.jpg

    adidas-1.jpg
    Source:Denimology

  • EFS System installed by three denim mills

    Cone Denim (in Jiaxing,China),Central Textiles(Hong kong) and Lanyan Group(China) have installed the Electronic Fibre Selection System from Cotton Incorporated. This computer software technology driven system aims to optimize the quality and consistency of the cotton fibre – meant to help in producing high quality yarns .
    Also, this helps the American Cotton Exporters as more American Cotton is expected to be used by mills using the EFS system.
    Well its a good move by the Cotton Inc. to increase its Cotton exports.
    Let’s wait and see how profitable wwill it be for the companies who have installed it ..