Congratulations Dilek on joining as Global Marketing Manager at Sharabati. I understand you already had a long relationship with them. Pl share more with us how you decided to make this move.

Thank you very much Sandeep.

I worked in top denim mills in Turkey for 25 years as a sales and marketing executive. After having my daughter at a later age, I decided to work as a consultant since I wanted to spend more time with my daughter. It was the best decision that I have ever made thus far and I was very lucky to work with companies who needed my help. I started to work with Sharabati Denim 3 years ago; this was at a time when they completed most of the hard work in their production and sales. They just needed to present it to the market. Although my title was consultant, I worked with them as one of their employees. We were always open with each other and I felt very comfortable working with them. They trusted me and we built up a marketing system together. Now, we completed most of the ground work in marketing and we are ready to move onto the next step. It needs a bigger organization and somebody who would commit full time to achieve this goal. At this stage, they offered me the position to join the company as Global Marketing Manager. I have always felt very happy to work with them and I, gladly, accepted their offer.

Sharabati is quite a large company and I understand they are growing very fast. Tell us more about it.

Sharabati Denim is an integrated denim and gabardine manufacturer. It has production facility in Egypt and Turkey. Production capacity exceeds 100 million meters per annum. It has sales offices in Germany, Italy, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt and Turkey (soon in the USA). It is a family business and they are in that business for over 40 years.

What would be your key focus areas in the company. As I know, you are a very goal oriented person. Any targets you have set for yourself ?

During my consultation period, sometimes I worked with 3 denim manufacturers simultaneously. They never complained about it as all of them had their own DNA and they trusted me to assign each of them a different identity. I am a management and industrial engineer but I worked in sales and marketing for years. Being an engineer helped me to understand the product and production process very well. I used it to have a better knowledge of the company and implement a successful marketing plan. I, sincerely, believe that I know Sharabati Denim very well. In my previous position, I was helping them to create the collections and present them as we intended. Now, we’ll do it in a more advanced way by getting support of the marketing auditing and marketing research. I want to implement the best marketing system in Sharabati Denim which will improve by itself.

How strongly Sharabati is currently tuned on to sustainability and circularity .

When I started to work with Sharabati Denim, I was surprised to learn that they have had a Recycled yarn factory for 20 years. They built this factory not because sustainability is a trend, but because they valued the waste and they wanted to make good use of it again. Investing in technology is very important for Sharabati Denim. They always search for new methods, processes, machines to reduce the water, energy, gas, chemical consumption in the production.

To this end:

• They use organic cotton, recycled yarns, which are produced in their own factory, and natural fibers.
• They have water saving indigo dyeing and finishing processes
• They implemented iSaver technology to reduce yarn waste in weaving
• They have caustic recovery plant and
• They are now making a very big investment to recycle the waste water.

These are just a few examples of their efforts for sustainability.

It must be quite a change moving from consultancy to the current position. What do you think would be the biggest challenge for you?

Actually, there will not be any big changes in my workload as I was already working as a marketing manager capacity despite being only a consultant.

Now, I have committed not to take any other clients. It sounds like a marriage and this was one of the biggest challenges for me:) As Sharabati Denim is an international company, I will continue to work from my home office. The headquarters and half of my team are in Egypt, the sales and marketing director is in Italy and I am in contact with sales offices all around the world. It means I am always in zoom meetings

Sandeep

Hi Dilek, How are you?

Dilek

Hi Sandeep, I am good, thank you. I hope you’re also doing fine and safe.
Sandeep

How’s the situation in turkey?

Dilek

The situation in Turkey is not that so good, we’ve had the first case of COVID19 in the month of March and now every day it is increasing and increasing by every day. Over 16,000 people have been infected so far and more than 300 people lost their lives. People here are saying that it’s just the beginning, the worst is yet to come. So we are very afraid and not going outside. Most of the places are closed here and the government has advised not to go outside.

Sandeep
What about the stores and Retailers’ offices? Are they operational?

Dilek
Most of them are closed now, only a few pharmacies stores are opened in the malls. Most of the garment stores and offices are closed, even if some are working, they are working for a very limited time.

Sandeep
What are things which are going to be changed post-pandemic, the shopping pattern per se or consumer priorities?

Dilek

I believe the change has already started. Digital solutions were already in our lives but we were not using these or If I may say we were not serious about these options. But now we’ve realized its importance. Something will change eventually, maybe not very quickly but over a period of time. This is a very good chance for us to reorganize our work, reorganize our time, reorganize the way we’ve been doing our business. So I think in one day, nothing will be changed but it will be changed very soon over a period of time.

Sandeep
How’s the situation going into the Turkish Mills? We’ve been hearing a lot of news of cancelation from most of the mills around the world, is this so in Turkey as well

Dilek
Of course! It is the same in Turkey as well. If No one is buying what is the meaning of producing? So yes, there is a lot of cancellation from brands and retailers. And most of the responsible companies have already stopped their production because if 500 workers will be working in a factory, they can infect each other or they can take the virus to their families. For example, Sharabati Denim decided to close the factory two weeks ago and most of the other factories including Bossa have already closed down. So every responsible company should stop the production even though there is a demand, priority must be the health of the workers, your communities because when all this pandemic will be over, you may not find right workers for your company as they might have certain reservations or perception about your company.

Sandeep
I’ve heard that buyers have agreed to pay for the current orders, what about Turkey? Have Turkish Mills and Exporters also received such assurance? Also what about the garment workers?
Dilek
So far as the brands are concerned, I do not have much information about it. The big companies in Turkey have not announced layoffs yet, they would like to protect their workers as they do not want to lose the trained workers. Also after every health crisis, an economic crisis also comes along followed by a political crisis. Considering the current situation, I do not think the current government would be able to hold its position in the upcoming years.
Sandeep
From the designers’ point of view, how are they changing or adapting themselves? What are they thinking about the situation and how are they coping with?
Dilek
I think about 3 years ago in your 1st India show I made a presentation and I talked about how the social changes will affect fashion and I tried to explain (I’m still trying to though) that the big social changes not come in one day, it comes after a long time, maybe after a decade or two.
These days, we’ve been living three major social changes. One of them is Women Empowerments or Gender Equality, Unisex fashion let say and it changed fashion. The second thing is Sustainability which is being talked about quite a few times and the third thing is Technology. Whenever we talk about technology, we think about computers or laptops or the internet. We’re not using technology in fashion yet, only a few companies and that too in very limited ways. This is going to change.
We need to develop smart habits and smart fashion. Whoever develops smart fashion and connects it with the right technology and finishing will last for a long time. Smart fabrics, which were developed by Levis in a partnership with Google, and these kinds of innovations will be required in the coming years. So this is the future and creates more and more demand.

Sandeep
Do you think Globalisation will take a back seat after this pandemic? We hear that the brands and retailers may not prefer to produce 5 thousand miles from their country and will preferably go for regional sourcing or near-sourcing, what do you feel ?

Dilek
I think so, also there will be a paradigm change in the presentation of the products and also in the ways exhibitions have been happening right now. The concept of online sourcing has already been introduced and much more will come into the picture very soon. We are now doing video shoots of our products and involving more and more digital solutions. We always talk about sustainability, but nobody is stopping their travels which also adds to our contribution to the carbon footprint. I believe that people will now understand this and think seriously about it.
One more thing in global context that I believe is going to happen in the coming decades is the centrality of the power and we could see a Minister of Health or Minister of Textile for the world, not for a state.

Sandeep
Are we going to be seasonless?

Dilek
It depends on the development of fabric. For example Coolmax, you can feel cool in summer but in winter it doesn’t have any impact. Therefore I again assert that it again depends on the smart fabric. And technology will help the industry to go seasonless.

Sandeep
What are your thoughts on the Homewear category? Are we going to see a spike in its sale as most of us are spending a lot of time at home these days?

Dilek

I think it maybe it will increase but I believe people are already buying a lot of homewear products as people always want to look good.

Sandeep
Are we looking at the end of fast fashion?

Dilek
We always say less is more and good, but we do not practice as all the brands push people to buy more and more by offering discounts, so we need to be a little more honest. We talk about sustainability but if we sell like this, I do not think this is a sustainable practice. We should focus more on quality and long-lasting products but I don’t think this is happening very soon, it will take time.

Sandeep
What are the positive takeaways for you from this pandemic?

Dilek

I am a very positive person. I feel due to this people start to value their relationships with their families. Also, the use of digital tools will be increased. This is a kind of reset button that was needed for the environment also. There is always a pool of opportunities due to new problems, and people will realize the importance of people around them and the community they are surrounded by.

Sandeep
Thanks, Dilek, it was a pleasure talking to you. See you soon.

Dilek

Same here. Hope to see you soon.

Video link of talk with her .

“They have been worn by soldiers and protesters, headbangers and superstars, vagrants and Presidents. They have been worn on campus and in prison, on horses and Harleys, to the opera and the mosh pit. They are versatile and stylish.
-James Sullivan, Journalist says about Jeans

“Pop culture- a set of beliefs and objects that are dominant in a society at a given point in time.”

In the recently held 3rd Edition of Denimsandjeans Show at Vietnam, the reputed denim consultant Dr Dilek Erik from Turkey made a special presentation about how Pop Culture affected the growth of denim industry globally. In the very interesting and educative presentation she talks how over the various decades the usage of denim has evolved . We reproduce her entire PPT presentation here for originality and can be downloaded here . The direct FB telecast of her presentation can seen here

1900’S We need production

Denim & Durability
➤ The choice of miners, railroad workers, farmers, ranchers and many other blue collared workers
➤ Denim was chosen by working class, because; it was durable, not easy to tear, Navy color concealpotential dirt or grease; helping them to appear cleaner

Blue collar name comes from the image of manual workers, wearing “blue denim” or “chambray shirts” as part of their uniforms.

➤ Until the mid 1900, denim continued to be popular among the working class
➤ Jeans hardly captured the attention of the world – they took nearly a century to go from pants to center fashion statement of counter culture

Denim & Western
➤ In 1930s big-screen cowboys shot some charisma into waist overalls in Western
➤ Denim saw its first truly national audience

John Wayne,The Desert Trail, 1935

➤ Easterners would return home with denim souvenirs, then only sold out West – even if they went unworn
➤ No man of class would be caught dead wearing denim outside the house

➤ During World War II
European soldiers fell in love with denim they saw on their American counterparts

Denim & Rebellion
➤ Denim became true fashion icon with the rebellious youth of the 1950’s
➤ They wore denim jeans as a sign of challenge
➤ Anti-denim dress codes in hotels, restaurants, and even stores made jeans anti authoritarian just by default.

➤ Modern teenage concern:
Nervous
Confused
Feeling lost in a world that is changing

➤ In the mid-Fifties, rock&roll was not only a musical revolution but a social and generational uprising and unpredictable scope
➤ The white and black underclass of music fans and performers was finding more and more common ground with roc&roll
➤ Teenagers were developing their own codes of in-group complicity, expressed in clothes andincreasingly in their own language.
➤ Rock’n Roll turned out to have been the cultural vanguard of movement toward racial, social and sexual equity.

➤ The lyrics of rock and roll songs tried to break boundaries and express emotions that people were actually feeling but had not talked about.
➤ Rock’n Roll gave teenagers a sense of belonging, even when they were alone..

Denim & Human Rights
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world…
You may say I’m dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
An the world will live as one
John Lennon

➤ In 1960s, a new generation felt in love with denim
➤ Kids in the free-loving 60’s embraced denim as a pallet for individuality
➤ Styles loosened up and embroidery, paint, patch work or any kind of hand-made psychedelic design cemented denim’s new legacy as the contemporary garment of rebellion
➤ As the first denim stores opened in Europe during the 60’s, American blue jeans were slowly being illegal into Communist bloc countries, inspiring a different kind of antiauthoritarian Rolling Stones sentiment

➤ Sixties songwriting moves beyond pop love songs and begins to include social consciousness and political statements.
➤ Growing of hippie culture
➤ In late sixties outdoor rock music festivals begin.
➤ In the summer of 1969, the Woodstock Music and Art Fair draws 500.000 people to a three day concert in New York

➤ In the Woodstock festival, thousands of denim wearing hippies attended and clothing companies launched special editions for the festival

➤ By the end of the 1960’s, there were rock stars and there were celebrities. It was during this time that Mick Jagger invented the concept of the rock star/ celebrity hybrid.
➤ Jagger made rock cool, sexy and dangerous.

➤ The popular culture of the 1980s reflected the period of political conservatism.
➤ The symbol of the decade was the “yuppie”: a baby boomer with college education, a wellpaying job and expensive taste.
➤ They were, more concerned with making money and buying consumer goods than their parents and grandparents had been.

➤ American television owners got cable service- and the most revolutionary cable network of all was MTV
➤ The music videos made megastars
➤ MTV also influenced fashion: People across the country (and around the world) did their best to copy the hairstyles and fashions they saw in music videos. Michael

➤ MTV also became a forum for those who went against the line or were left out of the yuppie ideal.
➤ Rap artists and heavy metal acts also captured the sense of discomfort among young people
➤ Even as Reagan maintained his popularity, popular culture continued to be an arena for dissatisfaction throughout the 1980s

➤ Generation Y, “The Next Great Generation”, Millennials are “digital natives”, having never known a world without personal technology
➤ Educated, involved and CONNECTED.
➤ Culture is impact technology and technology is impacting culture.
➤ These young adults share similar life experiences, musical tastes, food, and entertainment, and can even talk about favorite sports teams, movie stars and multinational brands

➤ Rise of the Fast Fashion: Affordable clothing on the latest high fashion designs.
➤ With its low cost appeal driven by trends straight off the runway, fast fashion was a significant factor in the fashion industry’s growth.
➤ This trend allowed shoppers to own designers items at lower prices, also allowing the acceptance and production of copycat styles.

➤ Since 2004, H&M have been inviting top fashion designers to collaborate with them on their seasonal clothing line
➤ We can see from these collaborations that the product design is only helped by the input of someone who knows where fashion trends are headed, by using invaluable resources, materials and customer base held by the H&M brand.

➤ Digital Music: The millennial generation listens to 75,1% more music on a daily basis than baby boomers.
➤ They turn their ears and attention to streaming, with many of those polled opting for on-demand options.
➤ Millennials have short attention spans and move on to the next new thing. If a song is a month old, it’s ancient, they don’t want to hear it anymore, they want something new and they want it
now

➤ Beyonce, released her “secret album” at the end of 2013 and did zero promotion, not even teasers (14 songs, 17 videos, just on iTunes)
➤ She completely used the strength of social media and word of mouth
➤ Taylor Swift just had to tweet that her new video is out and it’s the most watched thing that day on YouTube

From pop princess to footballer’s wife to one of the world’s
most well-known fashion designers – Victoria Beckham

The daughter of a Beatle but better known as an accomplished designer- Stella McCartney

Kate Moss for Topshop

She designed her first collection For Topshop and last 14 collections The designs were so closely based on Moss’s personel style and her most iconic fashion moments
Gigi x Tommy
Gigi Hadid co-designed 2
collection for Tommy Hilfiger. Both collections saw doublefigure sale rises for the brand, with some of the pieces being sold out before they even hit the “see now, buy now” catwalk

Fenty by Puma
Rihanna designed ready-to-wear collection for Puma. The profits have jumped 92%

Dr Dilek Erik can be contacted at derik@dilekerik.com

We bring out below excerpts from her presentation at the FIRST EDITION of India show on September 25&26 where she first talks about some of the most prevalent styles and then she comes to the main point regarding the STRETCH vs RIGID story. Also check out her complete presentation video at the end of this article.

Style #1 | Morrison

Characteristics of this Style

Garment

• Skinny pants
• Loose tops
• 2-3 color/fabric combinations
• Colorful

Fabric

• Super stretch, comfort stretch
• Medium ounces
• No aggressive slubs

Washing

• Very different and extreme washes as well as raw look
• 2-3 different colors on the same trouser
• Patches, embroideries, paints

There were complains that the trends which have been forecasted , do not come actually on the streets . But Dr. Dilek found this untrue and showcased as to how different retailers have used such trends in their designs and sold to common people . Followings are some examples which can also be checked from their websites .

Style #2 | 70’s Vintage Look

Characteristics of this Style

Garment

• Straight pants, high rise
• Denim jackets
• Old 501 looks

Fabric

• Comfort stretch with rigid look
• Medium and heavy ounces
• No aggressive slubs

Washing

• Stone washes w/o chemicals
• Light or no whiskers, scrubs
• Natural look, salt & pepper effect

Style #3 | Anything But Boring

Characteristics of this Style

Garment

• Easy, relaxed fit and a look that appears individual and unique
• Experimental Styles, new forms
• Pants, jackets, kimonos, overalls, shorts, trench coats, shirts- any kind of garments

Fabric

• Comfort stretch with rigid look
• Medium, light and heavy ounces
• No aggressive slubs
• Mixed fabrics

Washing

• Raw, stone wash, bleach
• No whiskers
• Patches, embroideries, hand stitches

RIGID vs STRETCH

Rigid is coming back into the fashion but that doesn’t mean that stretch has been fading away , No ! , its not . But Yes ! rigid with little stretch is making its comeback into the International Fashion. Earlier ,there was an assumption which persisted for ages also that men’s jeans have to be ‘manly’ – rugged, tough, weathered and worn , however as fashion evolved , choice for men’s jeans shifted from rigid towards stretch . Once the stretch came strongly on to the denim fashion scene , it was everywhere and after a point of time , it was hard to find men’s jeans without stretch. This continued for many years and stretch became the new normal. However, this also started the reverse process ie of finding something that feels comfortable but does not look like stretch.

Jonathan Cheung, SVP of Levi’s® Global Design said once ,

“If you pick up a pair, you won’t see that they are stretch, you just see a pair of 501®’s. That’s important. We wanted to make the technology invisible. But the minute you try them on, you’ll feel the difference. It’s subtle, but you’ll feel it,”

So the question is still there , What are those important factors which matter to consumers while purchasing Men’s Jeans ? Cotton Incorporated Lifestyle Monitor conducted an interesting survey in 2015 and according to that , The first and the foremost factor is – FIT and thereafter COMFORT , the two basifundamental factors which are the most important affecting the purchase decision for Men’s Jeans . Inspite of its universal presence , STRETCH is way down the list.Men are , perhaps, subconsciously amalgamating stretch component into FIT & COMFORT.

How can you create a rigid look with a stretch denim?

Basic Requirements

Elastane 1-2 ( %) and Elasticity 18-22 (%)

In order to achieve these ratios:

Yarn:

• Thick tread in warp and weft
• Thicker warp èevident weave
• More cotton, less elastane heavier fabric
• Component warp (with T400, PBT or polyester)- it is important for the recovery

Weave:

• 3×1 or BT
• Open construction (it is important to show the weave)

Finish:

• Regular- natural denim look (w/o mercerization)- be careful about elasticity
• Special finishes- Mercerized or coated- Fixation is very important

About Dr Dilek Erik

Dr. Dilek is a Management Engineer & Industrial Engineer and has been working in textile business for 28 years. After handling important portfolios at some of the top denim companies including Orta Anadolu, Bossa Denim, Martelli-Isko and Calik Denim, in 2014 she started giving marketing consultancy to many denim companies . Currently she is working as a partner of Atkı Çözgü- marketing and production company.

Key Rules To Sell Product

Before selling a product in a market , a Manufacturer / Seller needs to know the following key components with an absolute sense of understanding to get apt results . The consumer behavior needs to be understood accordingly as there is a cut-throat competition everywhere and selling your products in volumes is not an easy task these days . The key components are :

1. Your Product
2. Your Company
3. Your Market

The most important components is MARKET . The Market here stands for DENIM MARKET where you need to define the players and there characteristics very categorically . The players are the denim buyers which are RETAILERS , DENIM BRANDS , AGENICES/OFFICES. Out of all these , RETAIL has following characteristics :

1. They have multiple stores
2. They add new items to their stores in every week
3. They follow trends very closely
4. Garment style is the most important thing
5. Their selling prices are affordable
6. They buy in big quantities
7. They build up a very successful buying and logistic set up all over the world

Below is the list and the turnovers of top 10 European and Americans brand for the year 2k16 :

How Retailers Design Their Collections

Life styles are changing and they have been changing very quickly and therefore its very important to keep a close eyes on the latest trends . How do the retailers get to know about the latest trends ? The answer lies with the Top Designers whose collections have the ingredients of the latest lifestyles and trends. The designers show their collections in Fashion Weeks (London, New York, Milan, Paris, Tokyo) and retailers follow them very closely to get inspiration from these designers. They immediately imitate or get inspired from the styles and create collections based on the same. Below are some examples as to how the retailers have copied the latest trends and put them at their stores .

GUCCI V. ZARA

VETEMENTS V. BERSKA

VERSACE V. H&M

A Guide For Denim Producers To Be A Successful

Most of the garment companies start business as copiers. Retails bring the styles, they copy it. In order to do that producers need to be;

1. Fast
2. Cheap
3. Good Copier
4. Have big production quantities
5. Have high quality and production standards
6. Open to be supervised and controlled

In years, successful producers realize that, in order to get the control of the business and to have better prices they need to create their own collection. To achieve this goal they build up a team to;

1. Follow the trends
2. Work with designers
3. Choose fabric, accessories
4. Design the collection
5. Present it to buyers

By doing that:

• Buyers start to come to producers not because they are cheap and fast but because they give them collection ideas and full package service
• Buyers prefer these companies because they reduce their research / design cost
• Retails need to be fast. When the producer brings the collection they don’t lose time to replace the order.

Most of the producers who do their own collection, create their own brand after several years of experience. Because;

1. They know the market
2. They follow the trends
3. They know how to create a successful collection
4. They already have their design team
5. They buy fabric, accessories etc. in big quantities with good price
6. They have big production capacities

The only thing they need to learn is “branding strategy and marketing”

Some successful denim garment producers in Turkey and their worldwide brands

Characteristics Of DENIM BRANDS

1. They have their own identity
2. They give direction to denim fashion
3. They are innovative, always looking for new and fresh
4. They sell their products in high prices
5. They ask for high quality standards
6. They buy in small quantities

Brands having difficulties in market, because;

1. European economy, demography and high costs effects the brands
2. Retailers have very strong denim collections and selling much less price than brands.
3. While retailers are changing their collection every month, brands can do it only 2-4 times in year
4. Brands spend a lot of money to research and development

What denim brands want from a producer

Every brand has their own brand identity and they have to be unique in their league. Producers have to know what “that brand” wants as the brands don’t like to see everything. They have to believe that you understand their needs and prepare your collection accordingly.They have to believe that you are on the same page with them and You have to show them right fabric, right style with right accessories. They don’t copy your style but if you can show them what they are looking for they prefer you.Producers needs to be ready for research and development. Brands wants to work with producers as a partner and they are much more loyal than the retailers . Perfect quality, good price and confidentiality is must. They have to believe that nobody can see and copy their collection and in order to meet these demands, producers need to make a good market research to understand the brand , follow trends closely, follow the new production techniques, design the most suitable collection for each brand and have perfect quality and certification.

How you can follow the trends with minimum cost?

And Here Are Some Of The Coolest Denim Trends in the Market

You can download her complete presentation here.

About Dr Dilek Erik

Dr. Dilek is a Management Engineer & Industrial Engineer and has been working in textile business for 28 years. After handling important portfolios at some of the top denim companies including Orta Anadolu, Bossa Denim, Martelli-Isko and Calik Denim, in 2014 she started giving marketing consultancy to many denim companies . Currently she is working as a partner of Atkı Çözgü- marketing and production company.