Arvind’s denim revolution

Arvind’s denim, woven and knit products are known for being innovative and sustainable, which are sourced by some of the most iconic apparel brands around the world. 

Arvind Limited plans to take the business to Rs 10,000 crore over the next four to five years, said Aamir Akhtar, CEO, Denims, Arvind Ltd. “Currently, the company’s textile business is around Rs 6,000 crore”, said Akhtar. He added that the company expects  to continue its CAGR growth of 16 per cent and above in the coming years. Arvind is one of the leading textile to retail and brands conglomerates in India.

Speaking during the Festive 2018 event in Mumbai recently, Akhtar added, “Arvind is taking steps for leveraging innovative technologies to create the best fabrics across performance, fashion, and functionality. We are constantly pushing our limits to redefine denims every season. It is our endeavour to bring customers the best products that are aesthetically elevated, technologically innovative, and most importantly sustainable. We will continue to work towards creating disproportionate value for our customers by providing them with end to end solutions from design to delivery.”

Longstanding relationship with INVISTA
The show was curated in collaboration with INVISTA, which has been a longstanding technology partner to Arvind and have collaborated to jointly undertake pathbreaking R&D in the field of textiles. Transforming daily life through its innovations, INVISTA also showcased the pathbreaking technology of COOLMAX ECO MADE that has been brought to India exclusively in partnership with Arvind. Akhtar was excited with the partnership with INVISTA. He said, “Our relationship with INVISTA  for more than 10 years.”

Commenting on the partnership with Arvind, Arvind Rebecca Li, Commercial Director, Rest of Asia Pacfic Apparel & Advanced Textiles, INVISTA Management (Shanghai) Co Ltd, said, “INVISTA is a name for giving innovation. We are always in a strive to bring newness to stretch. Partnering with Arvind has been a like-minded decision as it resembles our DNA of innovation. We are currently working on knitted denims and this will soon be a new showcase with our partner Arvind.”

Rebecca also spoke about innovations including LYCRA dualFX technology, LYCRA T400 fibre, COOLMAX technology, and THERMOLITE technology, and how both firms work together to bring these innovations to the Indian and global markets.

Wide denim range
As the name suggests, Boomerang is Arvind’s flagship line of premium stretch denims, crafted to take performance and comfort to the next level. Engineered for extreme elasticity, coupled with shape retention properties and an amazing hand feel.

Boomerang 360o is the denim that stretch in all four directions. In-built performance for high dimensional stability, that enhances the fit and retains shape over time.

A key Innovation highlight at the show, was Arvind’s new product range christened as IKAT DENIM. This range uses a pathbreaking new Indigo dyeing technology, which is not only substantially more sustainable compared with traditional dyeing techniques, it also imparts a completely new and aspirational aesthetic appeal to the finished product. The technology creates unique and controlled patterns on the fabric that resemble traditional textile art form of Ikat. Arvind takes pride in being the first textile company in India to exclusively offer this product to the domestic market.

Taking inspiration from the most powerful force on our planet, Arvind launched its latest collection called ‘GRAVITY’, a range of new denims that embody power, stability and comfort. The collection was introduced through engaging displays and an enthralling runway show that highlighted the most desired features of modern day expression of energy.

Woven-knit denims category has been driving the Indian denim market for last few years. It has now reached a saturation point. Market is looking for new ideas. During the event, Arvind and INVISTA hosted an expert panel to brainstorm for such new ideas, in a thought provoking session titled “Looking beyond woven knit denim”. The event also included a unique experiential concept titled ‘The ADL Experience: Art and Science of Denim wash’ curated and developed by on board international laundry experts, Giovanni Petrin and Andrea, who have been previously instrumental in the success story of the famed Italian laundry, Martelli. This installation showcased the most trend right, aspirational, yet sustainable denim wash directions. With sustainability lying at the core of Arvind’s belief, this wash trend collection has been developed at Arvind Denim Lab (ADL) using eco-friendly technologies and processes.
Speaking on innovation, Akhtar added, “We have recently partnered with Giovanni Petrin to give us some of the most innovative and latest washes. We are also working on many new technology partnerships which will share soon.”
Renowned for introducing innovative products to the Indian denim market for years, Arvind created a visually stimulating Indigo Art Centre, that gave visitors a sneak peek into their vision of ‘Indigo inspired lifestyle’.
This section of the event focused on creating endless possibilities with Indigo, beyond just jeanswear.

Other plans
Talking on the current capacity and expansion, Akhtar said, “In terms of capacity, we produce 140 million metre annually, which includes both bottom and upper wear fabric. The denim business alone forms 35 per cent of the company’s textile business and it is continuously growing. We expect the business to grow by 15 percent every year. Arvind is one of the largest producers, seller of denim fabrics globally.”

Arvind is a $1.5 billion conglomerate with interests in textiles, branded apparel and accessories, engineering and real estate and is one of the leading textile to retail and brands conglomerate in India. Arvind Limited manufactures and sells about 300 million meters of fabrics and over 30 million pieces of ready to wear apparel. Its denim, woven and knit products are known for being innovative and sustainable, which are sourced by some of the most iconic apparel brands around the world. 

With leading brands including LYCRA fibre, COOLMAX, CORDURA, STAINMASTER and ANTRON, INVISTA is one of the world’s largest integrated producers of chemical intermediates, polymers and fibers. The company’s advantaged technologies for nylon, spandex and polyester are used to produce clothing, carpet, car parts and countless other everyday products. Headquartered in the United States, INVISTA operates in more than 20 countries and has about 10,000 employees.