Living up to its reputation, the third edition of the denim event has turned out to be a bigger success than its previous two editions. The exuberance and enthusiasm among everyone was an affirmation that the event is here to stay in Vietnam. There was ‘sustainability’, ‘innovation’, and ‘technology’ everywhere and an impressive turnout, especially, on the second day, clearly showed that denim was alive and kicking in Vietnam. Around 40 exhibitors across several nations participated in the two-day event that was held at the beautiful Riverside Palace, Ho Chi Minh City.
Vietnam and India need to work closely
The opening ceremony of the event, based on the theme of Rock-N-Roll, was inaugurated by Srikar Reddy, Consulate General of India; Hoang Quang Phong, VCCI Vice Chairman; Vu Duc Giang, Chairman of Vitas; Dilbagh Singh, Chairman of INCHAM; Laurence David Newman, Eurocham representative; and Sandeep Aggarwal, Founder of Denims And Jeans show.
While speaking about the growing relations between Vietnam and India, Srikar Reddy said that the focus is now on improving trade relations between both the countries, particularly textiles. He added that the foundation of good relations between both the countries was laid by Mahatma Gandhi and the then President Ho Chi Minh and is now being nurtured by successive generations. He further added that enhancing economic bilateral engagement is one of their strategic objectives. The Chairman of Vitas, Giang, said that in future, Indian business establishments will have lots of opportunities to support Vietnamese business and that business relations of both the countries can grow together.
Sandeep spoke about the relevance of the event for retailers and international brands. “Denim production and exports are witnessing a significant growth and we feel that it’s just a beginning. This event brings together latest technologies, trends, and skills that are globally appreciable,” said Sandeep.
Being innovative and contemporary were the talking points of most stalls
Each exhibitor at the event was showcasing something new and trendy – much in line with the trendiness and styles. Muhammad Irfan Khan, Assistant Manager Marketing & Sales, Artistic Milliners, Pakistan, expressed his happiness over the response their product ‘Shogun’ received at the fair. Corroborating on this, he said, “The Japanese denim of 14 or 15 ounces looks very good but is heavy and rigid, and therefore it is difficult to be worn. To make it comfortable and commercial, we came up with Shogun to get the same Japanese look of 14 or 15 ounces but with a softer feel. The response is amazing and we are expecting enquiries to get converted.” Established in 1949, Artistic Milliners is a vertical denim manufacturing company from Pakistan that has a strong focus on innovation.
Prosperity Textiles displayed its Spring/Summer 2019 collection at the event. While Ultra high stretch performance fabrics had the trait of big stretch, Co-flex reflected soft and comfort stretch with unparalleled recovery. Earlier this year in March, the company was also in to woven fabrics and the response from the people has been more than good. “After a good start to the year, we are now excited about our new state-of-the-art denim mill that will come up later this year,” said Leo Koo, General Manager, Prosperity Textile (HK) Ltd.
Though local exhibitors were few, those who were there, managed to garner attention among visitors. Viet Hong Textile Joint Venture Co. Ltd. was one of them, which displayed cotton fabric, spandex, and special yarn T-400. T-400 makes the fabric high stretch and the visitors at the stall were more than curious to know about this new yarn. Looking at the crowd in his stall, Pham Hong Tai, Sales Executive, Viet Hong Textile Joint Venture Co. Ltd., said, “Though all companies have something new to offer, we ensure that the quality is of highest order and that’s why customers reach out to us.” Hyosung Vietnam Co. Ltd, which produces industrial materials and synthetic yarns especially Spandex creoraR too got good response from the visitors. “Spandex gives stretchable quality to jeans but Creora’s uniqueness is that jeans can be stretched in any direction,” said Zaheer Ahmed Randhawa, Technical Sales Manager, Creora.
Coats were also there and one could see visitors thronging that stall on both the days. Their focus was more on designer stitching and decorative stitching. Talking further on this to Team Apparel Online, Matt Thwaites, Commercial Director Vietnam, Coats Phong Phu, said, “Our metallic and embroidery products are new here and this year we launched a multi-colour thread, which makes beautiful decorative stitching as you know we are the first developers of true indigo thread.” He further added that regarding the new innovations, Coats have been getting good brand support and there is no denying that Coats have been the pioneer in innovation. “We start with small innovations but gradually these innovations start reaping rich rewards,” Matt added.
Foison Textile displayed coloured denim but one of their major highlights at the event was silver shiny fabric, which is trendy and eye-catching. Speaking further on this, Victoria Chen, Sales Representative, Foison Textile underlined, “The silver shiny fabric is the new trend and lot of European customers are now looking for the fabric.” Rajby Textiles from Pakistan was seen displaying dobby designs, stripes, and unifit stretches among its various exquisite collections. In addition to using innovative multi-colured web, Rajby showcased hyper-flex, which has 90 per cent stretch and is made initially in three colours. “We are happy with the response we are getting for hyper flex; it’s the trend that is picking up,” said Saud Saeed, Marketing Manager, Rajby Textiles (Pvt.) Ltd.
Indian exhibitors too made their presence felt at the event and most of them were happy about being in Vietnam. While Anubha Industries, Surat (Pratibha Group) is in the process of starting its office in Vietnam with local professionals, KG Fabriks Limited has recently succeeded in getting good business as well as new customers especially from Hanoi. KR Thamarai Selvan, Assistant Manager Marketing, KG Fabriks positively stated, “Good thing about Vietnam is the opportunity to get good volume (container orders). I expect at least 30 to 40 per cent growth in orders from Vietnam.”
KG Denim is also working towards having deep roots in Vietnam and was able to connect with some domestic brands to get good volume from them. There were others too like Rossari Biotech Limited and Aarvee Denims and Exports Limited among others.
There were many others including Foratex Ltd., San Shing, Deyao Textile, Copen United Limited, Indigo Textile Pvt. Ltd, JSV One Member Company Limited, PT Grand Textile Industry (Indonesia), SM Denim Mills, Siddiqsons Ltd, Tuong Long Co., Ltd and Timay & Tempo who left their mark.
Sustainability defines business today…
Naveena Denim Mills, in its efforts to utilise water, presented Allydro plus in collaboration with Archroma. By a simple and ecological pad-dry application, Allydro Plus permits to obtain elegant, distressed look. “Allydro Plus saves 45 per cent water and 11 per cent energy; similarly, Ecolean, in collaboration with DyStar, helps reducing effluent output while at the same time saving water, energy and time,” said Muhammad Nadeem, GM Marketing, Naveena Denim Mills, Pakistan.
Archroma, which offers complete package of chemicals and dyes to denim mills, was seen presenting and promoting coloured denim and special glues. “We are actually promoting sustainable dyes and are selling indigo to the market and we are showing different effects, colours and all the range of chemicals that the denim mills use,” explained Jordi Calucho, Technical Marketing Executive, Archroma.
TCE Denim showcased sustainable fabrics at its stall and emphasised on recycling of water. Owen, Sales Manager, TCE Denim, elucidated on this specifying, “We are also now investing in green facility and are generating solar power to reduce the usage of electricity. Additionally, to avoid the smell of dyeing and finishing, we are planning to set up an odour control system.” Kassim Denim, which has now ventured into garments, displayed sustainable denim fabrics like ‘recycled’, ‘organic’ and ‘less-water finishes’. Ever since its inception in 1991, Kassim Denim has become one of the leading denim companies of Pakistan.
“Our collections have always been trendy, innovative, and sustainable and the ‘Re-create’ collection manufactures fabrics with organic cotton and cotton yarns recycled from used denim products,” pointed Dr. Dilek Eric, Marketing Consultant, Kilim Denim, Turkey. Kilim is one of the main suppliers of G-Star. Fuat Milap, Sales Executive, Kilim Denim, said that Europeans could bring-in lot of knowledge into Vietnam and the difference will be seen in the years to come.
Seminars saw impressive attendance…
Interestingly, all the seminars witnessed good attendance. Stefano Aldighieri spoke about the factors that were bringing changes in the approach to sourcing. He made a good analysis of how much sourcing has changed in decades and then spoke about how it all affected jeans industry. The seminar on ‘Pop Culture and Denim – How Celebrities Affect Trends’ by Dr. Dilek Eric was a crowd-puller.
Ms. Nguyen Tuyet Mai, Deputy Secretary General, Vitas, spoke at length on Denim Supply Chain and Solutions of Collaboration and Sustainable Development. The other seminars which got commendable response were ‘The Digital Transformation from Analog to Digital’ by Simon Kheng (Jeanologia Spain) and the informative online presentation by Ms. Danit Peleg on 3D printing. Sandeep Aggarwal too made a presentation on ‘Future of Denim Sourcing’ which received thunderous applause from all.
Visitors
There was a good turnout of visitors and though the reactions were mixed, yet most of them seemed happy to be at the event. Thanh Tran, Business Development Manager, TMAS, said he was coming to the event for the first time and was delighted to attend the seminars. Helen Bui was excited to have started her new company K&N Apparel Sourcing and hoped to meet lot of people at the fair. “I love the smell of fabric and so I am delighted to be here,” chimed Helen.
Dmitry Sarbaev, CEO, Fluxmall said it is always good to be at the event and expected to build many contacts from the event. Garry Mehta, CEO, Goldmark Development Limited, predicted bright future of Vietnam, but also spoke about his company re-entering the Madagascar market. Goldmark is one of the few sourcing houses in Vietnam that offers its customers anything and everything related to apparels. Romeo M. Ordas, Country Manager, Le & Le Garment and Washing JSC, said that ever since four new machines were installed in his company, there has been a significant reduction in manpower (from 300 to 100 workers) and increase in washing capacity (from 600,000 to 800,000). Le & Le Garment and Washing JSC is one of the prominent denim manufacturing companies in Vietnam.
Although, there was variation in display at the event, the common aspect that emerged evidently was a gleam of satisfaction among the exhibitors and the visitors – yet again underlining the growing power of denim in Vietnam.
