Apparel Online Bangladesh Magazine December Issue 2018 | Page 34

BUYER BLOG
Bangladesh attracting fashion
brands to increase sourcing
from the country
G
one are the days when
Bangladesh was known more
for volume and basics. Over the last
few years, the country has made
substantial advances for diversifying
its product basket to offer value-
added, innovative and fashionable
items to attract buyers from across
the globe. And the cases in point
are names like US-based brand
SOUTHPOLE and the Russian fashion
brand oodji that have not only started
sourcing from the country but are also
aiming to increase their order volumes
significantly in the coming days.
“We started our Bangladesh operations
in 2008. Initially, Bangladesh accounted
for 2-3 per cent of our global sourcing
volume and in the last 10 years, the
country has come to a position where it
accounts for almost 25 per cent of our
global sourcing now. We source almost
all kinds of products from Bangladesh
except footwear. All core items like
denim pants, trousers, joggers, polos,
T-shirts, etc. are sourced from here,”
underlines the Country Manager of
SOUTHPOLE, Riyaz Uddin Khan
while speaking to Apparel Online.
Aimed at catering to the young people,
SOUTHPOLE ® (started in 1991 in
New York, the fashion capital of the
world) is the flagship brand of Wicked
Fashions Inc. founded by two brothers
David Khym and Kenny Khym. Having
expensive owing to spiralling labour
costs and Bangladesh maturing as a
manufacturing destination while being
able to maintain and leverage its cheap
and abundant workforce still, things are
all set to change as far as oodji
is concerned.
Nipun Kundu,
Sourcing Manager, oodji
“We started
our Bangladesh
operations in 2008.
Initially, Bangladesh
accounted for 2-3
per cent of our global
sourcing volume and
in the last 10 years,
the country has come
to a position where it
accounts for almost
25 per cent of our
global sourcing now.”
– Riyaz Uddin Khan
Riyaz Uddin Khan,
Country Manager, SOUTHPOLE
started as a premium urban brand,
SOUTHPOLE with its legendary puffy
‘bubble’ jacket and 4180™ Relaxed Fit
denim pants, influenced the beginning
of urban fashion in American
street culture.
“We have a total of five brands and
sell our products through our stores
AAO (Against All Odds) as well as
other stores like Sears, Burlington,
etc. We have stores in New York and
New Jersey,” explains Riyaz, adding,
“The company’s main sourcing is
still from China. However, by 2020-
21, my plans are to bring in some
big business from China, and I have
already started working in that
direction. I want to make Bangladesh
the principal sourcing destination for
SOUTHPOLE, keeping up with which,
I want to make more value-added and
fashionable products from here, which
have so far been sourced from China.
Of late, Bangladesh has improved a lot
in terms of raw materials (fabrics and
accessories) and we source all the raw
materials domestically now,” shares
Riyaz Uddin, who is currently working
with 12 factories in Bangladesh.
Kick-starting Bangladesh operations
in 2010, oodji has so far been
procuring 15-25 per cent requirements
from Bangladesh while Uzbekistan
accounts for another 20 per cent
and the rest comes from China.
However, with changing dynamics
like China increasingly getting
34 Apparel Online Bangladesh | December 2018 | www.apparelresources.com
“In last 3-4 years, the industry has
matured a lot. So much so that today,
Bangladesh can do any fashion item,
and oodji is sourcing almost everything
from here except for some outerwear
products,” maintains Nipun Kundu,
Sourcing Manager of oodji in
Bangladesh. He added, “We are steadily
increasing our sourcing volumes from
Bangladesh, and by 2020, plans are on to
get at least 30 per cent production done
in Bangladesh. Keeping up with this,
we are also looking at increasing our
supplier base.”
The Russian fashion brand has
more than 700 stores across Russia
and Eastern Europe, besides being
present on the online platform of
Amazon Europe to cater to the fashion-
conscious consumers in the competitive
price range. “All our products are
fashion-based, basically in the medium
range. As a matter of fact, most of our
stores are located alongside that of
Zara and H&M’s, so our prices are at
par with theirs, but style-wise we are
better,” claims Nipun, who works with
around 10 to 12 supplier factories in
Bangladesh for knit items, 20-25 units
for woven products and around 10
for sweaters.
Going forward, Nipun’s plans are
now to increase the Bangladesh
office’s turnover (from the current
US $ 20-25 million/year) substantially
in the next two years, keeping up
with which oodji is mulling shifting
some knit orders from Uzbekistan to
Bangladesh, provided manufacturing
cost is compatible. “I am also planning
to develop some good suppliers for
outerwear as we have a sizeable
outerwear collection, which so far is
sourced from China,” winds up Nipun
on a positive note.