LEAD FEATURE Intimatewear
Van Heusen and other premium brands have launched thermals and men’ s innerwear, and are actively promoting it on digital and in print media.
Indian manufacturers and exporters could well look at what their rivals or counterparts in the tiny island of Sri Lanka are doing. A tête-à-tête with one particular company reveals that their emphasis is quality. Buddhi Paranamana, general manager for innovation and strategy at the $ 200 million Hela Clothing, says,“ Quality is embedded in our development and production process. Our quality assurance starts at the fabric mill, where fabric technologists develop and produce the fabric in collaboration with the mill adhering to our customers’ quality levels. Quality assurance checks are carried out for all raw materials( fabric, trims, elastics, thread and all other components), when laying the fabric, after cutting the fabric, when sewing, after sewing, and just before the goods are shipped to the customer.”
Hela manufactures for an array of brands and retailers. Its top brands / groups for intimatewear are PVH( Calvin Klein, Warner’ s, Tommy Hilfiger and Izod), Michael Kors and MGF group of brands; VF Corporation, Tesco, Marks & Spencer for casualwear arm; and Speedo in sportswear. Paranamana continues,“ Five out of the nine factories we have in Sri Lanka have been awarded Gold WRAP certification, and we are currently the only PVH Green-rated plant in Africa, which speaks for itself in terms of where Hela places its benchmark for quality. In terms of design, since we manufacture end-to-end designs, we always follow a customer-price architecture which is designed to suit the demand for fashion products, which in turn allows the customer to market the product at the right price.”
He also outlines something that Indian manufacturers would want to take note of,“ Most brands turn to Sri Lanka for innerwear due to the high standard in quality and end-to-end solutions. All leading manufacturers in Sri Lanka boast of very high standards in compliance for their factories as well as employees. This has become part of the overall country’ s offering. Hela Clothing, like most leaders in the industry, provides more than just manufacturing solutions for brands. An end-to-end approach for design & innovation is a key offering that differentiates us from Asian counterparts.”
That’ s how Sri Lanka has gone on to becoming one of the biggest players in the global intimatewear market, and possibly why Amanté too is one of the biggest players on Indian turf.
Lingering On
Despite the continual growth and the potential growth factor, intimatewear for inexplicable reasons remains under the cover. Perhaps some taboo, some of that introverted veneer still remain. Till, hopefully, those are ripped to shreds by that ever-burgeoning market.
About the author Subir Ghosh( subirghosh. in) is a Bengaluru-based journalist and writer. Sanjay Arora( business director), Anubha Sehgal( senior consultant) and Barnaa Dekaa( associate consultant) are with leading consultancy firm Wazir Advisors( wazir. in).
60 | FIBRE2FASHION JUNE 2018