With the basic commodity denim segment cluttering the market, Arvind Ltd is looking to carve a niche by focusing on high fashion denim. From 50 per cent, the denim major has seen its basic commodity fabric coming down to just 10 per cent, replaced by high fashion denim.
"India has about 27 denim manufacturers and about 14 others in the neighbouring countries. And most of them are in the basic commodity segment prices of which are around Rs 95 to 150 per metre. We, on the other hand, don't want to compete in basic commodity denim. We are now getting into more high fashion denim," said Subir Mukherjee, head-marketing, Arvind Ltd.
Which is why, now only 10 per cent of the total denim fabric manufactured by Arvind is in the basic commodity segment, where the lowest price is Rs 115 per metre. Today, the company sells about 90 million metres of denim fabric, out of a capacity of over 110 million metres per annum.
"Even the kinds of brands that we have been serving is increasingly in the high fashion segment. Moreover, more number of garment converters who source denim fabric from us have been demanding high fashion stuff from us," Mukherjee added.
Add to that, in the high fashion denim, Arvind has been pricing its products between Rs 200 and Rs 400 per metre.
Among brands, the company is servicing high fashion clients like H&M and Levi's, among others.
According to Mukherjee, the company has also seen demand for its organic and better cotton products. "Today over 10 per cent of our products are from our organic or better cotton vertical," he added.
In a bid to tap the high fashion segment, Arvind recently launched two new varieties of denim fabric, namely 'Dynamo' and 'Universal'.
While Dynamo Denim has improved properties of dimensional stability and consistently low shrinkage, the 'Universal' variety looks to cater to the sustainable yet fashion demand among denim users.
