Bangladesh needs around 50 million metres of denim fabric per month out of which only 26 per cent is domestically produced, the shortfall is made up by sourcing from China, India, Pakistan, Thailand and even Turkey. The market has a huge potential not just for the basic denim producers but also for the mid-to-high value denim fabric producers, since the international brands/retailers too are entering the market for their high-end value jeans, Vita-Textile, one of China’s leading premium denim companies which has been selling its fabric through BD Tex in Bangladesh till date has opened its showroom in Baridhara DOHS to capitalize on the growing demand for such a product.
Having a 12-year long association with Vita-Textile, Md. Masud Hasan, Managing Director, BD Tex Ltd. says, “It’s just about two months since we have opened our showroom and we have got very good response from the industry.” The showroom displays finished garments made of new weaves, washes and finishes for both Spring/Summer and Autumn/ Winter collections.
Vita-Textile Group can make it possible only because it is a vertically integrated mill having spinning, knitting, weaving, dyeing and finishing all under one roof. It has a team of specialists for its highend fabric developments and a very elaborate R&D centre comprising of equipment for varied finishes and fashion experts and designers. “Vita can treat the fabric with ammonia, can do different coatings on the fabric, laser printing, brushing and any other value addition required, the company has all these facilities in-house. Vita is also producing denim using cool Max from Tencel, T400 and DualFX from Lycra, Sorona from DuPont, and uses different specialized yarn like cashmere. “In the present collection we also have two-way stretch, jute denim, knit denim for all categories – men’s, ladies and kids denim,” explains Masud. Many denim companies today are showing their woven denim as knitted denim development; however Vita actually knits its denim on circular knitting machines for a differentiated look and feel. “Vita has about 6500 products. Knitted denim, knit-look denim, coating on knit-look denim, coating denim on ctn nylon spx, Ammonia finish denim, duel FX and some 100% high-quality rigid denim are the hot selling items as of now,” informs Masud.
To keep its fabric quality flawless VitaTextile has four testing laboratories. All laboratories are equipped with modern testing and quality control system. “Vita-Textile Group monitors quality from yarn to fabric and it is ISO 9002 and OEKO-TEX Standard 100 certified. The company is extremely strong in R&D; every year they are making 200250 new products,” says Masud.
A monthly capacity of 3 million yards of denim fabric may not be huge but the company is known for developing the most updated fashion at very competitive prices. With the result Vita-Textile has become the nominated supplier to brands such as Diesel, Levi’s, Lee, Guess, Zara, Bershka, Calvin Klein, Vero Moda, DKNY, Next, Jack & Jones, to name a few. “The price range per metre starts from US $ 3 to US $ 6 per metre depending on the quality of the fabric and may even go up to US $ 8 per metre,” shares Masud, who also claims that the quality of Vita-Textile is at par with Turkish company ISKO, but prices are more competitive. Masud is also selling fabrics of leading Indian denim mills such as Surya Lakshmi, Malwa, and Ginni International in Bangladesh.
Presently, every month BD-Tex is selling around 5,50,000 yards of Vita’s denim in Bangladesh. Last year the company started selling Vita denim to other countries such as Pakistan, Cambodia and Sri Lanka and Masud is very hopeful that quantities from these countries shall soon increase. With the opening of the showroom, Masud anticipates that the quantities will increase by 25-30% in Bangladesh. “Our minimum metreage is 6,000 metres and 30 days delivery but for sampling we can provide 10 metres too,” avers Masud.
