Mafatlal Denim: Innovating with eye on market share

Mafatlal Denim, a part of the Arvind Mafatlal Group, has launched a new range of denim collections for the ongoing festive season. It also includes innovative eco-friendly products. Commenting on the launch Rajiv Dayal, MD, Mafatlal Denim says,

“The Indian denim market will continue to grow at about 10 per cent per annum in the coming decade. Growth will be driven by a favorable demographic profile, strong growth in the Tier-II and III cities, surplus purchasing power with youngsters and rapid expansion of distribution and retail in India. Keeping the demand and growth prospect in mind, we have launched our new denim collections Chic, Twilight, Black and Urban.” Chic are soft, body-hugging denims; Twilight is a provocatively, vintage offering; Black is deep, dark and daring; and the Urban denim line is for the young, trendy professional.

The eco-friendly collection is committed to ‘Save the Earth’ initiatives. Dayal explains, “Our denim fabrics are manufactured using eco-friendly raw materials, and we constantly work towards reducing our carbon and water footprint. Mafatlal Denim is a responsible denim fabric producer. We conform to all environment standards and are ISO 14001/Oeko-tex certified.”

Mafatlal has been an active player in the Indian denim market for over 15 years and, has over 250 different varieties of specialty denims. This includes mercerized and stretch, coated fabrics and organic denims. Mafatlal Denim has an extensive international and domestic presence catering to global brands like M&S, Jack & Jones and VF and domestic brands like Killer, Mufti, Spykar, and Allen Solly. Talking about their exports, Dayal says, “We export 20 to 30 per cent of our production. This trend will continue, due to a rapidly growing domestic market and weak US/EU scenario.”

The company does not fear low demand or another economic recession in major export markets like the US and EU. They are following a two pronged approach to increase exports. First, developing and presenting innovative products to global brands at competitive prices and second, exploring new markets (like Africa, Cambodia) where the company does not have a presence.

The Indian denim fabric market is estimated at 650 million meters per annum (MMA). Of this, about 450 MMA is used by the domestic brands and the balance exported in the form of fabrics or garments. The current manufacturing capacity in India is about 700 MMA and is expected to grow to over 850 MMA by 2013. The denim market has been growing steadily at about 10 per cent every year.

Mafatlal Denim has a capacity of 20 MMA of specialized, value added and fashion denims. It enjoys a market share of about three per cent in India. “Over the next five years, we expect the denim fabric market to grow consistently between 10 and 12 per cent every year,” states Dayal.

Explaining why it is a challenge to produce value added niche denim product, he says, “The challenge is to constantly understand the global and Indian fashion trends. And the ability to innovate and develop products according to demand on a continuous basis, which is not an easy task.” He believes that an understanding of consumer and fashion trends, new fibers and finishes and creative washing techniques are important in developing new products and making fashion forward collections.