That’s How Denim Companies Came out of the Pandemic

Not far away, in Turkey where Iskur Denim produces some 18 million metres of denim fabric every year, the conditions both then and now have been similar. Chief Executive İsmail Kurtul points out, “Cotton and chemical supply delays became a major problem for denim production during the pandemic. The demand has been high and the supply slow, which also makes prices rise coupled with delays in production. Besides the raw material supply issues, cost issues too like energy price changes and machine supply problems have had a big impact on distribution channels.”

Foison Textile mill in the Foshan Datang industrial park of South China too had felt the pinch, with orders taking a hit. Says its Business Director for the European Union, Fiona de Maat: “Yet, we are lucky to have major European and now also American retailers as our customers. We have regular orders with them—the order quantity might be small, but the orders are regular. We are also offering more fashion products as more and more garments are being sold online. We maintain regular contact with our buyers, through both online and physical meetings.” The company is now trying to be lean and efficient in operation. “We have expanded our production with a new knit fabric production unit and an additional dyeing facility. We are also providing a one-stop-shop service to our customers’ sourcing needs.”

New opportunities also came through new avenues. For Barcelona-based Tintes Egara, the pandemic “gave us a chance—every crisis can be either a crisis or an opportunity. That’s why we decided to take it like an opportunity and show the world our product and what we were capable of.” The result was that the company saw lines of business that, according to Chief Executive Armand Galobart, “we had not explored, such as online sales, and sales through platforms with our customers like Zalando. This gave us the possibility of contacting new suppliers, and being able to maintain the amount of production and sales, exceeding pre-pandemic levels.”

By and large, companies had their own way of doing things. Italian accessories and ribbons manufacturer Ribbontex invested heavily, especially in certifications and research. Says Export Sales Manager Gloria Crivellaro: “We have also moved to a huge new building, are able to meet the needs of our customers, and have implemented the use of eco-sustainable materials. We have also strongly embraced digitalisation. However, one thing has not changed: the respect for our collaborators. In fact, we have continued to be reliable and serious partners for suppliers and customers because human relationships are the base of everything.”

Italy’s Cadica Group too turned its focus on digitalisation. Its Chief Marketing Officer Carlo Parisatto elaborates: “It was the time to look ahead and think about how the ‘new normal’ will impact all the different working areas. To face this new digital era, the Cadica Group launched the Cadica app. Digitalisation is also a green choice, saving on sampling and shipping costs. We improved our B2B web shop for customers with additional services, launched the new CadicaApp Collection to let customers browse our latest labelling and packaging proposals, order samples, chat with a representative, and watch webinars explaining materials and technical information for each collection.” The entire digitalisation-omnichannel exercise allowed the company to make better use of sharing tools, avoiding unnecessary production of samples, managing waste and the expense of unused samples due to the impossibility of travelling. “We have invested in a company app that contains all our catalogues, from which you can view and order products.”

Now that the pandemic is as good as over—touch wood—the new normal has brought still more challenges, all of which need to be addressed by denim stakeholders. More of that in the next two days.