The second eminent speaker at the denim conference was Ms Jenna Caccavo, Trend Analyst in the Trend Analysis Department at Cotton Incorporated. Cotton Inc. is a not-for-profit organization who through research and promotion, aims to increase, both the demand for and profitability to companies across the global cotton textile-value chain.
She began by providing an overview of consumer attitudes and statistics related to the denim jeans market in the US. 39 percent of all bottoms sold in the US are made out of denim, which gives an insight in to the market share of denims in the US. Fit is the number -1 factor driving the purchase of denim jeans closely followed by comfort, quality, feel good factor and finally price.
She provided another very interesting detail about the purchasing attitude of consumers in the US. Price is the number -1 driving factor, amongst US consumers when purchasing other apparel categories, against being the last one in the purchase of denim jeans. Despite recessionary trends in between 2008 and 2009, US denim imports grew by 1 percent and shot up by 11 percent in the period July 2009 to July 2010.
Her second session was on forecast of denim trends for 2011-12. She presented three key lifestyle and fashion concepts, expected to influence denim designs. Key silhouettes for menswear and womenswear was discussed and shown, followed by directions in fabrication, printing, finishing and detailing in denim design.
The third and the last speaker of the first session was Mr Enrique Silla, MD of Jeanologia, Spain. He is considered an expert on the science of finishing. His topic was 'Future trends and technologies: Ethics in Finishing – Blue vs. Green'.
He was particularly upset with the fact that, in the last few years, the industry looked lost and things seemed bleak. But now the confusion seems to be receding and now there seems to be light at the end of the tunnel.
He foresees the future trends as return of the real value jeans and technology will be based on costs, ethics, ecology and efficiencies.
He feels that the era of sandblasting and wet processing is over. Sandblasting includes, manual scrapping and PP spray technologies, mainly due to the fact that, they are hazardous to the health of the workers. Wet processing uses a huge amount of water, which is in scarcity and also consumes high volumes of energy. Levis and H&M are now taking the initiatives to do away with sand blasting technology, he informed.
He says, the future of denim finishing will lie with laser technology which delivers high productivity and at the same time, also provides a finish comparable or better to sandblasting technology.
He finally observed that, “It is not just about the product, but also about how they are made” and advised Indian denim producers to become the first country in the world to adopt responsible technology and lead the way.
Fibre2fashion News Desk - India
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