Francesca Polato
Marketing and Communication Manager Berto
Denim market in India & China developing faster than rest
Berto Industria Tessile was founded in Bovolenta, a small town in the province of Padova, through the entrepreneurship of the two founding brothers: Giuseppe and Egidio Berto. Since their first production of fabric for the sails of nearby Venice, the company has been able to travel in many sectors, from work-clothes market, fabrics for the home, production of shirts all the way to the production of denim. In an interview with Fibre2Fashion, Francesca Polato, Marketing & Communication Manager of Berto, talks about how the market dynamics of the denim market has changed over the years and the way Berto is trying to make sustainability in fashion more accessible.
How different are denim fabrics today as compared to that manufactured 10 years ago?
For sure they are more sustainable and more qualitative today, because processes have been uploaded and improved.
Which are your major markets for denim fabrics? Which new ones do you plan to explore?
Our major markets are Europe and Italy. We are planning to explore China.
Which weaves and finishes are evergreen? What new weaves and finishes are you working on?
The 3/1 is the most evergreen weave. We are working on different weaves like 2/1, canvas and jacquards. From the point of view of finishing, the most popular are with sustainable finishing. And we are working to make them more and more sustainable.
What are the trends for S/S 20?
We think that trends for SS20 are for rigid and heavy fabrics.
The textiles industry is considered to be a huge pollutant, and denim perhaps among the most. How do you try and keep the carbon footprint as low as possible?
We try to have suppliers that are close to us, and in the last years we improved our production process a lot to reduce CO2 emissions as much as possible.
Denim in its original form - the hard-working fabric has undergone many blends making it softer and more fashion oriented. How do you view this change?
We know that there is this change, because people want the clothes to be comfortable, and this is good. We are developing new fabrics with these characteristics every season.
What are the strengths of Berto which has made it a name to reckon with as a leading denim fabric manufacturing mill in Italy?
The strengths are that Berto has got more that 130 years of history and therefore many years of experience that is necessary to produce high quality and sustainable fabrics. The experience of the past is necessary to develop the innovation of the future.
Apart from fashion, which other areas do your fabrics find application in? How is the market growing for each?
Some of our fabrics have been used for furnishings and interior design and also for kitchenware. We think that this is an interesting market with good possibilities of growth.
Berto was one of the few companies chosen by Google to promote the Made in Italy label around the world and help SMEs to approach their economic potential using the internet. What did Berto do in the following years?
In the following years we continued to promote the Made in Italy label producing high quality fabrics here in Bovolenta without compromise. We also improved our website and we opened Instagram and Facebook pages (6 years ago).
What were the new denim designs and innovations unveiled during the last Global Denim awards?
The last global denim awards we made were in 2016. There we unveiled a denim with silk.
What projects are you currently working on in partnership with Dyneema related to extreme heavy-duty applications or sport?
We are producing a lot of different fabrics for Dyneema and we will continue doing that.
How can we make sustainability in fashion more accessible? What are you doing to help facilitate that?
The only way is to do research and innovation and to use the new techniques and new processes at 360 degree in our production, in order for them to become a 'standard'.
Do you think the denim market is Asia particularly in countries like China and India, is developing at par with the rest of the world?
I think that the denim market in countries like India and China is developing faster than in other countries.
What is the number of swatches that your library boasts of?
We have more or less 150 articles in every collection.
What is the annual production capacity at Berto?
About 5 million metres.
What amount of denim fabric produced at Berto is sustainable?
They are all sustainable because they are all produced here in Bovolenta (Italy) with the most innovative and sustainable production process.
Any plans to expand your current capacities or introduce new products soon?
Every season we introduce new developments, always in the world of denim fabrics. No plans to expand our current capacities. (HO)
Published on: 17/01/2020
DISCLAIMER: All views and opinions expressed in this column are solely of the interviewee, and they do not reflect in any way the opinion of Fibre2Fashion.com.
