Denimsandjeans Vietnam’s Sandeep Agarwal Shares What’s on the Agenda
Later this month, the sixth edition of Denimsandjeans Vietnam will take place in Ho Chi Minh.
Organized by denim website Denimsandjeans, the show on June 26-27 will invite a B2B crowd to explore trends, hear informative discussions and meet others in the industry. As founder Sandeep Agarwal noted, one thing to expect this year is a more positive feeling in the denim sector. Here, he talks to Carved in Blue about his plans for this year’s event.
Carved in Blue: This is going to be the sixth edition of Denimsandjeans Vietnam. What are you expecting for this year’s fair?
Sandeep: We are expecting to see a much better response in Vietnam this time. Last year was a bit stressed out due to the Covid effect still being there. Now what we are looking at is much higher optimism in the denim and non-denim sector in Vietnam. The factories are mostly having very good orders and the supply chain is in a stronger position. All this will reflect at the show in terms of buyer visitations and interest.
Carved in Blue: What is the theme for this upcoming event?
Sandeep: “Room to roam” is the theme for the show this year. We want to convey a number of messages with this theme. First of all, it brings focus to the comfort factor becoming increasingly important for the consumers with looser fits being desired more. Secondly, we want to bring attention to the fact that there is still a “lot of room” to improve in our denim industry in terms of upgrading our sustainability credentials, our innovations, our re-interpretation of denim, etc. And last but not the least, it signifies that we are “relaxed and chilled out” while we experience the rollercoaster of ups and downs in the industry.
Carved in Blue: What new experiences or activations will you be introducing at this edition?
Sandeep: We are trying to bring focus to some new areas with our panel discussions at the show. One of them titled “Weaving a Future: Connecting the Denim Industry and Education” and moderated by David Tring will have multiple stakeholders from the industry and teaching to discuss how Vietnam can improve access to more skilled students to help the industry grow further. Secondly, we are trying to bring focus to the very traditional Thai-Vietnamese community who have been silently working for a very long time with indigo in some very interesting ways, and it would be great to trace the history of tremendous work done in remote areas of the country. A presentation by one such reputed artisan along with a veteran professor would be a very interesting talk to check out.
Carved in Blue: Denimsandjeans organizes shows across key Asian markets. What is unique/special about the Vietnam event?
Sandeep: When we started the first show in Vietnam, TPP was about to be signed by the U.S., Vietnam and other countries in the region. There was great excitement and business was expected to boom. When it was canceled, we were worried that it would affect the country negatively. While it happened for a brief period, the inherent strength of Vietnam caught up and we knew that Vietnam was going to be special for a long time. An FTA with the EU happened and that also helped bring more business to the country.
Whether it is businesses from Japan, Korea, China or USA, the country represents itself as a symbol of multi varied interests and each country benefitting in its own way. This is likely to continue for many more years as Vietnam is somehow able to silently provide the best options in this region to the global apparel world.
Carved in Blue: Why have you made this event invite only? How are you deciding who to invite, and how does this curated attendee list benefit the exhibitors?
Sandeep: We have always kept our shows as invite only as we feel that it is always best to have an audience which adds value to the exhibitors. We do not want to have unnecessary crowds at our show. We are a business show and we want that business should happen in some way between exhibitors and visitors. Besides, our exhibitors should be able to generate much more value from the shows than they spend. We have multiple criteria which helps us to select the visitors and classify them as buyers or suppliers and it varies from country to country.
Carved in Blue: What denim trends do you expect to see on the exhibition floor?
Sandeep: We create a number of trend category options for our exhibitors to display their innovations. This time we have defined some trends like Loose Fit Luxe (for those wonderful loose but elegant fits), Travellers’ Wardrobe, Sustainable Roominess (combining sustainability with loose fits), Fiber Room (for fibers helping in such fits), etc. Our exhibitors have already started sharing some very innovative products in these categories. Besides, we will be having a Selvedge Arena where we will bring over 50 selvedge jeans from more than 20 companies from countries like Japan, Türkiye, Europe, India, Pakistan, China, etc. This arena will be a treat for anyone with authentic denim taste!
Carved in Blue: As you are building your content programming, what topics are top of mind?
Sandeep: While we build up our content, we try to zero in on the happenings that can make maximum impact on the industry. We try to, for example, amplify the voice of some people in the industry who may be talking something important but may not have the requisite power to project themselves and we try to always share something with our readers which can help then upgrade their knowledge while only spending some time and nothing else!