Blue Diamond Provides Touch of Luxury for A/W ‘17
One of Northern China’s largest denim enterprises, Blue Diamond Denim is well-known for its use of high quality materials including Lenzing TENCEL® and Lenzing Modal®, and was a key supply chain partner for Lenzing’s 4S collection. All told, the vertically integrated company has an annual output of more than 30 million meters.
Founded in 1958 in Xingtai City, located in China’s Hebei province, Blue Diamond originally produced yarn dye check fabrics, switching to denim in 1996. According to Blue Diamond Sales Manager Maggie Zhang, Blue Diamond’s biggest strengths are its focus on quality and color intensity, as well as its mastery of blended fabrics.
Carved in Blue: Blue Diamond is known for paying close attention to washes and presentation. Why is this so important for you?
Maggie: Blue Diamond knows that customers need to have a [varied] presentation of washes and performance of fabrics. At the same time, we present the new trends in washes but also the character of the fabric in term of color, hand feeling and construction. This is very well received by customers and is speeding up the development process, making it much more efficient to grow our business and our relationship with the customer.
Carved in Blue: What are some important trends for the A/W 2017-18 season?
Maggie: A luxurious look and hand feeling hand feeling in loose comfort stretch fabrics. In one story, it’s skinny jeans, flared and boyfriends. In the other story we’re developing a jean inspired by the early 90’s with a heavy feel and marble effect after washing.
Carved in Blue: What are some key ways the mill incorporates TENCEL®?
Maggie: We have many fabrics that are using TENCEL®, in some cases alone and in many others blended with other fibers. In general, we like to use TENCEL® in the warp as we like to maximize the hand feeling effect. We like using fibers like TENCEL® that are done in a sustainable process using less water.
Carved in Blue: In addition to TENCEL®, what are some key fibers and technologies that Blue Diamond utilizes?
Maggie: We strongly believe in blending cellulosic fibers, we have in addition to TENCEL® a lot of styles in Lenzing Modal® . Most of the time we use them in the warp in order to have a real difference with the traditional fabrics in cotton.
Carved in Blue: Tell us about the mill’s connection with Adriano Goldschmied.
Maggie: We collaborated with him, getting strategic direction from him on the line and taking inspiration from him in terms of innovation and new trends and washes. His reputation in the denim world is helping us to open new doors in the industry.
Carved in Blue: Sustainability is a huge issue these days. What if anything is Blue Diamond doing to reduce its environmental impact?
Maggie: We are doing a lot to reduce environmental impact. For instance, we established a sewage treatment plant, and we keep improving the sewage treatment and reduce COD value continuously. We also changed more eco-friendly dyes, chemicals and ingredients. At our factory, we keep improving our machines to reduce noise impact on the workers, while improving the air conditioning to reduce dust pollution.
Carved in Blue: How has Blue Diamond changed over the years? How has the denim industry in general changed?
Maggie: There are major changes in the Chinese denim industry and Blue Diamond in particular. We are coming from an era that was about mass production and low price point. Now the price is still a very important factor, but customers today require products that are more sophisticated and fashionable.
Carved in Blue: What were your first pair of jeans?
Maggie: My first jeans were from Lee. Rigid and very stiff. I bought them in Hong Kong in 2000. At that time, we just began to work with Lee, so I wanted to know more about Lee from its jeans.
Carved in Blue: How did you start in the denim business?
Maggie: It was an accidental opportunity. I had just graduated from university, and Blue Diamond wanted to expand overseas. I like the challenging work.
Carved in Blue: Dark wash or light wash?
Maggie: Right now is a time where medium and lights are more important.
Carved in Blue: What does the future of denim look like to you?
Maggie: For sure more competitive, it is not just about industrial product anymore. Innovation is the key word. Marketing and communication are becoming more and more important.
Carved in Blue: What does Carved in Blue mean to you?
Maggie: Connecting the denim world.