Crescent Bahuman Paves the Way for Pakistan Denim
From sustainability to innovation and working to close the loop, the denim sector in Pakistan is thriving—and evolving.
And Crescent Bahuman has been a part of the country’s progression in denim manufacturing, taking inspiration from the world over and matching it with the skillset and prowess in Pakistan to yield a unique product.
Carved in Blue caught up with Crescent’s executive director, Rizwan Shafi to get the scoop on what the company is doing in denim.
Carved in Blue: What has been the highlight for Crescent Bahuman in the last year?
Rizwan: 2018 has been memorable in so many ways for us. There were many firsts for Crescent Bahuman, including (but not limited to) us becoming the first garment manufacturer in Pakistan for immensely inspirational brands such as Diesel and Levi’s Made & Crafted. We’ve also expanded our footprint at numerous trade fairs and were extremely humbled to win an excellence award at Intertextile Shanghai. Crescent Bahuman was the only non-Chinese denim mill selected for this esteemed prize (for fabric design and creation). We have also turned our attention towards automation by investing in a plethora of sustainable machinery, including but not limited to, lasers.
Carved in Blue: What is the major project the mill is working on?
Rizwan: ZDHC [Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals] is one of the major projects that we are actively engaged in. We feel ZDHC is an integral part of “closing the loop” when combined with our already ongoing efforts in material recycling, such as post-consumer waste and post-industrial waste. We are currently in the process of installing shredding equipment, which would help recycle garments back to fiber and yarn using our own in-house spinning facilities.
Carved in Blue: How important is sustainability to what you’re doing?
Rizwan: Sustainability is central to the foundations of Crescent Bahuman. It is time to challenge ALL conventional approaches and think out of the box. We aim to not only provide sustainable product solutions but also provide a sustainable environment for anybody who interacts with us as a company, be it an employee or a customer. We prefer a holistic approach to the topic of sustainability and a few of our notable projects for the environment include:
- Planting over a million trees on site
- Collecting rain water while monitoring and replenishing our water bed
- Treating our water through biological waste water treatment plants so that we can reuse our water for agricultural purposes.
Carved in Blue: How has the denim sector in Pakistan been going? What’s the best denim offering coming out of the country?
Rizwan: The denim sector in Pakistan is extremely healthy and, in our opinion, growing. Pakistan possesses a rich history in textiles as it is one of the primary drivers of our economy. It has been amazing to watch our native denim industry’s handwriting improve over the last decade. We sincerely believe we are no longer simple contract manufacturers. We are partners to brands and, in fact, solution providers as we definitely have a large role and responsibility in guiding the industry towards a sustainable future.
Carved in Blue: What’s next for Crescent Bahuman?
Rizwan: We are looking to expand our fabric and garment capacities by 25 percent in 2019. We are committed to expand in a responsible way with heavy emphasis on automation.
We also aim to reinforce our social responsibility projects which include:
- A state of the art on-site school which is currently educating 1,500 children per year
- Our “Jugnoo” program which aims to eradicate illiteracy at the factory and its surrounding areas by offering free of cost tutoring. The aim is for everyone to be able to read a newspaper in 6 months!
- Emphasis of gender equality in the workplace
- Partnering with reputable NGOs for seminars to create awareness for disorders such as autism and ADHD.
Carved in Blue: What’s your first denim memory?
Rizwan: Easy! It was very early in my career, we were the second factory globally (after Cone Mills) to produce iconic 501 STF fabrics.
Carved in Blue: Where do you look for denim inspiration? Is it a city? A person? Art?
Rizwan: All of the above! For a city, it has to be Tokyo. It has an energy and appreciation for denim that’s difficult to match. The person who has influenced me profoundly with regards to denim inspiration is Giovanni Petrin. We have been lucky enough to collaborate with Giovanni in the past and each interaction has left us amazed at the wealth of knowledge—and more importantly—ideas at his disposal.
We’re also keen admirers of Ian Berry’s art. The beauty of denim, we believe, is in its versatility. His art is a testament to the endless possibilities of the fabric we all know and love!
Carved in Blue: What denim trend would you like to see go away?
Rizwan: That’s a tough question! Beauty is definitely in the eye of the beholder, it would be unfair of me to single out any particular trend.
Carved in Blue: What does Carved in Blue mean to you?
Rizwan: First and foremost, it’s a meeting place, a digital town hall. For anyone who has built a career around denim, be it a designer, pattern maker or a buyer, we all have wonderful stories to share and ideas to propose. Carved in Blue has provided us all an essential platform to communicate and guide our industry towards a greener future.