Kaiser: More Than a Chemical Company
As a laundry solutions provider, Kaiser is helping denim companies be more sustainable without diminishing their designs.
And while the Turkish company is truly a global provider—shipping product to over 36 countries throughout Asia, Africa and the Americas—it considers itself to be much more than just a chemical company.
Serdar Demircioğlu, sales and marketing director, chatted with Carved in Blue about the future of garment washing, the importance of collaboration, and where one can find the best coffee in the world.
Carved in Blue: What are your sustainability initiatives?
Serdar: Sustainability is a great concern in the jeans washing industry. The washing of denim garments to give them self-identity, and therefore added value for the final consumer, has historically been a water-intensive process. The newly available laundry technologies provide the possibility of offering fashion jeans produced with minimal quantities of water and less hazardous chemicals.
Water is essential for life, but it’s also the world’s most threatened essential resource. It is imperative that solutions are found to stop poisoning the precious resources we have left with hazardous chemicals. We are developing a range of auxiliaries for optimization of chemical and water usage in the laundry industry. Together with new nano bubble technology, a variety of finishing effects can be achieved to save large quantities of water, chemicals and energy.
Carved in Blue: What are some of your highlights from your new collections this season?
Serdar: Cadira Laundry is a range of innovative auxiliaries for ultra-low liquor ratio machines to reduce water, energy, worker impact and chemical usage. In the new collections we are totally eliminating permanganate and hypochlorite by using the Cadira Laundry enzymatic bleaching method, which is currently the best available bleaching technology.
Laser technology is also becoming more and more important for laundry, and we have a laser auxiliary range known as the Lava Con L series. This provides much more natural, bright looks with the products by laser applications, and it brings new natural laser looks to the market.
Carved in Blue: What do you think the denim industry is missing today?
Serdar: The denim industry is a huge industry. As Kaiser, we always try to collaborate with other denim players from brands, fabrics and machinery, and we believe that more sustainable solutions can be created together by this way. I don’t want to say this part is missing, but it can be developed much more than this.
Carved in Blue: What innovations do you see in the next five to 10 years?
Serdar: I expect all production and washing of the garments will be done without humans in the future.
Carved in Blue: How is the current textile market situation in Turkey?
Serdar: Turkey is a top-five garment and textile exporter country, and I think it will strengthen its position by creating more sustainable solutions for the textile market.
Carved in Blue: What collections are you showcasing with TENCEL™ x REFIBRA™ Lyocell? Tell us about the Cadira Denim collection from the Kaiser and Orta collaboration.
Serdar: We always believe we are a lot more than just a chemical company. We always aim to make bridges in the denim supply chain with important key players through the journey of sustainability. We would like to thank Lenzing and Orta Anadolu for their contribution on this amazing sustainable collection. From fiber to washed garments, we minimized our impact on earth by Lenzing’s TENCEL™ x REFIBRA™ Lyocell fiber, Orta’s Indigo Flow for indigo dyeing process and our Cadira laundry range for washing.
Dystar’s Cadira Laundry processes reduce a significant amount of water and energy, and they apply the best ecological chemistry. Cadira Laundry achieves 90 percent water reduction and 40 percent energy saving per garment.
Carved in Blue: Are there influencers in the denim industry who inspire you?
Serdar: As an influencer or as an icon, I would say James Dean. He influenced me with the denim clothes he wore, and that’s why I am in love with denim now. Today most people believe they can’t live without wearing denim, and I’m sure my grandchild will be wearing a blue jean with me too.
Carved in Blue: What is your favorite city?
Serdar: I’ve visited more than 40 countries for business, and I can frankly say that my favorite city is Ho Chi Minh City. I like the food, weather and culture there, and the best coffees that I have tasted in my life were there.
Carved in Blue: What does Carved in Blue mean to you?
Serdar: Carved in Blue brings denim players together, and it is really important for the industry. I love to follow Carved in Blue to stay current on all the denim industry updates.