Miss Sixty Invests in New Wash House for Premium Denim

It’s been a year since trendy denim label—and TENCEL® customer—Miss Sixty relaunched with a more premium offering. As part of its ongoing overhaul, Miss Sixty recently set up a wash house in China, so that its new jeans can look fashion-forward while leaving a smaller footprint behind.

Carved in Blue chatted to Wilson Lau, senior manager at Miss Sixty, about the new denim development laundry.

Carved in Blue: What is your role at Miss Sixty?
Wilson: As senior manager I manage the fabric department, wash development center and embroidery and printing department, as well as the accessory department, offering vertical support to the brand.

Carved in Blue: Tell us more about the laundry.
Wilson: It’s more focused on development, with new technology and machinery to help create new washing concepts. The new laundry features a few machines imported from Spain: laser machines and an ozone machine, which uses a lot less water, energy and chemicals than traditional methods. We also have 15 sample washing machines and 7 bulk wash machines for dyeing and special finishes, as well as a 3-D body whisker machine and a wrinkle-free process system. In the innovation center, we have developed a real-time formulation record system and resin bath.

Carved in Blue: Why did Miss Sixty set up this center?
Wilson: We want to have a quicker response time during development and more innovation in dry and wet processing.

Carved in Blue: How will it improve Miss Sixty’s business?
Wilson: The laundry can improve our lead times, provide us with more quality control and be more cost effective.

Carved in Blue: What are some challenges with laundry developments?
Wilson: Labor is a big challenge as less people are interested in laundry jobs. That’s why we’re focused more on developing technology than labor.

Carved in Blue: How long have you worked with TENCEL®?
Wilson: I first worked with TENCEL® in 1998. I have danced with Tencel every year in my textile life.

Carved in Blue: What was your first impression of TENCEL® in denim?
Wilson: TENCEL® has a very good hand feel with its peach skin and draping by fiber swelling, which is very comfortable for the customer. TENCEL® can give product a very premium look, too.

Carved in Blue: What does “carved in blue” mean to you?
Wilson: Carved in blue means network, united in denim.