Raymond UCO Denim Vision

Makers Mills

Raymond UCO Denim Vision

Innovation will always be top of mind among denim manufacturers as each strives to present a unique offering to the market.

For Raymond UCO Denim, innovation has been rooted in its ringspun denim offering. The denim mill originating in India, was the first in the region to make the technique available and since its introduction, Raymond has continued to advance its denim with new generation yarns.

Carved in Blue caught up with Raymond CEO, Arvind Mathur, to find out a little more about what this ringspun denim has done for the company and what’s next on deck to bring to the market.

Carved in Blue: Can you tell us a little more about your company?

Mathur: Raymond entered the denim world in 1996 with an Italian collaboration to cater to rising demand of specialty denim worldwide. Raymond was the first denim mill in India to introduce ring denim. From the beginning the company strategically focused on top-quality, innovative, value-added denim fabrics, which made Raymond a major denim player globally.

To complete the vertical supply chain and offer total denim solutions to fashion forward customers, in 2005 a state-of-the art garment manufacturing facility ‘Everblue Apparel Ltd.'(EBAL) was set up in Bengaluru, India.

In 2006 Raymond entered into a joint venture with UCO NV of Belgium. This merger gave global presence to domestic expertise. With state-of-the-art, highly versatile and flexible manufacturing facilities, Raymond UCO has ever since been scaling greater heights in the denim world. In keeping with its vision to be globally the best in class provider of denim products and services, today Raymond UCO (www.raymonddenim.com)  is the trusted and preferred partner to many leading global and Indian fashion brands.

The company has an annual manufacturing capacity of up to 50 million meters of denim fabric. The fabric plant in India is spread over 169 acres and is strategically located in the heart of Central India’s cotton belt—Yavatmal. It is one of the most versatile, flexible and state-of-the-art, fully vertical denim fabric manufacturing facilities.

Our garmenting unit is set up over a 14 acres plot, with facilities in accordance with the best international standards. It is engaged in designing and production of limited edition super-premium jeans for top fashion brands.

Carved in Blue: What sets Raymond UCO apart from other manufacturers in the market?

Mathur: Raymond pioneered the manufacture of ring denim in India in 1996, starting with a state-of-the-art highly versatile and flexible setup, in collaboration with with an Italian partner. The company, from its inception, has been focused on supplying innovative fashion denim products. The expertise in ring spinning gained over the past two decades has helped us in producing some of the most complex and advanced new generation yarns. This allows us to hold an upper hand in innovation over other players in the market.

Carved in Blue: There’s not much news about manufacturing denim in Romania but since you have a factory there, can you tell us about the experience?

Mathur: The facility in Romania is small in terms of capacity but it caters to very niche segments of the market such as sportswear. The plant specializes in high end coated and colour denims. It is a pioneer in these special categories, offering a huge variety of qualities to its prestigious clients

Carved in Blue: What’s your take on sustainability? How important is it to your company?

Mathur: Sustainability holds the future survival of the human race and the Earth as we know it. The awareness about environmental issues among consumers is increasing day by day and they are willing to contribute their bit to improving the situation. It is no longer a marketing gimmick but goes much, much beyond.

Denim manufacturing is a highly resource intensive process. The industry has to continuously innovate and adapt new technologies to mitigate the environmental impact of the process. It needs to focus on Reuse, Reprocess, Recycle.

We have been acutely aware of the above and hence sustainability has been our focus since inception. This is evident from the fact that our effluent treatment plant was designed to treat, recover and reuse processed or utility waste water with an objective of zero liquid discharge. The complete effluent treatment process is 100 percent biological, carried out without use of chemicals. We have also taken up several energy and power conservation projects to continuously mitigate our carbon footprint. Our efforts and initiatives have been acknowledged by various national and international bodies with awards such as the Golden Peacock Award, Earth Care Award, Greentech Environment Award, Asia Subcontinent Regional Corporate Energy Management Award, and many more.

Carved in Blue: How do you incorporate sustainability into your products?

Mathur: We use Bluesign certified pre-reduced liquid indigo, which allows cleaner production of denim with a positive impact on resource efficiency, such as reduction of the sodium hydrosulfite usage by 60 percent to 70 percent, making for much cleaner water waste and less water usage. Also, a major chunk of our cotton consumption is BCI (Better Cotton Initiative). We are a certified producer of post-consumer waste (PCW) cotton denims in collaboration with I:Collect, which provides the infrastructure to guarantee raw material from discarded textiles goes into a closed loop manufacturing cycle. We also use PCW polyester yarn, made from discarded PET bottles, to produce denims with a blend of polyester and cotton. We were the first denim mill in India to be GOTS certified. Our product innovation is geared toward making optimal use of available raw material and processes further strengthen our sustainability credentials.

Carved in Blue: A little about you now—when did you first know you were a blueblood?

Mathur: Choosing to be in the denim industry was a no brainer—it is a segment that cuts across in popularity along all age groups and continues to have vast, untapped, high growth potential, especially in the developing world.

Carved in Blue: Where do you find your denim inspiration?

Mathur: Indian textile heritage is itself full of colors, prints, designs, motifs and weaves, which can be combined with modern methods to fulfill current consumer needs. Our culture and tradition are also treasure trove for inspiration. We have been always mindful of sustainability and that has shown us the ways to conserve the resources and accordingly develop our offerings. Also, studying fashion changes in other apparel segments, trend areas at the international trade shows, popular mags, various websites and blogs, own experimentations, plays an important role in inspiring our designers.

Carved in Blue: Do you remember your first pair of jeans?

Mathur: Yes absolutely. It was a classic Levi’s.

Carved in Blue: What’s missing from the denim market today?

Mathur: Today, in the denim market everybody is coming up with a story to sell, but the authenticity and reliability is a big question mark. The consumers are confused and hence there is need for some procedure or certifying body which can guarantee the claims.

Carved in Blue: What’s next for Raymond UCO this year?

Mathur: Our focal point will continue to be sustainability with major stress on post-consumer waste recycled denim including Lenzing’s Refibra™ Lyocell, the new TENCEL™  Lyocell fiber made from recycling of cotton scraps, and also ECOVERO™ Viscose.  Some innovative sustainable dyeing techniques are also lined up to reduce significantly the water and chemical consumption during dyeing process.

Carved in Blue: What does Carved in Blue mean to you?

Mathur: A rich source of information for carving out inspirational denim stories.