The Development and New Technology Group department is a critical unit for the innovation and creativity that Arvind mills projects. The department has been constituted in such a manner that it has 2 parts-
The Design Team
The Technical Team Design Team:
The design team has a constant responsibility of re-innovating denims.
It consists of fashion consultants from Europe and other countries along with the textile experts and textile designers.
The team works together to create a completely different denim design. Though it seems like innovation in design in denims has limited scope, this group of professionals use their creativity and constant thinking skills to come up with unprecedented designs.
These new designs are featured in fashion shows across the globe, for top fashion experts to see and review, and hence maintain the exclusiveness of denim produced by Arvind Mills.
Top designers like Calvin Klien, Chanel etc. and brands like Zara, Abercrombie and Fitch, Mango, Gap and many others, select these designs and order them to be produced in mass.
The designs can be created by changing one of the following characteristics of the fabric :
1. Weave of the fabric:
(Denim is usually 3 x 1 twill)- variations are made in twill weave or by changing the nature of the weave all together. Like 2X1 or other variations
2. The dyeing procedure’s output:
(usually done with indigo and sulphur dyes) – The dying can give colour effects to the fabric.
Different compositions of dyes are used and innovations and creativity in the use of colors, produces more number of designs. Sometimes the weft and the warp are of different dyes, creating an iridescent effect. Though traditionally blue or black, many other colours of denims are created
3. Fiber Used:
Authentic denim uses cotton fiber, but for design variations cotton blends are used. Light weight yarns like polyester are used to manufacture denim used in garments like jeggings and lighter weight denim requirements. Most popular addition to denim fabric is Lycra for streatchability as that is a prominent feature of jeans. Also the yarn count and yarn density dictate the nature of fabric formed.
Though yarn of higher count is used, as denim is thick fabric.
4. Finishes Applied:
Fabrics can be re-innovated in terms of the type of finish applied, Now-a-days, there are a variety of finishes that can be applied to any fabric and same goes for denim. Usually mercerization is a process not done for denims, as it does not require very soft and smooth fibers, but inclusion of finished like mercerization or resin finish, can completely change the look and feel of the fabric. Other aesthetic finishes, like partial napping or emerization, anti-crease finish, permanent creases by resin finish can be given.
The following are a few lines of denim that have been developed and new products are added to it every day:
1. Kato (Japanese denim line):
Kato brings in the authentic attributes of denim in collections, fabrics mostly made on the shuttle loom and with selvedge. For s/s 2011, we have work wear cast in nappy selvedge denim, indigo with indigo-dyed Fill-and-Glen checks denim to name a few. His collection serves as early directions for all brands.
2. ADL (American Denim Lab):
The ADL line is specifically for the US brands. The s/s 2011collection has special attractions in the form of colour denims, indigos with colour fills and summer lights in excel along with the authentic core line
3. Euroline (European denim line):
The Euroline is specifically for the brand needs in Europe. The s/s 2011 collection has an introduction of four new indigo shades omega, greycast indigo, oil authentic blue cast indigo, tribe–green cast indigo and clan–petrol blue indigo, all in fine subtle slubs in compact construction.
4. Metro (Indian denim line):
The metro line is designed by Arvind’s in-house design team specifically for Indian brands. The collection has the flavour of a true Indian denim. For the coming season, we have a set of fine coated products and a big set of power stretches for jeggings in indigo and black. We have also recently launched a collection in Excel called Excelush in collaboration with Birla Cellulose. Excelush is a super soft, lustrous and bouncy denim fabric. It is made from a highly refined eco-friendly and sophisticated process after scientific research and development conducted at Birla Research Institute.
5. New washes, treatments:
We wash our collections in laundries around the world, including LA, Italy, Turkey, Korea, Japan and in our own lab in Ahmedabad. Some of the new washes we are doing presently have crispy raw touch, naturally worn/used look, good localised abrasion, extreme contrast of high and low where some areas still show the depth of colour even after heavy washing, a comeback of acid wash look, fully wash out look with dirty areas.
6. New colours:
In the indigo family, one can expect green cast indigo, grey cast indigo, greasy oil cast indigo, petrol blue cast indigo, hydron blue, and baby blue. In the pure colour family, one can expect all black, stay black, fade black, gunmetal grey, smoky grey, burgundy, diner green, and coral blue.
Technical Team:
The technical team of the development and new technology team aims at developing the fabric as per customer requirements.
They have technicians and fabric experts who constantly work together and collaborate with each of the processing units to get the desired output of the fabric.
Then, they calculate/concur and document the exact procedures and processes to be followed to create the fabric exactly matching customer requirements.
Once the processes have been determined by the DNTG department, they are delegated to the individual units for mass production.
The DNTG DEPARTMENT at Arvind mills has a databse of more than 8000 fabrics, that have been created for all kinds of uses. The designs range from all kinds of usage of yarn, to differentiation based on any of the factors mentioned above.
Customers and designers may choose out of this data base to order in bulk, The data then goes to PPC department, that is production Planning and Control and the mass production of fabrics start.