Orta Anadolu: India on their growth map

Orta Anadolu the renowned global name in denim fabric is ramping up to enter India by this year end. The plan is to set up a base at Bangalore. Explaining company’s move to enter developing countries like India, its India Representative,

Baruk Baykaldi says, “India is interesting because it has a huge population. Even the premium segment has huge volume. Unlike Italian fashion, Indian fashion is very colorful, trendy and embroidered. We will be importing the fabric, which is a difficult task because of the duty on imports.” He says India doesn’t mean all Indian production is cheap fabric. The brand wants to be in the premium segment, since there is demand for it here. What’s more the brand is not moving away from Turkey but is shifting its focus from Europe because sales there are shrinking, which means one has to enlarge network.

The factory having a manufacturing capacity of 60 million meters is known for its innovations in jeans and sportswear. It has offices in Brussels, Germany, Italy, United States, Australia, Colombia, Tokyo and Malaysia and globally markets Ordenim, Orcotton, Denimus and Denimperial brands. Adds Baykaldi, “Next year, the production capacity would be 70 million meters because we have added another factory in Bahrain with a capacity of 10 million meters. This factory will help us cater to this part of the world because the cost of production is lower.”

With its vision to be the preferred supplier to leading global brands, Orta Anadolu exports its fabric to both global manufacturers and internationally recognised brands like G-Star, Mavi, Levi’s, Little Big, Tommy, Diesel, Replay, J Brand, Miss Sixty, D Squared, Paige and GAP. But now it’s focusing on expanding its reach. Talking about its expansion strategy, Baykaldi states, “All over the world there has been a decrease of at least 15 to 20 per cent in denim demand. A brand which last year was buying a 1,000 meters, this year it’s buying 700 meters, almost a 30 per cent shrinkage. Europe’s, situation is obvious to everyone, the European community is uncertain about its future. So we are trying to get more brands. That’s why we are coming to India, Bangladesh, Hong Kong and China, to try and get a share of the local brands, for if a fabric brand sticks to one market, it would be finished in a couple of years.”

Baykaldi says, “There are always ups and downs in denim, in some parts of the world it grows, while in others it goes down. At the end of 2010-11, because of a spurt in cotton prices, there was a demand for alternative blended fabrics instead of denim. So we tried to give alternative fabrics. We developed blended modal, tencel and these changed fashion trends. Some time back they were very expensive but then they became affordable and interesting. Denim has a more authentic vintage look because of these blends. The softness, drape and elasticity give a different direction to fashion and trends. It’s more feminine not only in women’s wear but also in men’s garments.”

In denim category, Orta is known as an authentic vintage heavy fabric producer. It’s also one of the first brands to use organic cotton in denim fabric production without putting extra cost on the fabric price. “We blended five per cent organic cotton in all our production besides the organic blend that is 100 per cent. You can’t just make something sustainable or organic and hang it there. You need to create a story and educate the customer, otherwise though the customer may say that the garment is good but after looking at the price tag, would put it back. The customer may be aware and sincere doing his bit towards saving the world but ultimately he has to look at the pocket,” Baykaldi exclaims.

The design department at Orta goes around the world on their inspirational tours and it also works very closely with machinery or dyestuff companies by exchanging each-other’s knowledge expertise. Summing up, Baykaldi said, “Our aim is to reach the high end local market in India and maybe some producers who are doing exports. For the mass market, we can’t be competitive because price-wise we are a bit more expensive than local producers. One part we are looking at is high end denim brands in the Indian market and the other is the export market.”