The Hindu Business Line : Vijayeswari to launch export range bedlinens from `Gossammer cotton'

For the connoisseur
The exclusive Gossammer collection is made out of India's super-fine cottons, including `DCH' and `Suvin'.
The construction of fabric (satin weave) and biological pre-treatment at processing stage are the other special processes.
Efforts are under way to get the `Gossamer' cotton patented with the US, UK and Indian authorities.

Coimbatore , May 20

`Gossamer cotton' is not another strain of cotton but an engineered cotton that is made to meet the aesthetic demands in product making in niche home textiles. The five-decade old Vijayeswari Textiles Ltd in Coimbatore is the author of the `Gossamer cotton'.

The select premium range bedlinen collections being rolled out by the company for exports will soon bear the ingredient brand `Gossamer cotton' that is intended to drive home the finer details of the super-fine count cottons (of specified Indian varieties) and their blends excelling in fibre quality, lustre and lasting finish in processing.

The exclusive `Gossamer' bedlinen collection from the company is made out of India's super-fine cottons including the widely known `DCH' and the `Suvin' whose fibre length is at least 25 per cent longer than any existing extra-long staple (ELS) cottons; whose fibre fineness is 30 per cent more than the best of Egyptian cottons available.

Special processes

The specific yarn and fabric production process being adopted (so as to prevent the fibre damage at production stage) by way of achieving slow speed ginning (separating the cotton fibre from seeds) and spinning mark the exclusivity of `Gossamer' cottons. The construction of fabric (satin weave) and biological pre-treatment at processing stage are the other special processes that turn its bedlinens the connoisseurs' choice of sleep products. Efforts are under way by the company to get the `Gossamer' cotton patented with the US, UK and Indian authorities.

"We have already sent our first shipment of `Gossamer cotton' collection of bedlinen (in bedsheet in plain satin and jacquard range) to the US and the ingredient brand will hit the US departmental stores by August," says Mr A.L. Ramachandra, Managing Director of Vijayeswari Textiles.

Clients

Vijayeswari supplies 60 per cent of its bedlinens, including the `Gossamer' collection to the US department store chain, Macy's and its supplies to the US stores include the top-notch bed-linen labels `Hotel Collection' and `Charter Club' (luxury tag).

The other private, national brands/retail stores drawing supplies from Vijayeswari are Kohl's (US retailer), UK's Laura Ashley, Muji and French retailers Descamps. This apart, UK's Debenhams and Ireland's Dunnes are the other prospective retailers to sell Vijayeswari's home textile range shortly.

High-end supplier

Vijayeswari Textiles forayed into niche home-textiles 12 years ago. Its fibre choice and exclusivity in product development in the high-end (higher thread count range) home textiles has enabled the company to position itself as a high-end supplier of home textiles to the private/national labels and major catalogue companies in the US and lately to European retailers.

`With preference for finer bedlinens going up among the retailers, the bar for the minimum threshold level of thread count too (higher the thread count finer will be the fabric) is going up, hence we focus on producing Egyptian cotton bedlinens with 600 thread counts as part of higher value addition to our products." Mr Ramachandra told Business Line.

The Rs 100-crore Vijayeswari is an integrated company having 50,000 spindle yarn production, weaving unit with 6,000 metres of fabric a day and a processing house of 12,500 metres-a-day capacity besides having its in-housing designing capability.

The company has during 2005-06 made Rs 95 crore exports comprising Rs 80 crore of made-ups and the remaining yarn exports.

The company is planning to expand its production infrastructure to cope with surge in demand for high end home textiles and it has proposed to double its spinning, weaving and processing capacities.

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