Ever since women began adorning themselves, an opportunity for the world to develop an entire new segment known as “Fashion”, emerged. Change is inevitable in the fashion industry, but a saree is the one and only traditional Indian attire which has not yet lost its charm. In India, if there is any place that is considered the capital for sarees, then Surat definitely tops the list.
Surat, in Gujarat, is the world’s largest producer of sarees and women’s ethnic clothing. Surat sarees have in them all the finesse, charm and beauty that every woman wants to adorn. Whether it is the bridal sarees, casual printed sarees, party sarees or fancy casual sarees, Surat-based establishments give you them all.
Different fabric materials used commonly for making sarees are cotton, silk, polyester, polyamide, etc. Adding to that long list of fabric materials is the new performance bio-polymer fibre Sorona from DuPont.
A discerning saree maker can be sure that anyone would be prosperous in this field if he maintains undeviating quality. Of all the millions of saree makers in the country, there are just a handful of brands that are at the forefront. One such brand that has carved a special name for itself in the saree industry is Vipul. The name that is equivalent to fashion started off its enduring successful journey in New Delhi under the vision and guidance Mr. Anil Agarwal, its Founder and Managing Director, in 1974 with the name Vipul Industries Pvt. Ltd. Initially started as a trading company, it grew multi-fold to become one of the biggest brands in the Indian fashion industry.
In the late 1970s, the firm shifted its base to Surat and started its dream journey with its very own process house consisting of dying, printing, embroidery and other related facilities. Over the years, Vipul has developed its own distinct style and technique to produce quality textiles with an affordable price tag.
Vipul Fashions operates through its three units in and around Surat mainly for finishing (dyed and printed fabric) and embroidery division where the brand continues to be at the forefront of design innovation. The sheer varieties of designs generated are unparalleled in the industry. In the finished fabric division the brand continued to emphasise naturals via the introduction of new cottons, 100 per cent viscose filament, blended varieties like poly-viscose and poly-cotton fabrics and many more in the pipeline.
The units put together have a production capacity of 75,000 m/day of sari fabric, and close to four lakh pieces of ladies suites are cut, packed and dispatched every year.
Vipul Fashions was the first to introduce a host of new embroidery and other value-added varieties, especially for party-wear and wedding-wear. In order to reach working women in towns and villages, Vipul has introduced saree ranges and dress materials / suit combinations at competitive price levels.
In an exclusive interview to The Textile Magazine, Mr. Anil Agarwal, Managing Director, Vipul Industries, said: “Vipul’s polyester-based fabrics have a dominant position in saree segment and are very popular in the growing salwar-kameez/kurti segment. For Indian women, such fabrics will always be preferred not just by the cost-sensitive buyer but also by the fashion-conscious rich.”
Vipul sarees can be bought off the shelves for as low as Rs. 500 to a maximum of Rs. 3,000. Vipul is a popular brand not just in India but also in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Burma, Malaysia, and Singapore. The company products encompass the entire value chain in textiles, specializing in the manufacture of fashion fabrics for women’s outerwear in polyester and pure cotton. The company is one of the largest sellers of branded sarees and dress materials in India.
Sarees from Sorona
Today, with more than 75 per cent of India’s man-made fabrics made here and with one of Asia’s biggest textile markets consisting of more than 70,000 traders, Surat is constantly evolving to sustain its growth momentum gathered in the last few decades, is the same in the case with Vipul. Even though Vipul as a brand has thousands of collections displayed at any given time at retail outlets, constant improvements and upgrades is something the company never fails to deliver. Its designers always have the current trends in mind when they are at their work table.
Thousands of colours along with hundreds of fabric material with all possible combinations are used to create a marvellous piece. One such rare gem was created by Vipul by working closely with E.I. DuPont India recently. Sorona fiber used in the making of this master piece has all the qualities to revolutionize the global saree industry. This innovative product, unveiled at the company’s dealers meet at shanghai last month, was a result of 2 years of strenuous hard-work and countless trials carried by both the players.
Sarees made with Sorona bring consumers closer to silk. Sorona-based fabrics are very soft, exhibit bright and attractive colours and dry quickly. Sorona helps fabrics retain their shape even after numerous washes. One of the best features of Sorona is that it enhances the attributes of other fibers when blended together to give luxurious softness and surface characteristics that resemble natural fibers like silk.
A leading biopolymer, Sorona contains 37 per cent annually renewable plant-based ingredients, even better is its environmental footprint, producing Sorona uses 30 per cent less energy and releases 63 per cent less greenhouse gas emissions than nylon 6. This versatile new bio-polymer is now finding new applications every day. It has been already commercialized in shirting, suiting, denim, jacket, hosiery and swimwear.
Future expansion
Vipul Fashions plans to mark its own presence in the retail market in a big way before the end of 2014. Plans on setting up a new production facility and capacity expansion to follow at their existing units.
A host of new products have been experimented through close co-operation between their R&D, production and marketing departments. Designers at Vipul are on a constant look out to create trends that gets followed by other Saree makers. This is due to the diligence of these few designers and of-course word-of-mouth is something that has worked wonders for their new ventures.
Vipul Fashions, a company dedicated for more than 40 years to the design and creation of high-quality textile fabrics, is in the forefront of modern Indian textiles by creating innovative products of exacting quality and beauty, with the highest levels of customer service to this industry.
DuPont™ Sorona® carries forward our legacy of leadership in textile fiber innovation. Silk has been the epitome of ethnic textile materials and Sorona®, the first renewable polymer from DuPont, with its unique characteristics brings us very close to Silk. It is able to impart an impressive influence on the key fabric characteristics of texture, fall, touch and color. One of the components that forms Sorona(R) comes to us from nature. Vipul Fashions, the leader in textile innovation from Surat has been a trend setter in the industry. Product Innovation has been the backbone at Vipul as is evident from their exclusive R&D weaving facility and a state-of-the-art printing mill. Naturally, the two companies, which are at the forefront of innovation, came together to develop the first chiffon saree made with Sorona®. The product was greatly appreciated by Vipul’s downstream partners at an exclusive event. Both the companies will continue their efforts to bring further product innovations to the market.