Arvind to make, market Wrangler jeans

By Our Special Correspondent

BANGALORE, OCT. 15. Arvind Fashions Ltd., a subsidiary of Arvind Mills, announced at a press conference in Bangalore today that it has secured the Indian licence to manufacture and market `Wrangler' brand jeans from VF Corporation of the U.S. The licence extends to all the SAARC countries barring Pakistan. Arvind Fashions is already making the Lee brand of jeans under licence from VF Corporation.

This will be the second launch of the Wrangler brand in India. According to Mr. Timothy R. Wheeler, President, VF Europe Jeanswear, the change in licencee was necessitated by the need to rapidly expand the sales of Wrangler jeans in India and the neighbouring countries. Both Lee and Wrangler brands are slotted in the premium segment of jeanswear that has a market size of 1.1 million units annually in India. This market is growing at about 10 per cent per annum.

Wrangler jeans were first introduced in the U.S. back in 1946 and were originally crafted as tough wear for cowboys and rodeo riders. Improvements in fabric technology in the 1960s led to the use of a heavier but softer denim fabric called Broken Twill, which has a multi-directional weave . This fabric enabled extension of the market of Wrangler to new areas including jeans for women. This special fabric will be made at Arvind's denim plant in Gujarat.

Arvind Fashions will be introducing several lines of Wrangler wear in India including Western Wear (the original cowboy cut), Authentic (the core range), Retro (exclusively for women), Trail (for outdoor adventure) and Chinos (smart, casual clothing).

Arvind Fashions has invested around Rs. 36 crores in a state-of- the-art manufacturing plant of one lakh sq. ft. area in Bangalore, with technology supported by VF Corporation, for making the Lee and Wrangler range of products. The plant is at present capable of making one million pairs of jeans per year and this capacity will be doubled within the next two years.

According to Mr. Govind Mirchandani, President, Arvind Fashions, the Wrangler range will be available in 37 exclusive stores before Diwali. Arvind has plans to raise the number of exclusive Wrangler stores to 70 by the end of the year.

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