US fashion brand “Patagonia” places repeat order for Khadi Denim

In March this year, Patagonia, through textile giant Arvind Mills, placed an order for purchasing 17,050 meters of Khadi Denim fabric worth nearly Rs 80 lakh from Udyog Bharti, a Rajkot-based Khadi Institution in Gujarat.

"This comes as a global appreciation of Khadi’s world-class product quality and punctuality in fulfilling the supply order," the ministry said.

The repeat order comes after the successful completion of the previous order for 30,000 meters of Khadi Denim fabric worth Rs 1.08 crore.

Patagonia is using the handcrafted Khadi Denim fabric for making Denim apparel.

In July 2017, Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) signed an agreement with Arvind mills Limited, Ahmedabad, to trade Khadi Denim products around the world.

"Since then, Arvind Mills has been purchasing a large quantity of Khadi Denim fabric every year from KVIC-certified Khadi institutions of Gujarat," the MSME ministry said.

With the latest order, the total Khadi Denim purchase by Patagonia has gone up to 47,000 meters worth nearly Rs 1.88 crore, it added.

Chairman KVIC, Vinai Kumar Saxena lauded the development saying the repeat order from Patagonia was a result of Khadi’s Denim’s outstanding quality that matched all international standards.

While supplying the order, special attention was given on maintaining the highest quality standards, uniformity of the product and timely supply of the fabric, he said.

The previous order was executed exactly in 12 months’ time as per the schedule.

"The repeat order for Khadi Denim has reaffirmed that Khadi is an apt example of ‘Local to Global’ as envisaged by Prime Minister Narendra Modi," he added.

The purchase of Khadi Denim fabric is also creating extra man-hours for Khadi artisans of Gujarat. In all, the purchase of Khadi Denim by Patagonia has created additional 3 lakh man-hours of work for Khadi artisans.

Last year, a team from Patagonia visited Udyog Bharti, a Khadi Institution based in Gondal, Rajkot (Gujarat) to see the manufacturing process of Khadi Denim, the ministry said.

"Impressed by the manufacturing process and quality of the handcrafted Khadi Denim fabric, Patagonia, through Arvind Mills, placed the purchase orders for different quantities of Khadi Denim fabric," it added.

Before finalizing the purchases, Patagonia appointed NEST, a US-based global third-party assessor, to assess the complete process of Denim production at Gondal, i.e. spinning, weaving, carding, dying, wage payments, age-verification of workers, etc. involved in the production line.

The NEST, after a thorough assessment of all parameters at Udyog Bharti, stated in the certificate that “The spinning and handloom weaving operations are now eligible for the NEST Seal of Ethical Handcraft”.

This is for the first time that a Khadi Institution in the country has been assessed and certified by an international independent assessor for meeting ethical standards in its operations.

The order is for four types of Denim fabric which are made of 100 percent cotton having a width from 28-inch to 34-inch.