Fashion lovers’ preference for leggings has opened up new opportunity for local exporters, with orders booming for close-fitting knit pants in the last two years, industry insiders said. They said local knit makers are looking to expand capacity to cope with the increasing demand of leggings. More than 600 factories running around the capital Dhaka and the port city Chittagong are making this product, equally popular among males and females. “We are now the second largest exporter of leggings in the global market after China due to quality product and competitive price” AKM Salim Osman, president of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) told the FE. He said legging is a knit product, made from cotton, nylon or polyester blend, and it could also be made from wool, silk and other materials. “American and European people are driving the sales of our laggings,” Mr Osman said. He said competitive wage rate, easily trainable local workforce and entrepreneurial skill and government policy support have been helping the legging segment to grow. Leggings are worn by both men and women during exercise, but women usually wear them whenever they like, he said. The contribution of woven and knit garment is almost similar in export figures- 41 per cent and 39 per cent respectively- out of total export. The country’s knitwear industry is now almost self-sufficient in fabric and yarn, driving the legging sub-sector’s growth. For leggings, exporters said, local entrepreneurs have been providing more than 90 per cent fabric out of the total requirement. The BKMEA data showed for better quality and competitive price range, international brands from roughly 90 countries including Charles Vogele, G-Star Raw, Jack and Jones, Oliver, River Island, H&M, C&A, PVH and GAP are sourcing legging product. AH Aslam Sunny, vice president of BKMEA said in recent times, they have observed that demand for denim pants has been decreasing in the US and other countries, but the legging consumption is increasing, helped by the product’s comfortable feature. Mr Sunny said Bangladesh has become the world’s second largest leggings exporter after China, shipping around $ 1.62 billion worth products in July-February period of the current fiscal. He said in countries, where winter lasts long, leggings are getting popular compared with tropical nations, thus helping to boost exports of the product. He said the local company producing legging fabric as a result the manufacturers don’t have to import which is helping to capture the increasing demand to international markets. He said leggings are available in various colours and also have diversified designs, for which the product’s popularity is increasing. M Jamal Uddin, a fashion expert and associate professor of Knitwear Manufacture and Technology (KMT) of BGMEA University of Fashion and Technology (BUFT) said fashion is changing and laggings are especially favourite to females as they are comfortable to wear In recent times, not only ladies, but also gents are increasingly turning to leggings because the wear is flexible, suitable for casual physical activities such as walking, hiking or gardening, replacing the old standby, sweatpants. He said 2015 is going to be a versatile, colourful year in fashion and wear of knitted leggings will be a growing trend for the upcoming winter season. He said the latest addition to fashion trends is denim leggings, which have greater stretch than non-denim products.
Source: https://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2015/03/25/86338
