In what is being considered a global appreciation of Khadi’s world-class product quality and punctuality in fulfilling supply orders, US-based leading fashion brand Patagonia has placed a repeat order for purchasing Khadi Denim fabric.
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.
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, the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) signed an agreement with Arvind mills Limited, Ahmedabad, to trade Khaki 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. With the latest order, the total Khadi Denim purchase by Patagonia has gone up to 47,000 meters worth nearly Rs 1.88 crore
KVIC Chairman 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.
He said that while supplying the order, special attention was given to maintaining the highest quality standards, uniformity of the product and timely supply of the fabric.
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. 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.