At Intertextile Shanghai Garment and Fabric Fair held in Shanghai, the biggest city of China and the centre of Far Eastern textile market, the second generation executive of Özlem Kumaş, Hüseyin Türkkan made explanations to Textile World Magazine Group.
Özlem Kumaş which was established in 1969 and has been one of the leading woollen and wool-mixed fabric manufacturers has specialised in the production of woollen and wool-mixed fabrics for outerwear and jacket production as well as that of wool, polyester, cotton and linen-mixed woven fabrics that are lighter for manufacturing skirts and pants.
Its capacity which is 2.000.000 m/year on average is increasing day by day with advanced use of technology and R&D studies. Its collections created by considering the latest trends are preferred by such famous brands as Marks&Spencer, Zara and Escada.
R&D is highly important for us
Stating that they attach great importance to R&D, in particular, Hüseyin Türkkan added that they, as Özlem Kumaş, don’t manufacture yarn and they prefer supplying grege and dyed yarns from Turkey instead of foreign countries.
Expressing that almost all companies manufacturing outerwear in Turkey supply their products from Özlem Kumaş, Türkkan stated that their products reach all parts of the world except for Africa. He also stated that their attempts did not stop and they participate in many events in order to expand the markets they operate in. He reported that they have participated in the fairs held in China for two years as their American clients send their products to China to have hem sewed and thus, even though it seemed that it was early to be present in China, they took a strategic and important decision and decided to participate in these fairs with the aim of holding a good position in the Far Eastern market.
We have two agencies in China
Expressing that they work with two agencies in order to better understand the Chinese market as well as for easier integration, Türkkan said that: “If you want to do business in China, you have to work with agencies here. Due to dialect differences, even Chinese people find it difficult to understand one another. How could we establish contacts and do business? Thus, we certainly have to work with agencies. Currently we have two agencies and we are planning to increase this number to five in the ensuing periods.”
Assuming that the world fashion would be determined by the Chinese in the future, based on today’s signs for the future, Türkkan emphasized that some criteria of the fabrics manufactured in the last 7-8 years were determined by the Chinese and the Europeans highly appreciate this fashion determined by the Chinese. Saying that all of the Turkish textile manufacturers should take their places in China, Türkkan added that, as a country constantly renewing itself, China would not find its production adequate for itself in the future, it has progressed fast towards its target of becoming consumer, it would become the biggest consumer mass of the world in the near future and accordingly he emphasized the importance of taking place in this market as an actor from now on.
For a Better Position for the Turkish Textile…
Claiming that we have a dynamic understanding which enables us to act in accordance with the opportunities, Türkkan stated that Turkish textile manufacturers always chose more efficient markets by showing the participation of Turkish manufacturers in Intertextile instead of PremierVision which was held concurrently as an example. The fact that Özlem Kumaş preferred participating in Intertextile instead of PremierVision Shanghai although it had taken part in PremierVision Paris and PremierVision New York also resulted from the same understanding. Pointing out to the fact that this reason was valid for other participants coming from Turkey as well, Türkkan reported that all the Turkish businessmen operating in the textile sector should attend such fairs to reach a better position for the Turkish textile sector and Far East offers brand new opportunities for the Turkish textile businessmen.
Touching upon the failure of the fairs held in our country, Türkkan stated that this failure results from the conflicts between institutions. He emphasized that short-, medium- and long-term targets should be determined for the textile sector, a vision should be established, strategies to be followed in line with the developments in the world should be determined and these targets and strategies should be clearly explained to the owners and executives of all enterprises.
