Home Textiles | Wednesday, June 23, 2010

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SUPIMA WELCOMES RUPA!

By Nancy Boyd

CALCUTTA—Rupa, the Calcutta-based knitwear giant known for its hosiery and innerwear, is setting its sights on becoming a major player in the fashion category.

A crucial first step?

Becoming a Supima licensee.

Here’s the announcement:

Rupa, India’s largest hosiery manufacturer with an annual turnover of over Rs. 530 crores, is now the first Indian innerwear manufacturer to become a licensee of Supima, the premier organization of American Pima Cotton growers. The name Supima is an abbreviation for Superior Pima.

Supima stands for superior pima cotton, exclusive extra-long staple (ELS) cotton that is cultivated especially in the fields of Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas.

Often lauded as ‘the cashmere of cottons’, American Pima cotton is famed for its longer staple length, greater tensile strength and better ability to retain colour – as compared to regular cotton fibre. This results in a fabric that is unmatched in its softness, lightness, luster and durability.

The coveted Supima certification is given only to very select manufacturers of high-quality apparel, whose products are made from 100 percent American Pima Cotton. Rupa is the first Indian innerwear manufacturer to enter this elite international group.

Rupa cotton knitwear made from American Pima Cotton is lightweight and allows moisture and air to pass freely. Rupa has international-quality manufacturing facilities that can convert this luxurious yarn to world-class knitwear products, sold across the brand’s outlets in India and across the world.

Rupa has been India’s foremost hosiery manufacturer for six years in a row. P R Agarwal, Chairman, Rupa & Co., said, “This is another milestone for Rupa, where we are keen on constantly upgrading our search for quality raw materials. Getting this stringently-monitored certification proves Rupa’s integrity as a manufacturer and also its significance in the global market.” Mukesh Agarwal, Director, added, “At Rupa we wish to give the end user the best in the world. And becoming a licensee of SUPIMA is a step towards creating the ultimate in cotton luxury.”

Read more about Rupa’s strategy in this week’s Financial Express, by clicking here.