Lawn: the new money-maker for the textile industry
The industry has capitalised on demand and launched a variety of new brands through aggressive marketing campaigns. Millions of rupees have been spent by the apparel industry on creating demand for the product. It is virtually impossible for the urban Pakistani to miss the larger-than-life depictions of popular models and actresses advertising designer lawns on roadside hoardings. In the race to capture the greatest share of the domestic market, the strategy has become an effective tool in attracting consumers.
In Faisalabad – the textile hub of Pakistan – there are approximately 380 mills that manufacture lawn. Most manufacturers hire passionate designers to create new and individual lawn prints. The uniqueness of such prints helps channel demand to particular brands, lawn manufacturers tell The Express Tribune.
The growth of the urban middle class, coupled with the growing number of working women, has impacted the market for summer lawn. Industrialists are excited about the prospects of lawn in the domestic market; the total demand for the fabric, it is said, is worth billions of rupees. After bearing heavy losses due to plunging exports of textile products, producers say that they have found a good avenue for business. Response to the product has exceeded expectations.
“The lawn market has been expanding for the last five years. Every year, sales grow by around a quarter,” says Amjad Ali, proprietor of the Amjad Cloth House. He points out that rising sales due to creative designs and the massive advertising campaigns have also fed an emerging trend of organised lawn exhibitions, which boost demand for the product.
Ali informs us about the pricing for the fabric. “An average lawn suit of ordinary quality is available for around Rs1,000. If customers want a branded product, the cost will range between Rs2,500 to Rs6,500; depending on the quality, design and name of the brand,” he says.
Lawn is a light cotton fabric; which means that come summer, demand for lawn skyrockets as women switch to the cloth to beat the heat. Enterprising textile manufacturers and designers try to encourage the trend by portraying the switch as stylish and trendy.
“The season is a period of handsome earnings for traders and millers,” says Jamal Ahmad, a businessman who is associated with the lawn business in Faisalabad. “Most players in the textile industry agree that aggressive marketing campaigns by competing companies indicate a new focus on the growing domestic market,” he informs.
“The dimensions of spending classes are increasing, while customers are also getting increasingly sophisticated: aware of new trends and struggling hard to get maximum value for their money,” he adds.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 5th, 2012.
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Textile industry is rich enough to market their products abroad. The first thing is to liberate the consumer from classical ethics binding everyone to well wrapped dresses.We have to get into the world market place to ensure economies of scale which can bring down the cost of dresses at home.So our industry must spread out to the common man at home and abroad. Our industry is too big to live on bridal dresses.
A healthy domestic demand should soon convert into a healthy global demand. Our embassies may have a role to play, teamwork between industry and government may do wonders for this product.