The strain the pandemic has placed on supply chains has underscored the importance of access to local resources for all industries, including jeans manufacturing. A new laboratory by Garmon Chemicals, Kemin Industries’ textile auxiliaries business and chemical solutions brand, brings its technical and fashion expertise closer to clients in China.
The company recently celebrated the opening of Garmon Studio China located in Jiangmen in the Guangdong province. The lab is near Kemin’s regional headquarters in Zhuhai.
Garmon Studio China is a milestone with important implications for the company. It’s the first applicative laboratory that Kemin Textile Auxiliaries has opened outside of San Marino and places it near the center of China’s denim manufacturing industry.
The lab, the company stated, broadens the opportunity for Garmon technicians to work with companies that previously faced language barriers or travel restrictions. It will also facilitate the development of local collections that better match domestic styles and trends, creating efficiency in clients’ sampling processes.
Additionally, the lab tees up new opportunities for technicians in China to “sharpen their skills” with the latest technologies. The lab is equipped with Garmon’s Smart Foam garment finishing system that reduces water consumption by up to 80 percent. The patent-pending technology uses foam as a carrier of chemicals.
It’s for similar reasons that finishing technology firm Jeanologia opened its first innovation hub in Hong Kong last year. There, a local Jeanologia team of laser designers, technology experts and representatives are on hand to share their knowledge and work alongside clients to develop new sustainable finishing processes.
To celebrate the opening of the fashion laboratory, Garmon Studio created a pair of jeans that draws inspiration from both cultures in honor of the 50th anniversary of official diplomatic relations between San Marino and China. Made with hemp and cotton fabric from the Chinese mill Advance Denim and Smart Foam technology, the left leg features San Marino’s towers that stand above the Adriatic Sea and the left features an ancient Chinese temple. A gold foil “50” on the jeans the represents poignant anniversary.
