Technological innovation and development trend of China denim industry
After decades of rapid development, ‘s denim industry has made brilliant achievements and established an important position in the international market. The export of high-end products of traditional denim clothing is mainly concentrated in the US, Europe, Japan, and South Korean markets. These markets have gradually increased the requirements for environmental protection, functionality and fashion of denim clothing, and the requirements for the construction of social responsibility of processing enterprises have become increasingly strict. Traditional denim clothing Obviously, it can no longer meet people’s wearing needs, so the development of fashionable, functional, and high-end denim textiles has become an inevitable trend, meeting sustainable development has become the theme of the contemporary textile industry, and compliance with the circular economy has become the mainstream of future development.
Advantages of “Chinese denim”
Denim and denim clothing have always been popular products at home and abroad. As a symbol of a free lifestyle, denim is a kind of daily clothing for American consumers. According to the survey, American consumers have 7 pairs of jeans per capita, and 96% of American consumers can find jeans in their wardrobes. is the most important source of American denim imports. According to U.S. Customs statistics, in 2019, the import value of U.S. jeans was 5 billion U.S. dollars, and the import volume was 51.84 million dozen. Among them, jeans accounted for 32.28% and 37.23% of these two indicators, respectively. Its average unit price is lower than that of products from other major source countries such as Mexico, Vietnam, and Egypt, and it is also slightly lower than the average unit price of US global jeans imports. It can be seen that in terms of price and quantity, ‘s denim clothing has a comparative advantage in exporting to the United States.
The development trend of Chinese denim
Although ’s denim started decades later than European and American countries, after 40 years of development and innovation, denim textiles at this stage are not only in terms of color, appearance, style, raw material use, yarn structure, and linear density, Brand-new changes have taken place in the finishing and processing, wearing comfort and other aspects, forming two series of classic denim and pattern denim.
The classic denim continues to retain its rough and simple, thick feel and returns to basics style. The raw materials are mainly pure cotton 97~36.4tex (6S~16S) coarse yarn. Colored denim is mainly styled with fineness, lightweight, and diverse weaves. The weave pattern on the fabric surface has also developed from traditional 3/1 twill to multi-grain weave. The raw materials used have also developed from a single cotton fiber to a variety of fiber materials. Yarn The density has also developed from the original coarse special number to the medium and fine special number, and the spinning process has also developed from the original rotor spinning to a variety of spinning processes and multi-fiber blending technology.
In the application of fiber raw materials for denim yarn: more than 80% of the raw materials used in denim fabrics are cellulose fibers (cotton, viscose fiber, hemp, flax, sky, etc.), and about 6% of the raw materials used in denim fabrics are ordinary chemical fibers ( Spandex, polyester, high-elastic nylon, etc.), and about 14% of denim fabric raw materials are differential fibers (moisture-wicking fibers, high-shrinkage fibers, hollow fibers, antistatic fibers, composite fibers, etc.).
Since the development and innovation of various denim textiles need to rely on the innovation of denim yarns, technological innovation and quality improvement of denim yarns are important prerequisites for the development of novel denim textiles. At present, the innovative technologies of denim textile yarns in mainly include:: Technological innovation of elastic core-spun yarn, the technical innovation of slub yarn, colored dot yarn, hemp gray yarn, multi-fiber combination denim yarn, etc.
Quality improvement and transformation of ‘s denim industry
In the Chinese market, about 90% of denim is used in the production of denim clothing, of which 42.7% is used in the production of jeans, 29% is used to make denim jackets, 10.5% is used to make children’s denim clothes, and 7.8% is used For making denim skirts. At present, the processing and production of denim garments in have formed a complete modern industrial chain, and the R&D, design, and marketing capabilities of denim garments are rapidly improving. Enterprises gradually concentrate their design and marketing centers in Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, and other fashionable gathering places. Even set up research and development centers in the fashion capitals of international markets such as the United States and Europe to promote the upgrading and structural adjustment of ‘s denim industry.
According to the SWOT analysis of ‘s denim industry, the development trend of the industry has entered a deep adjustment cycle at this stage. Denim clothing manufacturers urgently need to transform and upgrade, adjust product structure, reduce low-end, low-value-added products, and increase high-end, high-value-added products. Therefore, the further development of the denim textile industry must rely on the development of raw materials, the application of popular colors, the improvement of mechanical equipment, the innovation of design technology, especially the improvement of finishing technology, the update of clothing styles and the development of clothing fields, etc. Cooperate, make it continuously improve, further highlight the personality of the fabric, give new ideas, take a step ahead, make continuous progress in the development and innovation of the denim textile industry, and realize the green concept of low water consumption, low energy consumption, and low emissions for denim.
Sustainable innovation in ‘s denim industry
In order to promote the green and sustainable process of ‘s denim textile industry, it is also necessary to develop some new technologies for preparing green fibers from biomass or recyclable raw materials, so that the production process is low-carbon and environmentally friendly, and the finished products are environmentally friendly or non-polluting after being discarded. Recycling currently mainly includes bio-based chemical fibers, recycled chemical fibers, and dope-dyed chemical fibers. In order to promote the construction of ecological civilization in the denim textile industry, Smart Indigo technology, as the world’s leading electrolytic reduction technology, has achieved clean production to a certain extent. Using a three-dimensional electrolytic reactor, only indigo dye, water, caustic soda and electricity can be produced. Liquid indigo is released, and only oxygen is discharged. Compared with other indigo reduction technologies, Smart Indigo technology is highly efficient, environmentally friendly, small in size, low in cost, pure and stable in product content, and completely free of chemical additives and metal ions.
For the denim dyeing process
- The innovation of denim sizing yarn technology can replace the sodium hydrosulfite and sulfurized alkali in traditional sizing yarn production by optimizing the “composite reducing agent”, improving the denim dyeing formula, production technology, and other technical applications to achieve precise ingredients and directly reducing sulfur content The production of chemical compounds and the total amount of waste gas and wastewater pollution produced in the dyeing process will realize the clean production of denim fabric dyeing from the source. It can reduce the consumption of indigo dye by more than 20%, the consumption of sulfur dye by more than 10%, and the consumption of caustic soda by 25%.
- The innovation of dyeing equipment automation, through the detection of image recognition, infrared spectrum, spectrophotometer, and other equipment, the color control in the dyeing process is carried out.
- Innovation of the dyeing process, such as the research and application of new dyeing technologies such as electrochemical dyeing and foam dyeing.
- Garment manufacturing is carried out after yarn dyeing or cotton dyeing to reduce excessive environmental pollution.
Environmentally friendly denim washing technology is an important link in the denim garment manufacturing process, and it is also the embodiment of the core added value of denim garments. Because traditional denim garments often use stone grinding, sandblasting, rinsing, pickling, nostalgic washing, and enzyme washing as the main means of “washing old feeling” style finishing, the production process is highly polluting, energy-intensive, and labor-intensive. , low value-added “three highs and one low” characteristics. We can start from the two aspects of intelligent equipment and innovative technology to realize the environmental friendliness of denim garment washing. The first is to develop intelligent washing equipment for denim garments: automation and water-saving equipment for key washing production processes, comprehensive energy utilization system and intelligent equipment in the drying process, and intelligent washing production management system for denim garments; the second is to promote denim garments Application of laser technology, ozone technology, bio-enzyme technology, digital printing technology, etc. in the garment washing process. It achieves the “waterless manufacturing” technology in the textile industry that reduces water in the whole production process, has no water in key steps, and can reuse the part with less water.
This is Amy Mok from JFY jeans company, we are a denim jean manufacturer in China, I have been in the apparel production industry for 20 years in China. If you have any questions about apparel production, including woven, knitted, denim jeans, welcome to discuss with me. I will tell you everything that I know.
