The Numero Uno factory tour – Behind the Seams

September 15, 2014
1,106 Comments

A brand
synonymous with class and style has an ardent journey to describe.

 
What looks
like a simple pair of jeans has an amazing story to tell. A factory tour of Numero
Uno, the youth icon in fashion, has a fantastic tale to tell.Inspired by
the western music and Pop culture of the 80’s, the Indian youth believes in
being vocal about everything, and saying it out loud. 

Enter Numero Uno, a brand
synonymous with fashion that brings out the real “you”.
 
So how is this brand different?
 
Mr.
Narinder Singh, MD, Numero Uno Clothing Ltd. saw the gap of the ardent need of
the best and demand for denims for the masses, and so began to procure denim
fabric from the domestic market and convert it into a cool pair of jeans.
 
Hence, Numero
Uno was born.
 
A few pitfalls involving government regulations on import of machinery,
fabric and production of denims were always there. However, his strong
determination and his love for denims, surpassed the obstacles and Mr. Narinder
Singh pursued his dreams with locally assembled machines to manual washing and
scraping and created designs and patterns.
 
Hard work
and determination created huge demand in the market and the retailers and
industry veterans rated Numero as A1 quality product, and that’s how the brand
got its name, ‘Numero Uno’.
With Jeans
at its core, Numero Uno has diversified into a complete range of casual wear that can be complimented with a cool
pair of jeans. These include shirts, tees, jackets, belts, shoes, bags etc.
Numero Uno is probably one of the very few brands that designs, manufactures
and markets its denims. They have three manufacturing units, 2 in Gurgaon and
one in Dehradoon.
 
BRAND PRESENCE
 
Numero Uno
boasts of more than 180 exclusive brand
stores across more 100 cities, and is largely present in more than 700
multi-brand outlets and large format stores like Shopper’s Stop across the
country.
 
A strong
brand presence in North, Numero Uno has been steadily increasing it footprints
in rest of India. The brand shall reach Mumbai, Hyderabad, Belgaum & Nashik
too. Numero Uno has also achieved a pan India presence by tying up with leading
ecommerce players like Flipkart, Myntra, Jabong & Snapdeal. Online shoppers
can also indulge in shopping at www.numerounostore.com. 
 
NUMERO UNO PHILOSOPHY
 

The brand Numero
Uno believes in accepting/adapting change as and when the time is right. They
believe in creating great value for the consumer and commit the highest levels
in terms of product quality, design and integrity.  Keeping in mind their
consumer and his aspirations, Numero Uno took a new approach in 2012, and added
a new logo “NU” to its current NUMERO UNO jeans wear, a short-form of Numero
Uno and the logo is strategically used to represent, ‘New’. This reinstates the
brand’s commitment to innovation and ‘newness’ in its offerings.

 
COMMUNICATION
FROM THE BRAND
 
Till early
2000, Numero Uno’s campaigns brought out the romance and love for all things
beautiful and nice. This phase saw Laxmi Menon, Marc Robinson, Anupama Verma,
Mini Mathur, Aditya Roy Kapur and Bruna Abdullah some of the leading film and
fashion personalities endorsing the brand.
The current
face of the brand is Lisa Haydon, a personification of fashion, attitude,
confidence who flaunts her unique individuality with so much ease. 
 
THE MANUFACTURING PROCESS
 
The
manufacturing process is divided into 3 parts – design, production and laundry which
any factory produced garment goes through. However, denim is a fabric that goes
through more processes and that’s why all denims have an individual appeal.
 
DESIGN
 
The
designers conceptualize the look of their denim collection one season in
advance. Each element plays a crucial role in enhancing the look of the denim.
 
Every
concept pr an idea gets translated into a design or style. The sizes, fit,
& ratio are studied while making the prototypes. Design patters are
developed and cut on the basis of design sheets which involves a close
coordination between the designer and pattern makers. The layering and cutting
of fabrics is programmed through automated computer aided design systems.
 
CUTTING, STITCHING AND FINISHING
 
In the denim industry, getting the right fit
is like hitting the bull’s eye. Numero Uno’s understanding of the Indian body
type,  consumer preferences and extensive
fit trials have helped us reach a position where the brand is known for its
amazing fits.  From skinny & slim fit
to straight fit and from mid-rise to low rise, the choices are plenty.
 
With an in-depth
knowledge and latest machinery, the predefined CAD patterns help in cutting the
fabric basis style & fit and achieve maximum unison of patterns and designs
with minimum wastage. The size, fit & ratio is studied and tested while
making the prototypes.
 
What is
interesting in this process is that 11 to 15 parts are stitched together to
make a pair of jeans. The things usually added to a bare pair are belt loops,
zipper, buttons, pockets, inside and outside, rivets & the leather patch. Stitching
is done with the help of high speed stitching machine.  Machines used are chain stitch machine, Over
lock machine, Belting machine, Feed off arm machine, Loop making machine,
Bartack machine.
LAUNDARY
 
A denim is
a denim is a denim until it is washed. All denims are made from same fabrics,
it’s the washes and post treatments that bring out the character of a denim. It
gets its final look at this stage when it goes through Laser patterns, hand
scrapping, Ozone bleaching, Stone washing etc. It is the key element that
differentiates one from another. Washing involves a lot of experimentation as
fabrics react differently to different washing agents such as pumice stones,
enzymes, silicon etc. Depending on the look that is to be achieved, following
washing processes are required:
 
•
 Ozone Bleaching
•
 Laser machine
•
 Hand scrapping
•
 Stone washing
•
G2 – Waterless washing
machines
 
Ozone
Laundry is a term generally used to describe a philosophy of textile care that
uses electricity and oxygen in a unique way to replace
many of the chemicals normally used in a traditional washing process.
 
Oxygen and
electricity are used to create ozone. Ozone is dissolved into water and applied
to the wash wheel in place of the chemicals. It prevents the formation of Fungi
and prevents staining. 100 kg’s of back staining can be removed in 10 minutes.
 
Ozone laundry
begins with a paradigm shift in traditional laundry fundamentals.
 
Benefits:
Improve efficiency and reduces operating costs of a laundry. It
greatly reduces the environmental impact of traditional  laundry operations.
 
 
Laser
Machines are used to create whiskers or moustaches on the
denim, as per the predetermined pattern. This helps in eliminating the manual,
time consuming & hazardous process of sandblasting. Laser machines help
replicate the same effect on all garments consistently.  Only the brittle denims are scrubbed with
sand paper in order to obtain whiskers.
 

Hand
scrapping process, the placement and pattern is marked on the
garment which is mounted on balloons filled with air and scrubbed with sand
paper on engraved pattern lines. This operation requires high skilled labour
who can handle uniformity and sequence in whisker line.

 
Washing 
was perceived as the most
polluting stage with chemical discharge polluting the water and the dust, a
precursor to respiratory issues. 


The laundry process has seen a paradigm shift,
thanks to Jeanologia, their research
& technology partner from Spain, one of the best in the world for washing
technologies. The latest processes implemented at Numero Uno is more efficient
& environment friendly.
 
E-soft technology
washing machine uses 90% less water & 80% less electricity while
washing a garment.
 
Stone
washes are also done with the help of pumice stone to give a
faded and worn out appearance. This is usually accomplished either by washing
the jeans with pumice in a rotating drum.

G2 is a
Waterless Washing Machine that washes jeans with about 60 % less water  and almost no chemicals…….!!
 
•
How & what is does : Air
from atmosphere is transformed into a blend of active oxygen and ozone called
‘Plasma’. This plasma is used to wash & the age garments. The plasma is
transformed into purified air before it is returned to the atmosphere.
 
•
Capacity: The
machine has a capacity of 50 kgs  ie it
can wash about 3000 jeans in a day. G2Ts programmable software system
automatically adjusts gas concentrations to reflect load conditions (i.e.,
jeans, tees, wet, dry, etc).
 
Boon to the
environment:  From
a case study of actual production in the US, it has been found that G2T can
result in 67% savings in energy and water, 55% savings in time and 85% saving
in chemicals and can thus provide a saving of $0.44 per garment washed besides
contributing to environmental protection and reducing health hazards for the
workers.
Other
Benefits.
 
•
Removes back-staining & loose
indigo without detergents.
•
Bleaches without using chemicals.
•
Eliminates the need for Potassium
Permanganate spraying.
•
Improves Crocking in Dark finishes.
•
Creates unique yellow-cast for true
vintage looks.
NUMERO UNO GREEN PRACTICES
 
Numero Uno’s passion for denim making goes
hand in hand with its commitment for nature, greenery and green practices.   Eco-friendly technology such as lasers, ozone & G2 have
been employed in order to prevent the use of chemicals, save water and protect
the environment. Several years ago, Numero Uno did away with the process of
sand blasting, which could effect the health of the workers.
 
Numero Uno not only believes in saving natural resources but recycling
and reducing its dependence on them. With these measures we use Solar energy
for water heaters (used in washing the garments),
lighting the 10 acre large campus that houses the plant, the head office
and  a warehouses. These solar heaters
help save upto 10,000 litres of
diesel fuel per annum.  Wind ventilators are used to push out
hot air from the factory floors instead of the industrial exhaust systems to
reduce energy consumption.
 
Installation
of ETP plants have helped in
recycling the polluted water, the recycled water is as good as fresh water and
is also being used to water the plants in the campuses.
 
Gurgaon
campus alone has more than 600 fully grown tree that are more than 30 year
old.  The greenery offers a healthy
working environment to the workers and also obstruct sound pollution, thereby
making us responsible neighbours. Google Earth shows this campus as the biggest
green belt in the Railway Road area of Gurgaon.
 
Large rain
water harvesting facility has been replenishing 136 lakh litres of water,
annually.  These along with the use of
recycled paper carry bags have played an important role in maintaining the much
needed ecological balance in the environment.
Wear Your Mind on your Denims
Numero Uno introduces denim tattoos for the first time in
India
 

Denims have been
a part of life for over a hundred years and these everyday essentials have
become a second skin to one and all. Bringing upon a denim revolution in the
market, Numero Uno becomes the first and only brand to introduce the concept of
denim tattoos in the Indian market
that gives the consumers a delightful experience with an opportunity to
customise and personalise their favourite jeans.

 
Many of us at
some point in time have scribbled over our jeans… Be it cool ying-yang
designs, wacky statements or complete Rastafarian symbols. Almost everyone
loves to doodle new designs that let them express themselves.  This process of self expression and self
discovery through denim tattoos is insync with brand’s current campaign ‘Be the
NU You’.
 
Enter the Nano
Tattoo Machine, a crazy initiative from Jeanologia, brought to India by Numero
Uno. Thanks to the Nano Tattoo Machine, people now can freely think of getting
a design of their liking, permanently tattooed on their favorite pair of jeans.
 
No Pain, no
needles, just a pure dose of attitude!
 
Denim Tattoos are
a cool way to let you exhibit your unique style through your jeans. It ensures
that your jeans stand apart from everybody else’s and you get to make a
statement.
 
The Nano Laser
technology is eco-friendly,
·        The machine consumes less power
·
It neither uses water nor
pollutes water
·
Unlike the scrapping process,
it does not emit dust (which can be harmful to the health of workers).
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