Aditya Birla Group owned Birla Cellulose, manufacturers of cellulosic fibres, on Friday announced the launch of a new apparel line under the brand name ‘Liva’ that uses viscose staple fibre.
Briefing reporters, K K Maheshwari, group business director, fibres and textiles, said the fabric made using the viscose fibre flows gracefully, and it is natural and bio-degradable as the main ingredient is wood.
“The apparel line is currently limited to women’s wear as they are the ones who prefer fluidity in the material, but we might start a line for men and children. The company plans to reach over 50 cities and 1,000 outlets with two million garments this season and plans to expand to 2,500 outlets in next two years,” he said.
Maheshwari said that they have set up a design studio, backed by a technical research and development centre, in Gujarat. “They are geared to working with the value-chain to bring forth every season, new innovations that trend.”
The group had been working on the fibres and the garments for the past two years with an investment of Rs 150 crore to Rs 170 crore. He added that their expenditure for the coming financial year would be Rs 150 crore.
On how they were going to make viscose fibre popular as it is not known to a majority of people in the country, Maheshwari said, “When a user buys an apparel, he/she does not know the back-end work that goes into make the fabric. India does not follow labelling of the line. In the tags, it would be mentioned that the garment was made using Liva (viscose fibre ingredient),” he added.
National award winner Kangana Ranaut has been picked as the brand ambassador.
