Style and quality: the Belarusian textile factory Kamvol after a major upgrade

As little as ten years ago the Minsk-based worsted fabric manufacturer Kamvol – Belarus’ only worsted cloth producer and the CIS’ largest one – was in a deplorable state. It looked as if the Belarusian brand would not stay on the market for long. With the rising stock in storage, debts, outdated equipment, and the premises in nearly complete disrepair, the company could not develop successfully although it used to make over 20 million running meters of fabrics per annum. In 2012 the country’s president decided in favor of converting the company, which employed hundreds of Minsk residents, into a cutting-edge business.

Today Kamvol is getting back to the textile market, although naturally competition is fierce. In the course of the large-scale retooling campaign over $110 million was invested in the factory. A lot of other resources have been invested as well such as equipment from the world’s best vendors, raw materials of impeccable quality, technologies, and professional expertise. The effort has produced results: in 2016 the company made over 1 million running meters of fabrics, in 2017 the figure reached 2.3 million. There are plans to reach 6 million by 2020.

In 2017 the Belarusian company Kamvol partnered with the Turkish company Zen Led, a market leader in Turkey and a prominent international player. The company supplies fabrics to Tom Tailor, s.Oliver, Zara… The Turkish company contracted to transfer technologies, develop designs, and promote new Belarusian fabrics in Europe and Asia in the dealership capacity. The Belarusian and Turkish specialists have created a new collection of fabrics – 119 articles in total – offering quite a broad choice for the mass market and the premium segment. Salim Sabri Dogan, the head of the Turkish company Zen Led and a textile business expert, believes that now Kamvol offers quality fabrics at competitive prices. Penetrating and holding onto the markets is task number one now.

Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko has been able to appreciate Kamvol’s new products. He recently visited the enterprise and personally inspected results of the retooling campaign. He went on a tour of the factory and saw the entire process, which converts wool into fabrics with the golden brand KAMVOL on the edge. “What I’ve seen is decent fabric. I think I am not going to have my suits made of someone else’s fabric now. I will buy fabric here,” noted Alexander Lukashenko.

By the way, Kamvol’s business portfolio already contains the idea to set up a united body with the company BelCredo and start making ready-made apparel using its own collection of fabrics. According to the head of the Belarusian state light industry concern Bellegprom Nikolai Yefimchik, it will allow more actively studying the market, faster responding to demands of consumers and fashion designers, and certainly growing larger.

The upgraded Kamvol factory, true professionals and Made in Belarus fabrics are in our special report.