Fast fashion knitwear manufacturer Viva Knitwear has recently installed a total of eighteen Shima Seiki New SWG-V Wholegarment knitting machines in 5 and 7 gauges to supply UK high street fashion retailers.

Viva Knitwear was founded in February this year by the business partners of Britannia Knitwear, an established Manchester based knitwear manufacturer. The company aims to bring new products to its customers as well as take advantage of the savings which can be made from reducing both yarn waste and labour costs.

Staying competitive

Mr Asim Shahid, a partner in Viva, told Knitting Industry: “We have invested to secure our future in this industry and to give our retail and wholesale customers something new.” Shahid added: “Most manufacturers in the low price fast fashion knitwear business make cut and sew or semi fully-fashioned garments. We don’t have the making up skills which can be found in the Far East and elsewhere due to labour costs. So we cannot get a high quality finish on our garments. Wholegarment knitting allows us to manufacture better quality garments at very competitive prices so that we can compete with imports.”

The company has decided to physically separate the Wholegarment business from its Britannia Knitwear production facility and has purchased its own building to house the eighteen machines and Shima SDS One design system and minimal making up equipment.

Time is right

Senior partner in Viva Knitwear, Mr Asif Pervez has been involved in knitwear manufacturing for over twenty years and has always prided himself in being early into new Shima Seiki flat knitting technology. Knitting Industry asked Mr Pervez if he thought the low price fast fashion market was ready for seamless knitwear and whether he could make a return on his investment. Pervez explained: “We work very closely with our customers and know our market well and so we feel the time is right. Also, it is getting more difficult to recruit and retain skilled knitwear labour in this country so our investment in Wholegarment technology deskills the overall manufacturing process.”

On return on investment, Pervez commented: “We are able to buy yarns very competitively from around the world and as labour costs are minimal, we are able to produce good quality garments with relatively low costs.”

Viva Knitwear is working closely with its supplier Shima Seiki Europe Ltd to upgrade the skills of its programmers and knitting machine operators. There is a steep learning curve in this respect and the company will need to be patient before making its next move which could be an investment in SWG-X, 12 gauge machines. “We need to get to grips with v-bed Wholegarment technology and then we can consider an investment in Shima’s four needle bed SWG-X technology which is a more complex tehnology.” Mr Pervez explained to Knitting Industry.

Viva has invested in Shima’s SWG183-V model which is a two system 183cm wide machine equipped with twin latch needle technology. The latch needles are mounted in pairs and the configuration effectively mimics the SWG-X’s four needle bed configuration while using only two needle beds. In effect the machine uses four sets of needles (two front and two back) to facilitate the complex transfers required in Wholegarment knitting.

Viva Knitwear is looking to develop new products for both new and existing customers. Interested parties can contact Mr Asif Pervez on +44 (0)161 273 7830 or email [email protected].