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In recent years, South Korea-based manufacturer Hansae Co., Ltd. has made verticality a key investment area.
Originally focused solely on garment production, the global group has acquired textile mills in strategic locations to support swifter speed to market for its customers. This plan has played out in Vietnam through the acquisition of fabric manufacturer Color & Touch (C&T) in 2013. Specializing in knitting as well as dyeing—with advanced color matching capabilities—C&T produces textiles using cotton, man-made cellulosic fibers (MMCF) like rayon and modal, synthetics and more. With a 2024 fiscal year revenue of approximately $130 million, C&T’s current customer list includes major retailers such as Walmart, Target, Gap, Old Navy, Carhartt, Kohl’s, VF Corp. and SPARC Group.
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Now, C&T is expanding its operations with the opening of a third facility in Vietnam this month. This marks a significant milestone, following its initial factory established in 2006 and the second location launched in 2015. The new facility will increase C&T’s total daily dyeing capacity by 150,000 kilograms.
Although Vietnam is just one of seven countries in which Hansae operates factories, its fabric and textile plants there represent over half of its total production output. Hansae’s first Vietnam-based garment factory opened in 2001, and two more followed in 2005 and 2010. This existing strong footprint in Vietnam was the impetus for Hansae’s merger with C&T, a move that expanded its operations there to fabric manufacturing and heightened the level of verticalization within its supply chain. Since then, C&T has been the key enabler for Hansae’s fabric-to-garment manufacturing capacity in Vietnam. This C&T opening will further accelerate stable accessibility of key raw materials required for the group’s garment manufacturers in Vietnam and across Asia.
Responsible, Regional Production
One of the key considerations for leading global fashion manufacturers such as Hansae is supply chain accountability. Despite garment manufacturing being highly diversified, the industry at large has been heavily reliant on fabric and components from China, which has created vulnerabilities. The flaws in this singular sourcing strategy showed during the pandemic, as operations and transportation from China stalled early in the outbreak, leaving many downstream factories without materials.