Where does the name Azgard come from? It was one of the first questions Lenzing's Carved in Blue put to CEO Ahmed Humayun Shaikh in a profile of the company published in August 2017. The answer reaches into Norse mythology, where Asgard is one of nine worlds. The "S" became a "Z" because the original was already taken.
The profile traced how the business had changed names over nearly 25 years. Azgard Nine was incorporated on 20 January 1993. It was earlier known as Nafees Denim, then Legler Nafees Denim after a merger with Legler of Italy, and took its present name in 2004.
It also set out the scale of the operation. Azgard9 was a vertical textile set-up with three business units: spinning (open-end and ring), denim weaving (including selvedge and prepared-for-garment-dyeing fabrics), and garments, with cutting, stitching, washing and finishing in-house. The denim unit produced 3.5 million metres a month and the garment unit 0.7 million pieces. The weaving floor ran 187 looms, fed by six ball-warping machines, two rope-dyeing ranges and three sizing machines. Production sites were in Lahore, Muzaffargarh and Kasur.
Customers included Zara, Bershka, G-Star, Diesel, Old Navy, GAP, Tom Tailor, Mango, Mustang, New Yorker, Gina Tricot and Next. About 60 percent of fabric sales went to Bangladesh and 20 percent to Turkey, with garments shipped mostly to the UK, the USA and Europe.
Key facts
- Foundedincorporated 20 January 1993; listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange
- Capacity (2017)3.5 million metres of denim and 0.7 million garments a month
- Equipment187 weaving looms, 2 rope-dyeing machines, 3 sizing machines
- Certifications listedISO 9001, ISO 14001, SA8000, SEDEX, GOTS, OCS, OEKO-TEX® Standard 100, Better Cotton membership; GRS in process
- Fabric marketsBangladesh 60%, Turkey 20%, Pakistan 10%, Europe 5%, rest of Asia and UAE 5%
The same vertical model, now running at around 42 million metres of fabric a year, is what lets Azgard9 offer brands traceable, responsible denim from fibre to finished jeans.
