Interview with Jose Rafael Royo, vice president at Tejidos Royo
1- First of all please let us know about Tejidos Royo Textiles’ history and it’s success story in the textile sector.
To explain 120 years of history in an interview is quite difficult.
Royo was founded in 1903, by my great-grandfather Jose Royo, in a small town called Alcudia de Crespins.
At that time, we sold socks and tights and Knitwear fabrics. For every 6 pairs, you would get a pack of cigarettes. Quite a marketing strategy thinking 120 years ago.
Today, the 4th generation is running the company, we don´t produce a meter of knitwear and we are specialists in denim and sportswear. today we own a 100% different company with the same values and culture of Jose Royo in 1903.
2- What is Tejidos Royo Textiles’ range of products? And specification?
Our collection is divided into two main lines Denim and Sportswear.
Denim: All collections focus on Dry Indigo® and recycling
Sportswear: The best piece dyed in the market and the most flexible garment dyed available.
Today, 100% of our denim collection has a minimum of 25% recycled content (no more than 100% virgin cotton), and our target is to have the same by 2025 in sportswear. We believe the future belongs to recycling and we are betting on it.
3- How do you evaluate the fabric manufacturing sector in Spain in general?
Fabric manufacturing in Spain is in difficult and hard conditions.
Spain, and in general Europe is not a manufacturing country. We have a high minimum salary, a lot of rights and few obligations, and what is worst, a bunch of politicians that do not support the textile industry. I don´t want to give numbers, an example is sufficient. There are only two companies left in Spain that are Vertically Integrated Textile Manufacturers (spinning, weaving and finishing…)
Spain has great textile professionals and is a pity that the European Community is looking at other places to cheap import textile and garment products …. Only by innovation, we can survive.
4- How many percent of your products are exported to international markets and how many percent use in the Europe market? Where are your main export destinations and countries?
93% of our products are exported to international markets. We consider the “local market” Europe, and is 75% of our sales.
The rest is USA, Australia, and Korea.
Our main customers are :
- Diesel
- Brax
- Zara
- Massimo Dutti
- Mac
- Antonelle
- Paige
- J Crew
- Country Road
5- How do you evaluate 2023 year for the textile and Fabric sector?
A very difficult one. A lot of our customers are full of stocks (they overbought in 2022), and energy prices in Europe are still a very complicated matter. There is a war very close to us, so people are being prudent with expenditure, consequently a reduction in buying power.
A lot of countries have great debt and the middle class is killed by taxes. Again, politicians are far away from helping people/companies succeed.
If energy cost remains at a lower level, we will be able to compete and be strong again. We will never be more competitive than Turkey, Egypt, or the far east, but we are more innovative and creative, and the market is willing to pay a bit more for “different things”, we don´t want to be soldiers of boredom.
6- let us know about your latest products, research and development, new investment and …
New fabrics
Dry Indigo® & Dry Black®
The only technology today that uses zero water in dyeing and no wastewater.
Icon family: Fabrics made of 100% recycled materials. Unique in the market. Even the elastomer is recycled (Regen by Creora).
Sportswear
Cotton-free articles, with the softest touch on the market.
Garment-dyed recycles, using all of our own spinning and weaving waste and what is more important, contamination-free!!!
A new state-of-the-art spinning plan for recycling yarns. Unique in its class and will be the reference of the recycling industry. Lets recycle and leave the land for food. Is much more needed.
in the field of Solar panels, and green energy, we have installed up to 15% of our total energy needs.
7- Sustainability and recycling are two important subjects for textile manufacturers all around the world and especially for Europeans, what is Tejidos Royo Textiles sustainability policy and what you did for this?
Our target is to have a full collection by 2025 made of recycled fibers. Virgin cotton will be less of the used fibers.
Meanwhile, our target is to be fully traceable and transparent. How? By buying Spanish cotton (GMO-free) geo-localized from the seed and traced with the double-digit by Taylorlux (double digit system) form the cotton bale to the fabric. The customer has to decide if they want to continue with the blockchain. Is the future to real sustainability? Certificates are good, but not sufficient (look what happened to organic cotton)
8- At the end you can add any other information that you think is interesting for readers in EMEA region and a better interview.
Tejidos Royo believes the only way to succeed in the fashion world is to innovate and be sustainable. Being sustainable is not only using less water, or legal chemical products or else, is acting in all the supply chain with the only purpose of improving it. Acting in each step as it was the last one.
we should focus on making the best recycle yarn, clean and strong. about Fabrics, lets use the most sustainable energy available in the market to reduce the CO2 footprint and reduce the use of the cleaning and finishing process available in the market.
Don’t forget, we are not doing this only for our own company and benefits, we are doing this for the generation to come, is not their fault we damage the world, is our obligation to fix it now.
Tejidos Royo has in its DNA to be efficient, different and never feel comfortable with the situation, there is always something that can be improve.
