Merida, Yucatan — With the inauguration of Indumental, a design, innovation and prototyping laboratory for the garment industry, the region is no longer just a place where clothes are assembled in factories.
Yucatan is now a relevant place for fashion creators throughout Latin America, said Gov. Mauricio Vila Dosal.
The facility is the first of its kind in Mexico, with tools and services to help fashion brands grow. At its centerpiece is the nation’s first digital textile printing machine for creating original fabric designs. The Israeli-built printer is eco friendly, with biodegradable inks and will use 80 liters of water per month, said Vila.
The facility also provides market research for designers to keep in touch with trends.
Indumental was funded with 17 million pesos from both the state and federal government, the National Council of Science and Technology (Conacyt) and the private sector. It was built, fittingly, on Periférico Avenida Maquiladoras, named for the assembly factories that have dotted Yucatan’s landscape for decades.
The lab aims to strengthen the capacities and competitiveness of small and medium-sized local businesses.
The governor said that the fashion sector contributes to generate more and better jobs, a priority of the state administration.
“I see in the clothing industry a great potential to give work to our people,” said Vila. “The vast majority of those participating in the clothing industry are small and medium-sized companies, and if we continue to join forces as companies, state and municipal government, as well as civil society, we will have the opportunity to continue transforming Yucatan.”
Thousands of employees in 120 Yucatan workshops already stitch together all kinds of attire, from school uniforms to NASA space suits. More than 417,000 shirts were recently delivered to primary and secondary school children, as well as more than 200,000 jackets that will be delivered later.
Indumental puts Yucatan at the forefront in the clothing industry, which helps projects such as the Tekit Guayabera Fair, said the governor.
