Sonnet received an order for six lakh T-shirts in July last year, of which three lakh has already been delivered and the rest is expected to be heading Russia’s way by the end of next month, company officials said.
The world’s biggest football tournament is on its way and preparations for the grand competition are at full throttle. Part of that preparation, comprising over half a million T-shirts worth $1.5 million, is happening in Chattogram’s Gosaildanga, at Sonnet Textile Industries Ltd.
Around 400 employees of the factory, half of its total manpower, are cutting, sewing, packaging T-shirts non-stop for Sportsmaster, a Russian sporting goods supplier officially licensed by Fifa. In all, Sonnet Textile is manufacturing T-shirts of six colours with six different designs which will be sold across Sportsmaster’s more than 660 stores in several European countries, including Russia, Belarus, Denmark, Poland, etc.
Sonnet received an order for six lakh T-shirts in July last year, of which three lakh has already been delivered and the rest is expected to be heading Russia’s way by the end of next month, company officials said.Gazi Md Shahidullah, owner and director of Sonnet Textile, said, “We went into production in February after receiving the order last year and have already shipped 50% of the products. Our Russian buyer will sell these at its outlets. These T-shirts cannot be sold anywhere else as they are made under Fifa licence.”
“I am proud to be able to make the official T-shirt for the biggest football tournament in the world. Everyone is happy to be working on this,” said Shahidullah, who is also the director of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association.The Fifa World Cup 2022 is to begin in Qatar on 21 November this year and will run till 18 December.Visiting Sonnet Textile’s factory at Gosaildanga on Thursday morning, this correspondent saw T-shirts of different designs, sizes, and colours, being made for both males and females. The T-shirts have ‘FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022’, ‘Football is Amazing’, and ‘Play’, over photo sketches of a stadium.
Joynal Abedin, cutting manager of Sonnet Textile, said, “Made in Bangladesh is written on Fifa’s official T-shirts and it is a matter of pride for our country. We are happy to be involved in this process and are working to maintain the highest standards from cutting to packaging.”
Sonnet Textiles has two factories in Chattogram with nearly 2000 workers. The company has an annual export of $20 million and supplies knit garments to 10-12 buyers in several countries around the world.
