"MILESTONES FOR ORTA VINTAGE DENIM”

The story of Vintage Denim for Orta Anadolu dates back to the early days the company
started to have the denim production intention.
Orta Anadolu was merely a ring yarn producer until 1985. The yarns were used for the wefts
and warps of Naphtol-dyed denims which are designed for use in the manufacturing of
durable work-wear.

Levis conducted a market research in Turkey in 1983 and met Orta Anadolu under the
guidance of Turkish Investment bank. Orta Anadolu still had the shuttle looms for weaving
and used naphtol dye at that time. The key components of Vintage Denim were Ring Yarn
and Indigo dye.

Levis, upon further reviews, encouraged Orta Anadolu to collaborate with US West Point
Pepperel, another producer of denim fabric and the purpose was to relay know-how of denim
manufacturing to Orta Anadolu. Russ Lesler, a West Point employee, started working for Orta
Anadolu as a technician and managed Orta Anadolu’s machine investments with his vast
knowledge and experience. Morrison, Sulzer and denim preparation machine investments
required for denim production were launched following his efforts.

Orta Anadolu chose the “Rope Dyeing” technology in 1985 for Indigo denim production
which led the first step into the “VINTAGE” concept. In addition the first Open End Yarn
Production was installed in 1985.
In 1986 when Orta Anadolu started indigo denim production, the Ring/Ring denim fabrics
were woven at Saurer WT shuttle looms for the local market. Sulzer projectile looms were
used to weave our export products since they were more efficient and their yields were of
higher quality and served a more demanding customer base.

In the early 1987, first denim with Levi’s fabric standards was manufactured using West
Texas cotton. The approval of the standard was a milestone for Orta Anadolu which wide
opened Levi Strauss doors for it. First shipment was for Novi Marof, Levi Strauss's
Yugoslavian factory. The code of fabric was “XH143X” and order quantity was 25,000 mts.
This order was celebrated by all the Orta Anadolu staff and created a motivation to seek
further opportunities.

Upon an interview with Bob Rockey, Levi’s Europe C.E.O. in 1987 at Cologne, Inter-Jeans
fair in Germany and impressions and insights acquired at the fair, Orta Anadolu proceeded
with the upgrading of the quality and capacity of the “Ring Yarn” facilities to take its second
key step for the “VINTAGE” concept.

Orta Anadolu started to monitor Japanese and US markets closely after 1988 to consolidate its
“VINTAGE” culture and became the second denim producer after Japanese in the world who
used Howa rings with 72 mm diameters for Ring Spinning.

In the early 1990, “retro” and “uneven” yarns were produced as well as the first “neppy yarn”
(currently known as “home-spun yarn”). The fabric type “RH 150 R”, our first high density
Ring/Ring fabric, was supplied to Levi's Europe for its Red Tab processes. Also the Levi's 04
became one of the possibilities. As a result Orta Anadolu was referred as the source for
vintage fabrics.
In 1993, the first of its kind, a RHT denim was produced from warp and weft retro yarn with
reverse twist in order to obtain a RHT denim with LHT look and the successful development
was ready to be introduced to major brands in Europe. Sig. Claudio Buziol, the owner of
Replay, was one of the first people to have seen this denim and as he was highly impressed by
its hold and optic look and he ordered 50,000 mts as a test run.

In 1995, Orta Anadolu took a further step for the “VINTAGE” look with the high tech pure
indigo dyeing technology that comprises a know-how production heritage of Orta Anadolu
and “Flat Optics” process.

Before 2000, Amsler devices were added to almost all ring yarn machines, thereby their retro
and uneven yarn production qualities were enhanced with a significant increase in capacities.

In the early 2000s, trials were scheduled on natural indigo mixtures obtained from the indigo-
fera plant, which resulted in the development of a special indigo shade that is highly
welcomed since 2006. This shade was called “Peacock”. The products are still dyed with
Peacock colour in the organic products range of Ordenim Line.

2003 witnessed a first in the history of company. Orta Anadolu has become the first producer
besides CONE, of “Levi’s 01 fabric”, a denim legend. This happened through its
“VINTAGE” denim experience and with no outside know-how acquired. And Levi’s obtained
the denim 01 from Orta Anadolu, a none-CONE organization for the first time. The fabric
code was 6428.

The denim 01 production contributed a lot to Orta Anadolu. It carried Orta Anadolu to the
peaks of “VINTAGE” denim production and the “VINTAGE DENIM PHILOSOPHY” was
adopted. This experience then led to the creation of “Fillmore” and “Panhandle” concepts.

Another dream of Orta has been real thanks to its investment in Dornier Air Weaving Loom
in 2005. Orta was after “crunch” effect on authentic vintage garments since 1988. However, it
was not easy to spread this effect to the entire width of the fabric due to technical reasons. As
a result of long research and development process, this effect could have been obtained on the
entire width for the first time in the world and this concept was called as “Crunch Denim”.
Fabric was named “Nirvana”.
Orta Anadolu matured the Vintage Concept scope with the treasured inputs of the fabric and
design consultants – Dario Marangon who is among the scare Vintage Denim gurus became a
dedicated consultant for Orta Anadolu in 2003. His knowledge and his vintage eye steered us
to pursue further developments of constructions and shade of indigo to match the targets laid
on the table for development.
Orta Anadolu has closely listened to its customer’s demands and has had and still has the
opportunity to work with and work for brands and designers who have enlightened Orta on
the path to develop Vintage denim fabric- Eddie O-Rouke, Antonio di Battista, Piero Türk,
Ken Giraud, Camillo Cassina, Giovanni Petrin, Adriano Goldschmied, Angelo Bruni,
Wrangler, Lee, Levis design teams are the few among many who have highly contributed to
the Vintage Philosophy.

In 2007, Orta Anadolu introduced “Fossil finish” concept to the market. The inspiration of
the concept comes from the legendary vintage 19th century Levi’s jean found in Nevada-USA
which was sold to Levi Strauss San Francisco for about 57,000 USD in an auction. Nevada
jean was found in a Nevada Copper mine below ground level. This special technique has
allowed Orta to obtain a fabric that has the hold and the appearance of being washed by hand
for many years.

In 2008, “Blulux”, another concept of Orta Anadolu was introduced to the market. Blulux
gives a bright look for dark washes while ensuring a vintage appearance and that is held for
light washes. All this comes with lower costs and less efforts in garment finishing .

Today Orta Anadolu is still re-known for Vintage Denim... and will remain dedicated to fine-
tune and challenge its developments by conducting highly committed research and
development activities and make necessary investments.