Article: Crazy for blue: outside the US, the world's largest maker of denim is in India. Drishnamohan S Rao reports on a surprising development of do-it-yourself jean kits.

TEN years ago I decided to smoke Charms cigarettes - not for their superior flavour, but because the carton matched my first pair of jeans. Those of us in India who had seen them only on TV and Western movies had gone absolutely crazy for them. Barely into my teens and eager to charm the girls, I walked the streets of Bangalore in dirty jeans. A victim of MTV, I was under the illusion that women like men in soiled jeans, with cigarette butts sticking out of their mouths.

Meanwhile, one Indian textile company had spotted the trend. Established in 1931 in Ahmedabad, western India, Arvind Mills used to produce traditional cotton fabrics and garments for domestic ...

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