FW
According to traders and market experts, new cotton prices in Gujarat are likely to rise in the near future. The new cotton season in Gujarat opened with 20 per cent higher prices as compared to last year (2017-18). The main reasons for this are supposed to be the delay in arrival, good demand from mills and higher minimum support price (MSP). Prices for new cotton in the state range between Rs 46,200-46,500 per candy of 355 kg this year in mid-October as compared to Rs 38,500-39,000 per candy in the corresponding period last year.
For long staple variety, MSP has increased 26.16 per cent to Rs 5,450 per quintal, while for the medium staple, it has been hiked by 28 per cent to Rs 5,150 per quintal. Currently, daily arrival of new cotton has reached to about 55,000 bales (a bale of 170 kg) in India and about 10,000 bales in Gujarat. According to traders, arrivals of cotton are likely to touch 70,000 bales across India and 15,000 bales in Gujarat.
Brazilian campaign Fashion Revolution has ranked 20 apparel brands and retailers for their transparency. The campaign group’s new Fashion Transparency Index is the first regional edition of its broader, global Transparency Index and assesses businesses based on their own public disclosure of social and environmental policies, practices and impact. The study looks at openly available information from sources such as websites, corporate social responsibility reports and sustainability reports, and evaluates them on: policies and commitments, governance, traceability, knowledge, communication and resolution, and featured topics.
The research for the index was conducted by the global and Brazilian Fashion Revolution teams, and in technical partnership with the Getulio Vargas Foundation’s Centre for Sustainability Studies (FGVces). The Brazilian Fashion Transparency Index shows similarities to the global index, in what brands prioritise. Around 12 of the 20 brands scored high for their policies on human rights, anti-discrimination and forced and child labor policies while only two companies report on carbon emissions and energy reduction.
MarediModa will be held at the Palais de Festivals, November 6 to 8. This is a leading trade show for textiles and accessories of beachwear and intimates.
The new edition will highlight athleisure. A large group of companies (more than 40) will present a specific collection of fabrics and accessories. A specific area of the trade show will be dedicated to athleisure manufactured with fabrics and accessories supplied by some of the exhibiting companies. Beach wear, innerwear and sportswear have become more mixed and merged together.
Key themes of the fair are: Paradise Found, Activism and Bloom. Paradise Found is about longing for sensory stimulation. Colors are dominated by acid bright that flash against deep and dense nocturnal backgrounds. Activism is about people hoping to make a difference using fashion to communicate. Patterns represent a mishmash of streetwear inspired looks spanning comics, folk motifs and popular brands’ logos. Bloom is dedicated to flowers that trigger emotions. Fabrics are tender and soft with drape in fine and featherweight qualities. Patterns are about all things botanical.
The growth of clothes-mending workshops and pop-ups in Hong Kong has given rise to a nascent movement against fast fashion. Designers are now parading recycled fabrics on the catwalk. For example, designer Jesse Lee, displayed everything from broken umbrellas to discarded curtains, at a recent sustainable fashion show in Hong Kong. Realising that humble household goods could be the springboard for creativity, Lee turned an old sofa's leather cover into a jacket and has since made clothes from old curtains and bed linen, as well as a raincoat using umbrella fabric. His designs are unisex and adjustable and hence can be easily shared.
The growth of clothes-mending workshops and pop-ups in Hong Kong has given rise to a nascent movement against fast fashion. Designers are now parading recycled fabrics on the catwalk. For example, designer Jesse Lee, displayed everything from broken umbrellas to discarded curtains, at a recent sustainable fashion show in Hong Kong. Realising that humble household goods could be the springboard for creativity, Lee turned an old sofa's leather cover into a jacket and has since made clothes from old curtains and bed linen, as well as a raincoat using umbrella fabric. His designs are unisex and adjustable and hence can be easily shared.
Consumer awareness boosts growth of local stores
A McKinsey reports says, global consumers purchased 60 per cent more clothing in 2016 than in 2000 and only
kept each item half as long. Hong Kong alone dumps 343 tons of textiles every day. As a 2016 report by Greenpeace reveals, almost one sixth of clothes owned by residents are seldom or never worn after purchase. However, high-profile scandals like the deadly 2013 collapse of a building in Bangladesh raised consumer-awareness of the human environment cost of fast fashion. Lee and others hope to capitalise on this growing awareness. The tragedy triggered a drive among activists to encourage shoppers to buy from local stores, rather than large multinational fast fashion brands. Hong Kong-based charity Redress hosted a show recently where Lee displayed his creations, alongside other designers who transformed vintage kimonos and bridal wear samples and even used silicone and rubber.
Recycling textile waste on an industrial scale
Hong Kong designers Kay Wong and Toby Crispy have founded Fashion Clinic to help people mend garments. They set up pop-up stalls at clothing stores providing repair and reshaping services and also hold workshops teaching basic needlework.
However, some want to address the waste problem on an industrial scale. A cutting-edge upcycling spinning mill that turns discarded clothes into new yarns will be fully operational in this October, developed by the Hong Kong Research Institute for Textiles and Apparel (HKRITA). The 1,765 sq. mt. factory will sterilise, sort and turn used textiles into fresh fibre, processing three tonnes of textile waste each day. Six workers will remove zips and buttons and categorise the fabrics before machines carry out automated colour sorting and re-spinning. Mixed-fiber clothing will go through a high-tech treatment to separate the different elements. The recycled yarn will be of the same quality as that of virgin materials, while their selling price will be 30 per cent lower. The new mill will serve as an inspiration for other cities.
As per calculations, Vietnam will most likely witness a total export-import turnover of $475 billion, including $238 billion in exports and $237 billion in imports this year. Thus, the trade surplus for 2018 will be $1 billion. In the first nine months of this year, total export-import turnover is estimated to hit $352.43 billion, far higher than the $308.12 billion in the same period last year.
Notably, Vietnam enjoyed a record trade surplus of $5.39 billion during the period. As per MPI, despite the US-China trade war, in the first nine months of this year, the country’s total export turnover is estimated to touch $178.91 billion, increasing by 15.4 per cent on-year, with local exporters earning $51.07 billion, up 17.5 per cent, and foreign exporters raking in $127.84 billion (including crude oil exports), up 14.6 per cent. The export turnover of FIEs accounted for 71.5 per cent of total export turnover.
Meanwhile, the total import turnover is estimated at $173.52 billion, an increase of 11.8 per cent on-year, with $69.34 billion from domestic enterprises (up 11.7 per cent) and $104.18 billion from FIEs (up 11.9 per cent). It is expected that in the fourth quarter of 2018, the country’s total export turnover will be $59.09 billion and the total import turnover will be $63.48 billion.
Fashion SVP will be held in London, January 15 to 16. Over 40 major international producers will showcase their jersey wear casuals, traditional knits and knitted accessories. The trade show is the UK’s leading event for fashion sourcing with over 120 apparel producers from 21 countries.
The two-day event provides a platform for buyers, designers, sourcing managers and retailers to source their future collections and discover new manufacturers. A new section Knit Solutions will be launched. This section will interest all brands and buyers looking for innovation and inspiration from the knitwear and jersey wear segment. Fashion SVP has teamed up with the top names in international knitwear to present Knit Solutions, a curated selection of the finest knitwear production on the planet. This is in line with what senior buyers have been saying they would like to see more of at the show.
Another new section, Source Denim, was launched in the June 2018 edition. This is expected to double in size next season, and join knitwear as the main focus of the event. In addition to Knit Solutions and Source Denim, the January 2019 show will see the return of Sourcing Briefing, a series of seminars which explore topics such as trends, product development and products with industry experts.
Slave labor is a major problem in Brazil’s textile industry. Some 1,200 workers were rescued from slave-like conditions this year. Businesses are facing growing consumer pressure to ensure their global supply chains are environmentally-friendly, slavery-free and pay their workers fair wages. But information about brands’ supply chains is often hidden on websites or hosted on external websites that are difficult to find.
Brazil is Latin America’s biggest economy. The country has the world’s fourth largest garment production industry, with 1.5 million direct employees, mostly women. The textile industry is fragmented and informal, with thousands of immigrant subcontractors from Bolivia and Paraguay sewing clothes in sweatshops for well-known national retailers.
Brazil’s apparel market is expanding at a substantial CAGR. Rising disposable income of people and growing consciousness for international fashion trends are the key factors contributing to the growth of the market. Brazil is one of the largest exporters of apparel and fashionable goods. Arab countries are some of the largest importers of apparels and textiles from Brazil. The United Arab Emirates accounts for the highest imports from Brazil, followed by Egypt, Algeria, and Morocco. With a recovering economy, the apparel industry is expected to rebound over the coming years.
Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has issued a notification with a clarification that exporters, entitled to the refund of IGST paid on export of goods, can get it even if they import capital goods under Export Promotion Credit Goods (EPCG) scheme.
Notably, the CBIC had announced last month that the centre has made an amendment to the 96 (10) rule of CGST citing that Advance Authorization holders, EPCG Authorisation holders and EOUs which import their requirements without paying IGST are not eligible for refund of IGST paid on exports of goods.
Although the relaxation has been provided to the exporters who import machinery, the Indian textile and apparel body has urged the central government to extend these benefits to other sectors like fabrics imports.
A high-powered delegation of Pakistan Readymade Garments Manufactures and Exporters Association (PRGMEA) attended the 34th IAF World Fashion Convention, held from Oct 9 to 10 in Maastricht, Netherland. They were looking to open new avenues for the garment industry to collaborate with international buyers and leading brands. The delegation held series of meetings with Centre for the promotion of imports from developing countries.
The delegation also had meetings with House of Denim, Amsterdam Fashion Institute and with HOGIAF, the largest trade organisation of Dutch Entrepreneurs. It also presented a documentary on the potential of Pakistan as a textile and garment production hub. The importance of mega CPEC project was highlighted in the convention aimed at creating awareness about the impacts on development prosperity not only of Pakistan but also in the region.
International Apparel Federation (IAF) represents apparel associations from 60 countries representing over 150,000 companies. The IAF Convention caters to apparel industry leaders from across the supply chain from all countries. The Convention is a unique opportunity to gain the insights necessary to understand where the industry is heading.
China is looking into the possibility of joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). This is a Pacific-nation trade deal. Ironically, CPTPP started off as the TPP, which was originally meant to be a challenge to China’s trade practices. It excluded China, but then got rechristened after the US pulled out of the deal. The TPP was previously negotiated by the US with Japan, Canada, Mexico, Australia and seven other Pacific countries. It was touted at the time as an alternative framework to the World Trade Organization amid criticisms that the current trade enforcement regime was outdated and failed to address issues related to services, intellectual property and the digital economy properly.
China’s change of attitude has possibly been prompted by the new trade deal reached among the US, Canada and Mexico, which contains provisions aimed at excluding China from future trade deals. Should the US form a similar pact with the CPTPP, whose guiding force is Japan, it could threaten Chinese market access to trading partners.
China, like other emerging countries, follows a primary strategy of promoting economic and social development. The growing spending power of consumers in developing countries injects vitality into the global market.
