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Cotton made in Africa (CmiA) currently certifies around 40 per cent of the cotton produced by smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa. Demand from the textile industry for CmiA cotton has increased by around 79 per cent over the last year. Companies that have partnered with CmiA include Tendam Global Fashion Retail from Spain, Vlisco from Holland and Gudrun Sjöden from Sweden. Around 1,033,500 smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa currently work with CmiA to grow cotton in accordance with its sustainability criteria.
According to figures for the FY 2017, demand for CmiA cotton is greater than ever. More than 30 retailers and brands from the textile industry purchase and process the sustainable raw material. Almost all of them have exceeded their targets for 2017. Around 90 million products with the CmiA seal of approval were launched on the market in 2017 in total, representing an increase of 79 percent in comparison to the previous year.
The Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) is in the process of setting up a textile park near the Jewar airport in Noida. The Authority held meetings with Noida Apparel Export Cluster (NAEC) and agreed to allot a 200-acre land to 100 textile businessmen. The park will boost industry growth by creating nearly half a million employment; 90 per cent of whom will be women. It will be ready in a span of three years.
The Yamuna Authority issued a list of 240 units for industrial land. These industries include those for textiles, telecommunications, X-ray machines, air-conditioning, copper metal parts, cotton, cycle, milk testing and its products.
The Noida-Greater Noida area is a textile hub with an annual export capacity of nearly Rs 14,000 crore ($US 2 bn). The domestic readymade garment market also has an annual turnover of Rs 3,000 crore($US 450 mn). Since the land in Noida and Greater Noida is costly, the businessmen are planning to expand their business in neighbouring areas such as Jewar.
ThreadSol, a pioneer in enterprise material management for sewn products’, will present its range of innovative software solutions at the upcoming Origin Africa 2018 show. The show will be held from September 09-11, 2018 in Nairobi, Kenya.
ThreadSol will introduce technologically driven products to drive African apparel manufacturing by boosting topline and bottom line for manufacturers and differentiate from the extremely competitive environment for breakthrough profits and improved customer service.
ThreadSol solutions- intelloBuy and intelloCut together work with the notion to boost revenue and profits for apparel manufacturers. The solutions work for the buying floor and cutting floor respectively and ensure reduction in fabric expenses at the buying stage and cutting of extra garment pieces at the cutting stage. The overall benefit is automation of the buying and cutting process which ultimately saves hours of manpower in the facilities.
Textile Exchange and Bluesign technologies will organise two back-to-back conferences in Milan focusing on sustainable textile and apparel production. The fifth edition of the Bluesign conference will be hosted by Bluesign Technologies from October 18-19, 2018 at the recently renovated Museo Nazionale della Scienza e della Tecnologia. The two-day event will assess topics including transparency and traceability. It will offer plenty of opportunities for match making and networking with other attendees and sharing your business prospects with like-minded colleagues in the industry.
Textile Exchange will hold its annual Textile Sustainability Conference from October 22-24, 2018 at the Milano Congressi Convention Centre focusing on theme of ‘United by Action: Accelerating Sustainability in Textiles and Fashion’.The conference, with 500 attendees, will focus on the UN’s sustainable development goals, fibres and materials, circularity, microplastics, water usage, and sustainability in the luxury sector.
Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI) has launched ‘InnoTex 2018’- an innovative content in the Indian T&C industry. The contest will invite entries on innovative ideas/concept that have been devised for best design, method, process, product and cost reduction in any area from Ginning to Garment. The task of organising the contest has been entrusted with CITI Young Entrepreneurs Group (YEG).
North India Textile Research Association (NITRA) will be the Knowledge Partner of InnoTex 2018 which will help in proper evaluation of the applications and provide guidance to the applicants. The contest will create innovators by enabling them to showcase their talent to the industry leaders and get instant recognition. It will bridge the gap between the innovators and end user industry and would further guide the researchers on the actual demand of the industry in these areas.
The contest will invite applications from Individuals or a team of individuals not exceeding four. Companies/ institutions cannot directly participate in the event but can sponsor individuals or the teams of innovators. The innovation should not be older than 1st April 2017.
D’décor will be the Principal Sponsor of the event while Lenzing AG and Murata Machinery Ltd will be the Event Supporting Sponsors. The event will give cash awards to the winners apart from felicitating them in front of the entire textile and clothing fraternity.
Farfetch the British company, ranked 24 in the Internet Retailer 2018 Online Marketplaces database, has filed papers for initial public offering. According to filing, the company’s gross merchandise value, or the cumulative price of goods sold through the online marketplace, hit $909.8 million in 2017, a 55.3 per cent rise over the $585.8 million GMV of 2016. That surpasses the median growth of 47.3 per cent for all online apparel marketplaces in Internet Retailer’s estimate.
Farfetch’s total revenue generated through online transactions rose 63.8 per cent in 2017 to $296.4 million, but it has yet to generate a profit. Beyond sales, the marketplace notes that active customers—those that made a purchase on the marketplace in the last 12 months—grew 43.6 per cent to more than 935,000 from 652,000. The filing says 980 luxury sellers offer goods through the marketplace, with more than 5.7 million items available across 3,200 brands.
Farfetch ranked No. 2 in terms of gross merchandise value in the apparel marketplace category of Internet Retailer’s marketplace database, behind Wish. In addition to its online marketplace, the company also owns bricks-and-mortar luxury goods boutique Browns.
The last day at Gartex India 2018, despite being a Monday, witnessed the best turnout as many decision makers and company heads participated in the event. The day included a conference titled ‘Denim Talks,’ which was attended by industry stalwarts like Ritesh Sharma, Retail Lead, Reliance Industries Ltd.; Sartaj Singh Mehta, Director – Design, PEPE Jeans; Ashish Pateria, EY; Anuraag S, Founder, Pencil Box; Manuj Kanchan, GM-South Asia, Jeanologia and Dr. Christina Raab, Global Implementation Director, ZDHC who were the key speakers at the event.
The speakers at the event focused on areas that can help innovate the denim. Sustainable fabrics like R-Elan by Reliance, modifications in denim tailoring or patchy and ornamented denims, and switching to digital and sustainable washing technologies are some of the measures that were discussed at the event. The event was attended by many sportswear companies. The industry has been doing well with the Indian apparel industry seeing a year-on-year growth. The event featured companies from small centres like Indore and Jaipur.
Life AskReach-an initiative funded by the European Union’s LIFE Programme aims to collaborate with companies to create awareness amongst consumers about the presence of potentially hazardous chemicals in the textile supply chain.
The project, set to run until August 2022, involves 20 partner organisations including governmental institutions, research institutes and NGOs from across Europe. It will mainly focus on raising consumer awareness on SVHC (substances of very high concern) in garments, training them to make more informed purchasing choices; increasing awareness about their obligation to comply with REACH criteria; improving the flow of information relating to SVHC lists between consumers and suppliers; and improving supply chain communication processes that ultimately aim to substitute SVHC in articles.
One of the outcomes of the project will be a database which can be populated with relevant information on SVHC in product portfolios. The resource will subsequently be connected to a smartphone app which consumers can access in order to more easily obtain information on SVHC in garments.
The chemical laboratory of TÜV SÜD in its recently expanded textile testing facility in Tirupur, has been awarded ISO/IEC 17025:2005 accreditation by The National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL). ISO/IEC 17025:2005 specifies the general requirements for TÜV SÜD to undertake tests, including sampling. It includes testing and calibration performed using standard methods, non-standard methods, and laboratory-developed methods.
The NABL accreditation enables the laboratory to provide improved customer satisfaction, faster turnaround for test results that subsequently reduces time to market. With a strong industry reputation for quality, TÜV SÜD's Tiruppur lab offers a comprehensive range of services with expertise encompassing all textile and knitwear testing requirements. The lab was recently enhanced by adding extensive chemical testing capabilities to an existing world class physical and mechanical facility; thus, making it an all-inclusive testing solutions provider for international and domestic markets. The laboratory will also offer value added services like sampling pick-up, technical support and training support.
TÜV SÜD with its wide network of labs and experts across key markets such as South Asia, European Union, ASEAN, US and UK, has thorough knowledge of compliance in importing nations.
WRAP, the UK’s resource efficiency agency, has identified leasing as an innovative business model to increase the durability of clothes while reducing material use and carbon dioxide emissions. A recent survey by the Westfield Shopping Centre in London also suggested clothing rental as a key future trend.
The potential value of the clothing rental market in the UK is estimated at £923 million, and the model is already well established for certain items, such as dinner jackets and wedding suits for men. However, only a few fashion companies have adopted leasing. Mud Jeans, for example, offers consumers a pair of organic jeans on lease for year after which consumers can either swap or return them. Girl Meets Dress, founded in the UK in 2009, also operates with a view to make garment ownership obsolete.
Although a growing trend, clothing rental is largely available for luxury market, rental of lower priced items is not preferred as they can be easily bought. Clothing rental has the potential to reduce waste and extend the lifespan of garments, but to achieve a more sustainable industry a systemic change in business practice and consumer behavior is needed.
