Retailers in the UK have had their insurance cover reduced or withdrawn altogether as they battle slumping sales and profits. Insurance providers are reducing or withdrawing cover from some of high streets’ biggest names like The Original Factory Shop, New Look and House of Fraser.

However, many suppliers and retailers feel the risk-averse attitude is crippling the industry. Reducing credit insurance can shake suppliers’ confidence in a business. Credit insurance is based on audited accounts. So if retailers are having a tough time, insurers feeling that the business isn’t healthy reduce exposure. And the moment credit insurance is removed, confidence in the business is shaken.

It is like a self-fulfilling prophecy. When retailers have credit insurance pulled, they have to convince existing suppliers and induce them to stay on, but chances of finding someone new get drastically reduced. The lack of confidence that credit insurers show starts to echo or get magnified and can cause problems for retailers. Even those that are still solid businesses can find themselves facing a cash crunch.

Suppliers start treating retailers with caution. They do a risk assessment and look at the volume of business going through. In some instances they totally stop working with a customer. Sometimes they look at payment plans and take a risk.

There's a lot of momentum already building between the US and China in sports. China’s sports market is the biggest in the world. The country’s infrastructure of sports marketing vehicles, including platforms such as WeChat, Alibaba, Tencent and even videos and selfies, all contribute to a market ripe for sports marketing.

Retail sales in China are expected to equal or surpass those in the United States for the first time this year, indicating China's rise to an economic powerhouse. The Chinese, like the Americans, want to be healthy and with increasing buying power Chinese citizens are open to the benefits of healthy living.

No country has prioritized or invested in sports as China has done in recent years, especially in skiing and soccer. Since the millennium, China has made rapid progress in global sports at a rate which almost parallels that of its economy and is expected to surpass the United States by 2024. With 1.4 billion people, China is expected to soon dominate the Olympic Games.

China's emerging middle-class is hungry for high-quality products. China has turned from mostly producing to more global branding. So big American sports brands face lucrative opportunities in China.

Taiwan’s textile exports grew two per cent from January to July this year. The full-year increase may be larger as the traditional peak season falls in the second half. Last year, textile exports grew by only 0.8 per cent.

Taiwanese textile manufacturers are becoming the top choice for global apparel and shoe brands and retailers whenever they want to experiment with new textiles. Sports apparel, outdoor wear and sports shoes have been the main sources of revenue for local textile makers. Taiwanese textile manufacturers supply 40 per cent of materials used in Nike shoes, and 20 per cent of materials for Adidas shoes. Orders for functional textiles used mostly in sports and outdoor apparel are expected to grow 21 per cent this year compared to last year.

Manufacturers expect to benefit from the US-China trade dispute in the long run as major global retailers seek to relocate their Chinese plants to southeast Asian and African nations or India to circumvent new import tariffs imposed by the US.

Taiwanese textile suppliers might benefit from such supply chain shifts. They will not face a higher tax burden, as they could ship their products to the US from their factories in Vietnam or in Taiwan.

Textile Today- a comprehensive and international magazine for textile, apparel & fashion industry – and Northern Tosrifa Group (NTG)-a leading Bangladesh RMG manufacturer have signed an MoU to implement Textile Today’s FSD training program that aims to create skilled professionals in textile and apparel industry. Considered the first ever ‘Industry Orientation Program’ for textile professionals and students in Bangladesh, the FSD training program will involve training the participants by experienced industry experts to provide and share industry knowledge. The program will also train these executives to make them top quality experts of the textile industry.

The FSD training program offers five factory skills development certificates for 16 foundation training courses. Successful completion of certain foundation training courses will make the participants eligible for one FSD certificate. Two certificate winners will be declared as Yellow Belt FSD professionals in textiles, three certificate winners will be declared as Green Belt FSD professionals in textiles. And participants who will be able to complete 4 FSD certificates will be declared as Black Belt FSD professionals in textiles.

A 10 member delegation of Pakistan Readymade Garments Manufactures and Exporters Association(PRGMEA) will attend 34th IAF World Fashion Convention in Netherlands The convention, co-organised with Dutch industry association Modint will be held from October 9-10 in Maastricht. The IAF Convention caters to apparel industry leaders from across the supply chain from all countries.

The convention will help Pakistani delegation to develop direct interaction with international business tycoons and delegates. The International Apparel Federation (IAF) is the only global federation of its kind representing apparel associations from 60 countries representing over 150,000 companies. Modint, the Dutch Association for the fashion and textile industries has about 600 members who have a cumulative annual turnover about 9 billion euros.

The value-added garments sector of the textile industry registered a growth of 11.22 per cent in 2017-18 despite the internal and external challenges. The sector is major tax payer,largest employment generator in whole textile chain and exports upto US 5.5 billion products.

The European Union is planning to re-impose tariffs on imports from Myanmar and Cambodia which could impact both these economies severely. The EU had, in 2013, removed duties on most exports from Myanmar under an “Everything but Arms” initiative, designed to boost the economies of under-developed nations. As labor costs rose in China, East Asian investors traded with Myanmar, taking advantage of its cheap labor and the new trade benefits, to sell directly to the EU.

According to the EU, trade with Myanmar last year was worth €2.09 billion ($2.41 billion). Out of this, garments accounted for 72 per cent of Myanmar’s €1.5 billion exports. The EU will suspend zero-duties in only certain sectors, which might exempt the garment sector. This procedure allows time for extensive consultations, with the aim of changing countries’ behavior. EU member states and the European Parliament must also be consulted.

The EU is also planning to launch a procedure to eventually suspend trade benefits for Cambodia over Prime Minister Hun Sen’s moves against the opposition. The country’s exports to the EU last year reached €5 billion. Its garment sector, which employs almost 1 million people and supplies brands including Gap Inc., Nike Inc., Puma SA, could be badly impacted.

The Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) plans to set up a federation related to the textile design industry to help fashion entrepreneurs build their future. Its secretary-general Datuk Isham Ishak urged the government and private sector to cooperate inorder to create a bright future for the textile design industry.

Malaysia’s textile and apparel exports amounted to RM15.3 billion in 2017. Also, the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) approved 12 projects with total investments of RM428.8 million. These projects include the production of primary textiles, ready-to-wear garments and textile accessories and have created 1,850 job opportunities including skilled positions. MIDA in collaboration with Kuala Lumpur Fashion Week and the Malaysian Textile and Apparel Centre also organised the Fashion and Design Conference 2018 recently.

Levi’s has collaborated with Hollywood actor and singer Justin Timberlake on a range called Fresh Leaves. The 20-piece collection has been created by the brand’s design team which worked with Justin to come up with a reinvention of some of the brand’s most iconic pieces.

The collection offers top wear like a long sleeve Camo tee, Barstow western shirt, Sherpa trucker jacket, canvas trucker, Camo hoodie, Sherpa plaid hoodie, a reversible plaid/nylon shirt-jacket. Bottom wear has a New Fit 501 Slim Taper that will be available in four finishes.

As for his debut partnership with Levi’s, Timberlake feels clothes and music create the same impact on a musician’s creative process and performance. This Levi’s collection is his effort to share some of his experiences with fans. As a symbol of trustworthy self-expression, Levi’s has always been worn by musicians along with their fans around the globe. Levi’s is profiting from a wider consumer shift to more casual clothing in the workplace and younger consumers discovering jeans after years of wearing stylish athletic pants. In the United States, Levi’s average male customer is now 32 years old compared with 47 a few years back.

International Apparel and Textile Fair (IATF), the sourcing hub for fabrics, textile, apparels and more, with exhibitors from 14 countries, will hold its 9th edition from November 12–14, 2018 at the Dubai World Trade Centre.

Organised by Nihalani Events Management, the fair will be attended by over 110 exhibitors. IATF will bring together manufacturers and their agents along with some of the most influential buyers and designers to the MENA region. The event will provide an extensive platform to connect and network with industry professionals, create long and promising professional relationship and giving all exhibitors an opportunity to expand their business boundaries.

One of the innovations this year is Incalpaca from Peru which will showcase their alpaca yarn. New and past exhibitors from countries including Turkey, China, Thailand, India, etc will showcase fabric, haute couture and ready-made apparels and garments.

Bangladesh is building a hub for embroidered textiles. Once completed, the hub will accommodate almost 1,200 entrepreneurs while tripling the production of embroidery items in the country. It will feature a warehouse, service and design development centers as well as sales and exhibition center, rest houses, a convention centre and even a theme park. The idea is to build this place not only as a textile hub but also as a tourism hub so that it can draw visitors and can become a major attraction within the region. The hub is expected to help create a bigger market for embroidered textiles while generating more than 3,00,000 additional jobs.

Embroidery forms a big part of Bangladesh’s traditional textile industry. Some of these products are embroidered quilt, traditional embroidered bed covers, wall mats, home decors, readymade garments and other textile items. About a million embroidery pieces are produced in the country annually. The annual output of embroideries may hit three million units by 2025, thanks to the new set-up.

The construction of the hub is expected to be finished by 2023 and it will be spread over 300 acres. It will be one of the biggest projects for the whole textile sector in the country.