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ICC , a leading Indian company engaged in manufacturing card clothing products and card room accessories for the textile spinning industry, has consolidated its entire production at its state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Nalagarh, Himachal Pradesh. The company has shifted all card clothing production from its Pune plant to the Nalagarh facility.
The Himachal Pradesh plant currently specialises in addressing the card clothing requirement of the latest generation of carding machines. With the strategic move of closing down the Pune facility, ICC will now be focusing production from that plant and ensure that this single plant caters to the whole range of ICC’s card clothing market.
Vinod Vazhapulli, CEO at ICC says that the move is strategic, since the Pune plant is 63 years old and was primarily engaged in manufacturing card clothing catering to the low speed and low throughput carding machines segment, while the market is now gradually shifting towards high speed and high throughput carding machines.
He further added that being a pioneer in the industry, ICC foresaw this shift in market behaviour nine years back, when we started our facility in Himachal Pradesh, where we have installed the most advanced machines which cater to precision manufacturing and highly evolved production technologies.
ICC is also in the process of automating the Himachal plant. Additionally, some of the machinery from the Pune plant will be moved to Himachal Pradesh. In the next six months, the company is planning to come up with an array of products targeting high speed carding machines with improved life and surface technology and also, productivity enhancers in the carding equipment and accessories segments.
Georgia has been selected as guest nation at the next Pitti Uomo, scheduled from June 12-15, 2018. Pitti Uomo, being organised since 2015 in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, has selected six Georgian labels for its next edition in June. Among the designers include, Irakli Rusadze who will present Situationist, his women’s ready-to-wear label and menswear label Aznaur. Gola Damian will showcase his eclectic and colorful men’s and women’s collections.
Tatuna Nikolaishvili will also display his collection which will at once be both classic and modern. Anuka Keburia introduced the women’s ready-to-wear and an array of unisex items, her style is both minimalistic and a touch streetwear, with black as the predominant colour.
Anuka Keburia, launched her own footwear label in 2006. Keburia’s focus is on natural materials, mostly leather, and artisanal manufacturing. Pitti Uomo’s Guest Nation Georgia programme is supported by LEPL Enterprise Georgia, the country’s national agency for economic development, and by Pitti Tutorship, the division of Pitti Immagine which runs the show organiser’s mentorship programme
The fashion industry, ranging from global discount retailers to exclusive luxury brands, drives a significant part of the global economy. Fashion being the most challenging fields, is highly impacted by global economic uncertainty as well as distinct trends and industrial changes. In response to the pressure for growth and cost efficiency, many brands have started a series of initiatives to improve their speed to market and implement sustainable innovation in their core product design, manufacturing and supply chain processes.
Lectra, the technological partner for companies using fabrics and leather, put theory into practice at its recent fashion event by unveiling their latest 4.0 cutting room to more than 100 privileged industry professionals. To examine the real-life application of digitalization in fashion fashion Goes Digital” drew industry stakeholders and market experts from 20 countries, who gathered at Lectra’s International Advanced Technology Center (IATC) in Bordeaux-Cestas, France.
Lectra’s Cutting Room 4.0 is an embodiment of Lectra’s commitment to empowering its customers with the best solutions to thrive in this new digital era. This avant-garde technology leverages industry 4.0 principles to provide greater agility, throughput, cost efficiency and in particular scalability in order to respond seamlessly to small batches orders and shorter lead times.
Jean-Yves Collet, CEO of Treize Roches Couture, a high-end French womenswear manufacturer, says that Lectra’s latest technology would help Treize Roches speed up their artisanal production process to bring products faster to market and this would allow in the preparatory stages to automate the processes as much as possible and improve quality, productivity and training time.
Chinese investments in Vietnam have been increasing continuously over the last decade. In Vietnam, China ranks third in the number of projects and fourth in total investment value. China has become the second largest FDI contributor to Vietnam, after Singapore.
The FDI flowing in from China now covers textiles, garments, services, metal processing, manufacturing, and processing industries. They amount to 50 per cent of the total capital investment.
Chinese industrialists and investors have used a diversified strategy over the years. They began by entering into joint ventures and later graduated to 100 per cent fully foreign owned businesses. In the previous year alone they set up 284 fresh projects totaling 1.41 billion dollars.
There are mixed reactions in Vietnam about these investments. Some cite risks like industrial pollution, use of outdated technology by the Chinese and migration of Chinese labor, all of which can disturb Vietnam’s economic and social environment. Most Chinese-invested projects in Vietnam are concentrated in areas which have cheap labor but face a high risk of pollution such as garment and textiles, hydropower, steel production, chemicals and cement.
However, there are others who welcome Chinese capital on the grounds that Vietnam needs investments especially in high technologies, startup development, and key industries.
Chinese entrepreneurs plan to expand the garment industry in the industrial zones in Yangon. Currently, Myanmar’s textile industry is rapidly growing as entrepreneurs from Japan, China, South Korea and Taiwan have opened several joint-venture garment factories in the country and the number of garment factories in the country has crossed 400. In 2016, the garment sector created 350,000 jobs, with female workers representing 90 per cent of the total workforce.
The garment industry has long been practicing Cut-Make-Pack (CMP) system for over 20 years. But it is not in a position to shift from the CMP system to the FOB system due to lack of infrastructure, transparency in banking system, information and investment power. In 2017-2018 FY, export earnings from CMP garment sector hit $2.58 billion. It is one of the top export items with Japan and European countries being the top importers.
China’s Fosun has acquired a majority stake in Austria’s Wolford. Fosun invests in the global fashion and consumer goods industry. Wolford, based in Austria, makes tights, bodysuits, and innerwear. The capital increase guaranteed by Fosun will sustainably strengthen the equity base of Wolford, enabling the brand to expand its online business and redesign its market presence.
As China continues to drive the global luxury market, Wolford can leverage Fosun’s resources to grow and strengthen its high luxury positioning while maintaining its exceptional high quality of production in Europe.
Wolford has 16 subsidiaries and markets its products in approximately 60 countries through over 270 own and partner-operated retail stores, 3,000 trading partners, and online. It reported a loss before interest and tax of 7.4 million dollars for the six months through October, an improvement of 21 per cent on the previous year’s first half.
Chinese firms are buying famous brands in the hope of upgrading their image. Buying famous foreign brands is seen as helping them build up their own brands, and proper management and deployment of sales channels may help them gain more popularity with domestic consumers. Chinese e-commerce players are also moving quickly into western markets.
Indian entrepreneurs have begun to look at the domestic market. A few manufacturers have come up with new brands and marketing campaigns to woo local buyers. They are confident of creating over a dozen clothing brands that can rake in Rs 500 crores in revenue in the domestic market.
This is true especially in Tamil Nadu. Traditionally evolved as an export-oriented ecosystem, manufacturers of Tirupur or Coimbatore have had to decode currency undulations, rising labor costs and make do with a lighter incentive basket even as states such as Gujarat and Telengana gave periodic boosts to manufacturers. On top of that remains the heightened competition from Bangladesh, Vietnam and Cambodia, which enjoy duty-free access into the European market.
Exporters also want to have a share of the widening e-commerce market, as a hedge against the vagaries of the exports market that they have been faced with for the past few decades. The online fashion market in India is projected to grow nearly 3.5 times from the current size and entrepreneurs do not want to miss the wave.
Global apparel trade has been seeing sustained sluggish growth. In the absence of free trade agreements, or because of similar arrangements enjoyed by competing nations, Indian entrepreneurs have become conscious of the need to get deeper into the domestic market.
When global brands source from China or Bangladesh, some ethical issues are involved. Brands save money by making clothes in substandard conditions overseas instead of paying higher wages at home. Children make garments or stitch sequins. Sequins have been the focus of a number of investigations into child labor practices. While there are machines that can perform the delicate task of sewing sequins onto fabric, they are costly and, if the finished product is to be sold cheaply, rarely purchased by overseas manufacturers. Instead, the task is often given to women or to children, whose tiny fingers apparently mean they work faster than adults.
Fashion behemoths like H&M and Zara share the same manufacturing bases, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Ethiopia or Cambodia. But a lot of clothing companies won't include the place of manufacture on the collar tag. Multiple garments labeled as made in New Zealand, for instance, are manufactured in China or Bangladesh.
Global fast fashion giants have hollowed out artisanal manufacturing worldwide. Global luxury brands have retained their value by dictating where their products are made. Such practices are now being considered unethical and their products are no longer considered luxury or even desirable.
BIGTEX will be held in Bangladesh from May 10 to 12, 2018. This is a garment and textile machinery expo. Manufacturers, dealers, suppliers and importers will display garment and textile machinery, equipment, technology and accessories.
Among participating countries are: Bangladesh, China, England, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Sri Lanka and Turkey.The fair will encourage local manufacturers and producers to export their goods while foreign buyers will also visit to check new trends and quality garment and textile machineries, equipment, technology and accessories.
Bangladesh is the second largest apparel exporter in the world, top denim exporter to the European Union and the second largest knitwear exporter in the world. To continue this growth the industry needs proper machinery, raw materials, yarn, fabrics, dyes and chemicals.
The fair will be held in Chittagong, the major seaport of Bangladesh. Chittagong handles almost the entire import-export trade of the country. Chittagong is the second apparel hub after Dhaka.
The event will be held along with two other shows: Bangladesh International Fabrics and Yarn Expo and Bangladesh International Print, Pack and Signage Expo. The organizers are Well Group, Bangladesh Indenting Agents Association, Bangladesh Garments Accessories and Packaging Manufacturers and Exporters Association, and Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association.
Clothing retailers and brands are flocking to Bangladesh to source the best value-added denim. New technologies in washing and polishing as well as increasing use of finer fabrics and designs are allowing Bangladesh to add more value to denim products.
The export of value-added denim jeans is increasing from Bangladesh. Bangladesh exports denim goods worth more than $3 billion a year and has already overtaken China to become the top denim supplier to the EU. Globally, use of denim products is on the rise because of the change in fashion, especially in the western world. Denim trousers and shirts are worn at both formal and casual events.
Previously, Bangladesh used to produce denim trousers for $5 or $7 a piece, but now the price range has gone up to $10 or $11. In 2014, the size of the global denim market stood at $56.20 billion and it is projected to reach $64.10 billion by 2020. Bangladesh's share is forecasted to be seven billion dollars by 2021. The production capacity of the 31 denim mills in Bangladesh is more than 40 million yards a month against a demand for nearly 70 million yards. The rest of the demand is met through imports from countries like China, India, Pakistan, and Turkey.
