FW
Asos, Wrangler and Primark are among the major fashion brands that are becoming more transparent about their supply chains.
The 3rd annual Fashion Transparency Index, which ranked 150 major global brands according to how much they are willing to reveal about their social and environmental practices, shows that the industry has a long way to go before it can confidently tell us
Many online and high street favourites scored less than 10 per cent. The report found that things are slowly moving in the right direction. More brands have published a list of where their clothes are cut, sewn and completed and 62 per cent of brands are disclosing their process for fixing problems when violations are found in a supplier factory.
However, with none of the brands scoring more than 60per cent there is still a lot of room for improvement.
The Fashion Revolution campaign believes that although change is slowly happening, many companies are still operating in broadly the same way that enabled the RanaPlaza disaster to occur.
According to the an ambassador for Adidas there are people working on sustainability within these companies every day, but it’s not easy to track every cotton farm and everyone involved, as there are thousands of locations around the world. Fashion Revolution co-founder, Carry Somers, agreed that the fight for sustainability is not an easy one, but how brands are responding to the report by upping their game proves that improvements can be made.
The textile industry was one of the booming sub-sectors of the Nigerian economy in the post independence years.
Driven by locally grown cotton and with a huge demand for clothing by a fast growing population, it provided direct and indirect employment to hundreds of thousands of Nigerians for several decades.
Between 1985 and 1991, Nigeria’s textile industry recorded an annual growth of 67 per cent. In that period textile companies numbered around 180, employing about a million people, and accounting for over 60 per cent of the textile industry capacity in West Africa.
The story, however, changed in the early nineties when the sector took a massive dive. From about 180 thriving textile companies, the number came down to almost zero.
Over the years, there has been a steady decline in the operations of textile firms and then an eventual collapse of the industry, which has led to a loss of jobs, dearth of skilled manpower, low capacity utilization and drop in revenue due to lack of excise duties.
The dip in the fortunes of the industry was due to the influx of cheap textiles and fabrics into the country from all over the world and mainly from China.
Now the country is trying to attract the necessary investments into cotton farming and textile manufacturing and so become a major producer and exporter of textiles in the world.
Japan textile industry have expressed willingness to invest for a number of unique fabrics of their innovation to Indonesia.
Director General of Small and Medium Industries (IKM) of Ministry of Industry, Gati Wibawanings says that several Japanese textile industries have come to him and expressed his desire to invest in Indonesian sector.
He further added that a message from a Japanese company from Usawa was received that expressed their desire to build a cotton textile industry with silk quality.
They claim to want to produce fiber (fiber), yarn as well as fabric made from cotton. The technology they found with merebushancurkan cotton was able to produce fiber and yarn and even fabric with silk-like quality when made from cotton.
Usawa company representatives view Indonesia as very suitable for cotton plants because it only has 2 seasons. At present they are ready to build the innovative textile industry to Indonesia.
Gati mentioned that, other companies interested in developing fabric / textiles made from hemp. They are planting hemp on 2 hectares of land in Malang, and if successful, they declare will build fabric fabrics factory in Indonesia.
Indonesia hopes to triple textile and textile product exports in the next five years.
If this happens, this sector will be Indonesia’s largest non-oil export contributor and create jobs for six million people.
Indonesia’s exports in 2017 went up six per cent compared to exports in 2016. Apparel exports rose from 7.21 billion dollars in 2016 to 7.93 billion dollars last year, while textile exports stagnated at 4.66 billion dollars.
In 2016, apparel exports from this southeast Asian nation decreased 3.2 per cent due to several challenges including high logistics costs and gas and power tariffs being higher than other competitor countries.
At present, the US is the largest clothing importer from Indonesia. If the country were to lobby with the US to expand its Generalised System of Preferences to include more Indonesian apparel and accessories, this would facilitate the entry of more Indonesian products into the US at lower tariffs.
A small 0.62 per cent year on year growth was detected in Indonesia’s textile exports in the first half of 2017. This modest growth was supported by a 20.4 per cent year on year rise in knitwear exports.
Indonesia is one of the world’s largest textile manufacturers and exporters (although trailing far behind China).
Gifts and Premium Fair has just concluded on at Hong Kong, held between April 27 to 30.
More than 4300 exhibitors from 33 countries and regions are participating in the fair including group pavilions from China, Italy, Korea, Macau, Taiwan, Thailand and India displaying a wide range of corporate gifts, fashion accessories, green gifts, picture and photo frames, toys and sporting goods, beauty, health and wellness, watches and clocks, luxury gifts, premium gifts etc.
The fair is the largest fair of its kind in the world and an effective platform for designers, manufacturers and wholesalers to make new business opportunities.
Hong Kong is emerging as an important destination for aggressive marketing through the medium of trade fairs.
Indian exhibitors had showcased a wide range of products, which include handcrafted and decorated premium gifts, souvenirs, lifestyle accessories, cotton scarves, necklaces, picture frames, boxes, pen stands, note books, shawls and stoles, handmade paper products, jute, cotton, canvas bags, women’s hand bags, leather hand bags, Christmas decoratives, wooden decorative art ware, stationery, table tops, grocery bags, and decorative journals etc.
Handicrafts occupy an important place in the Indian economy and society. This product group is a large foreign exchange earner, an employment generator for economically and socially backward classes and a promoter of Indian ethnic, cultural heritage worldwide.
Demonetization and GST have hit hard textile businesses in Surat. Production of fabrics has dropped from about four crore meters a day before demonetization to about 2.5 crore meters a day. The number of working embroidery machines has fallen and the demand for new shops has also dropped.
Exports of garments have dropped drastically. Fabric traders are not getting payment on time. Traders are facing a shortage of working capital. Institutional loans are not available and private lending has also stopped after GST.
Sales of local textile traders have dropped by about 30 per cent to 40 per cent. Falling earnings have resulted in traders’ shifting to low rent shops and demand for new shops has dropped. Those who had availed of loans are finding it difficult to honor their EMIs.
The number of embroidery machines has dropped by 1.25 lakh, 89,000- odd power looms have been sold at the price of scrap, exports are on a continuous decline and women working in embroidery are becoming jobless.
The withdrawal of high-value banknotes put sudden brakes on the disposable income of consumers. Many power loom weavers shut down their units and more than a lakh conventional power loom machines were sold in scrap.
Where till recently Surat produced 40 million meters of polyester a day, the figure now stands at only 25 million meters.
With competition continuing to heat up in the denim trade show sector, Denim Première Vision is headed to Paris. It will offer a platform for fashion brands to display their fashionable denim collections. The event will take place at the Parc Floral in Paris on May 23-24. Designer Lutz Huelle has for the first time been elected for carte blanche at the Denim Première Vision.
An inspirational forum and a forward looking forum are the two broken parts of Denim Trends Area.
An inspirational seminar, a seminar dedicated to the autumn winter 2019-20 fits and a seminar translating spring/summer 2019 will also be held during the 2-day event.
Premiere Vision has proposed a range of studies and actions to identify and communicate its exhibitors’ initiatives in terms of responsible production and creation. Denim Première Vision has adapted its Smart Creation programme to the denim industry and will present a special area, the Denim Smart Square.
Denim Premiere Vision will also be hosting a socio-cultural master class presented by Pascal Monfort, founder of the Rec Trendsmarketing agency, on the theme The Future Is Bright.
China’s textile and apparel makers are going through a painful industrial restructuring. While the country is still the world’s largest clothing exporter with an enormous production capacity, oversupply at home, high labor costs, and rising global protectionism have all eroded its competitiveness.
China’s market share by value in the global textile and clothing industry fell from 38.6 per cent in 2015 to 35.8 per cent in 2016.
Since 2014, exports of Chinese textiles and clothing to major apparel importing regions such as the US, European Union and Japan have declined sharply.
Exports of clothes and accessories fell by 0.4 per cent last year from 2016 while textiles exports saw an annual growth of 4.5 per cent last year.
Fewer US brands are looking to China for products even though the country remains the top sourcing destination for the industry worldwide. For many US brands, a third of their products now come from China, a third from Vietnam, and the rest is from other countries.
However China is playing an increasingly important role as a textile supplier for apparel exporting countries in Asia. Bangladesh’s textile imports from China, measured by value, rose from 39 per cent in 2005 to 47 per cent in 2015. Similar trends can be seen in Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia and other developing countries in Asia.
The US has renewed GSP for Cambodia.This allows Cambodian exporters access to duty-free privileges.
The renewal is retroactive, allowing exporters from beneficiary nations to claim refunds for transactions made after the GSP scheme expired last year. Eligible GSP merchandise entering the US between December 31, 2017, and the effective date of the extension, April 22, will be eligible for refunds of duty.
However, refunds will not be automatic. The law stipulates that importers need to file a refund request.
Cambodia is one of 120 nations included in the US’s GSP program, which was established in 1974 with the aim of promoting economic growth in the developing world.
Cambodia feels the program needs to be extended to products like garments and footwear following improvements in working conditions and the protection of labor rights made in recent years.
In July last year, the US granted duty-free benefits to Cambodian travel goods, including suitcases, backpacks, handbags and wallets.
Cambodia’s exports of travel goods increased from 53 million dollars in 2015 to 100 million dollars in 2016.
The country expects purchasing orders in the garment sector in 2018 to be higher than in 2017.
Foreign purchasers appear to be satisfied with what Cambodia has achieved when it comes to worker welfare. There is now a stable environment, a good relation between players in the industry.
A two-day international exhibition on denim products Bangladesh Denim Expo will take place at the International Convention City Bashundhara (ICCB) in Dhaka on May 9-10.
The theme of the exhibit this year is “Equality,” aimed at mobilizing global brands and retailers, manufacturers, governments and development partners to establish a more equitable global apparel supply chain.Over 14,000 visitors have preregistered for the eighth edition of the mega event.61 exhibitors from 14 countries including Bangladesh have already confirmed their participation at the event.
The event will also focus on equal responsibilities for all stakeholders in the apparel supply chain to ensure safety in the workplace, sustainable work practices, environmental considerations and transparency.
The expo is going to highlight issues concerning equality and the progress that has been made within Bangladesh in this regard.
Mostafiz Uddin, founder and CEO of the expo, Bangladesh Denim Expo has already become an internationally acclaimed one-stop sourcing platform for all aspects of denim wear from fabrics to the finished products, which would instigate healthy debate on the topic and increase awareness of any issues and the situation regarding equality in Bangladesh itself.
The show will offer a unique experience for exhibitors and visitors who will be able to gain a comprehensive insight into the denim industry of Bangladesh and discover the latest trends.
The seminars in the expo will serve as a platform for knowledge and sharing ideas, featuring some of the top experts and leaders from the best companies and organizations of the global denim supply chain.
