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Wool auction markets in Australia saw a positive trend. The key driver behind the week’s push was new demand from China. Australian dollar exchange rate against all major currencies, particularly the US dollar, was also a factor. US dollar strengthened relative to Australian dollar by nearly three per cent.
While the price rise during the week was widely expected among the trade, the velocity and magnitude of the gains were not forecast and surprised most. It was common knowledge around the show floors pre-sale that new business had been written and many orders remained unfulfilled, as exporters were reticent to expose themselves to an open short position. As the week progressed, and buyers’ stocks moved back into positive territory, some profit taking did occur and new orders were concluded mid-week, somewhat satisfying prompt demands.
Better wools across all wool types were still being well sought after and it was only the average to inferior descriptions and lots showing hard to place test measurements that displayed this nervousness. It was a staggering week of good fortune for wool growers who were selling. The price rises were in many cases extraordinary especially for those ultra fine types finer than 16.5 micron.
Discussing the company’s profile and product, Saurabh Bihani, Director, RIT says “RIT stands for RI Texsolutions. We provides solutions from knitting to finishing of the garment. We have a tie up with about 13 big brands internationally. In essence, we are a one stop destination for providing all garmenting relates solutions.” The company is into day to day consumables used from knitting through to garmenting. This year, they came up with products from Wayken. We showcased our products at GTE expo.”
Discussing GTE, Saurabh says, “GTE has been a good platform for new launches. We are penetrating deep into the domestic market with Wayken this year. We have knives, cutters, cutting machines and much more. The brand is from Taiwan. We have been with Groz Beckert since 1961 when it first launched in India.”
Evaluating the country’s garmenting sector Bihani says, “With China becoming expensive and the Indian market becoming more organised post the introduction of reforms, we see extensive growth outlook for the country in 2018. The share of the organised market will increase and only people who are doing right things in a right manner will survive. This will promote high quality standards in all aspects. We expect more companies to purchase branded machinery. This will help in efficiency and productivity.”
He says, “We deal with imported machinery only because they cannot be matched in quality. India can’t match the level of foreign R&D. The good thing is many big global companies are setting up their production units in India. Groz Beckert has setup their plant here. So it is a good sign. Indian manufacturers enter tie up with companies which are planning to set up their base here.”
Discussing Make In India he says, “India is a trading country. We lack discipline like Western countries. They conduct extensive R&D and get equal support from their government. This ecosystem promotes growth. Fortunately in India we have people who are capable of bringing about this change, but they do not get help for their growth. Besides there are mind-set issues.”
Lamenting the need for skilled labour Saurabh says, “This is one of the major issues the sector is facing currently in India. This can be sorted only if the government and industry work together towards bringing about an improvement in labour laws.”
Discussing their future plans he says, “Bringing quality machinery to India has been our primary focus. We are doing that and will keep doing so in future.We believe in providing exceptional services too because selling machinery alone does not help the manufacturer and us. We try to sensitise people as much as possible.”
Last year was very successful for Hanes — driven by a strong active wear segment, acquisition integration and growing international businesses. Hanes is a global marketer of basic apparel. In 2017, Hanes focused on diversifying its business to be able to consistently deliver annual top line growth.
Hanes also announced Q4 sales growth of four per cent. Two per cent was from organic growth, barring sales accrued from acquisitions. This was the second successive quarter of organic growth for the company across each segments viz. innerwear, active wear and international segments.
Broad-based active wear demand was up three per cent for the full year, and has continued to drive the company’s top line. Organic active wear sales increased four per cent in Q4, while the acquisition of Alternative Apparel in October 2017 contributed $18 million in sales. Segment operating profit increased two per cent in Q4 and one per cent for the full year.
Segment net sales were up 34 per cent for the full year, driven by new store openings and strong consumer demand across all geographies. Global online sales increased 22 per cent in Q4, up in every geography. The company expects another strong year in 2018.
Supreme, an American yarn manufacturer has unveiled a yarn called Volt. It specializes in covering yarns and has evolved considerably over the decades. It began as an elastic-covering operation and changed over the years due to the raw materials used. In the late 1980s, Supreme started working with high-strength yarns and eventually moved into cut-resistant yarns.
The core of Volt is a highly engineered composite yarn. It evolved from working with military contractors and now is moving into a variety of areas, including healthcare and sportswear. The idea for Volt came from a bonded-thread product sold for flame-resistant mattresses.
The smart yarn got a huge response from various industries, including computer chip makers, car manufacturers, clothing manufacturers, hospitals and healthcare companies. It is gaining the attention of companies that want to move into smart fabrics and wearable technology.
The first products using Volt yarns are going into military garments that track the health of soldiers. The next round may move into the greater health sector with the innovation being used in hospitals and by doctors to monitor patients’ health, perhaps even alerting them to a spike in body temperature. Supreme is now partnering with several companies that want to incorporate Volt into their product lines for 2020 or 2021.
For the fourth quarter American brand Skechers posted a revenue of $970.6 million. Store base grew to 2,570 locations at year-end and saw impressive growth across the globe. Company-owned global retail sales in Q4 increased 25.8 per cent, with a comparable same store sale increase of 12 per cent globally. International wholesale sales increased 40.2 per cent.
The company reported profits of $179.2 million for the full year 2017. Record revenue was reported at $4.16 billion, an increase of over $600 million from the previous year’s sales. This was led primarily by a 23 per cent increase in the company’s international wholesale business and a 21.9 per cent increase in global retail business. Domestic wholesale grew 4.1 per cent. Gross margins for the year were up from 45.9 per cent to 46.6 per cent, although operating margins dropped a percentage point because of increased selling expenses primarily to support growth in Skecher’s international markets.
In the United States, Skechers is the number one casual lifestyle and casual dress footwear brand and the number second casual athletic footwear brand. The company’s outlook for the first quarter of 2018 is enthusiastic.
A Sakthivel has been elected vice chairman of the Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) for 2018-19. Earlier, he was chairman in 1998, 2004 and 2012. He has steered projects like the Knitwear Technology Mission, the Sector Skill Council for Apparel, a national social compliance project for the apparel sector and several other initiatives for holistic development of the sector.
He is the founder president of the Tirupur Exporters’ Association (TEA). For his role in placing Tirupur on the world map as the main cluster for sourcing knitwear supplies from India, and his contribution to the apparel industry, he was awarded the Padma Shri in 2009. A guide and mentor to the Tirupur knitwear Industry, Sakthivel steered growth of exports from Tirupur from a mere Rs 15 crores in 1984-85 to more than Rs 27,000 crores in 2016-17.
He has also served as president of the Federation of Indian Exports Organisations (FIEO) and currently holds the position of FIEO chairman for the southern region. He is the first chairman of the Sector Skill Council for Apparel, Made-ups and Handlooms, which has the mandate to develop skills repository standards, evaluation criteria, and an accreditation system for creating employability in the apparel sector.
Directa Plus, Italy-based producer and supplier of graphene-based products for use in consumer and industrial markets, has announced the launch of two new textile collections containing its Graphene Plus (G+) by Colmar, a high-end sports and activewear company, and Eurojersey, a producer of high quality warp-knit technical fabrics under its Sensitive Fabrics brand.
Both collections were unveiled at ISPO 2018, the sport and sportswear international trade fair held in Munich. The launch of the Ski Winter 2018/19 collection marks Colmar’s third winter range with Directa Plus. The new collection has been expanded to consist of 31 garments incorporating G+, including male and female ski jackets and newly-released graphene-enhanced ski trousers. It reportedly follows the commercial success of two previous ski collections.
The inclusion of G+ in textiles provides a technologically-advanced fabric with unique thermal features: allowing a homogeneous distribution of the heat produced by the human body in cold weather and a heat dispersion effect in hot weather. G+ also provides the fabric with a bacteriostatic effect that enhances hygiene and anti-odor features, which is particularly relevant for sportswear and garments that are in contact with the body. The result is enhanced comfort for the wearer.
Aditya Birla’s fabric brand Liva has come up with a chatbot. The chatbot will function as a fashion portal that will feature the up-to-date information on fashion and celebrity style trends. It is meant to facilitate visitors to traverse through the Liva product assortment but handle enquiries from prospective buyers. It also provides them with a gateway to connect with the brand’s sales team.
The company feels the innovation will keep it connected to customers and help understand their preferences better. The 24×7 tech service will also aid the brand’s team to apprehend buyer’s inclinations and selections and then optimise the offerings. The chatbot dubbed as the Liva Fluid Fashion Assistant has been developed in tech collaboration with Gupshup, a Silicon Valley-based bot and messaging platform.
Fashion purchases are usually a consultative experience. Customers want to browse through multiple options, learn more about some of the items and then maybe purchase one. Chatbots such as Liva’s are ideal for enabling this. Bots are gradually becoming part of the fashion industry. Global fashion brands such as Louis Vuitton and Levi’s have initiated chatbot services to attract tech-savvy consumers and thereby increase sales of their products.
Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics, to be held from March 14 to 16, 2018, will showcase premium wool fabrics. The Premium Wool Zone will house mills from the UK, Italy, France, Peru and elsewhere. The Italy Pavilion will include a number of quality wool suppliers. Rounding out the sourcing options, and adding further quality and price variety, are the 180-plus domestic wool suppliers.
Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics will feature some 3,300 exhibitors from around 20 countries covering all apparel fabrics and accessories product groups. Much of the demand for high-end wool at the fair comes from Chinese buyers thanks to growing affluence in the country. China accounts for over 70 per cent of Australian wool exports. While 15 to 20 years ago most wool imported by China was re-exported, nowadays around 60 per cent is used to produce garments for the domestic market.
While most collections in the Premium Wool Zone will emphasise on the brands’ heritage and tradition, like Holland & Sherry, some will be introducing new or updated collections. Dugdale Bros & Co refreshed its Royal Classic superfine Australian merino wool collection last year for the first time since 1987, adding around 30 patterns drawn directly from its original archive. Abraham Moon & Sons will showcase new fabrics at the fair, which take in categories of classic, casual and contemporary, with a unique use of worsted, linen and cashmere combinations.
India is ranked 44 among 50 nations in the Intellectual Property (IP) index. India’s overall score has increased substantially from 25 per cent in the fifth edition of the index to 30 per cent in the sixth edition. India’s ranking reflects a relatively strong performance in the new indicators as well as positive reform efforts on patentability of computer-implemented inventions and registration procedures for well-known marks.
For the first time India has broken free of the bottom 10 per cent of economies measured and its score represents the largest percentage improvement of any country measured. Additional meaningful reforms are needed to complement the policy. In what is otherwise a very challenging environment for IP rights holders, India has demonstrated a long-standing and clear commitment to increasing awareness of the importance of IP rights and respect for creators and innovators.
The US tops the list with 37.98 points followed by the United Kingdom (37.97) and Sweden (37.03). But despite an improvement India continues to remain at the bottom of the ladder. Among key weaknesses are: limited framework for protection of life sciences patentability requirements outside international standards, lengthy pre-grant opposition proceedings, previously used compulsory licensing for commercial and nonemergency situations, limited participation in international IP treaties and no participation in international PPH (Patent Prosecution Highway) tracks.
