FW
The Myanmar’s National Tripartite Committee on the Minimum Wage has announced a 33 per cent hike in minimum wage for the country’s garment workers. The new minimum wage will now be 4,800 kyats/day, effective March 2018.
Garment factory owners are of the view that a 33 per cent increase in the minimum wage would be difficult for them to ensure. Further, Myanmar’s law requires 200 per cent wages for working overtime, the highest when compared to any other manufacturing country in the Southeast Asian region. However, in spite of the hike, the new minimum wage is still lower than 55 per cent increase demanded by many unions. SMART Myanmar, that promotes and supports the sustainable production of garments in Myanmar, will be updating the content in its app ‘Shwe Job’ by February this year to reflect these changes in the wages.
Shwe Job is a Myanmar language educational app that was launched to teach factory workers and managers about occupational safety and health and information on the country’s labour laws. Myanmar reported a strong year for the garment export sector during the seven-month period from April-November in 2017. During this period, Myanmar exported garment products valued at US $ 1.5 billion.
Mumbai is ready to get its first textile museum to document, archive and showcase Mumbai’s textile legacy. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will start constructing the textile museum in February this year. The building will include a live, functioning mini-textile mill and a representation of the old world chawl life. In addition, landscaping is planned around a lake inside the compound, an amphitheatre and a musical fountain.
The entire complex will be spread across 16.3 acres of land at the shuttered United Mill compound in the Kalachowki area in Mumbai’s Eastern suburbs, of which 14 acres will be used for construction and the remaining for beautification. Mumbai’s Municipal commissioner, Ajoy Mehta said the planning committee is to make the museum interactive for the public and accessible to all. Mehta said he has asked the committee to restore the mills, the water body in the compound. The BMC has also appointed JJ School of Arts, Mumbai's premier art institute established in 1857, to prepare a vision document for the museum and to design its architecture.
Part of the United Mills compound are three ring and spinning structures, a chimney, a semi-automatic loom and a pond, all of which are protected by varying heritage status levels. Restoration work on some of the structures has already begun. All the heritage structures will be restored to its past glory.
The new museum will include fashion galleries that display traditional Indian textiles as well as the life and culture of the mill worker communities over the ages and education about India's and specifically Mumbai's once thriving textile industry.
Indonesia’s textile sector reached 3.65 per cent in Q2 of 2017. This figure is significantly higher than the previous quarter which was only 0.16 per cent. Chairman of the Indonesian Textile Association Ade Sudrajat said growth is due to several factors. First, many factories have relocated to Central Java and this has helped increase productivity. "So production can grow better, investment in this year is also quite big growth upstream."
Further, the increase in textile factory investment realisation contributed to the growth of the textile industry. "Investment growth is quite large, especially those who play in the upstream sector," he revealed.
The government needs to support the sales performance of domestic manufacturers by halting the rate of imports to enhance domestic productivity. "If the government consistently curb imported textile goods from China, we are optimistic that domestic production will increase and textile growth performance could be better," he concluded.
Topshop, the British multinational fashion retailer of clothing, shoes, make-up and accessories, will set foot in Shanghai. The Arcadia-owned labels’ first Chinese flagship store will be on Huaihai Middle Road in the country’s premier shopping city and will cover a 3,400 sq m space over three floors. Work has already started on the premises with the store expected to open this September.
The brand is only directly available via its webstore in mainland China at the moment, although it has been sold in the Galeries Lafayette department store in Beijing and it has two Hong Kong stores. This move into mainland China makes it a relatively latecomer to the country and is way behind some of its biggest fast fashion rivals in entering what is potentially the world’s biggest fashion market.
Definite news of its Shanghai opening comes after it said in late 2016 that it had signed a deal with e-tail giant Shangpin.com to open physical stores in China. The brand did not fare well in its international business last year, some of which including the failure of its franchised Australia and New Zealand operations and also its closure of its Spanish store.
Key takeaways are that it’s important to get the product right for the market rather than just depend on the power of the brand name to help you sail through. Opening in China makes good commercial sense. Last year an AT Kearney report had said the country was second only to India in terms of retail investment due to the sheer size of its consumer market that makes it highly attractive to international businesses. Topshop has around 500 shops worldwide – of which some 300 are in the UK.
The global cooling fabrics market is forecast to reach $3.24 billion by 2025, driven largely by growing attention on fitness, sports, and leisure activities along with increasing health consciousness, says a new report by San Francisco-based market research and consulting company Grand View Research, Inc. Increasing R&D and government incentives are expected to accelerate production of such fabrics.
The market for such fabrics is expected to record a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.1 per cent from 2017 to 2025, the report disclosed. Value addition offered by cooling garments such as moisture wicking, sweat evaporation, breathability, and ventilation have enhanced the use of such fabrics among athletes.
The demand for such fabrics in military and industrial applications is increasing because of their benefits like temperature regulation, resistance from harmful UV rays and pollutants and protection from excessive heat. The above along with an increased demand from the healthcare and fashion industries is expected to propel market growth.
Sports apparel segment is expected to denote a CAGR of 11.8 per cent from 2017 to 2025 owing to high product demand from developed as well as emerging nations and is expected to account for 44.5 per cent of the international cooling fabrics market in 2025.
These fabrics also address sustainability issues by saving energy required to heat or cool the environment around the wearer. North America is the leading market for cooling fabrics owing to the early adoption and augmenting sports and outdoor activities in the region. Key market players included in the report are Coolcore LLC, Kraton Corporation, Invista, Ahlstrom Corporation, Nilit, Polartec LLC, Nan Ya Plastics Corporation, Tex-Ray Industrial, Formosa Taffeta Co Ltd., HexArmor, Adidas AG and Nike.
Atulbhai Ganatra, President, Cotton Association of India announced that he and his team of directors had met the Maharashtra CM and urged him to remove the cess levied by various marketing committees that range from 0.5 per cent to 1.1 per cent.
Ganatra exults the CM had agreed to their request and had assured them that the ‘mandi’ tax on Kapas will be removed. Also, Maharashtra government will shortly come out with favourable Textile Policy, which will attract the investors to locate cotton spinning mills in Maharashtra.
He further noted, ginners are facing problems in the new GST regime under RCM across the country. CAI has taken up this issue with the GST Council and the FM in New Delhi and there was a protest against this by the all India ginners strike which was held on 15th December in the majority of cotton growing states in India. CAI has 70 ginners as members in the Association and this is the first time CAI has taken up the matter of resolving issues of the ginners.
The president and CAIs directors met the CMD and other directors of Cotton Corporation of India and requested them to utilise CAIs 13 cotton testing laboratories which are in almost all cotton growing states and also to use the CAI arbitration facilities. This will boost CAI's income, he mentioned.
As per CAI, arrival of cotton in India up to 31st December, 2017, had crossed 147.75 lakh bales in this season. During the same period last year arrivals were about 108 lakh bales. These arrival figures were collected from each state, by consulting four big ginners to arrive the correct figures.
Since cotton rates have gone up in India by 10 per cent in the last one month, the earlier set target of cotton export of 63 lakh bales looks difficult now, hence cotton export figures have been reduced and revised from the earlier 63 lakh bales to 55 lakh bales.
Due to reduction in export and increase in import, CAI’s carry forward has increased from 39 lakh bales to 50 lakh bales on 30th September 2018, which is a very comfortable position for Indian spinning mills. The CAI President said that our Association is ready to join hands and work together hand in hand with all other state associations.
Britain is interested in joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade bloc after it leaves the EU. Britain has started informal talks about joining the bloc to enhance post-Brexit exports. Although the United States pulled out of the talks, other TPP countries have pledged to move forward with plans for a trade group. The TPP has so far involved only countries such as Japan, Canada and Mexico.
Junior Trade Minister Greg Hands averred that there was no geographical restriction that would prevent Britain’s participation. “Nothing is excluded in all of this. With these kind of plurilateral relationships, there doesn’t have to be any geographical restriction.”
EU rules state Britain cannot agree new trade deals before it leaves the bloc in March 2019. An official from a TPP country was reported to have said it was too soon to discuss UK accession before a Brexit agreement.
The slowdown in 2017 has sunk capital and shovelled weavers in Bhiwandi into a cycle of debt and created a shortage of labour. And if there are no clear policies to promote export of textiles, the future of the industry appears bleak for business. Bhiwandi’s textile industry has become a casualty of volatile government policies, say owners of units that have not been operational for around a year. Media reports suggest around 20 power looms sit silently, covered in dust and cobwebs. The family-owned textile manufacturing facility, in Bhiwandi, has not been operational for almost a year.
A kilometre away, a handful of power looms weave ‘fancy’ fabric; white fabric with intricate borders of red and blue; at Iqbal Burhanpuri’s textile unit in Khadipar. A large part of the unit is not operational.
Bangladesh's trade privilege in US markets has again been suspended as President Donald Trump's administration goes on to enforce the trade preference programme's eligibility. The Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) facility for Bangladesh was suspended in June 2013 post the Rana Plaza building collapse in April, the reasons cited being poor labour rights and unsafe working conditions in factories. The Obama administration had asked for 16 conditions to be fulfilled in order to regain the trade privilege. Bangladesh fulfilled the conditions and twice submitted reports to United States Trade Representative (USTR).
But the US has not been reinstating the trade privilege, now citing poor labour rights. In this year's review, Bangladesh could not come out from the list of countries suspended from GSP benefits. Argentina, for one, was being reinstated to the GSP programme, from January 1, 2018, following resolution of certain arbitral disputes with US companies. The US also restored trade benefits to The Gambia and Swaziland under the African Growth and Opportunity Act.
Ambassador Robert E Lighthizer, the USTR and chief trade negotiator for the Trump administration, in a statement stated, “President Trump has sent a clear message that the United States will vigorously enforce eligibility criteria for preferential access to the US market. Beneficiary countries choose to either work with USTR to meet trade preference eligibility criteria or face enforcement actions. The administration is committed to ensuring that other countries keep their end of the bargain in our trade relationships,” it added.
A senior official from the Commerce Ministry was reported to have said. “We do not expect reinstatement of GSP to the US market anymore as the American government has been giving newer conditions to be fulfilled by Bangladesh.”
The US is the single largest export destination for Bangladesh. As a least developed country, 97 per cent of goods originating from Bangladesh are eligible for duty-free benefits on export to US markets as per the decision of the Hong Kong Ministerial Meeting of World Trade Organization in 2005. However, the country's main export item, garments, has not been included in this “97 per cent package” although garment items comprise 95 per cent of Bangladeshi exports to the US in a year.
American Apparel Footwear Association (AAFA) noted that the GSP programme saved American companies nearly $730 million in import duties in 2016 and is on track to save even more in 2017.
American Apparel’s new ‘Back to Basics’ ads, which began appearing at the end of last year, were produced by a small in-house team of male and female photographers.
The photos feature minimal retouching and the ads feature ordinary people, in line with an inclusive marketing strategy which seeks to showcase diverse body types and ethnicities.
The brand attempts to distance itself from its past controversial campaigns by eliminating underage-looking models and stop further criticism concerning the age of models featured in the brand’s ads. A recent casting call issued by the brand asked that applicants must be ’25 years or older’. The change did not go unnoticed on social media.
American Apparel’s has not completely cut its ties with the seductive and flirtatious image for which it has become famous, as seen in head of brand marketing strategy Sabina Weber who described the new campaign as “honest, direct, playful, inclusive, sexy and occasionally slightly provocative.”
“Women feel so conflicted about being sexual right now, but we’re taking a position to still be sexy, unapologetically so, but from an empowered female perspective,” she added, while stressing the change of perspective that underlies the company’s rebranding exercise.
In line with the company’s rebranding strategy, efforts have also been made to ensure that male models are also photographed in similar poses and wearing the same amount of clothing as their female counterparts.
Another feature retained from previous American Apparel campaigns is the presence of armpit hair on female models, the inflammatory nature of which, Weber notes, leaves her perplexed. "Even as we feel we are evolving and making strides, women are still so angry and judgmental when another woman dares to show her body," she decries.
Due to the ease with which information can now be shared via social media, brands have to be more open about the steps they are taking to actively combat sexual harassment in their companies. It is a drive for greater transparency that feeds into the current trend for brands to be more authentic and to reflect the values of their consumers.
Campaigns for change in the fashion industry have also been launched by other organisations worldwide. The British Fashion Council, for example, recently joined the British Fashion Model Agency Association as part of the Models First initiative, which aims to develop a charter of best practice that will protect and give a voice to models working in the UK, while in France, companies are now legally obliged to disclose retouching (photographs) in their marketing campaigns.
