For the second quarter Welspun net sales were Rs 2440.03 crores as compared to Rs 2043.21 crores during the period ended September 30, 2017. Net profit was Rs 55.84 crores as against Rs 40.37 crores for the period ended September 30, 2017. For the six month period net sales were Rs 4525.54 crores as compared to Rs 3724.98 crores during the six month period ended September 30, 2017.

Net profit was Rs 99.49 crores as against Rs 91.55 crores for the six month period ended September 30, 2017.

The company has a guidance of eight to ten per cent in volumes for the current financial year. Hydro cotton has been commercially successful and continues to see good growth. Welspun sees a promising future for WEl-Trak after the success of hydro cotton.

The textile firm sees a positive growth momentum in volumes and is confident of achieving its annual guidance for revenues and profits. Welspun continues to pursue its differentiation strategy based on branding, innovation, sustainability and its patented traceability solution.

Versace will discontinue its long-established seconds line Versus Versace. This means the Italian label will focus on one contemporary range alone. In recent months, Versace examined several ways of streamlining its business model, to enable it to focus on its brand portfolio and ensure it remained innovative and relevant in everything it did.

Consolidation will allow the company to further develop the Versace Jeans collections and at the same time to preserve the DNA and design codes which made Versus so unique.

Fashion labels are increasingly streamlining their product range. The era of second and third lines seems to have come to an end. A similar approach has already been adopted by Giorgio Armani, who from spring/summer 2018 redesigned his corporate portfolio around three main labels: Giorgio Armani, Emporio Armani and A/X Armani Exchange.

Since 2009, accessible luxury label Versace Jeans has been produced by Swinger, the apparel company which owns the brand Genny and is also a licensee of Cavalli Class.

Versace was acquired last September by US group Michael Kors and is active in the luxury segment with ready-to-wear, accessories, jewelry, watches, eyewear, fragrance and home decoration lines. Versace products are distributed via 200 monobrand stores and over 1,500 multibrand retailers worldwide.

Vietnam and Malaysia are among the Asian countries expected to benefit the most from the US-China trade war. New opportunities will open up for exporters in these countries as American and Chinese importers will look for alternative suppliers. Vietnam and Malaysia will benefit particularly in low-end manufacturing of information and communications technology products, such as intermediate components and manufacturing of consumer goods like mobile phones and laptops. Malaysia's ICT industry is well-poised to gain from the shift in trade, partly owing to its strong logistics network and a good business environment.

Both Malaysia and Vietnam have a strong road, rail and port infrastructure, which has in turn helped to develop strong local logistics and shipping networks to support merchandise trade. The positive business environment in Malaysia (an existing clear and stable system for corporate law) and Vietnam (strong investment promotion policies via new special economic zones) will make these two countries even more attractive for companies that are considering them as potential locations for investments.

Within Asia, apart from Malaysia and Vietnam, the likes of India, Indonesia and Thailand may also stand to gain. The ongoing tiff has seen the two economic superpowers so far imposing trade tariffs or taxes amounting to around 360 billion dollars on merchandise between them.

Retailers in the US, like Macy’s and Kohl’s, have sought new partnerships and other tie-ups to appeal to shoppers. Last year, Kohl’s, for instance, has expanded to about 100 stores where Amazon customers can return their Amazon-bought items to Kohl’s to be packaged and shipped back for free.

Kohl’s is also looking at downsizing its store size of an average of about 90,000 sq ft to about 60,000 sq ft with the remaining space to be leased to fitness centers or other retailers. The point is to have a neighbor who will drive traffic for the retailer.

On its part, Macy’s will be much more aggressive in its lease models and feature restaurants and other categories that revolve around the way customers live and shop. Macy’s has also taken a stake in Silicon Valley start-up b8ta, which features different online upstart brands and major labels like Sony at its locations, including an in-store boutique at Macy's New York flagship. b8ta, which drives traffic and sales by regularly featuring new brands and by allowing customers to try and interact with products in out-of-box-setting, is also using its technology to expand The Market at Macy's pop-up shop concept.

Macy's this year also bought Story, famous for its New York shop that hosts different brands with unique themes.

Uniqlo’s parent company, Fast Retailing, has acquired a 35 per cent stake in Hanoi-based women’s fashion brand Elise. Elise, which has over 100 stores across the country, has received millions of dollars from the deal – a figure much higher than its entire charter capital.

The store will be operated by a joint venture between Fast Retailing and Mitsubishi Corporation. Its arrival in Vietnam will intensify competition for foreign brands as Zara and H&M who have already successfully launched there.

Vietnam is one of the markets Uniqlo is counting on to double its store network in Southeast Asia and Oceania to around 400 by 2022.According to German firm Statistics Portal, Vietnam’s fashion revenue will annually grow 22.5 per cent from 2017 to 2022, and its clothing sales will surge to an estimated $245 million this year.

US companies have turned to leather from India. They have been hit by tariffs on products imported from China. So there is an US company which is looking to buy 50 million pairs of footwear from India. The leather industry in India has prepared a roadmap to raise exports from $5.6 billion to $10 billion by 2021-22. And the US-China trade war has come in handy for meeting the target.

Footwear sub-sector accounts for half of India’s leather exports. The leather garment sub-sector produces 16 million pieces a year and accounts for one-tenth of exports. Other products such as articles (wallets, handbags), industrial gloves, harness and saddles account for a quarter of exports.

The industry employs 4.5 million people. India has come up with a Rs 2,600 crore special package for the industry— the funds would be spent over three years between 2017 and 2020. However, capacity is a constraint in the footwear sub-sector. Vietnam may have maxed out on its footwear capacity, and buyers would look toward India. The industry is seeking support to ramp up capacities.

The US has slapped tariffs on Chinese goods such as handbags and wallets. Leather footwear is not yet in the list, but this may be a matter of time.

Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturers & Exporters Association’s (PHMA) has urged the government of Pakistan to demand duty free access to Chinese to allow imports of finished fabric under DTRE and stitching machinery and after conversion of this finished fabric into garments, Pakistan will export these value added garments to China with zero percent duty at par with ASEAN countries. Pakistan can achieve a milestone in value added textile exports in view of China’s import of value added textile Items to the tune of $7,000 million. However, Pakistan exports to China amounted to only $100 million.

Grasim Industries has won the Golden Peacock award for sustainability. The Harihar polyfibers unit of Grasim which has been accorded this distinction produces rayon grade pulp. The unit began operations with an initial capacity of 32 KTPA in 1972-73. The plant today produces 70 KTPA of pulp a year from eucalyptus wood. About 90 per cent of the energy used is derived from renewable resources and chemical recovery is around 98 per cent.

Grasim, a part of Aditya Birla, is the world’s fourth largest pulp producer. It is one of India’s largest viscose staple fiber producers and is expanding capacity by 2.4 times. Grasim has ensured control over 80 per cent of the costs through backward integration, giving it an important competitive advantage over nonintegrated players. Its manufacturing input of caustic soda, power and steam and carbon disulfide is fully captive and the company has control over 60 per cent of the pulp requirements.

Started in 1947 with textile manufacturing, Grasim is a leading global player in diverse segments. It is among the largest chemical players in the world, the world’s fourth largest cement producer and among the top diversified financial services companies in India. The company, after the successful introduction of its fabric brand Liva in 2015 in the Indian market, is planning to take the brand global.

For the second quarter Arvind’s net sales were Rs 1815.98 crores as compared to Rs 1609.10 crores during the period ended September 30, 2017. Net profit was Rs 75.08 crores as against Rs 64.51 crores for the period ended September 30, 2017. EPS was Rs 2.80 as compared to Rs 2.40 for the period ended September 30, 2017.

For the six month period net sales were Rs 3640.02 crores as compared to Rs 3300.01 crores during the six month period ended September 30, 2017. Net profit was Rs 139.39 crores as against Rs 121.26 crores for the six month period ended September 30, 2017. EPS was Rs 5.37 as compared to Rs 4.69 for the six month period ended September 30, 2017.

Arvind wants to double the revenue from its textile business over the next four or five years. The company is also looking at developing garment clusters in Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat. Each of these clusters will employ 4000 to 8000 workers. These clusters will be like a global supply chain. Arvind already has a cluster operational in Ethiopia in Africa, which the company uses to reach out to American and European markets. Arvind is also planning to foray into performance and functional clothing (active wear) and synthetics.

"Fast Fashion, denim, knit, tailoring, leather and the latest offers by the Moroccan brands were highlighted at Maroc in Mode-Marc Sourcing fair, held from October 11-12, 2018 at Marrakech. In line with current market trend, the fair focused on fast fashion and sustainable ecosystems. It deployed a specific promotion strategy to attract a large number of German, Dutch and Scandinavian retailers. The fair was organised AMITH in partnership with Moroccan Ministry of Industry, AMDIE (Moroccan Agency for the Development of Investments), and Banque Populaire Group."

Fast Fashion, denim, knit, tailoring, leather and the latest offers by the Moroccan brands were highlighted at Maroc in Mode-Marc Sourcing fair, held from October 11-12, 2018 at Marrakech. In line with current market trend, the fair focused on fast fashion and sustainable ecosystems. It deployed a specific promotion strategy to attract a large number of German, Dutch and Scandinavian retailers. The fair was organised AMITH in partnership with Moroccan Ministry of Industry, AMDIE (Moroccan Agency for the Development of Investments), and Banque Populaire Group.

Fast fashion in the forefront

Around 1.853 visitors from 22 nations attended Maroc in Mode -Maroc Sourcing to research on new production companies and finalise existing contacts. Of these, 32 per cent visitors were from France, 8.5 per cent from Italy, 8 per cent from UK, 7 per cent from Portugal and Spain and 6.5 per cent from Germany, etc. Fast fashion and sustainable production were the focus of the visitors, and the quality of the production impressed most visitors.

Five eco systems were presented, viz: fast fashion; denim; jersey, knit, and lingerie; technical clothing, sportswear, leisurewear; and brands. Around 175 exhibitors from Morocco displayed their collections at the fair. Moroccan Denim Cluster included over 20 companies that almost exclusively use denim fabrics treated with a laser/ozone technique, methods that need environmentally friendly little water for the finishing of the fabrics.

Emphasis on sustainable textile production

Environmental management, textile eco-design and new technologies were in focus at the lecture series. Exhibitors and visitors were attracted by the presentations on sustainable textile production and changing global production and procurement processes at the trade fair.

The speakers of the ZDHC (Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals) program talked about corporate environmental management as a holistic approach to tackling hazardous chemicals along the entire value chain, a program that has already been joined by Moroccan companies. A common sustainability concept and a uniform assessment of sustainability performance by apparel producers through the Higg Index was the topic of Baptiste Carrière Pradal of the Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC).

Possible changes in the production process due to Industry 4.0 and their benefits were presented by Abdelaziz Sifaoui, Director, Lectra and exhibitor at Maroc in Mode. AMITH launched a think tank strategy for 4.0 a year ago and designed a sector plan for human resources. These presentations and lecturers will aid Moroccan manufacturers prepare for the future by developing a technological ecosystem and training staff accordingly.