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China is Australia’s largest wool customer, buying about 80 per cent of Australian wool. China has a vast appetite for Australian Merino wool. With increased affluence and a tendency towards leading healthier lifestyles, discerning Chinese consumers are now favoring natural, long-lasting garments, more so than following the latest trends perpetuated by fast fashion. Unemployment is low, salaries have been rising, and pension schemes have given people a greater security of income and more money to spend.
China’s wool imports have increased 4.5 per cent from the previous year. Domestic consumption of woolen products in China has grown dramatically in the last five years. If previously most processing was for export, today at least 50 per cent is for domestic use, and this is growing year by year.
Although wool only represents 15 per cent of fibers consumed in China, the volumes are so large that even 15 per cent represents a huge quantity of wool. Even in Mongolia, a remote part of the world, women wear woolen coats. In 2018, the Australian wool industry celebrates more than 50 years of a successful wool trade with China. Woolmark is marking more than half a century of a cross-cultural partnership between Australia and China.
Dyeing factories in Delhi-NCR region are facing a shortage of dyes. Imports of raw material from China have dwindled. This means sourcing by top global fashion brands, including Zara, Gap, H&M, Old Navy and Marks & Spencer, from these factories may get hit.
The price of dyes has increased nearly 30 per cent over the last 15 days and it is not sustainable for factories to carry on operations at the same rates. Many dyeing factories are considering scaling down operations, especially during a time when orders are pouring in from international markets for the spring ’19 season. The price of yarn has also been increasing over the last few weeks.
India is a major hub for several global brands. For instance, H&M and Ikea have been sourcing from the country for over a few decades. Textiles constitute around 70 per cent of Ikea's exports from India. Similarly, British retailer Marks & Spencer counts the country among its top five global sourcing hubs. The local dyeing industry, which includes around 150 factories in the Delhi-NCR region, has recently been rocked by the ban on pet coke and furnace oil, important ingredients in the dyeing process. A few plants, unable to sustain operations, have shut shop.
Turkish textile firms have asked the government to postpone plans of imposing new requirements on their imports from China. The government’s plan on imposing new fees was been discussed by representatives of textile companies and state officials.
Representatives have asked officials to postpone the implementation of some procedures while amending others. Turkish economy ministry stressed on support for production imports from China but on the condition of bringing value added to Turkey. Ready-to-wear clothing accounted for about 18 per cent of Turkey’s $157 billion exports in 2017.
The government plan was aimed partly at tackling Turkey’s widening current account deficit, which reached $47.1 billion last year says Cuneyt Yavuz, chief executive officer of jeans retailer Mavi. Meanwhile economy minister Nihat Zeybekci stated economic ties between Turkey and US can’t be underestimated, knowing that the US is the second biggest investor in the country. Turkey imported a quarter of its $10.1 billion textile from China in 2017, more than half of which was cotton fabrics and intermediary goods.
Commercial partnership and relations with the US are deeply rooted regardless of temporary political disputes and customs fees on Turkish steel imports. Zeybekci added Turkish financial firms have the ability to confront the instability of the Turkish Lira, expressing his confidence in the currency’s ability to regain its value soon.
Burberry’s sales were down one per cent last year. Pre-tax profits grew five per cent and its operating margins were at 15 per cent. Burberry is known for its trademark check fabric. The 160 year old British luxury brand still concentrates on check tartan outerwear, but its luxury range includes perfumes, watches, eye wear and leather handbags.
The group has over 400 stores worldwide, half in emerging markets. Moving into leather goods has attracted some attention as it wants to turn from one known for its outer wear into a broad luxury brand. Selling more bags is part of its plan for a number of reasons. Bags offer higher margins, require less selling space and no changing rooms. As part of its strategy Burberry has acquired CF&P, an Italian leather supplier. In Burberry’s case, leather goods account for only one-fifth of its sales.
Burberry is also rationalising store space, investing in technology and reducing costs. The coming years will see store reductions but stores will also be upgraded. The group is embracing technology, having struck a deal with online fashion retailer Farfetch as a one-stop shop for its high-end brands in southeast Asia.
The London Textile Committee report has recommended immediate measures to increase the cotton output in India, Egypt and Sudan, besides controlling the export of Egyptian cotton in order to safeguard the requirements of the British Empire and its Allies.
The report also recommends immediate measures to increase flax production in Ireland, Canada, India and other parts of the Empire. It suggests the Allies to conserve flax supply for each other’s use in priority to other demands. The Committee also recommends that advantage be taken of India’s monopoly of jute production to safeguard jute supplies for Britain and her Allies and also impose export duty on the same.
Australia has kicked off negotiations for a free trade agreement with the European Union to drive Australian exports, economic growth, and create new Australian jobs. The agreement will give Australian businesses preferential access to the EU. Australia will look to lock in access and create new commercially meaningful opportunities for Australian services exporters, with a focus on education, financial, and professional services. It will also explore rules and initiatives to support the digital economy, innovation, and increase opportunities for high-technology startups.
Australia similarly signed a free trade agreement earlier this year with 11 Pacific Rim nations. This is the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership CTPP 11 signed by Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia, Japan, Mexico, Peru, Brunei, and Chile. It will take effect in Australia by the end of 2018. South Korea, Thailand, and Indonesia have shown strong interest in joining the TPP as well as Colombia. The United Kingdom, which will complete Brexit next year, could also join.
The original TPP was signed in February 2016 by the US, but was then dumped. China is unwilling to join instead favoring the RCEP, which is being negotiated between China, Australia, India, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines, and Thailand.
Top NBA draft prospect Marvin Bagley III has signed a five-year footwear and apparel endorsement deal with Puma as a part of a plan to aggressively relaunch its basketball footwear business.
According to the deal, Bagley is expected to be a featured athlete in several upcoming category and brand global initiatives. The brand will also commit to a grassroots infrastructure with the Bagley family that will focus on skill development for a future generation of AAU players.
Puma also signed Manchester United soccer player and Belgium international Romelu Lukaku to a multiyear deal that is the largest sponsorship deal in the company's history. The brand will also sign additional rookies in the 2018 draft, before signing established players that have existing shoe deals expiring later this fall.
The brand has found recent success and resurgence in the marketplace thanks to partnerships with entertainment mogul Jay-Z, pop star Rihanna and several other endorsers in the lifestyle category.
EU countries approved a raft of tariffs targeting US goods including blue jeans, whiskey and motorcycles in retaliation against painful duties imposed by Trump on European products. Europe’s move fuels a growing transatlantic trade war just days after a disastrous G7 summit in Canada.
The European counter measures aimed at €2.8 billion euros ($3.3 billion) of American imports come after Trump on 1 June followed through on his threat to impose tariffs on European steel and aluminium exports. From blue jeans to motorbikes and whiskey, the EU’s hit-list of products targeted for tariffs with the US reads like a catalogue of emblematic American exports.
However, Trump abruptly rejected the text of a G7 statement and bitterly insulted his Canadian host, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Trump demanded America had been obliged to levy the metals tariffs as it has been exploited as the world’s “piggy bank” under existing arrangements.
His counterparts however said they were equally determined to protect “rules-based” international trade.
The European Commission has also launched a legal challenge against the US tariffs at the WTO.
Christian Dior tops as a retailer in Forbes annual list of the “world’s largest public companies”, known as the Global 2000 list. The massive report is being released for the 16th consecutive year and counts high-profile household names like JPMorgan Chase, Berkshire Hathaway, Bank of America, Apple and Chase among its top-ten rankings. In general, Christian Dior is ranked as the world’s 150th largest company.
The second-largest retailer in the apparel, accessories and footwear space is Zara and Nike comes in third place.
Christian Dior definitively takes the top spot with a market value of $76.4 billion USD, with a combined score of revenues, profits, assets and market value higher than any similar numbers for other companies in its lane.
The fashion house benefits from a 41 per cent stake in LVMH, the French luxury empire that owns 70 brands including Louis Vuitton, Dom Pérignon and Sephora. LVMH, which is run by French billionaire Bernard Arnault, in turn wholly owns Christian Dior. The companies have had a complicated ownership structure for years, with LVMH acquiring the remaining portion of Christian Dior that it didn't already own last year in a $13 billion deal.
The Oregon-based company, which was founded in 1964 by college track runner Phil Knight and his coach, initially distributed Japanese running shoes. It found success in sponsoring legendary athletes like Michael Jordan, Roger Federer and Lance Armstrong and is now the world's largest athletic retailer with annual sales of $35 billion.
Despite consumer preferences, the activewear is now dominated by synthetics, research reveals that could be detrimental to the wearer’s health and the environment at large.
Companies have been trying to be eco-friendly by making fabric from used plastic bottles. But the bottles and the resultant polyester are both made from polyethylene terephthalate, or PET, which is derived from crude oil. The bottles are shredded and the remnants are thrown in a mixture of chemicals and water, dried into pellets, and then melted and extruded into polyester yarn. Creating polyester requires more energy than producing cotton.
According to Cotton Incorporated’s Lifestyle Monitor research 45 per cent of the consumers believe that clothing made of polyester, compared to cotton and rayon, has the biggest odor issue or traps odor.
On the other hand, studies such as one conducted at the Cornell Composting Facility in 2010 suggest that cotton decomposes at a much faster rate than polyester. Various fabric technologies developed by Cotton Incorporated offer an edge to manufacturers that want to offer performance activewear made of natural cotton. Transdry technology wicks and spreads perspiration so cotton fabrics dry faster as well as or better than most high-tech synthetic fabrics. The wicking window technology is a moisture management application that eliminates the feeling of wet fabric against the skin. Storm cotton technology protects the wearer from the outside as it’s a breathable, water-repellent finish for cotton fabric.
