A new report from ResearchAndMarkets.com on “Global Athleisure Market 2019-2023” projects that the athleisure category will register a CAGR, of nearly 7 percent by 2023. According to the report, millennials are driving demand in this category with high fashion brands embracing athleisure. The report concluded rising adoption of athleisure wear by millennials and the working population will further boost market growth in the forthcoming years.

Brands like Lululemon and Gap are also increasing their sales of men’s athleisure apparel with a greater focus on technical fabric innovations designed to advance their offerings. Last October, Gap launched Hill City, its high performance men’s apparel brand that uses technical fabrications for apparel those transitions with the wearer throughout the day, from working out to work and to the weekend.

Retail consultant Gabriella Santaniello, who founded research firm A-Line Partners, believes that the category is stabilising and there is still room for growth for companies that continue to provide innovation and execute well. For instance, Lululemon has used innovation as a tool to grow the already established women’s line, with the introduction of new fabrics and categories like intimates, while the men’s line is slated to be the firm’s growth vehicle.

"A wardrobe staple today, the blue jean was first created in 1873 by Tailor Jacob Davis and fabric supplier Levi Strauss who were granted a patent to supply their copper-riveted denim cotton bottoms. The jean still remains a favorite amongst customers of all age groups and classes despite the advent of new trends such as athleisure."

A wardrobe staple today, the blue jean was first created in 1873 by Tailor Jacob Davis and fabric supplier Levi Strauss who were granted a patent to supply their copper-riveted denim cotton bottoms. The jean still remains a favorite amongst customers of all age groups and classes despite the advent of new trends such as athleisure.

Jeans market to see robust growth

A survey by Cotton Incorporated Lifestyle Monitor™reveals, Levi’s is one of the most favorite jeans brands amongst U.S. consumers, followed by Lee, Wrangler, American Eagle, Old Navy and Gap. Zion Market Research estimates global denim jeans market will grow to $85.4 billion by 2025 with North America and Europe holding major share. These regions are likely to witness significant growth as brands here offer customised products to their consumers.

Monitor, CCI and Cotton Incorporated’s Global Lifestyle Monitor™ Survey shows that over half of US consumers either ‘love’ or ‘enjoy’ wearing denim. The women in this country own six pairs of denim jeans, while men own five. Nearly two-third consumers wear denim jeans or shorts at least three times a week.

Creating core denim through advanced technologies, process

While denim today may resemble the early blue jeans, brands and companies are trying to change the way jeans are made. They are using advanced technologies, natural resources, cleaner production processes, artificial intelligence, etc to create core denim products that comply with environmental standards. Jeanuine, a New York-based denim brand, allows consumers to personalise their denim via its Jean Maker app, which helps create and modify every pair of jeans. Consumers can design their jeans online or visit the Consortium showroom in Manhattan. To start the design process, the brand uses a try-on set to identify the consumer’s waist size. The jean is either designed online or shoppers can make an appointment and come to the Consortium showroom. Despite this bespoke design process, the Jeanuine jeans retail from $229.

This process of offering customised jeans helps the brand to foster loyalty amongst its consumers. As The Monitor™ research shows, 7 in 10 consumers pledge loyalty to brands that customise their clothes according to their needs.

For the fourth quarter Welspun India’s total income was up 4.30 per cent as against the same period a year ago. The company posted a net profit of Rs 89.86 crores. Consolidated loss for the quarter was Rs 78.43 crores. Shares of Welspun India Friday were trading 4.73 per cent higher. Welspun India is part of the Welspun Group. The company and its subsidiaries, which have been facing litigation in the US surrounding its premium cotton home textile products, have entered into a settlement agreement in the US. The settlement agreement is subject to approval by the appropriate courts in the United States and regulators, and is intended to resolve legal claims in the US concerning the past marketing and labeling of the company’s premium cotton home textile products. To avoid the burden, cost, and uncertainty of continued litigation in the United States surrounding the provenance of its premium cotton home textile products, the company and its subsidiaries entered into a settlement agreement, which provides monetary payments to settlement class members not to exceed an aggregate 36 million dollars.

In 2016, the US retail giant Target Corporation had terminated contract with the Gujarat-based textiles maker over alleged lapses in its products supply.

Vietnam and Norway have economic, trade and investment relations. Two-way trade represents a year-on-year rise of 13.67 per cent. In the first four months of 2019, trade between Vietnam and Norway was up 14.4 per cent year on year. Vietnam mainly exports garments, textiles, footwear, cashew nut, and wood and timber products while importing aquatic products, machinery, equipment, and other spare parts from Norway. To boost exports to Norway, Vietnam will advise businesses to focus on improving the quality of products and studying the market to address trade and technical barriers as well as meeting strict requirements on the traceability of products, social responsibility, environmental protection, and business ethics. Also planned are meetings with distributors and large-scale supermarkets to set up long-term partnerships and promote the export of Vietnamese goods.

Norway has 42 direct investment projects in Vietnam. Possible areas of cooperation are in the fields of maritime, shipbuilding, aquaculture, renewable energy, and tourism. At present, Norwegian enterprises are particularly interested in cooperation in developing aquaculture and processing aquatic products in Vietnam. They are also interested in oil and gas production projects.

Vietnam’s exports have depended on foreign directed investment enterprises, which account for 70 per cent of total turnover.

AEPC has partnered Social & Labor Convergence for the launch of the Social and Labour Converges programme (SLCP) operations in NCR & Tirupur. The Social & Labor Convergence Program (SLCP) is an initiative led by the world’s leading manufacturers, brands, retailers, industry groups, (inter)governmental organisations, service providers and civil society organizations, to eliminate audit fatigue by replacing current proprietary tools with a standard-neutral Converged Assessment Framework. The mission of SLCP is to improve working conditions by allowing resources that were previously designated for compliance audits to be redirected towards the improvement of social and labor conditions.

The Converged Assessment Framework provides a data set with no value judgment or scoring. It is however compatible with existing audit systems and codes of conduct. This means that the same data set can be used by a wide-range of stakeholders & interpreted according to their interests and criteria. This eliminates the need for repetitive audits to be carried out on the same facility.

Apparel Textile Sourcing Miami (ATSM) Show, to be held from May 28-30, 2019, at the Mana Wynwood Convention Centre, will feature 300 international apparel and textile exhibits and attract 4,000 visitors over three days. The show will provide an unprecedented platform for Miami’s designers to meet the manufacturing sector, for investors to discover brands, and for apparel producers to find retail opportunities — reinforcing Miami as the fashion capital it has become.

The ‘Best of Miami Fashion’ show on May 29 will showcase the latest creations by the city’s most renowned talent, including: ready-to-wear designs by Renee Ruiz, Julian Chang, Luis Aponte and Viviana Gabeiras (knits); sportswear by Lucky in Love and Peace, Love, World; swimwear byBianca Coletti; menswear by Cubavera; evening wear by Mayda Cisneros; and bridal designs by Maria D’Ocon. Making a debut on the runway will also be innovative designs by some of Miami’s top rising young fashion stars.

At the Trending Fashion Lab Talks, industry’s top experts and influencers — both local and national —will discuss latest fashion industry trends, the challenges today’s designers face, and the evolving shopping preferences of today’s consumers. Presenters will provide unique insight into topics such as new digital shopping channels, emerging technologies that change the way consumers interact with brands, e-commerce, experiential retail, changing consumer attitudes regarding environmental consciousness and corporate responsibility, the critical role of social media in the world of fashion, and how to create a Made in the USA fashion line in 2019.

Senior executives from more than 75 businesses in the United States, including apparel powerhouses Gap, Levi’s and Nike, have arranged to meet with a bipartisan group of federal lawmakers to debate on a meaningful climate legislation — including a national price on carbon.

The Lawmaker Education & Advocacy Day (LEAD) on Carbon Pricing, which features companies with a combined market valuation of around $2.5 trillion, is the most substantial business gathering on Congress to implement new climate legislation in more than a decade. The organisations participating in LEAD include 21 Fortune 500 companies, trade associations, and SMEs from across all 50 US states. Aside from their collective valuation, the firms involved also employ over one million American citizens.

The goal of the talks is to make business case for a strong and effective federal carbon price and to share the private sector’s view on how best to tackle the climate crisis. All 75 business representatives, of which eight are CEOs, will hold one-on-one meetings with lawmakers and congressional staff with both party affiliations to discuss the economic impacts of climate change and the need for more effective national climate policies.

Guatemala is preparing for an increase in business from the United States-based apparel brands that might need to shift sourcing partnerships away from China. With demand for sustainable sourcing from apparel brands, mills in the region are preparing to meet that need. Guatemala’s textile industry is more high end. The quality—whether in fabric or sewing and cutting—is a lot higher than other parts of Asia or even in Honduras or Haiti.

A hot topic of discussion at the 28th annual Apparel Sourcing Show, held from May 14–16 at the Grand Tikal Futura Hotel and Convention Center, was the escalating United States–China tariff war and greater sustainability options across the supply chain. Exhibitors with sustainable offerings were able to accommodate the growing demand for eco-friendly supplies. Liztex, one of the largest textile manufacturers in Central America, located in Amatitlán, Guatemala, saw strong trend toward producing fibers from recycled sources.

But while Guatemalan companies are excited about a growing opportunity to increase apparel and textile production, they are also concerned about whether their country can compete with China’s enormous production capacity. Investments to expand the country’s capacity would be necessary to accommodate demand that could result from the trade war.

Voltas and Shima Seiki have opened an experience zone in Tirupur. The zone has state-of-the-art machines that not only help customers understand total fashion and whole garment technology but will also act as a local center for education, hands-on training and post-sale support center. The foremost objective of the experience center is to make the customer experience whole garment machines and find for themselves the various possibilities to make the whole range of garments directly from machines. This innovation will help the industry save time as the garment is manufactured by the machines directly from the yarn. Whole garment machines can also give remarkable fashion and meet all quality guidelines in terms of grip, finishing and more. The experience zone also is equipped with a hands-on lab with a high-tech total fashion system where customers can design their virtual sample in the computing device provided in the lab and in the process the time for sample-making is reduced. Currently customers have to go through multiple levels of approvals.

After the experience center in Ludhiana, Tirupur has the second experience center by Voltas which is looking at opening a similar center in New Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata.

Leading denim producer Isko will enter a new market in the United States next month when it introduces Isko Vital, a four-way-stretch fabric that provides compression technology. After launching the fabric for European customers during the International Trade Fair for Sports Equipment and Fashion in Germany in February, Isko is currently in discussions with brands to integrate Isko Vital into their designs. At the Outdoor Retailer trade show in Denver June 18–20, the Inegöl, Turkey–headquartered Isko will unveil Isko Vital to the North American market.

The company says it is now ready to unveil Isko Vital stateside as the first woven fabric to offer a compression-technology system of this kind. Using its existing Blue Skin fabric, which has been used in the company’s denim, Isko created Isko Vital by blending this textile with polyester and Lycra. The material stretches in four different directions, giving 360-degree freedom of movement.

While Isko focused on developing a more technologically advanced performance fabric, the company remains committed to sustainable practices. A recipient of the Nordic Swan Ecolabel and the EU Ecolabel for pieces in its Earth Fit denim collection, Isko is also a member of ZDHC (Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals), the Amsterdam-headquartered group that challenges companies to eliminate hazardous chemicals throughout the supply chain.

As a member of the global apparel-manufacturing community, the company recognises its responsibility to ensure that its fabric is created with sustainability in mind. Noting that consumers are demanding more from companies, in addition to the lack of brand loyalty among generations Y and Z, Cortazzi recognizes that her company must distinguish its products from the competition by offering eco-friendlier options.