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In anticipation of the launch of the United Nations Partnership for Sustainable Fashion in New York in July, the Global Landscapes Forum held a Digital Summit panel discussion titled Fashion for the Sustainable Development Goals.
The summit introduced current innovations expected to lead to sustainable fashion supply chains and green job opportunities for youth and women.
The discussion was moderated by Nairobi-based UN Environment Management Officer Michael Stanley-Jones. Its featured speakers included Kaya Dorey, founder of sustainable fashion brand Novel Supply Co.; fashion technologist Amanda Parker, New York-based chief innovation officer of sustainable fashion investment incubator Future Tech Lab; and New York-based runway producer Ava J. Holmes, co-Founder of Fashion For Conservation.
Dorey was named the 2017 UN Environment Young Champion of the Earth-North America for starting an innovative Vancouver-based production for comfortable basics made of sustainable cotton and hemp, and no synthetic dyes.
Pakistan’s exports of textile products grew 12.8 per cent year on year.The value of total textile sector exports grew 7.18 per cent in July-January 2018 versus the corresponding period of last year.
The textile industry in Pakistan is the largest manufacturing industry in the country.
For years, the sector has been the country’s backbone as it provides employment and export revenues. The sector contributes 57 per cent to the country’s exports, 8.5 per cent to GDP and is the second largest employment sector in Pakistan.
Pakistan is the eighth largest exporter of textile commodities in Asia. Between 1947 and 2000, the number of textile mills in Pakistan increased from 3 to 600. In the same time spindles increased from 1,77,000 to 805 million.
Cotton spinning is perhaps the most important segment in the Pakistan textile industry with 521 units installed and operational.
Synthetic fibers prepared with nylon, polyester, acrylic, and polyolefin dominate the market.
Three types of filament yarn are also produced in Pakistan. These are acetate rayon yarn, polyester filament yarn, and nylon filament yarn.
Textile products manufactured from wool are also famous across the country and they include woolen yarn, acrylic yarn, fabrics, shawls, blankets, and carpets.
Secondhand clothing imports dominate African markets.They accounted for half the fall in employment engaged in making apparel in Africa between 1981 and 2000.
African manufacturing is weak for many reasons, from clumsy privatisations to crumbling infrastructure.
The secondhand clothing industry dramatically helps close the loop on post-consumer textile waste, and provides many people around the world the only affordable access to quality apparel.
But cast-offs undercut Africa’s fledgling clothing industries. This is a trade that knits together charity and business, gift and profit. The share from China and South Korea is growing, but 70 per cent of used clothing flowing into Africa comes from Europe and North America.
In most rich countries the supply of used clothing far outstrips demand. Less than half of donations are sold locally. Most of the rest are sold to exporters.
In Africa, these motley bundles are a valuable commodity. Men’s clothes are pricier, since fewer arrive. American pieces are often too large and have to be resized by tailors. But still a person would rather buy second-hand from America instead of buying a new Chinese product. The complaint is that new Asian clothes damage easily and look like uniforms, without variety.
There is a suspicion high-quality, unworn clothes are smuggled into bales as a way for the rich world’s clothing industry to offload samples and unsold items.
Nigeria is aiming at accelerating a sustainable increase in the production and processing of cotton.The cotton sector aims at increasing production by 20 per cent in 2018 as farmers are encouraged by better returns due to increasing cotton prices and improved yields.
At one time Nigeria’s textile industry created over 8,00,000 jobs, representing 25 per cent of the total number of jobs in the manufacturing sector.
There were 175 textile mills in the country during its golden era (i.e. 1985 - 1991) out of which today all but 27 of them have gone under.
Key challenges affecting the sector are lack of cotton lint, smuggling and counterfeiting, inadequate infrastructure, limited access to power and funding.
Funds needed by manufacturers to recapitalise have been hampered by the high interest rates charged on loans by financial institutions. The 30 per cent interest rate charged in Nigeria by commercial banks would appear as exorbitant when compared, for example, with the six per cent charged in China on loans given to textile manufacturers.
Globally power supply accounts for about 15 per cent of the production cost in the textile industry. In Nigeria it is almost 45 per cent.
Production of cotton lint which accounts for 40 per cent of the raw materials required in the textile industry has remained a critical challenge.
According to the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER), Taiwan’s composite index for the manufacturing sector increased by 1.25 from a month earlier to 11.70 to enter the yellow-blue light category, which ranges from 10.5 to 13 points.
The textile industry too was boosted by rising demand for functional textile products and improved from a blue light to a yellow-blue light in April.
TIER uses a five-color light system to describe economic activity, with red indicating overheating, yellow-red showing fast growth, green representing stable growth, yellow-blue signaling sluggish growth and blue reflecting a contraction.
According to TIER, three of the five factors that make up the composite index for the manufacturing sector moved higher in April. The sub-indexes for the general business climate, pricing and demand all rose from a month earlier in April. The growth in the three factors echoed Taiwan's strong export performance in April, when the country's outbound sales rose 10 percent from a year earlier to US$26.73 billion.
Janak Mehta is chairman of Asia Dyestuff Industry Federation (ADIF). ADIF, based in China, is an apex body and a conglomerate of dyestuff and pigment manufacturers of Asia. It was conceived to represent and promote the interests of the dyestuffs and colorant industry in this part of the world.
The basic function of the federation is to promote communication and exchange information among members, create opportunities and conditions for bilateral and multilateral co-operation for holding seminars, exhibitions etc for the development of the Asian colorant industry.
There has been a shift in the power-centre of the colorant manufacturing and consumer segments toward Asia.
Six Asian countries’ dyestuff associations have jointly established the Asia Dyestuff Industry Federation having its head office in China and regional office in India. The federation consists of industries and commercial associations of Pakistan, India, China, Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong.
The formation of the federation will be helpful for importers and industries in the Asian region.
In his maiden address, Mehta, the newly appointed chairman, expressed optimism that with the support and co-operation of all stakeholders, ADIF would be able to perform its activities for the benefit of all concerned to usher in better days for the Asian dyestuff industry.
India’s woven fabric exports rose 17 per cent in April. During April, 134 countries imported woven fabrics from India, topped by Bangladesh and followed by UAE and Sri Lanka. The three together accounted for 30 per cent of total woven fabric shipped during the month.
Cote D’Ivoire, Croatia, Ethiopia, Nepal and Philippines were the fastest growing markets for woven fabrics, and accounted for close to two per cent of total export value in April.
Cotton fabrics were 51 per cent of woven fabric exports in April. Plain fabric exports accounted for 64 per cent of all types of woven fabrics exports in April 2018, up 14 per cent in volume year on year. Bangladesh, UAE and Senegal were the top markets for plain fabrics.
Denim fabric was the second largest woven fabric exported in April, with volumes increasing 18 per cent year on year and value up 9.5 per cent. Denim fabric was mainly imported by Bangladesh, followed by Egypt and Colombia. Denim exports to Bangladesh declined 44 per cent in value as against a year ago.
Shirting/suiting volumes surged 33 per cent while lungi and dhoti exports fell four per cent after a recovery in the previous two months.
Furnishing fabric exports doubled in April with the UK on the top followed by the US and UAE.
Morocco’s price index of industrial production decreased by 0.2 per cent in April 2018.
The decline in prices extended to the the clothing industry by 0.5 per cent, food industry by 0.3 per cent, pulp and paper industries by 0.8 per cent, metallurgy by 1.2 per cent, and non-metallic mineral products by 0.6 per cent.
Some industries saw a price increase in April: textile manufacturing by 0.7 per cent, leather and shoe products by 0.2 per cent, and cork and wood products by 1.2 per cent.
In March, prices of metallurgy increased by 0.7 per cent, pulp and paper industries by one per cent, and clothing and textile prices by 0.4 per cent. Wood and cork production prices each rose by 0.4 per cent in March.
There was an increase in the prices of fuel, meat, fruit, and vegetables in April, as the consumer price index climbed 0.3 per cent, after rising by just 0.1 per cent in March.
Morocco ranks seventh in the world’s list of fashion exporters. The country has high ambitions to foster this industrial sector in terms of quality, sustainability, technology and logistics.
The Indian economy grew 7.7 per cent year-on-year in January-March.The figure surpassed China’s growth rate of 6.8 per cent in the January-March quarter, confirming India as the fastest growing major economy.
India also reported 4.7 per cent growth in annual infrastructure output in April, signaling a recovery after it slipped to a three-year low of 4.2 per cent in 2017-18. Construction activity jumped to 11.5 per cent during January-March after a 3.9 per cent drop in the year-ago period.
The faster pace of growth in the latest quarter might also strengthen expectations of an interest rate increase.
India’s recovery could be threatened by higher global crude oil prices. India meets 80 per cent of its oil needs from imports. Higher oil prices have already pressured the rupee.
Alongside, rising global trade tensions due to the imposition of import tariffs by the United States could moderate global trade growth, tempering Indian exports.
However, growth is likely to get a boost from monsoon rains, potentially brightening the outlook for agricultural output. Monsoons deliver about 70 per cent of India’s annual rainfall and are the lifeblood of its economy, spurring farm output and boosting rural spending.
Economic growth could reach 7.4 per cent in 2018-19.
Angora rabbit fur is being used for sweaters, hats, gloves, and more.
Angora rabbits have long, soft fur. Most angora comes from rabbits on Chinese factory farms. The rabbits writhe in agony as workers tie them down and rip out their fur.
Brands like Calvin Klein, H&M, Marks & Spencer, Tommy Hilfiger, and Topshop have dropped angora wool from their clothing lines. So far more than 300 major retailers have banned angora.
Since then Chinese exports of angora have dropped steadily and are down 85 per cent.
Then there is mohair. Most of the world’s mohair comes from farms in South Africa. Shearers throw angora goats, cut off swaths of their skin, and cut conscious animals’ throats. Workers pick up goats by the tails, likely breaking them. One farmer dumped rams into tanks of cleaning solution and shoved their heads into the liquid, which would poison them if they swallowed it.
Workers punch holes in goats’ ears with pliers, causing the animals to scream. The goats bleat and roll around when they’re castrated without painkillers.
Like in the case of angora, the largest clothing companies in the world— Zara, Topshop, Gap, Banana Republic, Uniqlo, Esprit, Mango, Old Navy, Athleta, and H&M—have banned mohair.
