Uniqlo parent Fast Retailing is strengthening its partnership with a Japanese machinery maker to develop new products and on-demand production. The move follows Japanese online retailer Start Today's launch of custom-fit clothing brand Zozo earlier this year, and shows how fashion companies are increasingly using data to meet individual customers' needs.

Zozo, which offers affordable clothes based on individual size measurements taken using a special bodysuit and a smartphone app, is seen as a potential threat to Uniqlo. Fast Retailing machinery partner Shima Seiki supplies equipment used in clothing factories, including WholeGarment seamless knitwear production gears. The two companies have a joint venture since 2016.

Fast Retailing markets WholeGarment products only under Uniqlo U, a high-end brand led by French designer Christophe Lemaire sold at Uniqlo stores. The Japanese company is looking to use more WholeGarment products in its brands.

This suggests Fast Retailing is eyeing customized clothes to fit consumer's different needs, at a mass scale. WholeGarment machines are used by various brands. Customers enjoy the comfort, while apparel manufacturers benefit from the automation.

Customization is a recent trend in the fashion industry, for customers who are looking for things that meet their individual needs. The difficulty for apparel companies has been to produce customized products at mass scale, to lower costs.

Turkish denim mill Orta Anadolu has launched Zeromax from the company’s fabric segment. The fabric offers maximum soft share with the use of TENCEL™ Lyocell, which drapes next to skin with a shaping stretch. It’s the revolutionary soft denim that has zero cotton and leaves.

It’s a zero cotton product that offers maximum feeling delivered with the luxurious next-to-skin gentle hand. Zeromax is the ultimate sustainability co-op in the denim industry combined with Indigo Flow and coupled with conscious luxury and sophisticated structure. This family is woven with minimum impact to share the future of denim due to no use of cotton, which contributes to environmental pollution through the use of water, pesticides, land use and chemicals in its production process. Moreover, it’s crafted with unique twill and elasticity fusion that has a softer luster on the face.

German affordable textiles chain, Kik, has halted plans to enter the US due to the threat of higher tariffs. Instead, the company plans to focus on its Europe expansion. Kik aimed to conquer the US by opening its first 10 stores in the Midwest during 2019. The US market offers unlimited growth potential. Now, however, trade policies of President Trump have thwarted plans of the chain that hoped to emulate the success of German grocery retailer Aldi in the US.

Compared to the difficulties felt by other retailers, Kik and fellow discount chains have grown in Germany over the past years. Germany-based company, The Boenen operates more than 3,500 stores in Europe, which all offer a very similar range of low-priced clothing and home textiles, thus enabling the company to obtain low buying prices. Facing possible tariff costs, this strategy might not work in the United States anymore.

The global technical textile market is expected to reach $244,032 million by 2022 from $158,429 million in 2015 with a CAGR of 6.4 per cent from 2016 to 2022. The market is driven by increasing demand for hometech textile and mobiltech textile. The application of technical textile in mobiltech segment is crucial, as it reduces the weight of vehicles by providing light advanced material that is strong and durable. The Asia-Pacific region generated the highest revenue in 2015, which is expected to grow at CAGR of 7.8 per cent from 2016 to 2022. Asia-Pacific is expected to maintain its dominant position during the forecast period.Europe and North America are the second and third leading regions in the technical textile market respectively.

The global technical textile market is segmented based on type, end user industry, and geography. Based on type, the technical textile market is segmented into nonwoven, composites, and others (weaving, knitting and braiding).

Russia plans to double textile exports by 2025. Last year, exports of Russian-made textile products were almost 20 per cent higher than in 2016. However, despite this, textile products as a proportion of all Russian exports last year accounted for only 0.4 per cent. The plan is to make this about two per cent by 2025.

One key to this growth and planned export expansion has been the devaluation of the Russian currency in recent years. This has made exports more attractive for Russian textile producers, even compared to deliveries to the domestic market.

A decade ago, condition of Russian textile industry was catastrophic. It was badly affected by the decline of the Russian economy in the 1980s and 1990s. Many textile factories went bankrupt, while the market was occupied by cheap textile goods from South East Asia. However, the situation has changed significantly since then, while Russian textile goods have begun to enjoy significant demand both in the domestic market and abroad.

Russian exporters face good prospects because of an increase in labor costs in China and some South East Asian production hubs, the prices of Russian goods becoming more competitive as a result.

Portuguese clothing exports increased 2.2 per cent during the first five months of the year. Italy was the fastest growing customer during this period, corresponding to a 33 per cent rate development. Other markets were: France with a 4.5 per cent growth and the Netherlands with 11.6 per cent growth. The main markets for fashion from Portugal are the US, Spain, Germany and the Nordic countries.

Exports account for 70 per cent of Portugal’s textile and clothing business. The industry has been able to carry out an extraordinary reconversion and modernization. It is primarily clustered in the north coast region of the country and encompasses spinning, weaving, finishing, knitting, apparel manufacturing, home textiles and technical textiles. Located in the same region are the Technological Centre of the Textile and Clothing Industry and the Centre of Nanotechnology and Smart Materials.

The country’s textile industry has shifted over the past two decades from an emphasis on price to value in response to competition from low-cost countries. The focus now is on fashion, design, technological innovation, logistics and international markets. Portugal is promoting textiles in three silos: brands/fashion/design, private label and home textiles. Home textiles represent nearly 40 per cent of the sector’s exports to the US.

Mode City along with Interfilière will bring in consumer-centric future by creating a B2C or Business to Consumer component. Participation in the B2C segment will be optional for exhibitors, who may choose to have separate stands or pop-up shops in the Summer Camp area. Brands and retailers will have the opportunity to get to know consumers and their social influencers, leading them to update and take more risks with their products.

The new format will allow consumers to discover new brands, particularly the growing number of small independent brands who may not have an internet presence. Beyond the exhibits, consumers may opt for private tours of the trend areas or reserved seats at the fashion shows.

Textile innovators might take the opportunity to explain new yarns and sustainability issues to consumers, as retail displays and hang-tags often fail to do the job. The new format follows the example of several ready-to-wear brands, who have recently chosen to show their collections directly to consumers via social media.

Understanding the new consumer has proven a challenge for many brands, retailers, and suppliers. In addition, the globalization and hybridization of the market is driving more exhibitions in diverse locations, while the supply chain is being required to run faster and leaner.

Milano Unica, which recently concluded its latest edition on July 12, 2018, registered 6,000 visitors, almost 4 per cent more than its 2017 edition. The number of exhibitors also grew 4 per cent as compared to July 2017. The exhibition showcased latest trends in eco-friendly textiles. In February 2018 edition, 53 exhibitors had showcased 250 fabric samples in the new sustainable fabric trend area while this edition featured 123 companies showcasing 50 fabric samples.

Some of the innovations displayed included: Iluna Group velvet laces entirely made with sustainable materials including Roica Eco-Smart family fibers. Similarly, Schoeller launched its cotton-feel technical materials treated with PFC-free Ecorepel Bio treatment. Albini launched a series of eco-friendly products such as Zero24, a wrinkle-free line of shirting fabrics. It also offered fabrics made with organic linen and cotton, biological silk, BCI cotton, but also Tencel Micro and Cupro.

Various innovations were introduced in the wool market, too. Reda and its Reda Active line of innovative wool fabrics offered a series of jackets made with wool and Cordura as a special jacket by Rossignol designed by Damir Doma. A special top by US brand Armadillo made with Merino wool, a new men’s bathing suit made with wool and Cordura that is tear-proof and dries fast, skiing casks by Kask, lined with its techno-wools, and sneakers whose uppers are made with functional and weather-protective wool knit.

Lectra, the technological partner for companies using fabrics and leather, recently hosted a technology day in New Delhi. Dedicated to exporters and brands of India, the seminar paved the way to digitalisation with Industry 4.0 and the methods that can help companies meet today’s challenges and address the highly competitive global market demands. The event brought together 20 decision makers from leading manufacturers, exporters, and brands community present in New Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida, and Faridabad area.

India is currently adopting technology to achieve efficiency. Today, the impact of data generated by companies, and their optimisation, plays a vital role in decision making. Smart manufacturing technology allows companies to achieve full supply chain transparency. By improving process visibility, they can adopt new business models, improve operational efficiency and produce in larger volumes. Thanks to innovative technology, exporters and manufacturers can define the KPI’s of their departments to analyse the measurable for informed decision making which supports to keep up in this rapidly moving fashion world.

Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics will be held from September 27 to 29. Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics is a comprehensive platform to showcase supreme apparel fabrics and accessories. The event will see 4,000-plus suppliers and more than 70,000 trade buyers. The earlier date for the industry’s largest trade event is attracting many of the biggest apparel fabrics and accessories back to the 2018 edition.

Birla, DuPont, Hyosung, Invista and Lenzing will have Group Pavilions. As the most comprehensive sourcing platform in the industry, the fair’s product groups include cotton, wool, manmade, silk, linen / ramie, denim and knitted fabrics, as well as lace and embroidery, fibers and yarns, garment and fashion accessories, original pattern designs, sustainability products and services and digital printing technologies. Application areas for these products include women’s wear, men’s wear, suitings, shirtings, casual wear, functional wear / sportswear, denim wear, lingerie and swimwear, children's wear and more.

Two international promotion bodies Cotton Council International and The Woolmark Company also return, as will global Chinese players Bros Eastern and Huafu Fashion. Among the many Japanese participants will be Komatsu Seiren and Stylem, while Dormeuil and Malhia Kent from France participate again this year. Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics will run concurrently with the CHIC and PH Value fairs this edition.