FW
A cotton conference is scheduled to take place in Germany from May 16 to 18, 2017. The Global Cotton Conference will bring the entire sector together to shape a more sustainable future for the cotton industry. The conference will offer the opportunity to explore themes at the field level, in the value chain and in consumer facing businesses. Industry experts, business leaders and other key stakeholders will participate in the event to share perspectives on the keys to unlocking a better future for cotton.
Cotton is one of the world’s most important natural fibers. It’s used by nearly everyone and supports 250 million people’s livelihoods. The conference is being organized by Better Cotton Initiative. BCI is a not-for-profit organisation stewarding global standards for better cotton, and bringing together cotton’s complex supply chain, from farmers to retailers.
Better Cotton Initiative exists to make global cotton production better for the people who produce it, better for the environment it grows in and better for the sector’s future. BCI aims to transform cotton production worldwide by developing better cotton as a sustainable mainstream commodity.
BCI works with a diverse range of stakeholders across the cotton supply chain to promote measurable and continuing improvements for the environment, farming communities and the economies of cotton-producing areas.
Turkey’s export-oriented textile and apparel industry relies heavily on cotton imports. Turkey is the world’s second largest consumer of cotton. As the industry has been booming over recent years, Turkey’s cotton demand is also soaring and is expected to reach a 19-year high in 2017.
Rising cotton demand is due to Turkey’s increasing focus on in the European market. Cotton mills in Turkey had to lower margins to keep their market share in the European market to continue operating. Meanwhile Turkish mills have also been investing in new machinery and technology to increase quality and lower costs in order to get ahead in the very competitive international textile trade.
Turkish domestic cotton production is also forecast to surge by 21 per cent year on year in 2016-17. In fact Turkey is the fifth biggest cotton yarn producer in the world, having a five per cent share in global cotton yarn production. The recovery in Turkey’s cotton production is mainly driven by higher local cotton prices and more local farmers switching from planting low return crops such as corn to cotton.
However, lack of irrigation water and high production costs such as seed, fertilizer, fuel and electricity remain as main obstacles for the industry to grow.
UK’s fashion technology firm Metail has announced a partnership with Benit an arm of South Korean conglomerate Kolon. The deal will expand the reach of Metail’s game-changing technology in Asia, which allows consumers to discover, shop, share and try on clothes online in a unique and engaging fashion.
Metail’s aim is to digitise all of the world’s garments and people. It sees South Korea as the most mobile-focused, tech-savvy and fashion-conscious market in the world and feels Kolon, with its scale, stable of brands and market-leading fashion-focused IT services arm, is the right strategic partner.
Kolon is the fourth largest conglomerate in South Korea, with interests spanning manufacturing to construction, trade, life sciences research, environment, retail and fashion. Building on its leadership across multiple sectors, Kolon is now setting its sights on the fast growing South-Korean fashion e-commerce market through its technology branch Benit.
Kolon was looking for innovative and useful solutions for the development of the fashion market in the region and felt Metail's solutions were the most valuable. Consumers can’t try on clothes when buying clothes online. Kolon feels Metail can help overcome the difficulties in sizing and styling.
Through this agreement, Kolon hopes, fashion and distribution companies in the Korean market will be able to provide a useful and wonderful experience to customers.
Turkey’s textile exports to the EU increased 8.6 per cent year-on-year in 2016 while exports of apparel fell 2.3 per cent. The EU remains the largest exporting destination for Turkey’s textile and apparel products and the textile and apparel trade with the EU is expected to increase over the next few years. In 2016, over 64 per cent of total Turkish textile and apparel exports were destined for the EU.
Russian buyers are returning to Turkey after the political tension in November 2015 when Turkey downed a Russian jet. Textile and apparel exports from Turkey are also increasing to other markets like Iran, the US, Algeria, Israel, Poland and Bulgaria. Meanwhile, the depreciation of the Turkish lira is making exports easier.
Moreover, domestic market is also developing well and attracting more foreign investment. The domestic market is expected to grow by eight to ten per cent in 2017. An industrial rebound is expected in the country’s cotton production. The Turkish textile and apparel industry has a goal of doing exports worth 72 billion dollars in 2023. In order to achieve that target, Turkey has put increasing efforts to ensure national and regional stability and harmonious international trade relations.
India’s textile exports fell five per cent in 2016 compared to 2015. Demand remained sluggish and India has been losing out to China. That country’s cost of production remained almost flat and there has been currency depreciation. The Chinese currency has weakened nine per cent over the dollar. In contrast, the cost of production has increased sharply in India and the rupee has appreciated around five per cent. So India's receivable export proceeds have declined proportionately.
The past year has seen a 25 to 30 per cent jump in labor cost. Since labor is a major component of the overall cost, the cost of apparel production has risen proportionately. Overall, therefore, India's textile and apparel exports are estimated to remain flat in calendar 2017 as the benefits offered to the industry are negated by a sharp increase in the cost of production and appreciation in the rupee.
Demand for fabric from apparel makers has been subdued. The country's fabric production was tepid in April-September 2016, with a modest growth of two per cent. Demonetisation added to the challenges being faced by this fragmented and unorganised segment, seen in a six per cent fall in fabric production during the December quarter.
A denim seminar was held by Isko I-skool in Italy from March 13 to 15. This was part of Isko I-skool’s educational activities, where students learnt about the supply chain. Participants got an up-close look at many aspects of the denim industry. Students learnt and experienced all the steps of denim production, from cotton bolls to the latest washing technologies and forecasting trends.
Isko I-skool is the global fashion talent by Isko, a world leader in denim production and textile innovation. The seminar was held thanks to the invaluable contribution of some of the project’s prestigious partners: Lenzing, Archroma, Itema, Reca Group, Tonello, Swarovski and Betabrand.
Isko opened in 1904 and is the world’s largest denim manufacturer under one roof. With 1,500 high-tech automated looms, global distribution of employees and a production capacity of 250 million meters of fabric per year, the portfolio includes more than 25,000 products.
Isko has a presence in 30 countries and an international network of textile technologists, design experts and retail specialists. Use of its revolutionary stretch textile technology in jeggings gave women a sculpting, slim-line elegance. Its concepts can be tailored for any requirement including haute couture, street wear, jeans wear, sports wear and boutique collections.
VF Corporation has been named the world’s most ethical company by the Ethisphere Institute. This assessment is based on a framework which offers a quantitative way to assess a company’s performance in an objective, consistent and standardized way. The information provides a comprehensive sampling of definitive criteria of core competencies in the areas of corporate governance, risk, sustainability, compliance and ethics.
Scores are generated in five key categories: ethics and compliance program (35 per cent), corporate citizenship and responsibility (20 per cent), culture of ethics (20 per cent), governance (15 per cent) and leadership, innovation and reputation (10 per cent).
VF is a global leader in branded lifestyle apparel, footwear and accessories. Ethisphere defines and advances the standards of ethical business practices. It is one of only three apparel companies to figure in the list, underscoring the company’s commitment to leading its industry through ethical business standards and practices.
Since 2006, Ethisphere has honored companies that recognize their role in society to influence and drive positive change, consider the impact of their actions on their employees, investors, customers and other key stakeholders, and use their values and culture as an underpinning to the decisions they make every day.
Cambodia’s exports grew 18 per cent in 2016 while imports went up 16 per cent. The European Union is Cambodia’s biggest market. Exports to Japan rose 45 per cent and exports to China by 50 per cent. By contrast, exports to the United States, traditionally a key market for Cambodian garment exporters – remained flat.
The country’s garment and footwear sector accounts for over two-thirds of the country’s exports by value. About 90 per cent of all exports were shipped under GSP and MFN schemes, which allow many Cambodian products to enter markets with reduced tariffs or duty-free. Imports from China – the largest supplier of goods to Cambodia – rose 16 per cent last year. Imports from Thailand and Vietnam increased by 22 per cent and 53 per cent.
Faster export growth helped trim Cambodia’s trade deficit from 11 per cent in 2015 to 10.2 per cent in 2016. But even with preferential trade privileges that have helped swell rice exports to the European market, Cambodian producers must improve quality and slash production costs to remain competitive.
The country still needs to import a lot of machinery and construction materials, which are required for the construction of manufacturing facilities and other business operations.
Brands are publicly disclosing their supplier lists. Popular online fashion retailer ASOS is set to publish a list of the factories where it produces its own-brand products. Uniqlo has revealed the names and addresses of 146 of its core factory partners.
Earlier Adidas, Converse, H&M, Levi Strauss and H&M have published a list of their manufacturers. Adidas and H&M have published the names and addresses of sub-contractors or fabric/yarn suppliers. Publishing supplier lists is important because it helps NGOs, unions, local communities and even workers themselves to alert brands of any potential human rights and environmental issues in their supply chains. This sort of transparency makes it easier for the relevant parties to understand what went wrong, who is responsible and how to fix it.
Marks & Spencer published an interactive map of its suppliers in both food and clothing, which spans 53 countries and covers 1,229 factories employing 787,331 workers. Gap, C&A, VF (which owns more than 20 brands including The North Face, Timberland, Vans and Wrangler) have revealed the names and addresses of the factories that manufacture their clothing around the world.
The information brands provide varies widely. Some publish every factory where their clothes are manufactured. Others may only reveal a selected portion of their manufacturers, such as their core high-volume suppliers, factories located just in one country or only the factories the company owns.
"From March 12 to 17 Moscow saw the Fall/Winter 2017-2018 season of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Russia. As part of the major Fashion Week in Eastern Europe more than 50 designers from Russia, Italy, Georgia, Kazakhstan and other countries presented their collections on the runways of the Manege Central Exhibition Hall. The season also featured several debuts of young designers, among them were awardees of the Russian Fashion Council's grants."
From March 12 to 17 Moscow saw the Fall/Winter 2017-2018 season of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Russia. As part of the major Fashion Week in Eastern Europe more than 50 designers from Russia, Italy, Georgia, Kazakhstan and other countries presented their collections on the runways of the Manege Central Exhibition Hall. The season also featured several debuts of young designers, among them were awardees of the Russian Fashion Council's grants.
This season MBFWRussia has brought together a number of representatives of international media outlets, such as Vogue USA, Vogue UK, The Huffington Post, Forbes USA, The Issue Magazine, Fashionista, Fucking Young, Dazed, Observer, BuzzFeed and many others.
The main business event of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Russia deserves special attention. The two-day Fashion Futurum International Conference was held with the support from the Russian Fashion Council, Moscow's Department of Culture, Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russian Federation, Agency for Strategic Initiatives and Skolkovo Foundation. The program of the event included panel discussions, public talks, workshops and presentations of startup projects in several zones of the Manege Central Exhibition Hall. More than 30 global fashion industry experts from 9 countries gathered in Moscow's downtown to discuss modern trends and the current challenges the industry is facing. The main topic of the conference was the destruction of fashion industry stereotypes, its transformation under the influence of the scientific and technological revolution.
Karim Rashid (Designer, USA), Pascal Morand (Executive President, French Federation of the Haute Couture and Pret-a-porter, France), Carlos Espinosa de Los Monteros (High Government Commissioner for the Spain Brand, Spain), Michael Burke (Head of Industry, Fashion, Sports & Toys, Google, USA), Scott Emmons (Head of the Innovation Lab, Neiman Marcus, USA), Danilo Venturi (Dean, Polimoda, Italy), Covadonga O’Shea (Founder, ISEM Fashion Business School, author of the bestselling Zara Phenomenon, Spain) and many other experts participated as speakers and mentors of the conference.
For the first time Fashion Futurum featured a fashion industry and retail Innovation Show. The Russian Fashion Council and Skolkovo Foundation choose 30 projects for the central display of the Manege Central Exhibition Hall. Among the most interesting startups are Style Counsel, ShareCloth.con, Cloudburst, 3D Footwear Brutally, Posh, SC-TEK, Bundlesapp, Cardberry, Try. Fit, Preloved.
"Despite the fact that fashion technologies in Russia are only at the development stage there are no industrial standards in this area, so Russian companies have an opportunity get their share of this market," Alexander Shumsky, President of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Russia and Russian Fashion Council, said.
On March 17, 2017 a closed runway show by Firdaws was staged separately, at the Petroff Palace. Rippling floor-length dresses decorated with beads and embroidery, slim fit tops and soft pastel palette were characteristic of the Firdaws runway show. Refined silhouettes and silk kerchiefs decorated with lacework highlighted the chastity and kingliness of the images presented. Many Russian and international guests attended the show, among them were Alla Verber (Mercury), Vyacheslav Zaitsev (Designer), Anastasia Stotskaya (Singer), Sati Kazanova (Singer), Irina Tchaikovskaya (society columnist), Yulia Baranovskaya (TV host), Anna Khilkevich (Actress), Maria Lisowska (Fashion TV), Giulia Pirovano (Instituto Marangoni), Princess Beatrice D’Orleans (President of the Spanish Luxury Association, Ambassador of Dior), Pascal Morand (Executive President, French Federation of the Haute Couture and Pret-a-porter), Sylvie Ebel (L’Institut Francais de la Mode), Ahmed Abdulrahman Al Saati (Bahrain's Ambassador to Russia) and Jae Suk Kim (Illustrator).
Some 60,000 guests, more than 30,000 photos on Instagram with #MBFWRussia, live streaming of all fashion shows on dozens of websites and social networks pages, sketches by fashion illustrators, with each season we only improve our performance.
Major photo agency, Getty Images is the international partner of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Russia. Photos and videos from the Fashion Week will be available for download to 60,000 media outlets across the globe.
