The boom of inclusive sizing within women’s fashion in the past few years highlights the growing awareness about health among all age groups of people. Most brands, like the small-scale Universal Standards to those operating on a global scale like Old Navy, are expanding their size bases, to make their products more inclusive.

Men’s fashion value drops in 2021

However, currently, most of this revolution is happening in women’s fashion. Men’s fashion is yet to adapt itself to size inclusivity, shows data from Statista. The report reveals, the value of men’s plus-size fashion has actually dropped from $1 billion in 2020 to $850 million in 2021. This is contrary to the demand as an average American man’s waist size is 40 inches whereas sizes in the market start from 38 inches.

Few apparel brands have indeed expanded the sizes of their men’s offerings. In 2019, Madewell launched men’s jeans with sizes extending upto 43 inches. Through this move, the brand aimed to bring the same level of size inclusivity and the focus on correct fit as in women’s sizes, says Joyce Lee, SVP-Design, Madewell. Making larger sizes for men helps the brand attract more valuable and long-term customers, adds Lee.

Another brand offering larger sizes for men is Bonobos. The brand offers men’s pants upto size 54. It adopted size inclusivity in 2018, 11 years after its inception. However, only few brands like Universal Standard offer larger sizes with their straight sizes. Usually, plus size fashion is offered by specialty retailers or as an exclusive offering by a mainstream retailer.

More options than earlier

Currently, plus size fashion offers more options than earlier. For instance, on JC Penney recently introduced its plus-size XLG collection designed with Shaquille O’Neal. The line includes men’s shirts, pants, jackets, sweaters and suits, in sizes ranging from a medium tall all the way up to 6XL. The collection delivers on the brand’s commitment to offer plus size fashion to its customers, says Michelle Wlazlow, EVP and Chief Merchandize Officer, JC Penney.

Mostly ignored by the industry, shorter men are catered to by specialty brands like Otero that was launched in 2019. The brand aims to address an underserved market, says Steve Villanueva, Founder, who relaunched the brand over the summer.

Growing rapidly, men’s fashion generated revenues worth $500 billion in 2021, and is expected to grow 10 per cent next year. With revenues declining every year, the market remains largely untapped, waiting for brands to be explored more extensively.

Stakeholders in the Indian cotton industry have urged the Central government to take immediate action against MCX and NYCE speculators for hedging and trading of Cotton Kapas. In a letter to the Prime Minister, R C Jain, Chairman, TT Ltd writes, Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of Textile and Railways had called a stakeholders’ meeting in November to discuss the issue of hike in cotton prices despite an unprecedented yield this year.

Unauthorized speculation a worry

The meeting had concluded price rise is mainly a result of the unauthorized speculation indulged in by MNC hoarders and Indian speculators for monetary gains at the cost of entire textile industry in India. Price rise had halted cotton exports for a few weeks in November. Export of garments and all other accessories also are badly affected due to the new Omicron and COVID waves.

Stakeholders have questioned the government’s failure to include cotton in the list of banned agricultural commodities for hedging and trading on MCX and NYCE to stop speculations on cotton prices. The hedging and trading on MCX and NYCE has led to 80 per cent rise in cotton prices in the last three months and still continues to rise, stakeholders say. Any failure to take action against these activities by the government may lead to halt in power, hosiery and apparel industry activities in the country, they add. Jain has urged the PM to take immediate action to stop hedging and trading of Kapas and cotton by speculators on MCX and NYCE.

B2B fair Textile Fairs India will be held from July 21 to 23 at Hall No. 2, 3 and 4, Pragati Maidan, New Delhi. This trade show brings together textile businesses from across the country in categories from apparel to home textiles to generate business opportunities in the sector. The trade show aims at bridging critical gaps in the textile supply chain and providing a professional environment for manufacturers and buyers to network and transact business.

Textile Fairs India expects to feature over 500 textile and related businesses. The business-to-business event also expects to draw a crowd of between 20,000 to 50,000 people. The event is divided into different segments to focus on different product categories. Textile Fairs India includes the Apparel Sourcing Fair which will focus on readymade garments businesses in categories ranging from casual wear and western wear to ethnic and traditional wear for men, woman, and children.

Homtex, the event’s trade show for home textiles, will feature goods including bed linens, home décor, and upholstery fabrics, among others. Textile Sourcing Fair will focus on all manner of fabrics and Fabrics and Accessories will focus on businesses manufacturing accessories and parts used to make accessories. Finally, the India International Yarn Exhibition will feature fibers and yarns for the knitwear industry.

India’s monthly merchandise exports in December 2021 were 37 per cent higher than they were in December 2020. Export of readymade garments grew 22 per cent from December 2020 to December 2021. Exports from April 2021 to December 2021 were 35 per cent higher than they were in the same period in 2020. This is despite the fact local restrictions impacted operations in the first quarter during the second wave of the pandemic. So in spite of challenges Indian apparel exporters performed creditably and India has a fast growing order book from brands and buyers across the world. India’s exports in October 2021 rose 43 per cent compared to October 2020.

As per Sakthivel, Chairman, AEPC says, further, fast tracking trade deals with the US, UK, EU and UAE will make Indian apparels far more attractive. Going by trends, India is expected to achieve the merchandise export target for the current fiscal. Mega schemes have helped India reclaim its global leadership position in textiles and apparels. However the PLI scheme is said to be more beneficial if the investment and turnover targets are reduced by 50 per cent as most players in the apparel industry are in the micro, small and medium segments. Further, fast tracking of trade deals with the US, UK, EU and UAE will make Indian apparels far more attractive.

Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics will take place in China, March 9 to 11, 2022. The aim is to support the global textile and apparel industry in business recovery, information exchange and making progress on combating climate change. Held concurrently with the spring edition of Intertextile Shanghai Home Textiles, Yarn Expo Spring, Chic and PH Value, the entire textile supply chain can be found under one roof for buyers to conveniently source the products they are looking for. Exhibitors and visitors will also be able to catch up with the latest industry developments via Intertextile Apparel’s trend forum, seminars, panel discussions and product presentations which will cover topics on design and trends, market information and business strategies, sustainability issues, and technology and solutions.

The Intertextile fairs have remained a consistent source of business trading for the industry over what has been a challenging couple of years, with both the spring and autumn editions taking place in 2021. At both editions there was an uptick in the quality of buyers and strong intentions to place orders, and with the continuing strength of the Chinese economy, this is expected to continue in 2022.

China’s textile industry has continued to expand and has experienced growth in terms of production, revenue and profit in the first three quarters of 2021. Total profits of Chinese textile companies increased 31 per cent while China’s online clothing sales climbed 15 per cent.

The aim is to raise between Rs 1,200 crores and Rs 1,300 crores. The business’ IPO will mix a fresh issue and an offer for sale for existing shareholders. Mumbai-based Sanathan Textiles, manufactures and produces over 12,000 yarn products. The company is one of India’s leading yarn manufacturers engaged in the production and export of polyester filament yarn, high tenacity filament yarn, airtex yarns, polyester filament twisted yarns and cotton yarn and strives to provide customers with the best quality and variety of innovative yarns.

Sanathan Textiles expanded its margin to 17 per cent in the first half of the financial year 2022 owing to higher realisations, lower raw material prices and the management’s cost-reduction initiatives. The company recorded operating earnings of Rs 260 crores in the first half of the year and expects to be supported by higher volumes in the forthcoming fiscal year, with the completion of capex in cotton yarn and industrial drawn yarn.

The business’ products include cotton and polyester yarns and yarns for technical textiles. Sanathan Textiles also has a range of recycled textile products named Revir and a line of eco-friendly color polyester yarns named Born Dyed and makes functional and customised yarns to order.

Bangladesh’s readymade garment exports grew 52 per cent in December 2021 reveals BGMEA. In calendar year 2021, Bangladesh’s readymade garment exports witnessed about a 30 per cent growth. Apparel makers witnessed growth in terms of both export volume and prices. Bangladesh’s apparel exports have been posing a higher growth for the past few months compared to the fiscal year 2019-20, which saw Covid devastation across the globe. The country’s apparel export industry witnessed the growth in spite of a sequence of lockdowns, Id holiday-led factory shutdown and disruptions due to the countrywide transport strikes against diesel price hikes.

The country’s garment shipments continued impressive recovery, largely driven by volume, as the price hike rate has been very low, with normalcy restoration in the global supply chain from the pandemic's severe fallout. In the US market, the 23.8 per cent growth in export earnings was mostly driven by volume, which rose by 19.8 per cent, whereas in contrast the rise in price per dozen was a mere 3.3 per cent. In the EU markets export earnings rose 8.9 per cent against the backdrop of a rise in volume of 7.9 per cent as against the rise in price by an insignificant 0.9 per cent. 

Bangladesh’s exports of children’s apparel to the US grew 22 per cent in the first ten months of 2021, reveal OTEXA data. Although amid the Covid-led chaos, the American demand for junior wear was low, it gained momentum in 2021. US imports of babywear in the January 2021 to October period of 2021 grew by 32 per cent. China is the largest exporter of junior wear to the US. From January 2021 to October 2021, exports from China grew by 41 per cent compared to the same period of the previous year. In the same period Vietnam’s exports to the US market witnessed a 32 per cent growth. India’s exports grew 48 per cent.

Bangladesh’s garment exports to the US and the EU increased between July and October of 2021 compared to the corresponding period of the last fiscal year. Bangladesh has two main export destinations for garment products -- the US, which accounts for 24 per cent of the shipments, and the European Union (EU), which accounts for 64 per cent. The country’s garment shipments have continued to attain an impressive recovery, largely driven by volume, as the price hike rate has been very low, with normalcy restoration in the global supply chain from the pandemic's severe fallout.

Due to the uncertain and unpredictable outlook with regard to travel and event restrictions caused by the new COVID-19 variant ‘Omicron,’ the ITMF Board together with the two co-hosts – Swiss Textiles and Swiss Textile Machinery – have decided to postpone the ITMF Annual Conference in Davos, Switzerland from April 10-12, 2022 to September 18-20, 2022.

ITMF is an international forum for the world's textile and related industries founded in 1904. ITMF members are associations and companies covering the entire textile value chain – producers of fibres, textile machinery, chemicals, textiles, apparel, and home textiles. The membership is from more than 40 countries and is representing around 90 percent of global production.

The new HKS 3-M ON by Karl Mayer is a high-performance, digital generation tricot machine that works with electronic pattern data obtained directly from the KM.ON cloud, which allows it to offer extremely short and flexible design changes, minimal down-time, and operation without the previous expense of ordering pattern discs, having them delivered, and changing and storing them.

The machine’s customer-oriented features also reduce the risk of operating errors. One of the most important of these is the Spring Motion Assistant – an automatic return device that makes changing guide bars much easier. The new solution starts with the most labour-intensive part of the process: the handling required for the spring motion and pattern push rod.

Together with the push rod, the spring motion forms a system that transmits the pattern-specific movement impulse from the electronic pattern drive to the guide bar. One end of it is hooked into a peg on the guide bar as a loop, while the other end leads to a spring unit that is screwed into a sleeve on the drive unit via a bushing. The operator fastens the connection tight and tensions the spring motion using two spanners. This results in highly-precision guide bar movement in line with the requirements of the electronic guide bar drive. This spring motion system needed to be optimised to work with the new ON gear in the HKS 3-M ON, and the developers also took this opportunity to improve it in terms of ease of use.