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The one-day congress - The Transformers, organised by the makers of Kingpins one day ahead of the eponymous denim trade show took place in Amsterdam prior to Denim Days that turns the Dutch city into the epicenter of denim.
The Transformers was dedicated to the dark side of the denim and clothing industry focusing on the topic of garbage and its avoidance. ‘The good, the bad & the ugly’ was the well-chosen subtitle which was meant to make clear in advance that the industry and retailers as well as the consumers do have options in improving the ecological situation by their product offer respectively their consumption behavior and it’s necessary to bring more transparency into the production cycles. This was the consensus between the panelists that included Robert Antoshak of Olah Inc., Michael Kininmonth of Lenzing, Miguel Sanchez of Archroma, Dr. Sedef Uncu Aki of Bossa and Marco Corti of Garmon among others.
Earlier, speakers representing the whole supply chain explained where garbage is produced and how to deal with it. Ten per cent of our turnover is made with sustainable products. But also the rest is produced in a way where we constantly try to minimize the formation of waste and the use of energy, according to Dr. Sedef Uncu Aki of Bossa.
Italy sees Iran as an attractive market for luxury goods. It’s thought Iran has more than three million high net worth individuals who are major and regular buyers of luxury goods. Iran could probably be worth about two per cent of the global luxury market once developed.
The sanctions on Iran over the past decade did not apply to cosmetics and many other consumer goods, but they made it difficult for European companies to own stores in Iran. In February, fashion house Roberto Cavalli opened its first shop in Iran, in the footsteps of leather goods maker Piquadro and men’s shirt company Camicissima. Versace is due to open a flagship boutique in Tehran soon, in franchise with a local commercial partner.
However, setting up businesses in Iran is no easy task due to a lack of appropriate retail infrastructure, high tariffs and banking restrictions. Iran is hungry for infrastructure investment as it emerges from financial isolation and it’s seeking a strong Italian foothold. Iran rejoined the global trading system in January following a deal to lift crippling sanctions in exchange for limiting its nuclear activities.
Italian firms appear to have adopted a more proactive attitude than their French luxury and fashion rivals. Some French brands such as Longchamp and Lalique are looking for distribution partners but have no plans to open boutiques.
Textile manufacturers in Coimbatore and Tirupur are trying to conserve air flow from compressors in their spinning and weaving machines to plug leakages and save energy. Many mills have robust air monitoring systems.
Compressed air is a key input for modern machines from spinning to weaving. Sealing off weak portions and optimising compressor capacity will reduce draw of power by textile machines, which are power guzzlers.
In Tamil Nadu’s textile belt, a large portion of the spinners belong in the category of small and medium enterprises. For an average mill with a capacity of 25,000 spindles, energy savings through air monitoring stand at 750 units every day. For the state’s spinning industry, the annual savings are estimated at Rs 200 crores.
Modern textile machines are operated by pneumatic systems, which use gas or compressed air for key processes. Compressed air needs to be clean, dry and devoid of impurities like oil or moisture. These can lead to defective garments, higher power consumption or even a sudden breakdown, risking higher capital costs for entrepreneurs. Maintenance costs of a compressed air system equal the price of the product in three years.
In modern weaving machines, compressed air ejected from fine nozzles moves weaved threads from one end of the machine to another, a process that was done manually earlier.
Indian spinning mills want the anti-dumping duty imposed on imports of viscose staple fiber to be scrapped. The feeling is that the levy could hit domestic textile manufacturers who are already reeling under a high cost of production and sagging export demand. India imports viscose staple fiber mainly from Indonesia and China. The fiber is one of the major inputs for manufacturing of man-made fiber yarn in India and is mostly used for the manufacture of fabrics made of poly viscose and viscose yarn.
One criticism of the anti-dumping duty is that it’s being used by domestic viscose staple fiber manufacturers as a shield to cover their inefficiencies and inadequacies in a competitive environment. The demand for viscose staple fiber is expected to rise on the back of rising disposable incomes. Lower requirements of resources land and water have made viscose staple fiber preferable to and more cost effective than cotton production.
Fabrics of viscose fibers are easily dyed and have excellent hygienic properties. India is the second largest producer of viscose filament yarn in the world. Depending upon the intended use, viscose fibers are made into textile or cord threads as well as staple fiber.
Cotton futures set a fresh two-month high in New York, after a three per cent jump in prices in China overnight, encouraged by a downgrade to a key world supply forecast, and concerns over the crop losing out in farmers’ sowing plans. And prices were also gaining support from the rise in values of other crops, notably soybeans, which are rivals in US spring sowings programs.
Chicago soybean futures are providing a bit more support for the cotton market. Soybeans are one of the main competitor crops for cotton in the US South in terms of the battle for area in farmers’ planting plans. New York futures, which remain a little shy of year-ago levels, are also curtailing expectations of large crops in many other producing countries, such as Australia and Brazil, too.
Strong textile exports, especially of apparel and bed wear, have forced Pakistan's textile sector to look to imported cotton, especially from India, to make up for a significantly smaller domestic crop. The forecast for US carryout inventories was trimmed by one lakh bales. Prices are not conducive to large cotton crops around the world.
The rally in cotton is seen as gaining extra pace thanks to a scramble by speculators - who had bet on further price falls - to close short positions, putting extra buying power into the market.
Setex, based in Germany, is a leader in designing, manufacturing and implementing automation solutions for textile dyeing and finishing machines. Setex’s new production management software, OrgaTex X1, guides intelligent communication to machines for efficient production and energy management. OrgaTex X1’s production management software offers newly designed process and recipe handling. The modules provide new features to simplify the complex production steps, systematically save expert know-how and optimise resource efficiency.
OrgaTex X1 is also customisable. Although dyeing machines significantly lower liquor ratio and require less chemical quantities, this software suite is designed to further reduce dyeing time and production costs, optimising the throughput and exposing weak spots and bottlenecks.
The philosophy of the new software is to bring the best-in-class recipe tools while still providing the flexibility of using simple flat recipe methods. As such, converted information and experience is usable as formulas, wizards assist the creation of formulas, and there are predefined formulas shipped with the system.
Each machine can be considered within the overall energy management concept. Intelligent integration of dosing systems can save chemicals and water. The operation is independent of operator skill. OrgaTex X1 has enhanced adapters to communicate with dyeing and finishing machines for ecological and cost improvement. This is essential for a fast and smooth implementation in production running at full capacity.
"Liva the fiber brand from Birla Cellulose is gaining popularity among garment brands. Liva is the brand name for fiber (Viscose, Modal) which is now being promoted at the consumer level. The brand has made inroads across 179 cities and is being co branded it with other brands. Manohar Samuel, President of Birla Cellulose says they have partners in supply chain via accredited partner forums like yarn manufacturers, fabric manufacturers and garment brands to sell Liva made garments at retail stores."
Liva the fiber brand from Birla Cellulose is gaining popularity among garment brands. Liva is the brand name for fiber (Viscose, Modal) which is now being promoted at the consumer level. The brand has made inroads across 179 cities and is being co branded it with other brands. Manohar Samuel, President of Birla Cellulose says they have partners in supply chain via accredited partner forums like yarn manufacturers, fabric manufacturers and garment brands to sell Liva made garments at retail stores. “Promoting a fiber brand involves taking the whole value chain,” Samuel opines.
Promoting Liva among consumers
Throwing light on the company’s strategy, Samuel says, “We have cobranded with different garment brands. For Liva, the financial year has been good .The number of stores has increased and 22 brands have been tagged. Next season, we need to have 32 customer tags.” Having spread to over 179 cities the brand is looking at spreading its footprint. “We will make inroads into more fashion products in specific areas. Fashion magazines like Grazia and Vogue have entered into ad tie-up with us. We have digital partners too,” explains Samuel. He further explained, “combined branding is with the stores. In the sari segment, we have tied up with category leaders. One is the topnotch traditional segment dominated by silk. modal saris. Then we have starched cotton saris and viscose. The third is the synthetic segment. Here we have polyester nylon.”
Across the country, in places like Surat and Kolkata the company has tied up with the top retailers and apparel brands. In women’s wear across many categories fiber sales have gone up. They are 14 per cent higher in India. Birla Cellulose also exports fiber and has improved their off take from India. Price wise they have always been reasonable. Liva follows all quality norms at the fabric level as this is a requirement across the world.
Samuel points out, consumer reception towards Liva has been good across men’s and women’s wear. Some supporting brands at the fabric and garment levels are Siyaram and Raymond. “They are much more knowledgeable than us in what they market. So their consumer insights on what can work well is critical for us. The last three seasons have been good for the international market. Along with garment exports, we have done work on active wear. Earlier, retail and promotional costs were too high for designers. This was a supply chain challenge.”
Birla Cellulose has developed a new model which is a cart concept. “Designers want to dye the fabric but may not want to immediately take 500 or 600 mt. So, we have tied up with Vardhaman. X Studios to give us finished goods,” he explains. Samuel says many designers are keen to work on Liva fabric. “They will have 50 per cent core and 50 per cent innovative designs. At the fabric level, they work on the colors and textures.”
Recently, the US government and industry players gathered in Washington D.C. to discuss the ‘nascent smart fabrics market,’ as described by secretary of commerce Penny Pritzker, who moderated the final session at the one-day event. As per panelist at the Smart Fabrics Summit David Lauren, Executive VP of global marketing and communications for Ralph Lauren, in the fashion industry, people are looking for innovation; an opinion shared by Joshua Walden, senior vice president and general manger, New Technology Group, Intel. Walden admitted that at one time he couldn’t have imagined being on a panel about fabrics, but then he discovered that the description of smart fabrics closely matches what the New Technology Group is all about. This is in our DNA, Walden said, adding that the emerging market is ‘really exciting.’
Secretary Pritzker noted that the smart fabrics market was up 18 per cent last year to about $1.9 billion worldwide. The US claims $854 million of that, ‘playing a leading role,’ she added, stressing that the Dept. of Commerce is committed to helping in that effort by supporting entrepreneurs and bringing market participants together. IFAI president Mary Hennessy made a similar point, stressing that the organization’s role is bringing industry participants together and supporting their efforts to be successful.
The Summit was co-sponsored by IFAI with the Dept. of Commerce, which sent representatives from several of its offices to share their expertise with attendees. Business people representing markets from protective fabrics to conductive fibers to high fashion underscored the diversity inherent in the smart fabrics segment.
Garment manufacturers in Indochina for decades have led a campaign designed to convince the wider public that their workers ply a menial, unskilled trade undeserving of more than a pitiful wage, currently about $150 a month. Skeptics of course have long refused to believe this narrative. The fact is that for a few bucks, big brands outsource productions, which are then passed onto consumers for a whole lot more.
Recently, Melbourne-based ANZ Bank has released an upbeat report covering the industry’s future. It said that the outlook on Cambodia’s exports of RMG remains positive in light of the consistent foreign investment into the sector. It expects Vietnam to fully diversify within the industry following the signing of its free trade agreement with the European Union (EU) after two-and-a-half years of talks. The FTA is expected to be ratified next year with a formal launch in 2018.
ANZ said in its latest release of ‘Greater Mekong Quarterly Outlook’ that Vietnam has already managed to get a foot in the door, with the EU being a key market for its footwear exports. The ratification of the EU-Vietnam Free-Trade Agreement (FTA) will likely to benefit textile apparel exports from Vietnam.
However, ANZ also said that these benefits would take place over ‘longer staging periods’ of up to seven years and that Hanoi would have to undertake a series of steps to fully realise these gains due to the FTA’s strict origin rules.
Fabric sales in Keqiao in China’s Zhejiang province and the world-leading hub for textile production and trading jumped 57.38 per cent in March, on the previous month, to 509 million metres, due to the seasonal factor. Trading volume was up 2.22 per cent y-o-y, too.
In the first quarter of 2016, the like-for-like trading volume expanded 3.34 per cent to 1.22 billion metres, while sales revenue increased 10.36 per cent, against the same period of the last year, to US$18bn.
The much higher growth rate of sales revenue was attributable mainly to the closures of dyeing mills in Keqiao, pushing up the dyeing costs dramatically. To tackle the thorny issue of pollution before the G20 Hangzhou Summit in September 2016, the local governments of Zhejiang province have shut down nearly 100 dyers in Shaoxing, one-third of the total, after the Spring Festival.
Meanwhile, the move from the government firstly prompted the mills to use more high-quality dyes. As a consequence, quotations for Disperse Black ECT 300 per cent, the key product, jumped around 65 per cent in March, to 28,000 Yuan per tonne in early April. The Reactive Black WNN 200 per cent traded at 27,000 Yuan per tonne on 1 April, soaring 50 per cent during the earlier month.
The closures of dyers boosted the confidence of the leading firms of the sector to raise their service fee by around 15 per cent, as employees had to work overtime every day after the Spring Festival.
