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Brands and manufacturers are debating as to whether sustainability initiatives will take a back seat after COVID-19, as economic resurgence takes precedence. The fifth Fashion Transparency Index published by Fashion Revolution Week explores how brands, manufacturers and thought-leaders are analysing current metrics and adapting sustainability and climate change initiatives in the face of COVID-19.
Secure future for inherently sustainable brands
One of the views proposed in this index is that of Francois Souchet, Lead, Make Fashion Circular at the Ellen Macarthur Foundation. Souchet believes the sustainable transformation plans of those brands, who have adopted waste management and sustainability initiatives at the core of their businesses, are secure.
Echoeing this view, Hakan Karaosman, fashion supply chain and sustainability expert at the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe declares in
future, only those brands that incorporate inherent sustainability will survive. Karasoman advocates for lean, simple and transparent supply chains during this crisis,
Karl-Hendrik Magnus, Senior Partner at McKinsey and Company in Frankfurt and leader of the Apparel, Fashion & Luxury Group point out though sustainability had dropped off the agenda for the past few weeks, well-performing companies in Western Europe can now bring sustainability back onto the agenda by communicating clearly their brand purpose and commitment to the safety of customers, staff and those involved in the industry must continue.
Smart solutions and closer relations
Magnus expects sustainability shift to accelerate post COVID 19. He also expects COVID-19 to accelerate close partnerships between brands and suppliers across all market segments, from value products to luxury.
Eva Kruse, CEO of Global Fashion Agenda expects the industry introduce to some smarter solutions to make use of all these great products. She also expects brands to build closer relationships with their suppliers across the value chain for better insights and impacts.
Smarter use of funds
Céline Semaan, Founder, Slow Factory offers a holistic view of the situation. The fashion industry should change everything from its fast-paced fashion calendar to the overproduction of goods, exploitation of land, labor, and exotic animals, the way it capitalizes on movements such as Earth Day and all efforts around that day/month focusing on profit-driven initiatives. Semaan appeals brands to redirect their marketing budgets into impact funds to support and fund food banks, give out grants to the creative community and support more grassroots nonprofits working in climate and human rights impact.
Ensuring radical transparency in production
The vice president of BOMBYX, Hilmond Hui says interrupted supply of materials post COVID-19 will increase the cost of silk manufacturing by 10 per cent. The manufacturer aims to shift traditional perceptions on the silk industry by offering radical transparency and traceability of how their silk is produced, traded, dyed and constructed.
Hui also urges all manufacturers to look at all available technologies that can be applied to their processes, particularly those that help harness the power of renewable energy, as well as energy reduction. According to him, both brands and consumers will begin to be more scrutinizing when it comes to where, how, and why things are made.
Demonstrating the precarious position of manufacturers at this time, Sanjeev Bahl, CEO and Founder of Saitex explains pricing matrix will be a battlefield in the coming months. According to him, an overabundance of inventory will cause issues, such as discounting and consequently slashed margins. He therefore, advises brands to get to a manageable size and be in a position to say no to excess inventories.
Textiles major Welspun has resumed operations partially after receiving necessary permissions from district authorities. The firm has started operations at its manufacturing facilities in Vapi and Anjar in Gujarat.
The Ministry of Home Affairs, under the revised guidelines for the extended lockdown till May 3, had allowed industrial units in rural areas or outside municipal limits to resume operations partially after 20 April, under strict hygiene and safety conditions.
Welspun had decided to temporarily close its manufacturing units on March 24 till further notice following announcement of nationwide lockdown to curb spread of coronavirus pandemic.
The United States White House National Security Council (NSC) thanked Taiwan for its swift delivery of masks to countries hardest hit by the pandemic. Furthermore, Microsoft founder Bill Gates also publicly praised Taiwan’s swift action to fight off Coronavirus as “exemplary”. Even the phrase “TaiwansHelping” is turning into a hashtag keyword on Twitter. Taiwan has transformed from importing country for surgical mask to the second-largest surgical mask producer worldwide with daily production capacity of 15 million units.
With years of research and development efforts in functional textiles, Taiwan textile industry has accumulated experience and technology that allows Taiwan government to form a national epidemic prevention team in the fight against COVID-19 at short notice.
Through the efforts by manufacturers like WEB-PRO Corp, Nan Liu Enterprise Co, Eclat Textile and Makalot Industrial on the National Team for Hazmat and Protective Clothing Taiwan successfully develops and produced the level 3 protective suit in just one month. In the period from March to April, over one million units of isolation gown and 100 thousand units of protective suits were manufactured.
Taiwan has donated 15 million surgical masks to support medical staffs in countries with severe coronavirus outbreak, and will continue to provide support to the international community.
Pakistan Textile Exporters Association (PTEA) has asked for expeditious disbursement of all outstanding refunds as the Covid-19 pandemic has significantly impacted cash flows, squeezing the financial streams.
Commenting on the prevailing situation chairman PTEA Sohail Pasha expressed serious concerns over unnecessary delay in disbursement of pending refunds of exporters despite the commitment of the government for liquidation of Rs 100 billion pending refund claims to save the export industry from the adverse impacts of COVID-19 pandemic.
PTEA's patron-in-chief Khurram Mukhtar says most affected value chain for Pakistan was textiles and apparel which had faced large scale cancellation or deferral of export orders. He demanded restoration of zero-rated regime for five export sectors and sustainable energy tariff for five years. He urged for payment of textile policy incentives Technology Up-gradation Fund (TUF) and Mark-up Support subsidy to keep industrial wheels running and save the livelihood of millions.
Vice Chairman PTEA Haris Yousaf urged the government to take preventive measures and develop strategy to protect the pace of economic and trade progress of Pakistan from likely impacts of world economic slowdown.
Kingpins Amsterdam is teaming up with long-time collaborator Mariete Hoitink, owner of the Amsterdam-based HTNK recruitment and consultancy firm and co-founder of the non-profit House of Denim, to launch Denim Jobs, a new online platform dedicated to connecting the denim industry with the best talent.
Kingpins’ Denim Jobs will be a unique destination on the Kingpins website catering to the full supply chain. It will be a space for all denim and denim-related companies such as mills, brands, retailers and NGOs to advertise their vacancies for full-time, freelance and internship positions. And it will attract talent with creative, commercial, digital and technical backgrounds. Additionally, the site will feature interviews for “denim rookies and players” about their career and their perspective about the future of their work.
Karl Mayer has launched the Wefttronic II G machine for glass processing. The new warp knitting machine is specifically designed to produce light to medium-heavy grid structures. is a German textile machinery firm, which makes solutions for warp knitting and warp preparation for weaving and technical textiles.
The stable grid textiles are used as plaster grids and geogrids, as well as carriers for grinding discs – and are produced extremely efficiently on the Wefttronic II G. Geogrid fabrication is now 60 per cent more productive compared to the previous version. In addition, less expensive yarns can be processed into high-quality textiles: the textile glass fibre material can cost up to 30 per cent less than leno fabric production. The machine handles technical yarns extremely gently.
H&M has opposed Sweden’s proposed tax on substances of very high concern in clothes and footwear as it is not likely to improve work health, the environment or product safety
The Swedish government plans to implement a tax on clothes and shoes containing SVHCs under REACH. The proposal would see a tax of SEK40 (€3.66) per kg for all clothing and footwear, with the possibility of deductions of up to 95 per cent for products that do not contain the targeted chemicals. It aims to increase public finances and cost-effectively reduce the incidence or risk of exposure to, and spread of, substances in clothing and footwear that are harmful to the environment and human health
However, H&M believes the tax targets all clothes and shoes, even though it is based on deems that most of those products do not contain these chemicals. This means H&M and other brands would have to prove that these chemicals are not in their products even though this is already known.
Hermès International reported a 6.5 per cent drop in sales over the first quarter, taking the hardest hit from the coronavirus crisis in Asia and Europe. Sales for the quarter at €1.5 declined 7.7 per cent at constant rates. Of this, sales in Asia were €814.5 million with growth in Japan helping to mitigate the drop during the period, when stores in Mainland China were closed from the end of January. Stores in China have since reopened and activity is again on the upswing.
In Europe, where stores have been closed since mid-March, sales declined to 403.5 million euros. The decline was less stark in the Americas, even if all e-commerce has been halted in the U.S. since March 20, down 6.3 percent at constant currencies, to 258.5 million euros. In terms of activities, silk and textiles declined by 19.2 per cent at constant rates, while leather goods and saddlery products proved more resilient by declining only by 6 percent.
However, the brand’s sales operations are gradually resuming and that it has kept a basic salary for its employees around the world without drawing on state assistance. The company plans to propose a dividend at its shareholder meeting.
The brand has also resumed work at its production and logistics sites since April 14, in compliance with safety rules and applying measures to protect employees. With stores currently open only in greater China and South Korea, the brand expects its second quarter sales to be significantly impacted by the temporary closure of most of its network.
In a meeting between EU and three delegates of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) at the EU Dhaka office, EU revealed its plans to launch a few supporting programs for the badly affected Bangladesh workers.
EU officials expressed their high concern about the deadlock in RMG export of Bangladesh. They discussed about the present and the future crisis of the sector and possible ways to overcome it. The industrial sector in Bangladesh is incurring losses worth Tk 11.31 billion per day due to the nationwide Coronavirus lockdown. The garment exporting sector is also shutdown for the last month which increases the liability every single day.
The Coronavirus situation in Bangladesh is affecting the profit margins of fashion brand Primark in the country. Before the pandemic, monthly $600 million worth of products were sold in Primark stores, while in the last month the brand reported zero sales.
Primark has 370 stores in 12 countries around the world. A large part of the garments is made in different factories across Bangladesh. But all their stores have been closed for the last month. Primark has stopped trading online. Its website now offers suggestions on how to refurbish your wardrobe, and how to decorate your house and celebrate your birthday alone in this lockdown.
Primark’s entire business model is developed by capitalizing on cheap labor countries like Bangladesh. The brand also has a very efficient supply chain. The brand has already canceled all orders from Bangladesh. Its stock has been sold in large quantities. Primark claims they have already paid for the orders that have already been delivered. The company also said that a ‘special fund’ will be set up for the workers in the factories where Primark’s clothing is made.
