FW
Leading European trade fair for garment sourcing - Apparel Sourcing, concluded recently. Its exhibitor list puts accessory sourcing at the forefront with the established shawls & scarves and accessories areas. Held at Le Bourget from September 14 - 17, 2015, Apparel Sourcing was attended by 400 exhibitors, who crowned it the garment and accessory industries' leading trade fair for manufacturing.
Part of the Texworld Paris constellation of trade fairs, Apparel Sourcing benefited from general glowing reports by French visitors, whose numbers had leapt 12 per cent by the 3rd day, making France the leader among the top five sources of visitors from European nations. Strong growth in the number of professionals from Tunisia representing a rise of 38 per cent, Morocco with 18 per cent, Portugal with 17 per cent and Romania with 51 per cent and other major manufacturing countries confirmed the potential and advantages of Apparel Sourcing for production which meets the demands of fashion labels in full.
It is a platform for skills in the production of ready-to-wear clothing and accessories for men, women and children of 14 countries, most of them in Asia: China, Hong Kong, India, Pakistan, but also including Korea, Turkey, Switzerland, Sweden and France. In September 2015, two new national pavilions from Bangladesh and Vietnam, underlined the variety of solutions available. Bangladesh's offer, already represented in a piecemeal fashion, has expanded into a squad of almost 13 exhibitors, well acquainted with European requirements through their attendance at previous French trade fairs.
In the case of Vietnam, the 11 exhibitors sponsored by the Vietnam Textile & Apparel Association concentrated on a casual/sportswear and accessory range, and were delighted with the commercial contacts they made.
www.messefrankfurt.com
What led to the downfall of these labels? Retailers are realising that while Gen Y loved brands and loved donning their logos, Gen Z didn’t really care much for that. They, instead pick disposable fast fashion from stores such as H&M, Century 21, and Uniqlo. And, there are three more brands in the pipeline that may face the same fate as the others unless they change their ways.
Brands face a bleak future
Abercrombie & Fitch is one among brands that are going down. Their marketing ethic and logo-centric clothes of ‘for cool kids only’ clearly stated that it was meant for a certain category of customers. The brand eventually started selling plus-sized clothes; it even got rid of the models in its stores, to attract good-looking shoppers. However, it still sells a surplus of outfits with the Abercrombie name on them.
The brand’s quarterly sales have dipped for 10 straight quarters, even at Hollister—its surf shop-cum-fast-fashion concept. Abercrombie is going ahead with its plan in a big way to open 15 new stores internationally this year, though the strong dollar is wrecking havoc on companies reconciling foreign currencies back to the US.
Year-to-date losses of the brand increased six-fold from the same period in 2014, even with a $408 million cash backup. This suggests that Abercrombie & Fitch may eventually succumb.
Gap's decision to remake all its stores into fast-fashion houses shows that it's following, not leading the retail industry. This happens when one chases fashion trends, instead of leading them. For 14 straight months, comp sales are down and the situation seems bleak. Gap is looking to turn its namesake stores and Banana Republic shops into disposable-clothing retailers too. While its Old Navy concept look as though it has successfully made the leap to fast fashion (second-quarter sales were up 3 per cent).
Art Peck, CEO, assured analysts, the retailer wants to layer the supply chain success of Old Navy onto its other concepts in time for spring 2016. The brand feels all its stores should do more than just dabble in disposable fashion, though ‘chic to cheap’ hardly seems to be the way to grow sales.
In the last quarter, Gap's comps were down 7 per cent, and Banana Republic's dipped 10 per cent. Thus, it needs to pull up its socks, and Abercrombie has proved that merely transforming a concept into a fashion-forward store does not spell success.
Another ones bites the dust
Guess’s second-quarter earnings dipped 17 per cent to $18 million, with per-share profits falling 19 per cent from the year-ago period to $0.21 as currency fluctuations swiped $0.10 per share. Sales in the Americas were down 5 per cent, and its e-commerce division suffered a 3 per cent drop.
Overseas too, the brand is struggling with sales in Europe down 4 per cent, and in Asia dipping 6 per cent; all this without any currency fluctuations. For three years, revenues have declined causing it to shut nearly 30 stores so far in 2015. Within the next year, 50 more would down shutters in a bid to control costs.
These retailers, seems to be dying a slow death, though each one has a unique opportunity to reverse the course they've set. Even if they don't regain their former glory and growth trajectories, they could still provide investors with meaningful returns.
www.gap.com
Indian spun yarn exports maintained their growth tempo in August 2015. After rebounding in June and July, exports grew 21.5 per cent in volume terms while the rise in value terms inched up three per cent.
China continued to propel yarn exports from India, although unit value realisations continued to decline. During August, 83 countries imported spun yarn from India, with China accounting for 44 per cent of the total value, with its imports rising 88 per cent in terms of volume and 67 per cent in value year on year. Bangladesh, the second largest importer of spun yarns, accounted for more than 11 per cent of all spun yarn exported from India. However, exports to Bangladesh increased 17 per cent in volumes and three per cent in value.
Egypt, the third largest importer of spun yarns, saw volume and value down one per cent and 18 per cent year on year. These three top importers together accounted for close to 60 per cent of all spun yarn exported from India in August.
Lithuania, Bahrain, Costa Rica, Cambodia, Romania, Canada and Argentina were the fastest growing markets in August, more than doubling their imports from India. However, they together accounted for only 1.3 per cent of total exports.
There are new opportunities for local denim goods producers because of diversion of orders from Bangladesh's rivals. Industry insiders said that this is potentially aiding the country to replace China as the world's No. 1 exporter. Bangladesh's denim industry is going for an expansion and up-gradation to cope with the increasing demand.
The second largest producer of denim products, Bangladesh ships about 200 million pieces of denim jeans around the world every year. The country has more than 5,000 factories concentrated around Dhaka and Chittagong.
Anwar-ul-Alam Chowdhury Parvez, Managing Director, Argon Denims said that export orders were good, mainly because of an increase in denim consumption across the globe. He said that good price range and quality were the two factors helping the country to reach as the world's biggest denim exporter.
The demand for denim goods is increasing and the European Union (EU), the US and Russia top the list in denim importing nations, Parvez added. Also, local investors are setting up large plants in the country to meet the growing demand to the international market.
In the last couple of years more than 66 international brands including G-Star, Jack and Jones, River Island, H&M, PVH, etc., have turned to Bangladesh for denim imports, according to Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).
Former President of the Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA), Jahangir Alamin said that many companies are set to almost double their capacity and that new export orders for denim goods have surged by nearly 20 per cent.
Other rival countries, apart from China too, such as India, Pakistan, Vietnam and Indonesia are also losing their market share to Bangladesh for denim goods in the US and EU market, according to Abdus Salam Murshedy, Managing Director of the Envoy Group.
www.bgmea.com.bd
Lectra has said that a German competitor’s machine was declared as infringing a Lectra’s patent protecting a solution for cutting one-piece-woven (OPW) airbags in Germany.
The July 2015 final court ruling stated that the competitor’s OPW-airbag-cutting machine makes use of Lectra patent EP 1 321 839’s inventive technical teaching, thus legally acknowledging that the machine infringes the patent. The German Federal High Court confirmed Lectra’s patent as valid in September 2014. The patent runs until December, 2022 and covers Canada, China, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Japan, Portugal, Spain, South Korea and the US. Lectra considers that any use of an infringing machine in these countries violates its patent rights, and the company will use all legal means to have these rights respected.
Over the last ten years, the company has invested €180 million in research and development, which represents 9 per cent of its revenues. As a result of this commitment, Lectra’s dedicated airbag-cutting solutions guarantee quality, safety and profit margins, allowing unparalleled productivity and offering sustainable competitive advantage. They are used by the largest suppliers in the automotive industry.
The hosiery industry in India is developing a cost index. This is a step toward making the industry more aware of its costing and profitability.
This will be the first cost index for any textile industry segment in the country. It will enable companies to benchmark their pricing to a systematic cost plus scenario. It highlights the average movement in costing for a representative basket of hosiery goods over a period of time. If the cost was Rs 100 in January 2010, and the index is 132 today, it means over the period the cost for the industry has gone up by 32 per cent though specific products may have gone up more or less depending on its specifications.
The index gives a broad idea for the industry as a whole. Its relevance is more in giving an idea of the direction of the movement of costing rather than any absolute movement. Over time the hosiery index is expected to become a reference point for the entire hosiery and knitwear industry.
India’s Rs 8,000 crores hosiery market currently has an equal percentage of branded and non-branded players. Ludhiana's hosiery industry also supplies a range of sweaters, pullovers, jackets, shawls and blankets.
In view of China’s commitment in environmental protection, President, Xi Jinping announced targets to peak CO₂ emissions around 2030 and to increase the non-fossil fuel share of all energy to around 20 per cent by 2030, in the joint announcement with the US government on the climate change and clean energy cooperation last November.
By 2016, China’s new environmental standards for the textile and apparel industry will be implemented, which will have impacts on all textiles and garments imported and exported to/from China. GONG Yan, Professor of the Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology, who participated in the policy formulation, will introduce the new standards required by the Chinese government and their recommendations at a workshop to be held on October 27, 2015 in Hong Kong.
Another prominent speaker, Joyce CHAU, Chief Representative China of the Foreign Trade Association from Belgium will talk about sustainable supply chain through environmental due diligence in the academy. Open discussion chaired by Francis YUK, SVP, Centre Testing Intl Group Co will follow.
This workshop is ideal for sourcing executives of buying offices of international brands and retailers, executives involved in sustainability development, product exports and imports, textile and apparel manufacturers, suppliers or traders and service providers.
www.bift.edu.cn
The volume of US apparel imports from all countries grew 13.5 per cent year-on-year in August, up from the 7.1 per cent increase in July. Cambodia led the pack, posting a solid double-digit gain, with strong increases also recorded by China, Bangladesh and Vietnam.
Shipments from China - the largest supplier of apparel to the US - were up 19.5 per cent. Nearest rival Vietnam grew 18.8 per cent compared to the same month a year ago. Bangladesh saw apparel shipments rise 10.35 per cent. Of the remaining supplier countries, Cambodia recorded the strongest growth at 36.1 per cent, followed by Honduras (up 7.6 per cent) and India (up 6.1 per cent).
Three countries saw apparel shipments decline during August. Pakistan recorded the largest drop, followed by Indonesia and Mexico. US apparel and textile imports increased 9.5 per cent between January and August. Within this, textiles grew 11.4 per cent while apparel shipments were up 7.05 per cent.
Bangladesh’s clothing industry continues to build on its momentum as a low-cost sourcing destination. Vietnam has benefited as producers and buyers diversify their supply chains. China remains a compelling source for apparel buyers as rising prices are largely being offset by productivity gains.
At one time some regions of Tanzania stopped cultivating cotton due to diseases and pests that damaged the crop. But now there is a belief the introduction of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) in the country will help revive cotton growing in the country.
GMO refers to seeds implanted with certain genes to withstand droughts, pests and diseases developed by scientists using the latest molecular biology technology. The seeds or planting material are modified in laboratories to enhance desired traits such as increased resistance to diseases or improved nutritional content.
Apart from GMOs’ increasing farmers’ yields, the hybrid seeds will also improve quality hence making Tanzania being able to compete with other major cotton producers in the world. GMO cotton is resistant even to climate change and yields high quality products and hence fetches higher prices.
Genetically engineered cotton has been approved as being safe for use. Countries such as Senegal, which cultivate GMO cotton have increased yields and improved quality of the crop allowing farmers to improve their lives. Kenya and Uganda are already undertaking field trails to pave the way for commercial cultivation of GMOs. With GMOs pests like red bollworm are not expected to spread or affect the crop.
At the Première Vision show in Paris, major players that supply materials and services to the global fashion industry met for three days to present and discover the latest innovations from the whole textile industry.
Partner companies and big brands who choose to play better by the new responsible innovation rules showcased their new and amazing collections, which was witnessed by C.L.A.S.S. Since 2007, C.L.A.S.S. has been sharing this vision along with brands that lead the market with extraordinary, performing and beautiful fabrics, while innovating with consciousness. For the first time this year, responsible innovation as a great new added-value to be pursued was discussed by fashion and industry. The need for a shift in large scale industrial processes is now getting real.
Sustainability standards too are now being discussed by the most authoritative European fashion councils. Hosted by Première Vision on September 15, 2015, instigated and appointed by Giusy Bettoni, Founding President of C.L.A.S.S., Carlo Capasa, President of the Camera Nazionale Della Moda, Caroline Rush, Chief Executive of the British Fashion Council, and Chantal Malingrey, Director of Marketing and Development at Première Vision, sustainable innovation and development were the main topics discussed during the Smart Conversation Masterclass. ‘Smart Creation Première Vision’ was officially launched as the new platform during the show.
www.classecohub.org
