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ITMA 2015 will be held from November 12 to 19 in Italy. This edition will showcase end-to-end solutions for the entire textile and garment making chain. To date, 1,380 exhibitors from 47 countries have signed up to take part in the exhibition. ITMA is one of world’s most established textile and garment machinery exhibition since 1951. It is a global marketplace and one-stop sourcing platform for emerging trends and innovative solutions and acquiring new knowledge and best practices.
Since demand for space is high, with applications still streaming in, an 11th hall has been added to the show which will house the fiber and yarn, research and education, colorants and chemicals, software and recycling sectors. The exhibition, with a gross size of over 200,000 sq. mt. will be complemented by several knowledge exchange and networking platforms.
In addition, a new initiative has been launched, the ITMA Sustainable Innovation Award. This award recognises outstanding industry members and post-graduate students for their contributions to the sustainable development of the global textile and garment industry. The award comprises three categories: Industry Excellence Award, R&E Excellence Award – Masters and R&E Excellence Award – Doctorate.
The drive towards sustainability in the entire textile and garment value chain is increasingly integrated with enlightened business practices, and innovative technology holds the key to environmental sustainability.
www.itma.com/
The Free Trade Union in Cambodia has come out in favor of a new minimum wage for garment workers, far lower than what many of its counterparts have been agitating for over the past several months, bolstering prospects for a compromise with factories. The FTU’s $130 is even lower than the $135 concession put forward by the Collective Union of Movement of Workers, one of the country’s most prominent non government-aligned unions.
Unlike other supposedly independent unions, however, the FTU has not joined any of the recent protests to demand a major raise to the current minimum wage. It says it decided to shun the protests because the other unions were corrupt, charging workers for T-shirts they were handing out at the demonstrations even though they had been printed at the expense of international unions helping them.
Key union leaders and labor rights activists in Cambodia face the risk of judicial harassment and arrest warrants for organising strikes. This happens even if unions observe all legal obligations, such as giving prior notice and collecting 60,000 signatures of workers confirming their support to strike action.
From September 13 to 16, 2,00,000 garment workers from Cambodia went on a strike to demand a living wage.
UK-based Coats has a growing presence in Bangladesh. Coats is a global leader in industrial thread and consumer textile crafts. It has been operating in the country since 1989 and has a joint venture thread-producing plant with the local AK Khan Group with two factories, one in Chittagong and the other in Gazipur.
One in five garments on the planet is held together using Coats' thread. Coats, which is the second largest and fastest growing global zip manufacturer, will set up a new zips factory in Chittagong. This will open in the early part of 2015 and is being established in response to the growing demand from global consumer brands manufacturing apparel and footwear in Bangladesh.
Coats Bangladesh produces many new and innovative products including flame retardant threads, Hemseal (an adhesive thread for hems), Eloflex (a thread with high extension properties for use in stretch fabrics), Aquamelt (a water soluble thread for temporary stitching applications) and Drybond (a water resistant, strong and durable anti-wick threads for use in sports equipment).
When Coats began its business in Bangladesh 25 years ago, exports were worth 624 million dollars and the sector employed 320,000 people. This year exports are expected to fetch over $25 billion and employment will reach over 4 million people.
www.coats.com/index.asp?pageid=38&country=bangladesh
London hosted the Textile Forum, a fabric sourcing fair on October 15 and 16. There are a growing number of fabric companies that realise there is business to be gained from keeping stock in the UK. Visitors come to the fair to source interesting, high quality fabrics which they can order in small quantities with a quick turnaround.
More than 50 collections were on display from mainly British companies, ranging from luxury silks and fine worsted cloths to leather, faux leather and fake furs, as well as digital prints, lace and bridal fabrics complete with crystal embellishments. Visitors were from three main groups: the new generation or young start-ups, existing brands and manufacturers, and independent designers. Forest Digital made its debut at the show, offering a digital printing service on in-stock fabrics including silk jersey, cotton and modal cashmere. It got a lot of enquiries about its printed scarf service.
Carrington Fabrics has been exhibiting at the show since it began and was showcasing fashion fabrics, jacquards, basics and bridal collections. There was particular interest in its bridal collections. Brands including Jack Wills, Tommy Hilfiger, Daks and Ragged Priest were present. There were designers interested in the stock-supported collections with low or no minimum orders.
www.textileforum.org.uk/
Vitale Barberis Canonico and Lanificio Fratelli Cerruti are the winners of the third annual Fabric No. 1 award. The prize is given by Saks Fifth Avenue in partnership with the Woolmark Company. It’s given to mills that produce fabrics for made-to-measure suits and sport coats.
This year 30 international brands submitted their fabrics for consideration. To qualify, each mill was invited to submit up to two signature clothes from their Fall/Winter collection per category. A select panel of made-to-measure experts examined and chose the submissions. This year, Lanificio Fratelli Cerruti was selected for suiting and Vitale Barberis Canonico for sport coats.
Vitale Barberis Canonico’s cashmere/wool blend was the best among all entries in sport coats with a high-blue fabric that’s soft and cool to the touch. The mill scored extra points for sustainability by using innovative purification technologies to ensure that the water and air released after fabric manufacturing don’t harm the pristine beauty of Italy’s countryside.
Lanificio Fratelli Cerruti’s fabric knocked out all other contenders in the suit category. Inspired by New York’s 1950′s renaissance in art and architecture, the merino wool and cashmere fabric’s subtly checked blue is reminiscent of the sky-reflective glass towers that overlook Manhattan’s skyline.
The next edition of Heimtextil for home and contract textiles will be held from January 14 to 17, 2015, in Germany. It will exhibit a variety of design and future-oriented themes. The fair is branching out in new directions. The focus will be on retail trade and marketing and disciplines such as research & development, design and product application. With numerous visualisations and activities, the Theme Park will explore today’s mega and micro trends and show how modern interior design can be creatively implemented in different fields.
Exhibitors and visitors can discover the latest developments in the world of textile design in a more emotional, intensive and comprehensive presentation than before. The textiles or fabrics displayed in this show are designed to fit perfectly with the requirements of home decoration sector as well as apparel segments. The attractive designs, perfect blend of colors and texture attract a huge number of buyers from all round the world.
An important part of the Theme Park will be the Material Gallery, which includes a selection of exhibitors’ fabric collections and offers an overview of the latest home textile trends. There will also be a Color Pavilion, showing the latest color trends. A program of lectures with renowned speakers will provide supplementary information about the latest trends.
www.heimtextil.messefrankfurt.com/
West African cotton output is forecast to jump over 19 per cent for the 2014-15 season. The reason: high government-fixed prices have attracted growers back to the sector. Before a market crash in the early 2000s, the seven top cotton-producing countries in the region had accounted for about 15 per cent of the world’s cotton exports.
They are now ramping up output again, already showing a rise of 7 per cent in 2013-14 from the season before as a rebound in world prices in recent years has allowed governments to increase what they pay farmers. Harvesting in most of the region is expected to start next month before picking up from December. Harvest has been early this year because farmers planted a lot in May. So some cotton was ready by September.
Ivory Coast, Benin and Senegal are all predicting production increases for 2014-15. Togo is forecasting a jump of over 54 per cent. In Cameroon, 2013-14 output rose nearly 7 per cent on the back of favorable weather. That figure would have been higher, but a significant portion of the crop was lost due to smuggling to neighboring Nigeria.
Burkina Faso, the regional leader, is targeting an output of 8,00,000 tonnes in 2014-15, up 23 per cent from the recently ended season.
On October 29, 2014, the Global Denim Awards 2014 will debut coinciding with the Amsterdam edition of the Kingpins Show, which takes place on October 29, and 30, 2014. Six emerging international designers were selected and each one was paired with six international denim mills. Each of the designers visited their designated mill to develop an in-depth understanding of fiber, fabric, washes and denim development. Further, each designer developed a capsule collection of five looks, including treatments and washes, which will be presented on the runway on October 29 during the show. The six mills involved are Candiani Denim, Royo Textile, ITV Denim, Bossa, Orta Anadolu and Prosperity Textile.
The collections will be judged by a panel of international denim experts based on the merits of design and the innovative nature of the denim fabrications. The winning designer will be awarded €10,000 and have his or her winning designs displayed at the Kingpins shows in Amsterdam, New York, Los Angeles, Hong Kong and at the Amsterdam Denim Days 2015.
The concept for the Global Denim Awards was developed by HTNK, the Amsterdam-based fashion recruitment and consultancy firm, in collaboration with the Kingpins Show. The initiative was sponsored and made possible by e3, a Bayer CropScience’s environmentally responsible certified cotton fiber.
The Kingpins Show is an invitation-only, boutique denim sourcing show featuring a highly-edited selection of vendors that include denim and sportswear fabric mills from the US, Japan, China, India, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, Pakistan, Thailand, Spain and Mexico, wash houses, full package manufacturers, trim providers and business solutions. Kingpins launched in 2004, organises biannual shows in New York, Los Angeles, Hong Kong and Amsterdam.
French company Lectra, a world leader in integrated technology solutions that automate, streamline and accelerate product design, development and manufacturing processes for industries using soft materials, has won the coveted ‘International Company of the Year Award’. Lectra is transnational company with 32 subsidiaries abroad and more than 1,400 employees representing 50 different nationalities. The company serves customers in more than 100 countries and achieves 92 per cent of its revenues overseas
The company’s strength lies in the composition of its local teams. Apart from some very rare exceptions, its subsidiary managing directors are local hires. This allows the brand to create a real proximity with its customers and therefore a full understanding of their operational needs.
Lectra now attracts an increasing number of customers from high-growth markets such as China, Brazil, South Korea and United States. Over the years, it has gained market share and today holds very strong position with renowned customers in all its business sectors. In the fashion market, for example, Lectra serves almost 100 per cent of luxury brands.
Lectra develops the most advanced specialized software and cutting systems and provides associated services to a broad array of markets including fashion, apparel, accessories, footwear, car seats and interiors, airbags, furniture as well as a wide variety of other market sectors.
www.lectra.com/
Pakistan is yet to announce its new textile policy. The new policy will be effective from July 1, focusing on value-addition. It has been delayed despite the fact that Pakistan’s textile exports showed negative growth during the first quarter of the current year.
The textile policy carries measures to increase the country’s textile exports to $26 billion by 2019. There are some infrastructure projects, like the establishment of garment-weaving cities, a ginning institute etc. under the proposed textile policy as well. A major part of the proposed textile policy was announced in the budget 2014-15 by giving cash incentives to textile and clothing exporters.
During July to August 2014-15 textile exports decreased by five per cent, as against the corresponding period of the previous fiscal. Yarn and cloth categories were the major losers in which exports decreased by 26 per cent and 13 per cent respectively.
The readymade garment sector had a slight reduction of two per cent. The decrease in textile exports also made a negative impact on cotton prices. After the grant of GSP Plus, instead of increasing, textile exports have showed a declining trend although it was expected that textile exports would increase by at least a billion dollars during 2014.
