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Pakistan is trying to increase its textile exports. Presently, Pakistan’s share is 1.6 per cent in the world textile trade. Efforts are on to increase this to three per cent by 2025. The potential of home-grown cotton will be fully utilized augmented by manmade fiber/filament to boost value-added exports and become a major player in the global textile supply chain. Among the objectives are restoring the profitability of cotton farmers by increasing cotton yields, improving the quality of cotton and decreasing the cost of production for farmers, strengthening the manmade fiber/filament sector to make this chain internationally competitive and export oriented, long-term financing facility for the entire textile value chain, revival of impaired textile capacity and establishment of textile clusters and export processing zones with plug and play facilities.
An ambitious strategy has been formulated to move from low value added semi-processed textile exports to high value-added garments and fashion articles. To improve job creation, productivity and exports, the investment-to-GDP ratio will be raised to around 20 per cent.
Pakistan was a leading player in the textile trade but over the last decade its textile sector growth has remained dismal owing to several policy limitations and the lack of an enabling environment necessary for industries to flourish.
Premiere Vision New York took place on January 21 and 22, 2020. The show featured 205 exhibitors from 25 countries. The event was a stage for new fabrics and trims for spring/summer 2021 and the focus was on sustainability. Wares of 30 selected eco-responsible exhibitors were exhibited along with signage with actionable tips to become more environmentally sensible. One of the show’s three seminars was dedicated to the sustainability topic while the other two discussed trends and colors for the season. Some of the top trends were tone-on-tone, bluish hues, foamy surfaces, organic cottons and silks, terry-like tweeds, chubby flower prints, light and wavy undertones, iridescent fabrics, rippled surfaces and hybrid textiles made from plant and artificial fibers.
There were just a handful of companies serving the active or casual wear sector. Polartec displayed its Power Air collection, a mid-layer fabric that sheds five times as less microfibers thanks to encapsulated fibers on the inside. Polartec’s sturdy fabrics are constructed to last a long time. Japan Textile Salon featured 16 Japanese mills as well as a trend area. Japan Blue presented standard cotton selvedges and specialty offerings such as laminated denim and material made from organic cotton and then eco-dyed.
Liberty Fairs was held in the US on January 20 to 22, 2020. It presented fall/winter collections that take denim seriously. Enduring designs, winterized constructions and garments that allow men to show their individual style—from raw denim that ages over time to crystal-embellished jeans—offered buyers a variety of options.
While the industry is full of denim brands providing a barrage of marketing around their sustainability capsule collections, at Liberty Fairs brands chose to focus on enduring design and long-term solutions. And during a time in men’s wear that celebrates fashion statements and individuality, denim brands delivered with embellished pieces. Momotaro Jeans featured its new pieces, including its bestselling raw denim that was updated with an embroidered accent on the back of the jeans. Its logo—two horizontal stripes—is displayed in bright blue on the jeans’ back pocket. Naked & Famous proudly displayed its variety of heavyweight denim, which it considers its specialty. Its standout piece included a 22-oz. sanforized dark-wash denim with extreme texturing throughout. Though a lifestyle brand, Scotch & Soda also branched into heavyweight denim with a matching denim jacket and jeans set. Available in a faded black wash, the set is made from rigid denim and featured western-inspired details.
Buyers in the US and Europe are not paying enough for clothing made in India. From 1994 to 2017, the real dollar price paid by American buyers declined 62.81 per cent. The real dollar price of blouses made of synthetic fabric exported to the European Union fell by 31.93 per cent from 2010 to 2017, and the real dollar price paid by buyers for cotton T-shirts slid by 41.4 per cent. At the same time, speed to market has accelerated. From 2012 to 2017, average lead times—that is, the time given to suppliers to source fabric and other inputs and make and ship an order—fell eleven per cent from 87.39 days to 77.67 days. Yet buyers took longer to pay suppliers after orders shipped, stretching the time from 47 to 54 days.
Buyers often change order specifications or sometimes after the start of a production cycle. Workers in India, too, are feeling the pinch. Production targets have moved from daily goals to hourly targets. Verbal abuse and sexual harassment have likewise intensified. Workers are yelled at by their supervisors for not fulfilling production targets. Female workers are sexually harassed and the subject of physical abuse at work. Below-subsistence wages remain a concern.
Leading streetwear and sustainable menswear show Jacket Required received positive and upbeat feedback during this week’s show with the new curated layout working well for exhibitors and buyers alike. Response to the show’s move to its new Saatchi Gallery home and increased focus on sustainability, premium and tailoring sectors was equally well-received. A steady volume of orders was taken, with visitors in attendance including End Clothing, Asos, Article, John Lewis, Urban Outfitters, The Project Store, Filati, Stuarts, Fenwick, Natterjacks, Sefton, Anthropology and Harvey Nichols.
Showroom A, dedicated to a host of sustainable brands including Dashel, Conscious Step, Komodo, United Change Makers, Thalassophy, Revolution and Raeburn, maintained a buzzy atmosphere throughout the two-day show. Christopher Raeburn said: “We’re a really proud British brand. We’ve been going now for 11 years and we’ve found that there’s so much more conversation around what we’re doing around responsible design; the idea of remaking, recycling and reducing. We’re so proud that Jacket Required has been so supportive in what we’re doing, it’s a really natural alignment. We’re really pleased and proud with the space that we have here, and we’ve already met some really good people this morning, so, so far, so good. For us [exhibiting at Jacket Required] is a bit of a no-brainer. It’s an opportunity to meet directly with all of the amazing British stores and press that we have around the country and build the momentum really.”
Jacket Required will be making its debut in SW3 from the 22nd - 23rd July 2020, offering showroom spaces for Sustainable, Contemporary, Streetwear and Tailoring sectors.
Innovations emerging in the fashion industry present unprecedented investment opportunities. But to bring the necessary solutions to scale, all players -- fashion brands, supply chain partners, investors, and others -- need to step up to accelerate innovation. Sustainability is at the top of the fashion industry’s agenda as leaders recognise the urgent need to move toward responsible practices under growing consumer and regulatory pressures. A step change requires disruptive innovation in the form of new materials, processes, technologies, and business models. Only a fraction of all available capital has been invested in fashion and textile technology, leaving many innovators stuck in a financing gap that hinders their ability to develop and scale their innovations. In fashion, nearly half of the financing opportunity lies at the beginning and the end of the value chain, where raw materials and end-of-use solutions have the highest impact potential.
The fashion industry has historically engaged in a cost-driven race to the bottom, giving little attention to radical new technologies. However, a perfect storm of innovation and opportunity is now forming, and investors as well as companies that can capitalise on sustainability and impact-driven innovation can transform the industry. Disruptive solutions that can offer major leaps forward toward circularity exist today, and the opportunities to invest and scale them within the industry are vast.
VF Corporation’s revenue is up five per cent in the third quarter. The company, based in the US, owns the brand: Vans, Timberland and North Face. VF Corp, which spun off its denim business as a separate company named Kontoor Brands in May, is exploring strategic alternatives for its occupational work business. Excluding the performance of the occupational work business, the company’s quarterly revenue increased six per cent. Revenues in VF Corp’s active segment were up eight per cent, led by a 12 per cent increase at the Vans brand, while the company’s outdoor segment posted a three per cent rise, including an eight per cent increase at The North Face.
The group’s international revenues increased eight per cent in the quarter, with China, in particular, posting strong growth of 30 per cent, while Europe saw a four per cent rise. Quarterly direct-to-consumer sales increased seven per cent led by a 16 per cent increase in VF Corp’s digital channel. Net income for the quarter was up slightly from the same period in the previous year, while diluted earnings per share increased 11 per cent. Year to date, VF’s net income for the period was up three per cent while diluted earnings per share also rose three per cent.
The four per cent incentive given under the Merchandise Export Incentive Scheme on made-ups and garments has been withdrawn. This has put India’s textile industry in a fix. Exporters of cotton made-ups are already facing a tough situation financially due to the non-implementation of the Rebate of State and Central Taxes and Levies (RoSCTL) scheme. Nine months after it was first announced, the scheme to refund taxes and boost exports of made-ups and garments is yet to be operational. Exporters are already facing serious working capital problems affecting their day-to-day operations.
While negotiating with importers, Indian textile companies have factored in the four per cent MEIS incentive and RoSCTL scheme which together account for 8.2 per cent of export prices. Export orders have to be executed in the next nine months. With the removal of MEIS benefits, exports at the prices agreed upon will become uneconomical and exporters have to bear huge losses and start defaulting on their bank loans. Many exporters have also paid advance tax on their receivables, which has further aggravated the problem.
Indian exporters are already working against tough competition from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and Pakistan. High import duties have been levied by the US, EU and China on shipments from India.
Impressions Expo was held in the US from January 17 to 19, 2020. Impressions holds an unique place on the fashion trade show calendar. This is where representatives of brands and apparel companies go to see what is new in the basics market and check out the latest in machines that print graphic images on tees. This is an event where companies exhibit their new approaches to the production of T-shirts and other basics. Everything from blank apparel and textiles to digital printers, embroidery machines, screen printers and screen printing supplies were on display. About 15,000 people attended the show, which included 11,000 qualified buyers who were confirmed as representing companies with proven track records in producing and distributing T-shirts. For the first time in its history, the trade show also produced a giant party.
Impressions unveiled a rebranding effort at the show. The new name comes from the trade show’s magazine, which is also called Impressions. The show has aligned with its publication to create a single platform to serve its communities as opposed to presenting an array of individual shows, magazines and digital offerings. It was all about celebrating the industry and the impact these businesses have on millions of people’s lives every day.
Over a four month period, Asos’ revenue was up 20 per cent. Total orders were up 20 per cent supported by robust operational performance at all its distribution centers. The period also saw strong customer momentum with visits up 23 per cent year on year and an increase in active customers during the four months. Operations both in its domestic UK market and abroad rose in healthy double-digits. It was an improvement on the firm’s latest full year when group revenues rose only 12 per cent. But after a few stumbles in recent periods, the company’s focus through the four months was on restoring consistent operational execution and rebuilding customer momentum. And it seems to have achieved this aim. Its UK retail sales rose 18 per cent while EU retail sales were up 21 per cent. In the US, the company managed a 23 per cent increase and in the rest of the world, retail sales rose 23 per cent. That all added up to a 22 per cent increase in overall international retail sales. But the gross margin dropped 170 basis points reflecting US duty and investment in customer acquisition as planned.
The four months saw improvements in product choice and stock availability, presentation and social media engagement and optimising customer acquisition and reactivation.
