FW
Set up by top European clothing brands to check worker safety standards in Bangladesh, Accord will close operations in May, more than six years after the collapse of a garment factory prompted the intervention by retailers. With its five-year mandate long expired, Bangladeshi manufacturers have been demanding Accord shut shop, as they feared the group would widen its scope to areas such as workers rights.
Recently, Accord and Bangladeshi garment manufacturers signed an agreement to set up a new Ready-made Garment Sustainability Council (RSC) to take over the work of the Accord by May 31. Retailers, unions and manufacturers will have representatives on the council, a national initiative, which will carry forward the work of Accord to ensure safety in factories.
It takes a special kind of focus for a company to achieve the status of a recognized ‘industry leader’. Maintaining that position is even more challenging, with a constant drive for maximum efficiency, optimized quality and total customer satisfaction. The Chinese company Esquel has exactly those attributes.
Its commitment to innovative processes and business methods makes it an ideal partner for Uster Technologies, which helps Esquel deliver great quality and productivity through world-class data analysis and transparency.
“During the numerous years of cooperation between Esquel and USTER, we have learned that both companies have much in common: We share the pursuit of quality,” says Li Guanghai, General Manager Xinjiang Esquel Textile Co., Ltd.
This means Esquel aims not only to meet its customers’ quality requirements but also works to improve its processes and guarantee a constant product with optimum use of resources. For example, Esquel benchmarks its yarn production against that of other companies, to control quality with the help of USTER® STATISTICS. High quality standards and investments in USTER systems, qualifies Esquel as a certified USTERIZED mill. This seal of quality proves that a mill passes regular audits and spins yarn of a consistently high quality.
The future, connect and prevent
Esquel uses its collaboration with USTER to stay ahead of the game. Optimizing production by checking the status quo is the present. Combining transparency over the entire production is the future. It integrates real-time information from production with data analysis. In this way, possible errors can be eliminated at earlier production stages, long before machines have to be stopped or the end-product is defective.
This preventive action improves the future outcome of an entire production cycle. Here, Esquel again stands at the forefront of innovation, able to share its positive experience with the Quality Management PlatformTM. Instead of processing information from unconnected laboratory instruments separately, USTER QUALITY EXPERT combines data. “We can now bundle all data, from raw material to yarns, combining laboratory and in-line tests. This enables us to respond faster, react during running production, and so guarantee consistent quality at the outcome,” says the General Manager.
Relief for the quality manager
For Hai Yang, Deputy Quality Control & Assurance Department, working with USTER® QUALITY EXPERT pays back in time savings for his entire team: “Combining all data in one system, USTER® QUALITY EXPERT significantly reduces the workload of our laboratory staff. And the recommendations and hints by Assistant Q make my daily work much easier my workload for data input and evaluation has decreased a lot and I can even identify long-term quality trends.”
This allows Esquel to produce yarn to a consistently high quality level. Additionally, the Management Platform gives peace of mind. “USTER® MOBILE ALERTS allow me to solve issues much faster than before. No matter where I am, I can connect to the system and check if everything is running smoothly – or intervene immediately if changes occur,” Yang says.
Esquel aims at productivity gains through preventing quality issues instead of reacting to them, as well as careful use of all resources.
Many factories in Bangladesh’s readymade garment sector are shutting down. Almost 60 garment factories have shut down and 25,900 workers have lost their jobs in the last seven months. The sector registered a negative growth of 7.64 per cent. Most factories that shut down come under the small and medium enterprise category. They failed to maintain strict compliance and pay their workers under the new wage structure. Unplanned industrialisation, lack of skilled workers, lack of proper research and development, cost of doing business and the downward trend of prices in international market add to the challenges.
After China, Bangladesh is the world’s biggest garment exporter. This sector experienced negative growth in the first six months of fiscal 2019-20. But has immense potential for bagging more work orders. Currently, the accessories and packaging manufacturing sector has more than 1,700 factories. West Bengal in India and Myanmar are potential markets because they have started setting up new factories. So there is ample opportunity to supply more accessory items to them. Entrepreneurs need bank loans at a lower interest rate. Policy development, research, and incentives are necessary for further advancement of the garment industry.
Ludhiana’s hosiery industry is troubled by delays in refunds. The delays pertain primarily to the Technology Upgradation Fund and the Rebate on State and Center for Taxes levies (ROSCTL). For the past nine months, garment exporters have not received their ROSCTL refunds, valued at around Rs 5,800 crores. Due to this, the working capital of the industry is stuck. Exporters have urged for refunds on time, increase in duty drawback, faster loans and subsidies and incentives. Another problem is cheap imports from Bangladesh. Bangladesh's share of apparel exports worldwide was 2.6 per cent in 2000, which rose to 7.7 per cent in 2018. India's share has increased from three per cent to just 3.3 per cent in these 18 years. The uneven duty structure plagues exporters. The duty on raw materials and machinery is too high while the duty on imports of finished goods is too low. There is a 22 per cent to 24 per cent custom duty being levied right now.
There are about 12,000 hosiery units in Ludhiana. Most are in the small and unorganized sector. These small companies want yarn banks to be set up which can buy yarn from mills and give it to small entrepreneurs at low prices and so keep down their cost.
Exporters of apparel and made-ups in India will be entitled to a special one-time additional ad hoc incentive of up to one per cent of free on board value. The incentive will be provided to offset the difference between the newly notified rebate on state and central taxes and levies (RoSTCL) and the previous rebate on state levies (RoSL) and the Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS). The period for which exporters can make claims for the incentive is from March 7, 2019, to December 31, 2019, with the amount capped at Rs 600 crores. While claims are applicable for those exports that received MEIS at four per cent, the RoSL provides for rebates anywhere between 1.2 to 3.9 per cent for the exports in question.
Indian readymade garment exports fell by more than six per cent in November 2019 as compared to the previous year. Due to the delay in disbursements under the Rebate of State and Central Taxes and Levies Scheme and the Merchandise Exports from India Scheme, exporters are facing a severe cash crunch and are not able to compete with garment manufacturers of other countries who have various advantages. Reimbursements worth over Rs 5,000 crores are pending.
Sevin Kasran’s design language merges the modern and the traditional. This streetwear brand founded in British Columbia in 2017 brings to the fore designs that are stemmed in Indian beliefs and principles but are global. It offers lounge pants, bomber jackets, slogan T-shirts and jumpers. Festive colors and prints are translated into easy streetwear that doubles up as both staples as well as statement pieces. Vivid color palettes and Indian motifs are inspired by the principles of non-violence, integrity, and pride. The aim is that the bright colors in Indian culture and ceremonies should not be reserved for traditional events but for people to embrace in their everyday lives through fashion. The design aesthetic is not to make a strictly consumable and marketable garment, but rather a piece of art that has a story and meaning behind it.
Asian streetwear has grown in popularity around the globe because it is of an increasingly high standard. The world is looking east because of the tremendous amount of young talent that has emerged in recent years. It is a reflection of Asia rising. The big increase in the worldwide popularity of Asian streetwear has been further helped by fashion bloggers and others in the online and social media sphere. These individuals are increasingly focusing on Asian designers, who had previously been ignored by established fashion publications.
Chinese trading company Shandong Ruyi is having difficulties paying off debts. A textile group from Bangladesh, Valleycot Marketing, bought 7,000 tons of cotton from Shandong Ruyi between 2016 and 2017 but the Chinese company delivered only a portion of that order. Valleycot initiated arbitration against Shandong Ruyi and was awarded compensation but Shandong has not paid even part of it. Shandong was then placed on an industry blacklist, adding it to the list of companies that have failed to pay arbitration awards connected to corporate disputes. The move has the potential to freeze Shandong Ruyi’s access to purchasing cotton from major suppliers and squeeze production at its brands.
Shandong Ruyi was founded as a textile manufacturer in northern China in the 1970s but began rapidly expanding into the world of fashion starting in 2015. Many Chinese groups which made costly overseas acquisitions in recent years, have struggled to manage, and pay for, their new global empires. Shandong Ruyi has bought global brands in recent years including France-based SMCP, UK clothing maker Aquascutum and Savile Row tailor Gieves & Hawkes. As a result, its total debt ballooned. Over a period of three years Shandong Ruyi agreed to more than 15 global acquisitions that eventually put it in control of a long list of name brands.
BenQ materials is excited to announce the launch of Xpore, a ground-breaking new technology for waterproof and breathable textiles. Xpore is the first to bring genuine innovation in waterproof and breathable technology for consistent years, providing not only comfort with an unprecedented “beyond dry” experience but also environmentally-friendly safety. Xpore, a refinement of BenQ Material’s AirySektor concept has almost limitless applications in performance clothing, home care, and medical care. Xpore technology is ideal for natural fiber fabrics, such as silk, wool, and cotton, and even for special fabrics requested by designers, such as leather.
Xpore technology is safe and free of harmful PTFE/PFCs (Polytetrafluoroethylene and Perfluorocarbons). Xpore technology also provides fully chemical solvent-free processes from membrane manufacturing to lamination. Xpore not only sets a new standard for eco-friendliness from the production process to final product but also offers true breathability together with waterproofing.
BenQ Materials' nanoporous membranes have been recognized as exceptional by the industry-leading ISPO Textrends jury panel of journalists, designers, and independent professionals. When selecting outstanding membrane and coating products, the ISPO jury placed two of BenQ Materials’ products in the top 10, and three of them in the selection category.
In independent tests, Xpore has demonstrated remarkable and significant advantages over the existing dominant technologies in this market. BenQ Materials' membrane innovations now control moisture with 10 billion nano-pores per square inch each 20,000x smaller than a water droplet and 200x larger than a water vapor molecule to keep wearers dry and comfortable in all conditions.
Certification and approval
Xpore technology materials including nanoporous membrane and glue have already received critical SGS and ITS certifications. BenQ Materials’ factory facilities already have ISO approval. Bluesign, OEKO-TEX, and TAF of laboratory approvals are in process.
C.L.A.S.S. eco hub with UN-related platform Fashion 4 Development Solutions at World Economic Forum in Davos Joining forces for betterment. With this enthusiam, C.L.A.S.S. announces its first participation at the World Economic Forum in Davos on January 21, 2020.
During the World Economic Forum in Davos, Altru Institute, the philanthropic think tank that supports organizations addressing global humanitarian issues and Fashion 4 Development, the global platform in support of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals have organized the summit Sustania Living The New Fashion and invited C.L.A.S.S. founder and CEO Giusy Bettoni to join a team of experts and agents of Change in the panel ‘Sustainability & Global Empowerment’. In the panel also Canopy founder Nicole Rycroft, F4D Solutions managing director Jeanine Ballone and Edwina Dunn, author of The Female Lead initiative, all called for action in the global supply chain for apparel.
C.L.A.S.S. prominently participation at Davos event is part of an ongoing collaboration and common path with F4D. “The main focus of F4D Solutions and C.L.A.S.S. new goal will be to educate about the sustainable innovative solutions that are already available.” Says Jeanine Ballone. “We are very excited and honoured to contribute to this important call” - says Giusy Bettoni - and truly believe there is no sustainability without knowledge.
To trigger positive change it is fundamental to inform, educate and raise awareness on sustainable issues along the whole supply chain. From the yarn manufacturing process to the end consumer, from farmers to designers, sales managers and end consumers as well.” In Davos, it will be unveiled a research & report on sustainability in the fashion business.
The Italian National Fashion Chamber is upholding a diversity agenda among Milan’s major fashion brands, considering a year after several top Italian brands faced criticism for designs and remarks seen as culturally and racially insensitive. Its manifesto backed by major Italian fashion brands aims to increase racial and gender diversity in key roles in Milan's fashion houses, which fashion chamber president Carlo Capasa acknowledged was lagging in a recent interview with The Associated Press ahead of Milan Fashion Week.
Capasa said the Milan fashion world must work harder to attract people of colour. “If global companies want to represent the world they are targeting, they must welcome diversity and look beyond their own borders,’’ he said, citing the relative homogeneity of Italian society. Milan has lagged the other main fashion cities of Paris, New York and London in racial diversity on the runway, according to season diversity reporting by the Fashion Spot. Capasa said the stories that fashion houses want to tell are often linked to their Italian roots, and that runway choice is linked to model agencies' offerings since not all models come to Milan.
While many Milan fashion houses take their creative direction from women including Miuccia Prada, Donatella Versace, Silvia Venturini Fendi and Angela Missoni and more women than men work in the fashion industry, Capasa said efforts are needed to get more women into decision-making roles. ‘’If we look at the boards, at the CEOs, at other key roles, there might be an advantage for men,’’ Capasa said. ‘’But we don’t want to introduce quotas obligating companies to promote women. We want to create the conditions so that women can have the same chances.’’
The chamber’s manifesto does not include hard commitments. Instead, it presents concepts that ‘’will serve as a model for radical reform in terms of diversity and inclusion.’’ They were adopted by the chamber’s more than 100 members, which include most major Milan fashion houses with the notable exception of Dolce&Gabbana, and will be monitored every year for progress.
