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The recent strike by the transport sector is going to have adverse impact on exports as there are no vacant containers available in upcountry for exports.
In a statement issued to the press, Spokesman of All Pakistan Textile Mills Association said that as a result of unavailability of empty containers in upcountry due to strike of transport sector, exporters are missing shipment deadlines. One additional factor that is a major cause of the scarcity of containers is the large number of orders that have been received from China after the effectiveness of the Phase II of the Free Trade Agreement between China and Pakistan.
APTMA Spokesman further added that even if the containers were to be dispatched from Karachi today they would take 3 days to reach upcountry where exporters have already have had 2 days without containers; effectively a further week of exports would have been delayed/lost.
Under these circumstances, we request the government to take immediate action for resolving the issue so that no more exporting deadlines are missed.
The incredible founder and designer of Biba, Barbara Hulanicki has collaborated with slow-fashion ethical label Flare Street for a new AW20 collection which will be launching in the UK at Pure London. Barbara has created a hand-drawn textile design exclusively for Flare Street featuring on a range of modern and meticulously tailored flared bell bottoms and dresses
Celebrating the shades of fashion Pure London has announced an incredible line-up of inspirational new designers and much-loved womenswear brands, including the debut collection from Barbara Hulanicki for Flare Street.
The incredible founder and designer of Biba, Barbara Hulanicki has collaborated with slow-fashion ethical label Flare Street for a new AW20 collection which will be launching in the UK at Pure London. Barbara has created a hand-drawn textile design exclusively for Flare Street featuring on a range of modern and meticulously tailored flared bell bottoms and dresses. Hailing from Melbourne, Australia, all garments are hand-made and vintage-inspired.
With its electric atmosphere, a spacious, light-filled hall and stunning architecture, visitors to Pure London at Olympia London from the 9th to 11th February 2020, will also discover the new collection from luxury fashion designer, Matthew O’Brien. Since winning Britain’s Top Designer at 22, Matthew has spent the last few years building his brand where everything is the best of British, designed, sourced and made within the UK.
Valentina Poltronieri, a young Italian fashion designer is presenting her new collection in the Emerging Talent space showcasing Italian craftsmanship. Chasing the Stars is the name of the new collection that will bring the viewers into an imaginary and virtual journey from Venice Beach to Santa Monica, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas.
Hilary MacMillan is a contemporary, Canadian, cruelty-free womenswear brand. The eponymous brand was founded in 2013 and is renowned for offering versatile pieces in timeless silhouettes.
Silk meets the art of painting at Castlebird Rose, a Nordic slow and sustainable fashion designer brand. By recreating artists´ original paintings on genuine silk and other authentic materials, they design deluxe garments to give every day a touch of luxury and magic. 
1,618 will debut their first gender neutral collection. Manchester brand Urban Bliss will launch a new trend-led fashion collection including luxe knitwear and must-have outerwear. Lemuel MC creates timeless clothes from 100% linen, with ethical sustainability at its heart.
Sofie Schnoor launches its Femme Power Autumn 2020 collection comprising strong, sharp cuts with soft fabrics and floral prints. AIRFIELD, the fashion label for the modern and self-confident woman returns with its innovative, high quality designs to fit every situation in life.
Derhy, the Parisian brand that launched in 1969, is celebrating its 50th birthday at Pure London by re-visiting its original fashion success stories. It was during a road trip around India that the Derhy family fell in love with the Indian culture and philosophy, the immensity of its ochre landscapes, the saturated colours of the women's saris and the sarongs. Recalling the nostalgia of the 1970's, Derhy has revisted their best sellers from the 70’s adapting them for 2020.
Returning to Pure London are Wibes, a French premium, ethical and multicultural brand creating contemporary and colourful sneakers made in Côte d'Ivoire, and Nomads, an ethical fashion brand based in North Cornwall, specialising in high-quality, contemporary garments that embrace colour and print.
As a global show that celebrates newness, Pure London, annually attracts over 300,000 industry professionals from the UK and around the world via its shows, and digital platforms offering 365 unique content.
Starting a new trend, Banana Republic launched its own rental services in 2019. However, the road ahead seems challenging as even big rental companies like Rent the Runway have been facing tough times of late. The company faced several service glitches in 2019 and even had to shut down its subscription facilities for a while.
Demand for rental grows despite challenges
Besides managing their shipping and inventory costs, rental companies also have to deal with washing and dry cleaning of their apparels. Yet, the demand for rental fashion seems to be growing with brands like Banana Republic, Vince, American Eagle and Bash launching their own rental services.
In November 2019, fast-fashion brand H&M also announced its intention to enter clothing rental services. The brand recently launched a flagship store in Stockholm that
allows customers to rent a piece of clothing for $37 from a collection of 50 pieces that it currently holds. The store will first test waters for three months before expanding operations. Meanwhile other retailers like Banana Republic plan to expand their rental services by learning the intricacies of business and adding new customers. The company launched its service Style Passport in September and customer profile is increasing every month as the company allows customers to rent three items at a time with unlimited exchanges and free shipping and returns for $85 a month.
Best services at affordable rates
Growing rapidly, the online clothing rental market is expected to reach $1.96 billion by 2023. New companies are entering the space which is attracting many new customers. Opportunities for women customers are increasing as the entry of new players enables them to avail the best service at most affordable rates. A recent survey from JDA Software says, while 25 per cent of the surveyed consumers had used a rental service, about 75 per cent of them, traditionally used it to rent something for a special occasion. Customers prefer to rent more from retailers who offer a strong assortment of products at a good price point Brands like Banana Republics and Urban Outfitters offer customers strong loyalty programs which gives them a rich data that they can leverage to predict demand and choose products that have the highest potential to be successful.
US apparel imports from China were down 31 per cent in November 2019. This follows a 35 per cent plunge in October. In volume, apparel imports from China fell 20 per cent in November. This follows a 30 per cent volume decline the prior month.
While the erosion of apparel sourcing from China by US brands and retailers has been ongoing throughout the tariff-driven US-China trade war, the dramatic drop-offs in the past few months were driven in part by companies bringing goods in before the 15 per cent tariffs on Chinese imports. People tried to lock on and get their product in early this year.
but western hemisphere makers also have gained as well. Apparel shipments from Vietnam rose 10.37 per cent year to date but were down 12 per cent for the month. Vietnam’s market share stood at 15.93 per cent, a ten per cent gain.
US apparel imports from China for the first 11 months of the year fell 7.59 per cent. This brought China’s import market share–still in the top slot–down 6.63 per cent to 30.25 per cent in value terms for the year through November. Suppliers, largely Asian, are stealing away that market share
The Tunisian textile sector wants to reduce the environmental impact of its activity. Textile operators are being introduced to a green economy approach, where chemical waste from factories are recycled or valorised. It aims at developing circular textile value chains, recovering textile waste, strengthening local infrastructure, technical expertise and knowhow to promote the appropriate classification, efficient collection, sorting and recycling of post-industrial and pre-consumer textile waste.
Textiles are a pillar of the Tunisian economy and contribute more than 20 per cent to the GDP, with1,600 companies, 1,60,000 jobs and exert a strong pressure on the environment. The textile and clothing industry plays a critical role in the socio-economic development of the country. Tunisia is among the top 15 garment suppliers in the world, and has the advantage of being close to the European market. It is EU’s the fifth largest supplier and a leading trouser supplier to the EU. Other important products are: work wear and lingerie. The main foreign investors in Tunisia’s apparel sector are: France, Germany, Belgium and Italy.
PVH Corp has switched to a more sustainable digital design process. PVH has doubled its sustainability efforts. Its fourth collaboration with Formula One World Champion Lewis Hamilton uses sustainable materials and sourcing practices including the use of organic cotton and recycled materials, low-impact denim washes and more. These sustainability practices are a part of PVH’s Forward Fashion Initiative, which aims to change the way clothes are created and reused. Its goals include reaching zero negative impacts, increasing positive impacts and improving more than one million lives across its value chain.
PVH Corp is the parent company of Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein, Van Heusen, Speedo and Izod. PVH’s business is strongly anchored in the US, where in 2018 it generated 46 per cent of its sales, but the group is reorganising itself in the US market. Tommy Hilfiger has been working to sales in China, engineering double-digit growth in the country in 2018. Asia accounts for 12 per cent of the group’s sales. The group has cut the share of its production that comes from China to the US market. Three or four years ago, about 35 per cent of its production for the US was coming out of China. For next year, it is looking at something that’s closer to 10 per cent.
The lingerie and swimwear industry has reinvented the rules of glamour by speaking generously and delightfully to all women. It began with getting away from stereotypes based on extreme thinness, gradually making space for plus size models on runways, and then, with varying amounts of curves, in advertising campaigns.
For women who have had their lives shaken up by surgery, Megami offers post-operative lingerie. Products are now available in several sizes covering a range that more accurately reflects all body types. Images for catalogues and other ad campaign visuals are featuring models with non-retouched bodies, proudly displaying stretch marks, varying degrees of curviness, and even boldly embraced body hair. Danish designers Moons and Junes intend to show how beautiful realism can be by spotlighting all kinds of physiques. With their hashtag #bitsandboobs, this brand encourages women to post their bustlines on their official website. At American brand Girlfriend Collective, this active wear line is made in sizes ranging from XXS to 6XL, allowing all women to be eco- friendly; this brand only uses fibers made from recycled plastic bottles. French brand Madame porte la culotte is intended first and foremost to make women happy with a combination of comfort and beauty.
The premium denim brand J Brand known as the creator of the skinny jean will offer inclusive denim now. The brand plans to extend its women’s sizing from size 32 up to size 38 for a capsule collection of its most iconic jean fits. To develop the capsule, J Brand took into consideration the pain points of female denim consumers and cut the jeans from entirely new patterns that were perfected over hours of fittings on real women’s bodies.
Additionally, the jeans are made from cotton blended with fibers like lyocell and elastane, which allow movement while enhancing curves.
SRTEPC has prepared a 20-point strategy for the development of MMF fiber textile segment. The points include: bringing in fiber neutrality, lowering interest rates, making raw materials to be made available at international price, considering textile job work as manufacturing in the goods and services tax regime, considering textile merchant exporters as manufacturer exporter, branding and WTO-compatible schemes.
SRTEPC says, exports of Indian man-made fiber (MMF) textiles are expected to grow 10 per cent to reach $7 billion by the end of fiscal 2020-21. Exports in value-added segments like fabrics witnessed nearly 8 per cent growth during April-October period in 2019-20 as compared to the same period in the previous fiscal.
Indorama Ventures has bought the chemical intermediates businesses of Huntsman Corporation including PO/MTBE, and its surfactants businesses. The transaction is valued at around $2 billion, which comprises a cash purchase price of $1.93 billion along with the transfer of up to $76 million in net underfunded pension as well as other post-employment benefit liabilities. Notably, the cash purchase price includes estimated adjustments to the working capital purchase price.
The transaction significantly lowers Huntsman’s capital-intensive upstream asset base, strengthens its already strong balance sheet, and enables it to further invest and expand its downstream businesses. It also expands the company’s opportunity and flexibility for select strategic and accretive acquisitions, and ongoing opportunistic repurchases of its shares.
The divestiture will also enable Huntsman to generate more stable and consistent margins as well as strong free cash flow.
