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The European textile and apparel industry is in a privileged position to deliver and prosper in the circular economy, says Euratex. Already Europe already boasts of a textile value chain capable of recycling fabrics, regenerating fibers and maximizing resources in production. Reducing waste, combined with an intelligent use of resources, has the potential to solve the gap resulting from natural resource scarcity and global growing population or consumption.
But while hundreds of textile businesses have successfully transitioned their business away from a linear take-make-dispose model, the potential is much greater. Investing in textile waste management to overcome technological challenges is another key consideration, as is a comprehensive approach to resource efficiency that incentivizes circular design. The high cost of fiber sorting and limits in applicable technologies for mechanical/chemical recycling are considered as an obstacle to scaling up. Private and public investment combined with appropriate regulatory policy and business will greatly help the transition from linear to circular economy.
Equally important is the role of the consumer, who should be protected from misleading claims. European and global consumers can ultimately reward the efforts made by business and policy makers by choosing better products and by making the circular economy really sustainable.
In 2019, retail businesses attempted to spice up their sales floors with resale opportunities, in-store dining and drinking experiences, a flood of trendy CBD products and customer-first services like customization, in-store pick-up and personal shopping.
By 2025 physical samples will be used less than virtual samples. So says retail data and analytics firm Edited. As consumer demand for sustainable practices grows, retailers are continuing to innovate to reduce their environmental footprint. The year 2020 should see strides towards digitalizing sampling processes before mass retailers eventually adopt the practice.
Despite originally being an economical way for brands to have a physical presence during the retail apocalypse of the 2010s, pop-up shops have become a permanent fixture in apparel retail. Here today, gone tomorrow, brands continue to rely on the temporary concept as a way to drum up social media buzz for special collections and collaborations. But as pop-ups become the norm, brands are introducing more theatrics to stand out. This year alone, fashion hosted its fair share of brand activations, temporary installments and in-store sensory experiences.
Tommy Hilfiger plans to shift its design to a 100 per cent digital process by 2022. The brand will implement 3D design technology throughout its global apparel design teams.
The United Kingdom’s fashion industry is not cutting waste fast enough. Although progress has been made on cutting water use and carbon emissions, this is not true of waste targets. There has been sluggish progress on supply chain waste, as the amount of textile waste sent to landfill has dropped by only four per cent since 2012. In fact, waste in this category has actually increased since 2015.
Among the reasons for the slow progress on waste are: population growth, rising consumption levels, lack of collection infrastructure and the length of time people hold on to clothes. UK consumers buy more clothes by volume than anywhere else in Europe. The rise of fast fashion means many items are only worn a handful of times before being discarded, often in landfill.
Getting people to change their behavior around fashion has been challenging. As well as the economic context and trends in fashion, the EU exit and increased sector scrutiny may all shape the future for UK fashion. In the meanwhile emissions reductions has been achieved by changing the proportion of fibers used in clothing, and increasing the use of sustainable forms of cotton. Cotton sourced from Better Cotton Initiative suppliers has been a large contributor to the improvement.
Employment in Turkey’s clothing industry increased 9.7 per cent from September 2018 to September 2019. Already one of the most prominent textile and clothing producers of the world, Turkey is now raising its sights for a higher rise in exports, setting its sights on the US market.
The clothing sector has strategic importance for the country’s economy with its production power, contribution to employment, and value-added exports. The country’s domestic clothing market size has risen 20 per cent from the previous year. The apparel sector contributes 10.7 per cent to Turkey’s overall exports and 13.1 per cent to industrial exports. The EU is the biggest market for Turkey’s ready-to-wear and apparel sector. This is followed by Germany, Spain, Britain, the Netherlands, France, Iraq, the US, Italy, Denmark and Israel. Other significant markets are Russia, one of Turkey’s largest trading partners, and China, the world’s largest ready-to-wear supplier.
The most exported product in the first half of 2018 was woven fabrics. Woven fabric exports increased by 8.3 per cent compared to the same period of 2017. The second most exported product was yarn, which constitutes 18.1 per cent of total textile exports from Turkey. Exports of the third important product group, knitted fabrics, increased 2.3 per cent. Turkey is one of the world's leading manufacturers of knitted fabrics. Fiber exports, the fourth most exported product group, increased by 16.9 per cent.
Recovery in crude oil prices is set to benefit synthetic yarn manufacturers in India because of their ability to pass on the increase to consumers, that is, fabric manufacturers. Since synthetic yarn is a derivative of crude oil, manufacturers have been able to raise their product prices. Synthetic yarn has become costlier by five per cent to seven per cent in the last two months along with a jump in cotton yarn prices. Changing consumer preferences, like the needs of sportswear firms, have resulted in an increasing demand for synthetic yarn in India. Looking at the vast potential, Indian synthetic yarn and fabric manufacturers have also started exploring overseas markets for exports.
Consumer preferences have changed over the last few years. Demand for synthetic yarn and fabric has increased as against 60:40 cotton-to-synthetic yarn consumption in India two years ago, the ratio has now changed to 55:45. This is going to continue further and catch up with the global standard of 40:60 of cotton-to-synthetic. Going ahead, demand for polyester fibers is expected to remain firm, led by healthy demand expected in the domestic apparel industry. India’s better demographics, expected increase in per capita income, increasing urbanisation and expanding organised market would be the key drivers for raising the domestic demand for apparels.
The world’s top hosiery exporting country is China. World exports of hosiery rose by 6.9 per cent in 2018 and, of this total, China alone accounted for a 44.5 per cent share. The international hosiery market is set for transformation as importers in the major markets, including the USA and the EU, shift their sourcing towards emerging low cost producing countries in Asia. China is facing increasing competition from fast-growing countries in Asia which can produce basic hosiery quickly and cheaply.
As a result, sourcing of such hosiery is set to shift away from China towards these countries. Asian countries that pose a significant threat include Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Vietnam. These countries are quickly adopting Industry 4.0 production methods, and these are helping them to improve productivity and manufacture goods in vast quantities. Hosiery exports from Pakistan reached a record high in 2018 while India shot up in the hosiery export rankings by three places compared with 2017 to become the 15th largest exporter in 2018. There was also a rise in exports from Vietnam in 2018.
Global imports and exports of hosiery rose in 2018 but remained below the peak achieved in 2014. EU imports of hosiery declined in value and in volume terms in 2018 but still reached their second-highest level on record. Imports of hosiery into the USA rose in volume terms to a record high and were also up in terms of value.
Exporting garments made of manmade fiber can help Bangladesh, say experts. Consumption of apparels made from artificial textile raw material is rising globally. As of now, 20 per cent of Bangladesh’s garment exports are made of manmade fiber. The sector needs foreign direct investment and some assistance to divert to manmade fiber-based garment production. The country has a very low capacity in this segment. Of the total garment items exported from Bangladesh last fiscal year, 74.14 per cent was made from cotton fiber, up from 68.67 per cent ten years ago. In Bangladesh, the use of cotton-based yarn and the garment products produced from it is rising. But exporters are receiving lower prices from the sales of cotton fiber-made garments.
Bangladesh’s export is over-concentrated on T-shirts, trousers, jackets, sweaters, and formal shirts and they together account for 73 per cent of the country’s garment exports. Moreover, Bangladesh is reliant too much on three markets: the European Union, the US and Canada and market diversification is taking place slowly. Last fiscal year, 83 per cent of Bangladesh’s garment exports went to the three markets. The garment sector’s contribution to the GDP is only 11 per cent, clearly indicating very little value addition. Reasons behind the garment sector’s lower growth include economic recession around the world and pressure from the nation’s currency.
"The policy of biting more than they can chew is backfiring in many Chinese companies who now saddled with mounting debts due to acquisition of many international brands over the last ten years. A case in point is Shandong Ruyi Technology Group, which has so far spent over 40 billion yuan on its ambition to build “China’s LVMH."
The policy of biting more than they can chew is backfiring in many Chinese companies who now saddled with mounting debts due to acquisition of many international brands over the last ten years. A case in point is Shandong Ruyi Technology Group, which has so far spent over 40 billion yuan on its ambition to build “China’s LVMH.”
Over the last 10 years, the company has spent a lavish amount to acquire legacy brands such as Gieves & Hawkes, Aquascutum, SCMP. This has in multiple bonds of the company being listed on the credit watch list and its issued bonds being listed as uncertain. Its corporate rating was recently downgraded to Caa1 from B3 with its outlook assigned as “negative.”
Competition from other brands halts progress
In the next 12-18 months, Shandong Ruyi will have to spend less on international M&A shopping and more on
addressing its fast-growing pile of maturing debt. The company also faces the risk of being acquired by a European company. In recent years, many Chinese brands have been acquiring European companies. However, this trend has slowed down with Shandong being the bellwether.
Though Shandong Ruyi has built an impressive portfolio in the last decade, but stiff competition from the actual LVMH for acquiring brands like Tiffany & Co, is likely to put a brake on its shopping spree.
An exception to the rule
However, an exception to this slowdown next year could come from Shanghai-based Fosun International that has the required funds for new acquisitions. The company purchased Club Med in 2015 and French luxury mainstay Lamving last year. It now plans to turn the fortunes of the brand around by investing more capital into. However, these plans of the company depend on the brand’s performance. In case, Lanvin’s performance does not match the brand’s expectation, the company might cool off on its efforts to turn debt-ridden foreign brands back into profitability.
The Collaboration for Sustainable Development of Viscose (CV Alliance), and the Renewable Cellulose Fiber Brand Working Group (Brand Group) held a joint meeting on December 13, 2019 to discuss about the sustainable development of the industry.
The CV Alliance formulated a roadmap, clarifying the sustainable development path of the industry. At the same time, it also initiated activities such as promotion of green production, increasing technical exchanges in the industry and providing technical support. The alliance also shared information on industry’s progress in sustainability and transparency. It accepted external supervision through the release of sustainable development reports, organisation and stakeholder meetings.
After a comprehensive review of the sustainable development issues of the regenerated cellulose fiber industry such as “forest deforestation, elimination of hazardous chemicals, best production technology, transparency, and social impact”, the Brand Group jointly developed a special survey questionnaire for the industry. The group hopes to comprehensively understand the status quo of the industry’s sustainable development process, and work with the industry to promote the industry’s sustainable development process.
The China-Italy Fashion Supply Chain Conference, held on December 17, 2019 in Keqiao, combined Keqiao’s rich fabric resources and China Textile City’s strong industrial resources with Italy’s rich design and brand resources.
The event started from a design perspective, taking Keqiao’s rich fabric resources and China Textile City’s strong industrial resources as the starting point, combining Italy’s rich design and brand resources, giving full play to the advantages of both parties, and striving to create a positive situation of advantage transformation and mutual benefit, deepening the transformation and upgrading of Keqiao fabric industry, optimising the development mode of the format, practicing intelligent manufacturing innovation, further promoting the integration of a textile city into the international trend, and upgrading Keqiao’s ‘textile industry’ into a ‘fashion industry’, build ‘Oriental Venice’ into ‘Oriental Milan’.
