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Egypt‘s most famous export, the silky soft cotton prized by makers of luxury bedding and clothing, has become scarce as production fell and most supplies sold under its brand name last year were, fake. But a surge in local cotton prices ahead of next month‘s planting season, and a crackdown on ersatz Egyptian cotton worldwide, is reviving interest in cultivating the long-neglected crop.
Farmers, spinners, and exporters say the weakness of the Egyptian pound following its flotation in November and a scandal over the alleged sale of falsely labelled Egyptian cotton has increased demand for the real thing, injecting life into a historic industry on its deathbed.
Last year, agricultural production of Egypt‘s high quality long-staple cotton hit a more than 100-year low. In a bid to save its historic crop, Egypt in 2016 banned all but the highest quality cotton seed, dramatically shrinking the area under cultivation but restoring quality.
With global stocks low, some foreign suppliers have mixed lower grade lint into yarns and fabrics, passing them off as Egyptian cotton, spinners and exporters said. The Cotton Egypt Association, which provides an official logo to suppliers of 100 percent Egyptian cotton, estimates that about 90 percent of global supplies of Egyptian cotton last year were fake.
Its return to world markets could provide a lucrative export opportunity at a time when Egypt has a huge trade deficit and is seeking to relaunch its stagnant economy.
Brexit could hit British luxury segment hard. A no-deal split from the EU would have negative repercussions across the industry. The European Union buys 42 per cent of British luxury exports. Some brands are already feeling an impact from the chaos associated with Brexit. Additional tariffs, taxes and regulation differences between the UK and the EU may cause a fifth of British luxury business to be at risk.
Since 2013, the British luxury industry has grown 9.6 per cent per year, on an average, compared to the UK’s overall economic growth of four per cent. The leading export markets for British luxury goods are the EU, North America and China. British luxury goods encompass a wide breadth of categories, including apparel and accessories, watches and jewelry, fine wines and spirits and car manufacturing. Luxury car sales account for almost two-thirds of all luxury sales. More than a third of total sales from UK automakers are high-end vehicles. Apparel is the second most valuable luxury industry in Britain.
About 70 per cent of British luxury businesses manufacture at least part of their products domestically, benefiting the economy while emphasizing the brands’ appreciation of craftsmanship. Luxury businesses employ 1,56,000 people in the UK, both directly and indirectly. Many British luxury brands, including automakers, differentiate themselves by investing in apprenticeship programs for a highly skilled workforce.
Viscose has emerged as a sustainable alternative to oil-based synthetic textiles such as polyester, acrylic, nylon and spandex.
Introduced in the late 1800s as an alternative to silk, the plant-based fiber, also known as rayon, is inexpensive to make and applicable in many ways, including for casual wear items, denim, socks, bed linen, towels, face masks and wet wipes. Viscose fabric wrinkles easily and may shrink when washed, but it boasts great qualities as well, including being soft, smooth, lightweight and breathable, featuring excellent color retention and absorbency, draping well and being versatile by blending nicely with other fibers.
Said to be the second largest polluter in the world, right behind the oil industry, the harmful impacts of the fashion industry, which employs more than 75 million people worldwide, are staggering. The industry is not only the second biggest consumer of water, but also responsible for eight per cent to ten per cent of global carbon emissions – more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined. Fashion consumers on an average buy 60 per cent more pieces of clothing than 15 years ago, generating up to 92 million tons of waste, equivalent to four per cent of the world’s waste each year.
The United States and China have reached a tentative trade deal. This would push back any decision to roll out new tariffs.
US and Chinese negotiators have been working on for weeks and President Trump is reportedly prepared to sign the phase one trade deal. The president and top advisors met to review an outline of the deal, which they expect to confirm with Beijing.
Earlier reports, which likely came amid negotiations, said U.S. negotiators have offered to cut existing tariffs by as much as half on $360 billion worth of China-made goods, plus cancel the List 4B tariffs scheduled to take effect on December 15.
The debate over a potential tariff slash has been ongoing for the past month as the U.S. and China wrestled over whether a rollback was ever on the table. Now it seems the offer stands, and in exchange, the U.S. is reportedly seeking firm commitments from Beijing with regard to buying large quantities of U.S. agricultural products, plus the intellectual property protections that set the trade war in motion.
If Beijing doesn’t stick to the commitments that could finally see this phase one deal established, there’s a “snapback” clause that would take punitive tariffs back to their original elevated rates.
If Beijing OKs the deal, the industry could see the impending tariffs officially come off the table.
Fashion brand Tibi has created an eco-friendly philanthropy tote inspired by ants as drawn by preschoolers from the United Way Center for Excellence in Early Education.
Tibi has generously donated 1,000 exclusive totes, available just in time for the holidays. Proceeds will benefit the center and its work to raise the quality of early care and education in Miami and beyond. It all started with an ant. One of the smallest creatures inspired a classroom of preschoolers and that classroom inspired a fashion powerhouse. Tibi founder and creative director Amy Smilovic took a tour of the Center after having launched her nature-inspired Pre-Fall 2019 collection last year, featuring cheeky takes on ants. She quickly realized the children were also fascinated by powerful, tiny ants – and that's when the idea for the Tibi for United Way tote was born.
The philanthropy tote, made of 100 per cent cotton canvas, features an illustration by four-year-old Emily, a preschool student at the Center. Amy and her team at Tibi mixed fashion expertise with the imagination of children to create a unique product that drives awareness and philanthropy. The partnership is meant to ignite holiday shoppers to give a gift with a purpose - a gift that will empower innovative young minds for years to come.
Stäubli presented a selection of latest products from its range of textile machinery for weaving and knitting at ITMACH India. Visitors experienced the new Tiepro warp tying machine and saw Stäubli’s S1692 cam motion and S3260 electronic rotary dobby in action. A collection of latest technical fabrics woven on Stäubli TF weaving systems enticed many visitors.
With core competencies in shedding machinery (cam motions, rotary dobbies, Jacquard machines) and weaving preparation (drawing-in, leasing and warp tying), Stäubli plays an important role in the design and quality of woven end-products. Based on over a century of experience in the traditional textile industry and its continuous R&D activities, Stäubli constantly offers new and improved high-performance systems and solutions for processing fabrics for fashion, home textiles, automotive, protection and carpet solutions, as well as highly complex technical textiles.
Stäubli India offers in-house training for machine operators and support for customers’ production teams as part of change management.
During the exhibition, weavers discussed and learned more about Stäubli’s broad range of Jacquard weaving machinery, which is renowned worldwide for top reliability and very high weaving speeds.
ITMACH India 2019 was another ideal platform for Stäubli experts and customers to discuss the benefits and potential of automation in high-speed weaving and to learn the latest details about machinery and solutions that can enhance the overall efficiency of weaving mills.
The Philippines has prepared a roadmap for the garment and textile industry.
The plan covers the period 2020 to 2029. In the short term, the hope is to be among the top 20 garment exporters with an annual growth of 12.3 per cent in garment exports and a 3 per cent -5 per cent increase in textile exports. This will be made through the utilisation of natural and synthetic textile fibers by five per cent to ten per cent. In the medium term, the roadmap forecasts the Philippines to improve its world ranking in garment exports into the top 15 largest globally. It is expected to increase its garment exports by 21.7 per cent annually and natural and synthetic textile fiber exports by ten per cent. Infrastructure gaps and logistical bottlenecks will be addressed. High-quality infrastructure and logistical services will enhance production efficiency, transportation, communication and distribution. In the long term, the roadmap expects the Philippines to be among the top ten of the world’s garment exporters with an annual 45.8 per cent annual increase in the exports of garments.
The Philippines is already known for everyday wear global brands as the industry has already upgraded to original brand manufacturer with homegrown Filipino labels.
Marks & Spencer, the British department stores group has appointed Paul Babbs as the new chief supply chain officer. He was formerly associated with Adidas. Marks & Spencer aims to strengthen its fashion division after suffering several inventory issues during the last year.
The group, which employs a thousand people in its clothing division, announced in May that it will close around one hundred stores before 2020, speeding its closure plan scheduled for 2022. At the same time, the group reorganized its fashion team by simplifying its structure and announcing 47 layoffs.
In July, British executive Jill McDonald, head of the clothing and home division, left the company after four years in the position. After his departure, it was the current chief executive officer of the group, Steve Rowe, who took this position. Marks & Spencer reached a revenue of 3 billion euros (3.3 million dollars) in the third quarter of its fiscal year, down 3.9% compared to the same period the previous year.
Some 7,000 licensed retail establishments out of 64,000 in Hong Kong may close down in the next six months.
Social unrest and sometimes violent anti-China protests are deterring tourists, threatening the survival of smaller operators. Retail sales fell by a quarter in October from a year earlier, the steepest drop on record, while tourist arrivals fell by a whopping 43.7 per cent in the same month, squeezing malls and restaurants.
Hong Kong ranks among the world’s top five luxury destinations. It has long been a magnet for brands attracted by the flow of visitors from mainland China and accounts for between five per cent and ten per cent of the annual global sales of luxury goods. Watchmakers in particular are likely to be hurt – Hong Kong is a major centre for high-end timepieces. Hermes has been forced to temporarily shut some of its five stores as well as an airport shop in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong, which once accounted for around five per cent of global luxury sales, is now closer to two per cent. While the demonstrations might be a temporary disruption, a more structural shift is at play in the shopping habits of well-off customers from the Chinese mainland whose Hong Kong spending have long been buttressed sector sales.
The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) has opened up multiple opportunities for Vietnam’s export industries.
Markets of the eleven economies participating in the agreement offer great opportunities for many Vietnamese export items. This includes furniture, garments and footwear. Specifically, with zero import tax tariff, the CPTPP is expected to bring great opportunities for the lumber industry, as once the CPTPP is implemented, 95 tariff lines will be reduced to zero. For that reason, timber enterprises will benefit from importing raw materials from markets such as Canada and Japan which are in the CPTPP. And while exporting products within the bloc they will also enjoy the zero per cent tax rate. In addition, the benefit of zero import tax is also a great opportunity for businesses to cut their costs for renewing machinery and equipment by 20 per cent to 30 per cent. Growth opportunities await the textile sector too.
However, there are challenges. The CPTPP with commitments on market opening can also result in considerable competitive pressure for enterprises. The detailed and complex conditions of CPTPP’s rules of origin would be another obstacle for businesses. The CPTPP includes commitments on labor, environment, intellectual property, etc. that could increase the cost for businesses.
