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"The company outlined the tastes of New York by showcasing 'conversational' prints and scenic designs. The company’s florals in a patchwork arrangement are currently very much on trend and are set to be one of the key looks for the spring/summer 2020 season. Another European exhibitor Lyon-based Ercea International showcased its range of high added-value print-on-pleat products, which reduce the workload of garment makers"
The recent edition of New York Texfusion Summer 2019 focused more on the price of the garments than their quality. The show displayed showy, conversation-piece prints, and bold and distinctive patterns. In addition, it also showcased eco-friendly textiles known for their low environmental impact.
A print specialist who exhibited this year was Germany's Gera Gmbh. The company outlined the tastes of New York by showcasing 'conversational' prints and scenic designs. The company’s florals in a patchwork arrangement are currently very much on trend and are set to be one of the key looks for the spring/summer 2020 season. Another European exhibitor Lyon-based Ercea International showcased its range of high added-value print-on-pleat products, which reduce the workload of garment makers.
Many participating companies felt prices would always trump design quality when it came to actually winning over buyers. The feeling is price is always the key criteria especially in the US market.
Preference for woven fabrics with checks and gingham
Besides, price sensitivity companies also noted the differences in fabric preferences between the US and Europe. In Europe, the demand is for knitted fabrics while American consumers prefer woven and polyester fabrics.
The US consumers also prefer checks and gingham. For many firms ginghams are the cornerstone of their US business.
Ethical production gains prominence
In the past, consumers and buyers were rarely attracted by eco-friendly products, today they flaunt their green credentials to appeal to a young demographic audience. As Thermore, a Milan-based manufacturer of insulated fabric reveals earlier recycled products used to be seen as interesting. Companies liked to have a recycled product, with its wearability being almost incidental. Now, there is a shift from recycled to overall performance and look taking the foreground.
Along with a low carbon footprint, the ethical nature of the whole production chain is also becoming a major purchase criterion, especially amongst younger customers. There is increasing awareness among consumers about synthetic alternatives which is driving their demand in the sector.
German sportswear maker Adidas is closing two factories in Germany and the United States and shifting manufacturing to cheaper Asian countries. These speed factories were using robots and 4D printing to make sneakers more quickly, more customised and closer to sales outlets. Adidas at one time saw these factories as proof that manufacturing jobs could return to high-wage countries. But now Adidas will get these speed factory shoes produced by its suppliers in Asia. It feels these suppliers have advanced techniques and that the move would make production of the shoes more flexible and economic while simultaneously expanding the range of products available.
As of now the two factories produce just a million of the roughly 400 million athletic shoes made by the group each year. The factory is operated by the German technology firm Oechsler, which has collaborated with Adidas on the project. But Oechsler and Adidas will continue to work together on soles for football shoes and 4D printed soles. Like 3D printing, 4D printing produces three-dimensional objects at the touch of a button but then goes further by creating materials that change properties when they come into contact with triggers such as water or heat.
Denimsandjeans will organise a denim B2B trade show on March 4-5, 2020 at Sunshine City, in the Japanese capital city Tokyo. Focusing on latest developments in the denim industry the show will attract over 40 participants from all over the world. It will attract a large number of reputed retailers and brands. The theme #designedinnovation, will highlight latest developments in the denim industry.
Japan is also the third largest importer of jeans globally after the EU and the US, with approximately 175-180 million jeans imported in a year. In the first eight months ending August 2019, Japan imported 116 million pieces of denim garments, and the figure is expected to reach 174 million pieces by the end of this year.
Japan is also home to top denim brands which bring some of the most unique products globally. Brands like Kapital, Momotara, Samurai, Sugarcane and many others have created their own niche globally with their offerings not affected by seasons.
Birla Cellulose has achieved a breakthrough in manufacturing viscose fiber using pre-consumer cotton fabric waste. This new line of viscose is already being adopted and available for sale to brands and retailers. This innovation has been done through in-house R&D and uses a minimum of 20 per cent pre-consumer industrial fabric waste. Fabrics from the fiber offer excellent attributes similar to virgin fiber. The business will work on further developing products made with more than 50 per cent industrial fabric waste as well as post-consumer clothing as inputs in 2020.
Birla Cellulose, a part of Aditya Birla is a global leader in manmade cellulose fiber. Birla Cellulose has been in active collaboration with brands, technology providers and textile chain actors to integrate and enhance value. Going forward, Birla Cellulose will intensify and strengthen its specialty portfolio towards value-added green textile solutions. The launch of recycled viscose fiber is part of its commitment for circularity and sustainable practices. The company is also working on developing fibers using post-consumer clothing as inputs in collaboration with technology providers and brands. Birla Cellulose aims at reducing its water intensity by 50 per cent. This will be achieved by the application of new technologies based on the principles of reduce, reuse, recycle.
Jordan’s garment and leather exports increased eight per cent during the first eight months of this year. The garments and leather industries sector contributes about 29 per cent of the total employment in the industrial sector while accounting for 26 per cent of the total national exports. Additionally, it contributes about seven per cent of the total existing production of the industrial sector. The contribution of garment and leather industries sector to the national GDP has doubled over the last two years.
The number of Jordanian workers in the sector has increased by 119 per cent from 2010 to 2018. However, clothing sales in Jordan have been hit by customs fees and taxes, causing the kingdom to lose its competitive edge. Other challenges facing the sector include illegal e-commerce and the mail package trade that abuses regulations and allows entry of goods with exemption from customs fees. Anyone with a passport and a national identification number can order up to five packages a month, with exemption from customs. However, people abuse these regulations and use friends’ passports to order goods without having to pay extra customs or taxes and then sell these goods at low prices.
Karl Mayer has developed a new line of functional, warp-knitted textiles and smart, on-trend lingerie and clothing. An ECG shirt for measuring vital signs features integrated sensor technology. The electrically conductive material required is incorporated directly into the textile on the warp knitting machine in the desired arrangement. Warp-knitted textiles have been especially developed to meet the requirements of the sports sector. These include lightweight, stable mesh linings, hardwearing shoe fabrics, stylish four-way-stretch fabrics with breathability and compression characteristics, a variety of tricot fabrics with decorative, striped patterns, and warp-knitted spacer textiles for a range of end uses.
Karl Mayer has developed a warp knitted alternative to conventional knitted fabrics for sportswear manufacturers who rely on jersey fabrics. The soft textiles offer a high degree of elasticity with good recovery, smooth, stable edges with no tendency to curl for free-cut style and a wonderful, flowing fall – just like their knitted counterparts. And 4D knit solutions illustrate what can be achieved with double-bar raschel technology for 3D warp-knitted textiles. With their unique, three-dimensional, cushioning construction, these voluminous fabrics offer a new level of design potential. Readymade panels, e.g. entire back components for use in midlayer jackets, can be produced, as well as imaginative designs with pronounced sculptured effects, and combinations of 4D effects and breathable openings.
Levi’s recently launched a capsule collection through its eco-friendly line Wellthread designed to be easily processed by an industrial fabric-recycling plant. The collection was made in collaboration with surf brand Outerknown. It comprises graphic tees, Western-style shirts, jeans, and even a trucker jacket. Each of its clothing item is made from a single material.
For instance, the T-shirts are made entirely from cotton (including 25 per cent recycled cotton from jeans and other scraps). There is also a fleece-lined trucker jacket whose design enables the user to take out polyester fleece lining to recycle it separately from hemp denim. The liner is made entirely with polyester from the thread to label, and the shell is made out of cottonised hemp. When they’re separated, they are ideal input into both the cotton, cellulosic or polyester recycling system.
Miss Sixty is working to strengthen its presence in Europe. The brand’s most important retail market is Italy, followed by the UK with two monobrand stores and Russia with five direct franchising stores. For wholesale revenues, Russia is the most important market, followed by Greece, Portugal and East Europe. The brand has registered significant progress in Spain and Russia. It operates through nine monobrand stores (including outlets) in Europe. It also operates through a total of 165 multi brand stores–50 in Greece, 46 in Spain, 37 in Portugal and 12 in Russia. The Milan flagship is the hub of its international e-commerce for its omnichannel distribution and from where all pieces are shipped. The company is always very active in looking for new partners for increasing visibility and distribution of its products through multibrand online shop-in-shops. E-commerce, where the brand has been operating since August 2018, is registering a 132 per cent growth.
The plan is to increase wholesale distribution in Germany and operate via wholesale in the UK. Expansion in Spain and Italy has begun. Every year it launches some special capsule. Among the capsules planned are with Emoji and Buff Monster, iconic images of Marilyn Monroe and a special collaboration with US artist Wrdsmth.
Clothing exports from the Philippines in Q3 declined over six per cent compared to the same period last year. Last year’s exports plunged 15.57 per cent from 2017. Because of labor and power costs, Philippine prices are high compared to prices of Lao, Myanmar and Vietnam. This leads to problems with international buyers. Therefore, garment makers in the Philippines want subsidies that can help them lower export prices of clothing products.
Besides tough competition at the global level, garments makers are faced with uncertainty at the domestic level over the move to rationalize fiscal incentives. Mostly located in economic zones, garments firms will need to give up their incentives once the Corporate Income Tax and Incentives Rationalization Act is passed into law. The measure will bring down corporate income tax to 20 per cent by 2029, from 30 per cent at present but will overhaul the set of tax perks granted to firms operating in economic zones. Among those that will be rationalized is the five per cent tax on gross income earned paid in lieu of all local and national taxes, which investors find crucial in maintaining operations in the Philippines.
Tommy Hilfiger is using 3D design technology. This will allow the company to meet consumer needs faster and in a more sustainable way and has the potential to significantly accelerate its speed to market and replace traditional product photography entirely. For fall 2020, the brand’s dress shirts will be 100 per cent 3D designed and require no sample production. The difference will be almost indistinguishable from styles designed and presented historically. The company wants to digitize its end-to-end value chain.
Since Tommy Hilfiger’s 3D design journey began in 2017, teams of software engineers, 3D design experts, and transformation specialists have developed an ecosystem of proprietary tools that enable a fully digital design workflow. This includes a digital fabric, pattern and color asset library, digital 3D presentation tools and rendering technology. While the digital showroom technology revolutionized the company’s sell-in methods, the bottom-up approach of its ongoing 3D design transformation will further expand the digitalization of Tommy Hilfiger’s end-to-end value chain. In fall 2020, Tommy Hilfiger will launch a capsule collection designed, developed and sold digitally, including products modeled on virtual avatars. The initiative is the next step in uncovering the full potential of sample reduction, time savings, cost savings and sustainability by leveraging 3D design.
