The number of Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) certified facilities has increased 14.6 per cent globally. Certified facilities are now located in 64 countries around the globe. The progress is seen in both production and consuming regions. Worldwide awareness of and demand for organic garments is increasing with time. GOTS certification covers the processing of certified organic fibers along the entire supply chain from field to finished product. The increasing number of certified facilities aligns with the common desire to solve sustainability related problems. GOTS is seen as part of the solution. Company leaders use GOTS as a risk management tool and as a market opportunity. Consumers value the verifiable certification from field to finished product.

GOTS is the stringent voluntary global standard for the entire post-harvest processing (including spinning, knitting, weaving, dyeing and manufacturing) of apparel and home textiles made with certified organic fiber (such as organic cotton and organic wool), and includes both environmental and social criteria. Key provisions include a ban on the use of genetically modified organisms, hazardous chemicals such as azo dyes and formaldehyde, and child labor, while requiring strong social compliance management systems and strict waste water treatment practices.

India has an emerging domestic market for organic textiles. Several new brands have started offering GOTS goods in the domestic sector.

The government has introduced various measures to benefit almost every segment of the Indian textile and apparel industry. Among these are a new schemes for the rebate of state and central taxes and levies on the export of garments and made-ups, a scheme for the development of knitwear, and a reduction in the hank yarn obligation from 40 per cent to 30 per cent of the total weaving yarn produced for domestic consumption.

Rebates of state and centre levies and taxes will be done through the IT driven scrip system thereby preventing delays and ensuring speedy disbursal. The decision is important as apparel and the made-ups sectors have a combined share of 55 per cent in the total Indian textile export basket. It will have a direct impact on these segments thereby increasing the competitiveness of India’s textile exports globally.

Hank yarn obligation has been reduced from 40 per cent to 30 per cent. The decision is expected to help spinning mills. As a result of the reduction in the obligatory quantity, the premium on hank yarn transfer will also get reduced thus helping spinning mills to reduce their cost. Due to the labour shortage, increase in yarn production capacity, and technology upgradation the need for hank yarn has come down drastically.

"Besides making them more durable and climate resistant, brands are focusing on sustainability of their garments. They are opting for materials that offer more casual attributes to satisfy consumer’s need for comfort and flexibility. A prominent example of this is the CoolVisions’ dyeable polypropylene filament and staple launched by Indorama Ventures (IVL)."

Besides making them more durable and climate resistant, brands are focusing on sustainability of their garments. They are opting for materials that offer more casual attributes to satisfy consumer’s need for comfort and flexibility. A prominent example of this is the CoolVisions’ dyeable polypropylene filament and staple launched by Indorama Ventures (IVL).

Maximising moisture management and thermal performance

The CoolVisions by Indorama recently added a dyeable filament with recycled polyester to its innovative collection. These filaments maximise moisture management and thermal performance. This filament also brings forth polypropylene’s inherent properties of moisture management and low moisture regain, thermal regulation, durability, bleach-and-stain resistance, and improved coverage at a lower weight.

IVL has also launched Deja, a 100 percent rPET fiber brand, available in various forms, including recycled flake, pellet, fiber and filament for use in multiple applications. The products of this brand are derived from recycling post-consumer plastic bottles and transforming them into innovative product ingredients.

Responsible innovation through new fabrics

Collaborating with a multi-speciality company Solvay Group, Tencel producer Lenzing, has launched an innovative two-faced fabric made of Tencel lyocell and Amni Soul Eco polyamide. The new fabric enables the company to innovate responsibly while concentrating on performance, durability and comfort.

Lenzing has also collaborated with Hyosung Corp to launch a new sustainable active fabric collection .The collection showcases the benefits of Tencel Modal and Creora elastane from Hyosung. It offers Lenzing EcoVero with Creora eco-soft for a softer touch and more brilliant whites. EcoVero fibers are made from wood, a natural and renewable raw material that comes from sustainable forestry plantations, while Creora eco-soft is a low-heat settable spandex that offers reduced energy consumption.

Fabrics offering compression and support

The Lycra Company has incorporated environmentally friendly alternatives and innovations to its fibers. The Lycra fabric indexing system allows fabric and garment designers to select materials with the appropriate level of support or compressions. Lycra Fitsense, a new technology connected to this system allows it to be screen printed onto a fabric or garment for targeted support. It allows designers to create lighter weight, breathable, cooler fabrics that offer compression and support.

Fitsense has launched two adoptions of this technology for leggings at Marks & Spencer and Adidas’ Stella McCartney line, each of which has sold well. Lycra has also launched the Lycra Dual Comfort technology based on the firm’s T400 bi-component polyester fiber, which Under Armour and Nike initially adopted. The brand recently launched Eco Made T400 derived from post-consumer recycled polyester.

Brands combine designs, yarns, technical finishes to value-add

Catering to rising demand for comfort and eco-friendly clothes, brands are moving away from polyester and nylon and using more sustainable fibers. This includes Tencel lyocell and Micro Modal, as well as organic cotton. Laguna is producing varieties of Tencel fleece and rib knits, Tencel and organic cotton and French terry in tops, bottom and bodysuits.

As the market requires these brands to offer more variety and great complexity, brands are combining designs, specialty yarns and technical finishes that create value-added attributes for the consumer. For example, a combination of perforated web constructions, cooling yarns and finishes are being used to create open air channels to improve moisture management and temperature release. Besides, brands are also adopting mesh constructions or three dimensional geometric patterns combined with soft and flat edges way to achieve improved performance and a distinctive fabric design for the activewear user.

The Benetton Group will participate in Day oOne of the IWTO’s 88th annual congress on April 11, 2019. A member of the IWTO since 2017, Benetton Group is the first European fashion company to have joined the organisation, demonstrating its commitment to sustainability and transparency in the supply chain. The congress, with the theme Wool in Excellence’, will be held from April 9 to 12, 2019 in Venice and Treviso. Speakers will address topics like: sustainability, wool décor, and health and wellness.

An highlight of the wool industry calendar, IWTO's annual Congress brings together wool textile professionals from all over the world for three days of conference, where networking and knowledge-sharing are complemented by a lively social agenda. A partners’ program and site visits round out the experience. If you're in wool, you'll want to be here.

With a worldwide membership encompassing the wool pipeline from farm to retail, the IWTO represents the interests of the global wool trade. By facilitating research and development and maintaining textile industry standards, IWTO ensures a sustainable future for wool.

The US-based lifestyle clothing and accessories retailer, American Eagle, intends to launch 60 to 75 stores in 2019 to promote its Aerie lingerie brand. The retailer presently operates 1,055 outlets comprising standalone and side-by-side locations. It reportedly earned $431 million in the last quarter, an increase of 1 per cent from previous year’s earnings. Its total net sales too jumped 1 per cent to $1.24 billion.

American Eagle and Aerie will continue giving a consistent performance through their combination of product innovation and great merchandise with an enhanced customer experience across channels.

Cotton On Group in partnership with CARE Australia has developed a bespoke program aiming to develop the skills of female garment workers, with the goal of advancing their careers. The two-year pilot project will involve 2,200 garment factory workers, particularly women, in key supplier factories in Bangladesh. Through this program, the companies will undergo a unique training carried out in consultation with garment workers and factory owners. The training extends to supporting the management and line supervisors of the participating factories to shape their role in creating an enabling environment for women workers.

The project aims to increase the number of women garment workers in leadership roles in the participating factories. This initiative across three garment factories in Bangladesh will contribute to CARE’s global goal to improve the working lives of eight million women in Asia by 2021.

The Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) will hold a fashion forecast seminar in Tirupur on March 27, 2019. The seminar will focus on fashion forecasting for micro and small knitwear units and on key influences for the upcoming season as well as the emergence of macro trend themes. Trending colors, silhouettes, textiles, graphics, and prints for women, men, and children will also be covered at the event with a strong focus on products.

Unlike large apparel companies who have their own fashion studios and expertise to analyse future trends, micro and small units cannot afford the infrastructure. The seminar will help them get an idea of color, styles and trends. The event is open to fashion designers, brand promoters, consultants, and students.

Incorporated in 1978, AEPC is the official body of apparel exporters in India that provides assistance to Indian exporters as well as importers/ international buyers who choose India as their preferred sourcing destination for garments. AEPC has worked tirelessly in integrating the entire industry - starting from training the workforce and supplying a steady stream of manpower to the industry; identifying the best countries to source machinery and other infrastructure and brokering several path breaking deals for its members and finally helping exporters to showcase their best at home fairs as well as international fairs.

Yarn Expo will be held in China, March 12 to 14, 2019. The event will feature 468 exhibitors from 12 countries and regions, including new exhibitors from Egypt and France. Together with leading suppliers from Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Korea, Pakistan, Singapore, the US, Uzbekistan and Vietnam, they will showcase products from around the world.

The broad range of products on offer includes natural cotton, linen and wool, as well as extensive options for fancy yarn, functional fibers and other specialty yarns – meaning, buyers from all backgrounds can meet their sourcing needs at Yarn Expo. The fair has developed a strong reputation for gathering high-quality suppliers. It’s this access to reputable upstream suppliers that attracts visitors who want to place orders for stand-out products.

The show will also offer a springboard for exhibitors to capture the potential of the China market. Cotton Council International will showcase its global network of Cotton USA yarn licensees at the fair, creating opportunities for domestic visitors to source US cotton. CCI can link Chinese manufacturers with spinners anywhere in the world. CCI offers access to its sustainable Cotton USA licensed spinners.

The fair will be held along with four concurrent events, including Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics.

Levis Strauss has produced hemp denim. The spring/summer collection includes a new denim blend which is made with hemp that has been altered to feel just like cotton. Hemp requires far less water and land in the growing phase and has roughly half the carbon footprint of conventionally grown cotton. The coarse feel of hemp prevented it from being widely adopted in the apparel industry. But now the US jean giant has been employing a process specially developed by fiber technology specialists that softens the hemp, giving it a look and feel that is almost indistinguishable from cotton.

The garments in the collection comprise jeans and a trucker jacket made with a 70/30 cotton to cottonise the hemp blend. The hemp was sourced from a rain-fed hemp crop thus reducing the water used in fiber cultivation by roughly 30 per cent. In addition to this, the collection features single-fiber board shorts that are made with fully recyclable nylon with materials such as fabric, eyelets, core and stitching also made from nylon which can be further recycled and re-made into other nylon garments.

Also Levi’s Wellthread X Outerknown collection also includes a T-shirt made from recycled jeans and a western shirt made with a cotton/hemp blend.

Nigeria has banned forex for textile importers. The aim is to help bolster the local textile industry. The ban may lead to a reduction in burden on foreign reserves and a reduction in forex demand. That is the major benefit to the country as consumers will pay higher prices for products they had hitherto paid less for.

The Nigerian textile industry is a potential major revenue earner and a major employer of labor considering the local availability of the major raw material, cotton, and the chemicals needed for production, mainly by-products of petroleum.

However, there are challenges in the form of poor infrastructure, mainly power. Also, imports from Asian countries have taken over the market. The feeling is forex restriction for textile imports will not have much effect as importers will continue to import textiles by sourcing for forex through secondary forex markets and through privately arranged international money transfers. The restriction may rather increase the price of imported textile materials and the price burden has to be borne by ultimate consumers. Further forex restriction is not seen as a ban on textile materials but a not-valid-for-export regime, which is not likely to protect local textile manufacturers.