The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council in its 32nd meeting, doubled the exemption threshold limit of textile players from the existing Rs 2 million to Rs 4 million effective April 1, 2019. For the north eastern states, the threshold has been doubled to Rs 2 million from Rs 1 million. This decision will help the small and medium sized businesses and will encourage growth in the textiles sector.

The GST Council has also raised the existing composition scheme turnover threshold from Rs 1 crore to Rs 1.5 crore for the financial year 2019-20. Businesses under the scheme will now pay tax on a quarterly basis but returns will have to be filed annually. The increase in threshold is set to boost domestic textile sector, said a senior industry official.

Invista’s latest legwear trends feature advanced fiber technology and offer a valuable source of inspiration for coverers, knitters, brands and retailers planning their legwear collections. Each of the looks in Invista’s exclusive capsule collection showcases a different fiber innovation that has been carefully selected for its ability to bring each trend to life, satisfy an unmet consumer need, and add value to legwear collections.

Whether it’s warming or cooling technology, enhanced comfort or compression to energize tired legs, consumers can depend on Invista’s innovations to deliver lasting performance wear after wear and wash after wash. Showy, sensual and sensational legwear designs are on offer that feature rock steady styling and dramatic don’t mess with me attitude fit for the dance floor.

One look features blocks of stripes that highlight ribbed areas of graduated compression provided by Lycra Energize technology. In order to keep the wearer cool, dry and comfortable, Coolmax technology has also been used.

Major fashion brands Kate Spade and Michael Kors recently upgraded their second-generation smartwatches that feature NFC capabilities to add payment capabilities. Kate Spade is launching the Scallop Smartwatch 2, its second touchscreen smartwatch that will include features like NFC payments, a GPS, and a heart rate monitor — all of which its first smartwatch did not include.

The watch runs on Google's Wear OS, its operating system for wearable devices, allowing users to access Google Pay, Google Assistant, and Google Fit. Michael Kors launched the Access Sofie 2.0, which offers NFC payment capabilities through Google Pay, a heart rate monitor, and a GPS.

Wearable payments are poised to take off in the US, but firms can take several steps to push adoption. Business Insider Intelligence expects US consumers to spend $3.5 billion on wearables by 2023. But some consumers are hesitant to buy payments-specific wearables, but would be interested in contactless payments that are integrated into existing devices, according to a Barclaycard study. Integrating payment functionality into an everyday watch, rather than making a wearable band specifically for payments, can appeal to consumers.

Sharply increasing its offer this year at Texworld Paris, an international trade show for fashion, which takes place from February 11-14, 2019, Turkey will present about a hundred exhibitors, with a selection of finely made knits, cotton, embroidery and lace.

The Turkish offer will spread over more than 2,300 sq, mt. Knitwear specialists will include Gencörme Tekstil, which offers fancy knit fabrics, wool, woolen material, viscose, pes, lurex, linen, cotton, acrylic fibres and jacquard. Also exhibiting will be Isil Tekstil, which will display plain dyed and printed knitted fabrics made of cotton, viscose, Modal, Tencel, linen, polyester, polyamide with or without elastane. Migiboy Tekstil will offer knitting, jersey, weaving, printing, cotton, wool, knitted, prints, linen/hemp, functional fabrics, knit fabrics and yarns. Özen Mensucat will offer all kind of knitted fabrics – fine gauge, silk blends, wool blends, mixed fibres, and more.

Cotton specialists include ATA Kumas Tekstil, offering cotton, cotton EA, cotton mix, knit, prints, wool blends, laminated, coated, jaquard woven and knitted fabrics; and Bordo Tekstil, a BCI and GOTS certified company that offers high-end finished fabrics with special blends: organic cotton, recycled cotton and polyester, cotton blends, jersey, fleece, recycled fibres, viscose, and bamboo. In the embroidery/lace segment, Filetul Tekstil will offer raschel and circular knitting, jacquard pleated fabric and wrap knitting, from all kind of yarns and fancy yarns.

Held twice a year at Paris – Le Bourget, Texworld, with around 1,000 exhibitors, offers professional buyers from all over the world a rich variety of products from basics to creative high-end fabrics of excellent quality.

J Crew has a denim recycling program. The brand offers cash toward a new pair of jeans for every pair brought in. Any pair of jeans can be turned in, not just pairs purchased at J Crew.

This denim recycling program allows J Crew to help customers dispose of waste responsibly by giving their jeans a new life in the form of housing insulation and keeping them out of landfills.

J Crew has a reputation for constant sales and the heavy movement of product, which can be a signal of an overproduction problem. Its denim recycling efforts are in line with a trend running through the fashion industry toward minimizing the amount of waste and excess material introduced into circulation. Fashion consumers have become more aware of the problem of wasted excess clothing. Brands typically struggle with accurately gauging exactly how much product they will need to make, and so they produce far too much of it, much of which goes unsold or is thrown out soon after being worn.

J Crew’s denim recycling program is generous. $20 per pair of jeans, even those not from the brand, is a significant investment in taking some of the excess product that might otherwise end up in a landfill out of circulation and putting it toward a good cause.

A recent poll in Britian indicated six in 10 people are willing to spend upto 5 per cent more on clothing if garment workers are paid the so-called "fair living wage" that would allow them to cover the basic needs of their families. However, according to an opinion poll by Ipsos MORI, over two-thirds of consumers found it difficult to know if these brands have high ethical standards, while less than a fifth would trust information on sustainability provided by clothing companies.

The poll based on interviews with 7,700 adults across seven nations from Britain and France to the United States - found that consumers considered luxury brands to be no better than budget or high-street retailers when it came to sustainability.

About 6 per cent of respondents associated Italian label Gucci and budget chain Primark with having sustainable supply chains, the poll, commissioned by the Changing Markets Foundation and the Clean Clothes Campaign, stated.

Jean-Charles de Castelbajac is the new artistic director of United Colors of Benetton men’s and women’s collections. A fashion designer, Castelbajac has had a long career that spans design to painting, advertising and street art. He debuted in the fashion world in 1968, when he launched a brand created in collaboration with his mother. He then went on to inspire fashion trends such as the anti-fashion movement and the alternative use of objects to decorate garments.

Born from a mix of punk and pop, his style is characterized by the use of strong colors and pop icons, the mix of old and new and a whimsical and irreverent touch.

United Colors of Benetton and Castelbajac have always had a similar take on fashion, characterized by the passion for knitwear and the love of pop and rainbow colors. Castelbajac and Benetton also share a passion for contaminating fashion with art. In his career, the French designer has befriended and worked with artists such as Andy Warhol, Miguel Barcelo, Keith Haring, Jean Michel Basquiat, M.I.A and Lady Gaga. His creations have been displayed at New York’s Institute of Fashion and Technology, London’s Victoria & Albert Museum and the Galliera Museum in Paris. In 2018 he was guest artistic director at the Paris Biennale.

The Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) has offered four resolutions for the entire fashion world to aspire for in 2019. The Council, an industry group comprising of more than 500 of the United States’ best designers, releases a new batch of fashion resolutions each January. These resolutions often focus on the major issues of the time, offering a criticism of the industry along with some positive energy to spur forth change.

Last year’s resolutions included ‘Growth, Being, Exposure, Inclusivity and Mindfulness’. The year before, the CFDA suggested Creativity, Health, Philanthropy, Diversity, More Made in the U.S.A and Sustainability as the most important initiatives to follow in 2017. For 2019, CFDA believes that the industry should focus on ‘Diversity and Inclusion, Sustainability, Body Positivity and Equality’.

Texfair will be held in Coimbatore from August 9 to 12, 2019. This is an exhibition of textile machinery, spares and accessories. Participants are manufacturers and suppliers of textile machinery and spares, ginning, spinning, weaving, processing, power looms, handlooms, knitting and garmenting, textile testing equipments, pneumatic equipment and accessories, humidification plants and accessories, lubricants, energy saving equipments, electrical and electronic items, sizing materials, dyes and chemicals, and packaging materials.

The objectives of the fair is to provide a platform for stakeholders to zero in their investments and expenses prudently, showcase their inventions and cost-effective items and other products, enable technocrats and shop floor technicians to update their knowledge on the latest technology and create an awareness of cost cutting, and encourage micro, small and medium entrepreneurs also to showcase their products.

Texfair is organized by the Southern India Mills Association (SIMA), representing the organised textile industry in South India. SIMA has so far successfully conducted 11 such exhibitions since 2001. Response to the fair is getting better every fair. Conducting the event during August 2019 enables suppliers and users to plan their investments and renew their business. Coimbatore is the hub for the textile business in India and the fair would be an ideal platform to showcase and market the products.

Four in five Americans believe clothing brands should provide information on their environmental commitments and the measures they are taking to minimize pollution in their supply chain.
Around three quarters of the American public also believe that clothing brands should be responsible for what happens in the manufacturing process, and that they need to take measures to ensure clothes are produced in an environmentally friendly way.

About half would be put off buying from a brand that does not pay workers a fair living wage. The majority of consumers are also willing to pay 2-5 per cent more for their clothing to allow factory workers to earn a fair living wage. These are among the findings of a Ipsos MORI poll, carried out in the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and the UK.

American consumers want more information on working conditions in fashion supply chains and would be put off buying from brands that are not paying a fair living wage. Most American consumers are sceptical about the credibility of information communicated by brands, with only a quarter of Americans saying they would trust the sustainability information provided by clothing brands themselves. US consumers make up the biggest apparel market worldwide.