The government of Bangladesh says the Remediation Coordination Cell (RCC) – effectively an internal replacement for the Accord made up of internal factory inspectors and engineers – is now ready to take over Accord’s work. The handover of the work has been going on for some time. Bangladesh does not plan to extend the tenure of Accord beyond November 30 which could potentially endanger the lives of garment factory workers. The tenure of Accord was initially supposed to end in May but the government extended it by six months.

There have been international calls by MEPs and labour rights NGOs for this deadline to be extended, however, Mujibul Haque Chunnu, state minister for labour and employment, has now confirmed the timeline will be adhered to. More than 50 MEPs recently signed a letter by Dutch MEP Agnes Jongerius, urging EU Commissioner for Trade, Cecilia Malmström, to take action to avert premature closure of the Bangladesh Accord.

As per WGSN, a firm that provides advisory solutions, emerging attitudes around age, gender and disability is likely to shape the future of retail space. Designing for sustainability will be the key as consumers are becoming increasingly aware of the damage they are causing to the environment. Retailers will offer technology-led experience that will also meet increasingly high expectations around service, personalisation and convenience.

As per WGSN, a firm that provides advisory solutions, emerging attitudes around age, gender and disability is likely to shape the future of retail space. Designing for sustainability will be the key as consumers are becoming increasingly aware of the damage they are causing to the environment. Retailers will offer technology-led experience that will also meet increasingly high expectations around service, personalisation and convenience.

Shift to smaller format stores

As selling space is shrinking, more retailers are opting for smaller format stores. These stores allow greater experimentation with flexible merchandising and tightly-curated edits. IKEA for example, is experimenting with compact stores in Southeast Asia, opening a 28, 000 sq ft store in Phuket, Thailand. The retailer aims to make smaller investments so it can respond better to demand and be able to open stores in crowded city centres.

Since space on the sales floor is limited, fitting rooms are being stocked with behind-the-scenes operating system that pulls items from the stockroom. Similarly, strategies like interstitial fixtures in corridors, queue areas and corners are gaining importance, along with space-saving ideas such as clever ceiling or wall installations, or displays worked into niches and panels.

A wholesome shopping experience

Retailers are developing stores around changing consumer attitudes, with spaces and experiences that encourage a mental or physical reset. Lululemon is introducing meditation space at its new store near Rockefeller Centre in New York. The concept store features cushioned “Zen pods” where visitors can listen to one of 12 self-guided meditation recordings. The US brand has just opened a pop-up experiential space in New York called Life Coach, dedicated to self-improvement. Visitors can book in for free sessions with tarot card readers, astrologists and mystics, or play games and partake in activities that encourage self-expression.

Focus on sustainability

Gen Z and millennials want to preserve their items for long, and are willing to pay to keep them in good condition. This is driving new aftercare and product preservation strategies, such as specialist sneaker cleaning, bag and shoe repair services and in-store laundries. These services help brands to connect more meaningfully with customers beyond the initial transaction and encourage repeat store visits, as well as build sustainable credentials. Department store retailers are dedicating floor space to product care, with stores like Selfridges and Harvey Nichols incorporating bag repair clinics into their London flagship stores, while Saks Fifth Avenue hosts a space in its men’s department for footwear repair service, The Leather Spa.

Branded launderettes on the rise

Branded launderettes are on the rise, extending brand reach across all aspects of the product journey. Denim label Denham already offers in-store washing services, while fashion-focused boutique launderettes such as Celcious in Brooklyn, offer an energy-efficient and sustainable approach to washing clothes. Sportswear retailers and activewear brands are incorporating in-store sneaker washing services, as Nike has done at its Moscow flagship, or partner with bonafide sneaker care companies such as Crep Protect or Jason Markk, which in March 2018 opened a stand-alone store in London.

A shift towards deliberately simple and pared back store design has emerged, putting the focus purely on the product. Expect this trend to develop with a more extreme move towards completely unbranded spaces, in which retailers aim to reduce unnecessary noise, stripping stores of branding and marketing tools in order to create a soothing, clutter- free environment that puts the consumer in charge. This is changing the relationship that people have with product – with choice being driven by the product’s attributes rather than the branding around them.

Welspun India’s Q2 margins have been impacted by almost three per cent due to the depreciating rupee against the dollar. The textile firm has taken a hit by around Rs 37 crores due to currency fluctuation and expects margins will continue to shrink by an almost similar figure over the next few quarters.

While the exchange rate has had its impact, the company had various other one-off expenses that added pressure on the business. Welspun reported a 18.7 per cent on-year growth in profit after tax at Rs 114.8 crores for the July-September quarter of this fiscal. The textile firm sees positive growth momentum in volumes and is confident of achieving its annual guidance for revenues and profits. Welspun continues to pursue its differentiation strategy based on branding, innovation, sustainability and its patented traceability solution.

The company is seeing substantial growth in e-commerce and has developed a few products for the online marketplace as well. Capacity utilisation has gone up from 80 per cent clocked in the previous financial year. The plan is to invest Rs 900 crores as a part of capital expenditure. Capital has been set aside for a new flooring unit in Telangana.

Vietnam’s garments exports has been growing steadily in the past 10 years to Europe and North America. Early warnings at the beginning of 2017 suggested US withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership would narrow the pathway for garments from Vietnam. After struggling for the first six months, garment companies scored a record high of exports to the US toward the end of the year. Garments topped the export list in 2017 and give more hope for the country’s export prospects in the coming year.

Vietnam’s traditional garment destinations are: Asean, Eastern Europe, the EU, Japan and South Korea. Vietnam’s fashion industry has been growing, developing the energy to let designers leap and flourish. If a decade ago, Vietnamese consumers preferred fast fashion imported from China, now they tend to turn to domestic products.

However, garment companies have not been able to establish a firm foothold in the country. Export-oriented companies who want to set up sales boutiques have to deal with PR, marketing campaigns and after sales service.

Another reason contributing to the less secure production output is the material resources. Domestic fabric production makes only 2.3 billion meters a year. Since the industry requires 8.7 billion meters to function, the balance has to come from imports.

Zimbabwe is seeking to double cotton production in forthcoming summer cropping season amid growing demand for the country’s produce on the international market. According to the international market ratings, Zimbabwe cotton is the third best cotton in the world. The crop has the potential to generate foreign currency.

The government has already started distributing cotton inputs ahead of the summer cropping season to ensure that farmers are not inconvenienced. It has also put in place mechanisms to ensure proper grading so that farmers who produce high quality cotton are not prejudiced. Last year cotton farmers delivered more than 75 000 tonnes of cotton to merchants compared to 138 000 tonnes delivered this year.

More than 300 000 farmers and approximately one million people rely on cotton farming in Zimbabwe. Midlands’ cotton farmers alone have so far this year delivered more than 70 000 tonnes to cotton merchants.

Indonesian workers have accused Uniqlo of exploiting them. Around 2,000 workers were made redundant when the factory shut in 2015. The workers blame the factory’s closure on Uniqlo’s decision to stop giving it orders, citing quality issues and delivery delays. They are owed about US$5.5 million in unpaid wages and severance payments and want Uniqlo to be held responsible. The company also didn’t fulfill its responsibility in protecting workers from union busting, illegal dismissals, and overtime work without pay. It had not taken necessary and simple steps to conduct due diligence before it stopped placing orders.

While Uniqlo was not the workers’ direct employer, the CCC’s East Asia campaigner Johnson Yeung Ching-yin said the company was still responsible because its dealings with the factory had led to the workers being overstressed, and its decision to discontinue business with the factory led to its closure.

After the factory’s closure, the workers occupied its premises, sleeping there for 18 months. But the banks, which were the factory’s creditors, eventually seized its assets and sold them.

Denim is getting to be one part rebellious teen and one part sensible dad. Wacky denim trend is not about to implode anytime soon, feel Denim Dudes founder Amy Leverton and contributor Sam Trotman. New factors like the emerging weed industry in the United States and nostalgia for Y2K are adding their own unique flavor to the table.

Sharing their Spring/Summer 2020 vision at Kingpins Amsterdam the duo said denim is oversized and layered with technical fabrics and silhouettes from the athleisure world. Practical zips and pockets, coatings and super-light-weight fabrics like nylon are among the key ingredients. Camouflage and ikat prints offer an outdoor feel. Brands can recreate these dye effects through laser printing for a more sustainable solution. The story’s color palette—soft indigos, natural indigos and natural vegetable shades—are well-suited for brands’ eco stories as well.

The overall earthy feel is enhanced with up cycled fabric remnants, Baja surfaces, textured weaves, patchwork leather, homespun quilting and deadstock fabrics. Frayed and undone finishes give a lived-in feel to new pieces. Based on last season’s Millennium Blues story, Leverton explained Ironic Oughties as the more ironic and cheesy offshoot that’s being led by youth-driven brands.

The story’s holistic side is expressed through the use of natural fibers and yarns, slow-made fashion and boutique dressing, while upsized silhouettes, refined fabrics, high-end finishing, soft layers and unstructured looks encapsulate the theme’s utility-meets-lounge styling. Draping, off-the-shoulder and conceptual cutouts elevate denim. Workwear details and A-line silhouettes add structure. Oversized twills, linen, summer blanket materials with a handloom look, feminine quilting and patchwork jacquard add texture and visual interest.

Indeed, bBrands and retailers are on board with the idea of sustainability. Many are setting targets to green their supply chains. However, the committed may still be too few and their commitments still too small. Brands are thinking about sustainability but because of the price sensitivity, they are also concerned whether their customers understand about sustainability versus the price. Brands that haven’t woven sustainability into the fabric of what they do are finding themselves hard-pressed to get consumers to pay up for a more eco-friendly product.

For example, Geetanjali Woollens which has been recycling post-consumer clothing for 40 years. The company gathers post-consumer apparel from waste collectors in the US, Europe, Australia and Japan, sorts it by fiber composition, then sorts it again by color. Each color gets shredded into fiber, spun into yarn and finds its way into sweaters, accessories, beanies and socks—each produced without dyes and chemicals, and substantially less water.

Brands can make the product but what if they are not able to sell it? Geetanjali finds retailers take in just a fraction of the nearly 25,000 kg of clothing Geetanjali recycles every day. This is not sustainable because as a factory Geetanjali has workers to pay, bills to pay.

Pakistan is opting for import substitution as a way to add value to its textile chain. Growth of the textile sector is directly linked to the availability of cotton which is consumed by at least 16 sub sectors starting with cotton ginning up to the manufacturing of fashion garments.

Small and medium enterprises are being encouraged to switch over to latest technologies so that their overall share in Pakistan’s exports can be enhanced. The country is working on upgrading its supply chain and improving productivity. There is room for further expansion of the textile sector with improvement in the law and order and energy situations. In order to promote value addition and exports, the regulatory duty on import of yarn and other raw materials has been significantly decreased.

The regulatory duty has been revised only on 90 items whereas the same has been increased on 100 luxury items. Further, rebate will also be paid with the export proceeds electronically in order to facilitate the exporters. The process of validating licenses – for export-oriented units and manufacturing bonds – will be soon automated. The audit will also be done automatically by the system. Pakistan’s textile exports constitute a major portion of the country’s overall exports.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says, to prevent a climate catastrophe, carbon consumption must be radically reduced worldwide. Therefore, industry, government and social enterprises in New Zealand have collaborated to launch the Textile Reuse Programme - an initiative to combat clothing consumption, waste and the subsequent climate impact.

Textile Reuse Programme figures reveal, clothing consumption has reached 100 billion units annually, with only one per cent of this being recycled. Also, along with the environmental implications of our throwaway culture, waste material represents a loss of $100 billion per annum. To address this mounting issue, the collaboration hopes to leverage the latest in disruptive technologies in order to gradually transition the wider industry into implementing more sustainable manufacturing and disposal methods.

Partners include: Alsco New Zealand, Wellington City Council, Wellington Zoo, Barkers Menswear and Fonterra. The initiative will be led by the sustainable textile R&D company, The Formary.