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Oak Tasar, silk development project has been launched in Uttarakhand. This development project is being supported by the Textile Ministry’s Central Silk Board. It is expected to provide a new dimension to employment of farmers associated with the silk industry. Increasing production of silk in the state can lead to additional income generation for farmers. Apart from a grant of a crore, land will be provided for the Oak Research Center. Like Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand will arrange funds for silkworm farmers.
This ambitious project will increase silk production in the state. India produces about 3,3,000 metric tons of silk. The production of mulberry silk in Uttarakhand is now 33 metric tons and the target is to produce 55 metric tons. In Uttarakhand, oak grows naturally in good quantities. The weather is ideal for Manipuri Oak. Uttarakhand can take advantage of the current situation as silk production has decreased in plains. Experts feel in the hills, adequate agricultural land is available and farmers can cultivate silk by raising oak and mulberry plants. Farmers and the silk department will have to make efforts to increase the production of oak and mulberry.
Turkey wants to impose new measures on textile firms importing material from China, alarming leaders of one of the country’s biggest export industries. The textile ministry had been asking for additional documents for textile imports from July but it has been asked to postpone the move until January.
The government plan was aimed partly at tackling Turkey’s widening current account deficit, which reached $47.1 billion last year. The material imported from China was sold to other countries such as Russia and the United States, benefiting Turkey. Turkey imported a quarter of its $10.1 billion textile from China in 2017, more than half of which was cotton fabrics and intermediary goods. The new measures are likely to add costs and cause delays in trade. Turkey’s textile sector is a pillar of its economy. Ready-to-wear clothing accounted for about 18 per cent of Turkey’s $157 billion exports last year.
IndustriALL Global Union’s affiliate in Sri Lanka has directed ATG Ceylon to stop union busting at its factories. Recently, workers at ATG belonging to the Free Trade Zones & General Services Employees’ Union (FTZ&GSEU) picketed the British Embassy over labour abuse at the company.
Labour violations have continued at ATG after the union was forced to hold a vote in February 2017 to represent workers, despite already having a mandate to do so. The company has refused to discuss worker issues brought up by the union. Neither has it allowed the union to meet in the factory, even though it is the recognised bargaining agent. Furthermore, 59 workers who celebrated Labour Day on 1 May, after the government decided to postpone the 1 May holiday to 7 May, were put on compulsory leave and their photos were displayed in a notice that claimed they engaged in unlawful strike action.
In another act of victimisation during the company’s 25-year anniversary celebrations in 2017, the company refused to give eight union activists a medal for their five or more years of service, as other workers had received. IFTZ&GSEU has received considerable support from the German ambassador in Sri Lanka, who wrote to the Minister of Labour on 20 June 2018 expressing concerns of the violations of labour rights at the company.
The Woolmark Company has strengthened its brand identity in Vietnam through high-quality natural fibres and wool products. The company has been working in the Vietnamese market for the last five years, witnessing the country’s growing interest in the use of natural fibres and its potential for production of quality wool product. The industry employs more than 2.7 million people in the country, equivalent to 25 per cent of the industrial workforce and is the second largest export earner in the manufacturing sector.
Accounting for 17 per cent of world apparel exports in 2017, Vietnam’s textile exports have steadily grown to $31.1 billion in 2017 from the modest $1.35 billion in 1998, listing the country among the world’s top five textile exporters. However, it is essential for Vietnamese businesses to develop specific strategies to enhance competitiveness and generate breakthroughs. Simultaneously, businesses also need to leverage effective flows of foreign investment, while actively participate in the supply chain to reduce costs and optimise domestic performance.
The textile and garment industry has long been Vietnam’s key economic sector. The industry employs more than 2.7 million people in the country, equivalent to 25 per cent of the industrial workforce and is the second largest export earner in the manufacturing sector.
Milano Unica is exploring innovation, quality and a new vision for the future by creating a restyled, improved and extended Sustainability Area - within the ‘Tendenze’ area. This attracted significant interest in the past edition, with the participation of over 50 entrepreneurs, who presented over 250 textiles and accessories samples selected for the use of sustainable materials and production processes.
This section showcases the proposals of leading entrepreneurs, with a panorama of textiles and accessories that meet the sustainability demand of the market. To facilitate visitors’ decision-making, the textiles and accessories presented in the Sustainability Area have been classified based on categories that reflect the main segments of sustainable innovation. In addition, in this edition, the Sustainability Area table provides visitors with access to more detailed information about the samples through their smartphones and tablets.
Global brands including Arrow, Calvin Klein, H&M, Izod, Cherokee and VF Corporation are increasingly eyeing Kenya to source their apparel as the garment and textile sector rebounds after many years of decline. The Tailors and Textile Workers Union is organising workers and winning good agreements in this growing industry.
The government of Kenya’s Vision 2030 identifies the garment and textile sector as a driver of industrialisation. Currently the sector contributes to 7 per cent of the country’s export earnings. The sector can benefit by expanding its market to free trade areas that it belongs to, including the African Continental Free Trade Area, the East African Community, and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa. The country has also signed Economic Partnership Agreements, the European Union African Caribbean and Pacific (Cotonou Agreement) and the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). About 92 per cent of apparel from Kenya is sold in the US under AGOA.
For the first time, Creative Economy Agency (Bekraf) is supporting five local brands to showcase its products at the largest streetware exhibition, "Agenda Show", in California, USA, from June, 28-30 2018. One of the participating brands is the Paradise Youth Club. As per the owner Hendrick Setio, whose products are inspired by the style of the 90s, his participation in the exhibition, which will be represented by 50 countries, can become their opportunity to penetrate the American market.
The other four brands that will showcase in the US are: Elhaus, which focuses on men’s wear and denim; OldBlueCo, the classic denim focus born from American miners; Monstore, which creates clothing oriented to history and combines it with pop art; Popmeetpop a very creative brand with modern denim designs.
Indonesia is targeting America as the main destination for local streetwear brands to expand business. This will allow Indonesian artisans to introduce their local products in the US. The US is also Indonesia`s largest export market for fashion products, with an export value of $4.72 billion.
A large proportion of the manufacturing in the Indian garment industry is for the export market. The garment export industry is mainly concentrated in urban regions around Bangalore in Karnataka, Chennai and Tirupur in Tamil Nadu, and in Gurugram, Faridabad Noida around National Capital Region. There is a significant wage difference among garment workers in different Indian states.
The garment industry uses low wage states as the reason to oppose wage increase in states with higher wages. This is exactly what the garment units in Karnataka are doing. They argue since minimum wages in Karnataka are higher than in other states increasing wages would have an adverse impact on an industry that is already facing tough international competition.
Karnataka’s garment units threaten to shift to Telangana when the issue of wage revision comes up. That means management has the upper hand in determining the minimum wages of workers in the textile industry, spinning industry and the printing and dyeing industry. Determination of the minimum wage is regulated by the Minimum Wages Act. Garment and textile industries in the state argue they are incurring losses and so are unable to implement the Minimum Wages Act.
With the growing fitness industry in China, demand for sportswear is also growing. To cater to this, domestic brands are launching their products to meet the requirements of different sports. Sportswear giants like Li Ning, Anta and 361 Degrees have launched footwear and outfits for basketball, football, running, outdoor sports and athleisure with similar product strategy as big international brands Adidas and Nike.
With a distinctive style, flamboyant colors and clear cuts, Chinese designer Sun Lei recently launched her own brand Mono, to offer both functional and fashionable fitness clothing to an increasing number of gym-goers in the country. The brand’s special design for gym workouts aims to provide a new option for gym goers, with fabrics that absorb sweat, dries fast, and is ultraviolet-proof and anti-bacterial,. Mono has released three series in different styles and three colors, for women.
Chanel, founded by Coco Chanel in 1910 has released its annual results for the first time in its 108-year history. It also announced a reorganisation that aims to bring its various companies under one roof. The figures released revealed that the company registered total sales of $9.62 billion for the 2017 calendar year. This was an increase of 11 percent compared to the previous year on a constant-currency basis. That growth was primarily driven by sales in the Asia-Pacific region and in Europe, while operating profit was recorded at $2.69 billion.
Synonymous with French high fashion and blockbuster Parisian runway shows, Chanel is one of the biggest brands in the global luxury business. It is a French privately held company owned by Alain Wertheimer and Gérard Wertheimer, grandsons of Pierre Wertheimer. Chanel S.A. is a high fashion house that specialises in haute couture and ready-to-wear clothes, luxury goods, and fashion accessories.
