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Reebok has hired Karen Reuther as global creative director. Reuther will provide brand-defining and consumer-relevant creative leadership across all design disciplines, including brand identity and design implementation, across every brand and consumer touch point. She will partner with Reebok’s product and marketing teams to deliver fitness and style-based products.
A BA in industrial design from Purdue University and an MBA from Lesley University, she is a frequent speaker and lecturer at universities and events. She spent 12 years at Nike, including as global creative director, where she led global design strategies for the brand across footwear, apparel and equipment. Most recently, she was creative director and brand psychologist at Cast Collective, a collective of consultants working in the areas of design, innovation and technology. At Cast, she served clients including Puma, Vans, Timberland, Pantone, Piaggio Fast Forward, TJX Corporation, Everybody Fights and IDEO.
Her expertise, vision and leadership skills will guide Reebok’s design excellence, inspire creative rigor and craft and deliver a unified global design strategy. She aims at helping Reebok merge the past and the present–bringing fitness and fashion together to create the very best products on the market.
Pakistan’s garment industry is looking for help to increase the country’s exports to overcome trade deficit. Exporters therefore want payment of refunds to be expedited. They say, exports should not be taxed and that the Export Development Surcharge should be withdrawn which could lead to great dividends.
Pakistan’s textile exports rose 7.2 per cent during the first eight months of the current fiscal year. Comparatively competing countries like China, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Vietnam increased their exports at a compound rate of 20 per cent or more during the same period. Textiles make up around 60 per cent of the country’s total exports. The textile sector has the largest share in Pakistan’s exports.
Pakistan’s competitors are upping the ante in textile to gain strength in global markets. While China’s share in global textile exports is 36 per cent, Vietnam contributes 12.4 per cent, and Pakistan is seven per cent. The textile sector in the country faces numerous problems which include: high cost of doing business, multiple taxes and surcharges. Pakistan predominantly being a textile export economy is struggling to maintain its share in global markets both in basic and value added textiles.
Countries such as the US and Egypt have been able to create their own brand of cotton like Supima and Egyptian Cotton. Now, India is planning to move on similar lines. The idea is to project Suvin cotton produced in Tamil Nadu and Shankar 6 produced in Gujarat as global brands.
Egyptian and US cotton fetch premium over the conventional fiber in import markets, including India. Despite Indian cotton’s having a better quality and a huge potential for fetching a higher price, lack of a branding has yielded lower income for Indian farmers and traders.
India is known for fine and beautiful cotton fabrics. Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat and Rajasthan are the important cotton cultivating regions. Cotton in India is one of the most important commercial fibers and commodity exported due to its uses in the textile industry, mattresses etc. India is one of the largest producers as well as exporters of cotton and cotton yarn. Cotton plays an important role in the country’s economy as its textile industry is predominantly cotton based. But the quality of Indian cotton is not standardized due to varying practices adopted by various stakeholders including farmers, ginners, and traders. Major markets for Indian cotton are: Bangladesh, Pakistan, Vietnam, Indonesia, Turkey, Thailand etc.
H&M and Gap have announced support for an ILO convention seeking to combat workplace harassment. This has been heralded as a historic time for women workers by the US director of Global Labor Justice since these were the first brands with a predominantly female workforce to have come out in support of such an initiative.
Earlier the retailers had said they would investigate allegations on violence and sexual abuse in both companies’ supply chains. Sexual harassment, physical violence, verbal abuse and forced overtime are in no way isolated instances in garment factories.
Gap and H&M are the first brands in the garment sector or any other sector where women dominate the supply chain and to publicly support an ILO convention on gender based violence.
Gap wants its Tier I suppliers – approximately 800 factories in about 30 countries – to make the transition from a cash-based system to digital payments by 2020. By having suppliers pay garment workers digitally, Gap aims to accelerate the transition toward a more transparent workplace for women and men who make its clothes.
Swedish fashion retailer H&M has a network of 4,700 stores around the world. It is one of the world’s largest clothing manufacturers and produces hundreds of millions of products each year.
Casualwear brand Fruit of the Loom plans to close its UK-based head office and distribution centre by end 2018 and relocate operations to Europe and North Africa. This move, on part of the US-based company, will optimise its supply chain and enable it to streamline operations in a highly competitive marketplace.
A Berkshire Hathaway company, Fruit of the Loom designs, manufactures and markets family apparel, intimates, and athletic apparel and equipment. With a heritage of more than 150 years, its diverse portfolio of more than 20 iconic brands includes Fruit of the Loom, Russell Athletic, Spalding, JERZEES and Vanity Fair.
Headquartered in Bowling Green, Kentucky, Fruit of the Loom, Inc’s subsidiaries employ nearly 30,000 people in 26 countries. It also supports approximately 250,000 additional jobs through sourcing and licensing relationships in 37 countries.
The recently concluded Euratex General Assembly deliberated on investment opportunities in European textile and clothing sector. The event, with over 120 participants, provided an insight on the dynamic moment in which the sector is regaining a leading position in the EU industrial landscape. It showcased the economic renaissance of the textile and clothing industry, and its visions for the future, among numerous participants in Brussels.
The discussion was divided in two panels, focusing on investment trends in recent years and visions for the industry in the future, respectively. CEOs and representatives from seven European companies presented both their success stories and their first-hand experience in facing the challenges of the sector. The presentations and debate offered the audience a point of view about the actions that can be taken at European, national and regional level to ensure the right conditions for entrepreneurs in the textile and clothing sector to keep investing and producing in Europe.
Imports of textile products by the European Union in 2017 increased three per cent compared to the previous year. Textile products include: yarn, fiber, fabric, and home textiles. The most important textile supplier to the European Union was China followed by Turkey. The third largest textile supplier to the EU is India followed by South Korea. These four together have a 61.3 per cent share of EU textile imports.
China’s clothing exports to the European Union ranked first, at about 34 per cent. The textile imports from Turkey last year increased by 0.7 per cent compared to the previous year. The share of EU clothing imports made in 10 countries is 89 per cent. There are three countries exporting over €10 billion worth of products to the EU. These are: China, Bangladesh, and Turkey. The share of these three countries in total clothing exports to the EU is 62.6 per cent.
Imports of apparel and textile products to the European Union member countries, with a population exceeding 510 million, reached €110.9 billion in 2017. Of these, €92.6 billion were apparel products and €18.3 billion were textile products.
The first Bangladeshi manufacturer to join the Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC), Denim Expert will now adopt the Higg Index to chart its CSR and sustainability progress. The company will use the group’s sustainability measurement tools to drive change throughout its supply chain. It will contribute both data and resources to support the Higg Index, which measures sustainability performance and drives supply chain transparency and decision-making to improve efficiency and sustainability impact.
Having made ethical trading a key of its marketing message, the decision to join the SAC will further enhance the reputation of Denim Expert and potentially increase its international customer base. The company sees the SAC as the organisation capable of delivering this single overarching standard for the global apparel sector. The firm currently exports to the US, Canada, the UK, Ireland, Spain, the Netherlands, Germany and Turkey.
Demand for cotton is on track to outpace supply for the 2018-19 season. The 2017-18 season was the third consecutive for growth in world cotton demand, with production at an estimated 26.6 tons and world mill use projected at 25.5 million tons.
For the current season, decreasing stocks in China are being offset elsewhere. China’s cotton stocks are projected down to nine million tons, while cotton production outside of China is projected up to 10.3 million tons – marking the fourth consecutive season-to-season increase.
World cotton consumption is projected to increase to 26.7 million tons in 2018-19, while world cotton production is estimated at 25.7 million tons. Production in China is projected to decrease to 5.6 million tons in 2018-19 based on reduced planting area, while consumption is forecast to increase to 8.4 million tons.
Reduced yields in 2017-18 in India are contributing to lowered planted area for 2018-19, with exports projected at 8,40,000 tons, representing a 24 per cent decrease from the previous season. Production in Brazil for the 2017-18 season is estimated to be 1.9 million tons, a 26 per cent increase from 2016-17.
Production for the West Africa region in 2017-18 is projected at 1.2 million tons, representing a 13 per cent growth from the previous season.
While Yarn Expo has long been the leading choice for fabrics manufacturers for sourcing, in recent editions it has attracted more brand buyers as well. As the fashion industry has evolved in recent years, so too has Yarn Expo’s position and importance in the market. Fashion brands are more experienced nowadays in terms of yarn and fiber selection, and are having more impact on the look and function of the fabrics, which is flowing through to the final outcome of the garment. The need for brands to stay ahead of the latest fashion trends and textile innovations in such a competitive environment makes it vital they can source at a comprehensive event with innovative and quality suppliers, which has propelled Yarn Expo to become one of the most influential fairs on the textile calendar.
Another trend noticed at Yarn Expo is the strong demand for emerging products such as fancy and specialty yarns and synthetic fibers. Last year’s autumn edition saw 55 per cent more buyers sourcing fancy yarns compared to 2016, 40 per cent more for specialty yarns and over 30 per cent for synthetic fibers.
This growth is also reflected in the number of trade buyers choosing Yarn Expo as their sourcing platform in recent years: from 7,375 in the 2015 autumn edition to 17,185 from 84 countries and regions last year.
