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Redress will organise ‘Design Award 2018’ the world’s largest sustainable fashion design competition in September 2018 in Hongkong. The competition will enable finalist to present their collections created entirely from waste textiles to an international audience The company recently announced 11 finalists representing 11 different regions including Hong Kong, India and the UK.
The finalists sourced inspiration from a range of complex and topical issues such as climate change, war, gender identity, over-consumption and how the internet has altered our relationships with one another. These 11 emerging designers represent a new generation of socially and environmentally conscious individuals who are determined to make a difference through their actions. The designers embody a growing movement to bring textile waste back into fashion and take the circular economy mainstream.
All finalists will now create their five-piece collections from their homes in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Israel, Philippines, Japan, France, UK, Spain, Denmark and - a first for the competition - India and Australia. Their collections will soon be handed over to the competition’s logistics partner, UPS, who will expertly deliver them to Hong Kong in preparation for the Grand Final fashion show at HKTDC’s Centrestage fashion week onSeptember 6, where the winners will be announced in front of a 1000-strong audience and via global live stream.
Yarn Fabric & Accessories (YFA) show will be held in Ludhiana from August 30 to September 1. This is Ludhiana’s first ever exhibition of fibers, yarns, fabrics and accessories. It aims at redefining the way fiber, yarn, fabric and apparel accessories are sourced. It will bring renowned suppliers from these four segments closer to buyers and also offer buyers a one-stop place to source all their requirements.
The show is a gateway for companies to enter the attractive and lucrative north Indian market and grab a slice of the ever-growing market for textiles and apparels. It is taking place in a northern region of India, which is one of the biggest Indian hubs for manufacturing textiles and apparel.
For exhibitors to get full advantage during the course of the three-day show, the organizers have also planned several B2B meetings between exhibitors and visitors and have also invited business delegations from various parts of the country. Ludhiana and its surrounding area is the headquarters for several renowned Indian and global apparel brands and also home to thousands of knitting, spinning and weaving units as well as garment manufacturing units.
Exhibitors will have access to the most exclusive buyers ever seen in any other exhibition of this category.
Lenzing will expand capacities for Tencel Luxe filament yarn. Basic engineering for construction of the new facility has already been initiated. Luxe, Lenzing is currently positioning itself in the premium luxury market and is embedding the issue of sustainability there in combination with superior aesthetics, The fine filament yarn is comparable to natural silk due to its airy feeling on the skin and the matte finish. It is perfectly suited for very fine fabrics made exclusively from this yarn and as a blending partner with silk, cashmere and wool.
This yarn is made of the renewable raw material wood and is opening up new markets for the company in the eco-couture segment. The decision to construct a new line will serve as the basis for generating a three-fold increase in capacity compared to the previous volume. The additional capacity will be available to customers at the end of next year.
As Lenzing's flagship brand in the textile sector, Tencel will grow beyond fiber types and functional characteristics. It will become a true consumer-focused brand with a promise of something more functional and emotional.
Lenzing’s wood procurement policy is based on sustainability principles. Lenzing proactively supports the improvement of the condition and biodiversity of global forests. Lenzing fibers derived from sustainable forest management make a global contribution to climate protection.
The weakening of the rupiah against the US dollar (USD) is affecting business activities in Indonesia especially the Textile and Textile Products (TPT) industry.
According to the Secretary General of Indonesian Filament and Fiber Films Distribution Association (APSyFI) Redma, “it is getting worse after the Minister of Trade Regulation (Permendag) 64 years 2017 which caused the imports to increase by 19.6 percent compared to the exports performance in the first quarter of 2018. "The trade balance is still a surplus of USD1, 29 billion, but down compared with the same period the previous year," he further said.
Furthermore, after controlling the import of sales, the textile industry grew by 30 percent in the fourth quarter of 2017 and the first quarter of 2018. However, since Permendag 64/2017 took effect in the second quarter of 2018, demand from the domestic market was replaced by imported products Bonded Logistics Center (PLB).
"If Small Medium Enterprises (IKM) need raw materials, today we will see IKM products that are flooding the market, not imported products," he stated demanding Permendag 64/2017 to be revoked and returned to Permendag 85 / 2016 where the import of raw materials is regulated based on industry needs.
Rwanda is nurturing its garment sector. But domestic demand for locally produced clothes has been stifled by the ubiquity of cheap, secondhand garments imported from Europe and the United States.
Many factories are only running at 40 per cent capacity and secondhand garments, which can sell at well below production costs, are at least partly to blame.
In response, Rwanda increased tariffs on used clothing in July 2016.
These tariffs are now the center of a dispute between the US and Rwanda. If Rwanda continues to tax imported secondhand clothes, the country could lose some of its access to US markets for its exports.
Under the US African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), qualifying African countries are granted duty-free access to the US market. The law which was passed in 2000 is credited for increasing Africa's export sector, with duty-free exports from the continent to the US market almost quadrupling since the law was enacted.
The US has warned Rwanda it would lose some benefits under the act, after Rwanda increased tariffs on secondhand clothes to support its local garment industry.
Selling America's used clothing — much of it donated to charities and the bulk of it originally made outside the United States — is a nearly billion dollar industry. Exports typically end up in poor nations. Africa is a key destination.
India’s 2017-18 cotton exports are likely to jump nearly 30 per cent from the year before to a four-year high.
Higher international prices would drive up shipments.
The country has exported 6.3 million bales so far in the marketing year that started on October 1. India shipped 5.82 million bales of cotton overseas last marketing year.
Increased supply from India could drag on a rally in international prices for the commodity and would likely compete with shipments to Asia from exporters like the United States, Brazil and Australia.
The Indian rupee has fallen more than six per cent in 2018, making Indian cotton cheaper for overseas buyers.
Pakistan, Bangladesh, China and Vietnam are the main buyers of the Indian fiber.
Indian cotton is being offered around 84 to 86 cents per lb on a cost and freight basis to buyers in Bangladesh and Vietnam, compared to over 92 cents from the United States and Brazil.
And a pick-up in local consumption amid higher exports is likely to erode India's cotton stockpile.
India’s cotton consumption is likely to rise 5.3 per cent in 2017-18 from the year before.
The country could end the 2017-18 season with closing stocks of less than two million tons, the lowest in decades.
India manages to remain as the world’s second largest textile and clothing exporter.
Export of cotton yarn, fabric, made-ups and handloom products rose 18 per cent year-on-year in April.
The Indian spinning sector’s long pending demand of extending the MEIS benefit for cotton yarn export is yet to be considered. If considered, this would enable the Indian spinning segment to have a level playing field and utilise the surplus spinning capacity and also convert the 6-7 million bales of raw cotton being exported into value added yarn.
In a span of eight months, demonetisation and GST had a marked effect on the performance of the textile industry. The industry registered only 5.37 per cent export growth during 2017.
China, the largest exporter, accounted for a 34.2 per cent share during 2017. Vietnam is fast catching up.
The yarn market has gained momentum in recent times and the unsold yarn stock level is one of the lowest in recent years. The demand for coarse and medium counts, especially open-end yarn, both in the domestic market and export market has increased considerably and several mills have got advance bookings.
But China shifted its major volume of yarn imports from India to Vietnam, which had a 11.93 per cent share in the global cotton yarn trade during 2015.
The cabbotage rule for transport of cotton along with several other products has been relaxed.
This is expected to greatly benefit lakhs of cotton farmers in Gujarat and spinning mills in Tamil Nadu. Foreign flag vessels might be in a position to offer competitive rates.
The cotton textile industry had demanded a relaxation of the cabbotage rule for transporting cotton from ports in Gujarat to ports in Tamil Nadu.
Though India is the largest cotton producing country and net exporter of cotton in the world, the domestic cotton textile industry could not derive a competitive advantage due to the steep increase in cotton transportation costs.
At the same time, countries like China and Vietnam transport cotton at a much cheaper cost.
Tamil Nadu spinning mills consume around 50 lakh bales of cotton grown in Gujarat.
During the peak cotton season the lorry freight per bale between a ginning factory in Gujarat and a spinning mill in Tamil Nadu was up to Rs 1000 a bale. The cost of transporting cotton from countries in West Africa to spinning mills in Tamil Nadu was around Rs 400 a bale.
Gujarat is the largest cotton producing state in India. Spinning mills in Tamil Nadu account for 47 per cent of the spinning capacity in the country.
African countries have formed a free trade area. This is the world’s largest free trade area in terms of the number of participating countries since the formation of the World Trade Organisation in 1948. It can create a single market with a population of 1.2 billion and a GDP of 2.5 trillion dollars.
Under the pact, the signatories have committed to remove tariffs on more than 90 per cent of goods. The agreement will address seven priority areas related to trade: policy, infrastructure, finance, information, market integration, productivity increase and trade facilitation.
The deal is expected to drive up intra-Africa trade by about 52 per cent by 2022 as compared with 2010. The exchange of industrial products is also projected to expand by 53 per cent.
The Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) agreement is expected to help cut commercial costs and enable African consumers to access diverse products with lower prices. Lower costs of production materials exchanged between CFTA member countries would raise the competitiveness of local producers and help create regional value chains.
Fabric company Candiani Denim has developed a limited edition capsule collection called Re-Gen Denim.
This is a super-selvedge fabric with Tencel Refibra Lyocell that leverages sustainable technologies for a minimized environmental impact. Re-Gen Denim contains 50 per cent recycled fibers and 50 per cent Tencel Refibra Lyocell, made from post-industrial cotton scraps left over from wood and cutting operations.
Refibra Lyocell fibers minimize the need to extract additional raw materials from nature, fostering a more circular economy for textiles and apparel. Yarns woven into Re-Gen Denim are created with regenerated materials instead of virgin cotton.
All yarns are made of regenerated material and do not use fresh cotton. Its peculiarity lies in the use of the Kitotex technology, an international patent that uses chitosan, a substance of natural origin, non-toxic, biocompatible and biodegradable, obtained from the skeleton of crustaceans. The innovative process allows reduction of energy by 30 per cent, water 50 per cent and chemical agents 70 per cent in addition to the non-introduction of Co2 and the total elimination of polyvinyl alcohol.
Re-Gen Denim also uses an additional technology born within the company in a sustainable key: Indigo Juice, a dyeing technique that significantly reduces the consumption of water, chemicals and energy in the process of production and washing of jeans.
