FW
Atlas silk is famous for its rich and bright colors and distinctive changing zigzag patterns. It has been used by Uygur women for clothing and interior design for centuries. Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region is the birthplace of Atlas silk.
Folklore has it during the Han dynasty a princess who came to the region for marriage brought a silkworm cocoon with her. Local residents since began to produce silkworms and weave silk.
The manufacturing techniques of the ancient cloth have barely changed over the last 2,000 years. Reeling silk, spinning thread, dyeing and weaving... It takes much more time to produce Atlas silk by hand than producing artificial silk by machine. Even the most skilled hands can only weave three meters a day.
Fashion designers have also started using the material in their creations, creatively mixing the traditional art and modern techniques and bringing the fabric to the catwalk. Atlas silk products have been sold to about 25 countries and regions, attracting merchants from countries including the United States and Germany. The product has also become a hit on e-commerce platforms.
Due to low output, meager profits, and the impact of the modern textile industry, Atlas silk started declining. Many villagers whose families had been weaving for generations turned to other lines of work to make a living. To rejuvenate the industry, villagers got free silk weaving machines. Experienced craftspeople give free training to villagers.
Arvind has launched Gravity, a range of new denims that embody power, stability and comfort. A pioneer of the denim revolution in India, Arvind has introduced many firsts in the denim industry including IP-led designs and technologies. Arvind is taking steps to leverage innovative technologies to create the best fabrics across performance, fashion, and functionality. It constantly pushes limits to redefine denims every season and offers customers products that are aesthetically elevated, technologically innovative, and sustainable.
Another of Arvind’s new product ranges is Ikat Denim. This range uses a path breaking new indigo dyeing technology, which is not only substantially more sustainable compared with traditional dyeing techniques, it also imparts a completely new and aspirational aesthetic appeal to the finished product. The technology creates unique and controlled patterns on the fabric that resemble the traditional textile art form of Ikat. Arvind takes pride in being the first textile company in India to exclusively offer this product to the domestic market.
The woven knit denims category has been driving the Indian denim market for the last few years but has now reached a saturation point. Gravity was launched by Arvind in association with Invista, one of the world's largest integrated producers of fibers.
Pakistan is going to seek zero-rated duty on exports to China. Massive under invoicing on imports from China would be checked so that Pakistani exporters get equal benefit.
Chinese companies have shown interest in relocating their textile units to Pakistan or are interested in entering into joint ventures. The Chinese are keen to bring their machinery for producing quality textile goods in return for local set-up, like factory premises. Issues like market access, high cost of doing business and exchange rate are retarding the growth of Pakistan’s exports. However, the country is working on these issues and has already devalued the currency by up to ten per cent.
The extension given by the European Union over GSP Plus has helped Pakistan increase exports of value-added textile goods by up to 90 per cent. As a result, total exports grew by 13 per cent during the July-February period of the current fiscal.
Also, the package given to exports in the shape of duty drawback on taxes has helped boost textile exports between January and February. Pakistan and China will have a second round of discussions on the free trade agreement next month. Pakistan needs foreign investment and would encourage any sector which helps increase external trade and boost exports.
The Minimum Wage Board for the garment industry in Bangladesh has asked the representatives of workers and factory owners to submit their proposals by April 25. The directive came at the board’s first meeting presided over by its chairman Syed Aminul Islam. It was formed on January 13 to formulate a minimum wage structure within six months.
Syed Aminul Islam says the board will send its recommendation to the government as soon as possible. Several trade unions staged demonstrations in front of the board’s office demanding taka 16,000-18,000 as the minimum monthly wage while the meeting was under way. To set the minimum wage Inflation, living standards, risks, cost of production and the capacity of the owners will be taken into account. In 2013, the minimum wage was set at taka 5,300 with a basic starting wage of taka 3,000 for entry-level garment workers with a 5 per cent annual raise.
In 2006 under SAFTA, India was allowed duty free import of readymade garments from Bangladesh and this facility was limited to eight million pieces. However, in 2010, this quantitative restriction was lifted. According to CITI India, India's garment imports from Bangladesh increased from $106.72 million during April-December 2016 to $124.14 million in the corresponding period of 2017.
Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI India) chairman Sanjay K Jain says that duty-free facility given to Bangladesh on grounds of it being a Least Developed Countries (LDC) was actually benefiting China's textile exports. He further add India too has accepted sourcing restrictions imposed by Japan that hurt its apparel exports to Japan under India-Japan CEPA, and in the Goods and Service Tax (GST) regime, the industry has been under severe stress with increasing imports of garments from Bangladesh and other countries.
Indian domestic garment manufacturers have to pay a 20 per cent import duty if they use the same Chinese fabric. India has now extended this duty-free quota-free facility to all 49 LDCs on a non-reciprocal basis and again without any sourcing restrictions. So, it is expected that in future, we may have more Bangladesh-type situation, says Jain.
Jain added in the seminar on "Recent Trends on Eco-Friendly Textiles and Sustainable Fashion organised by the J D Birla Institute have demanded tweaking of SAFTA rules of origin to make the use of yarn and fabrics of Indian origin mandatory for allowing duty-free quota-free market. So that China cannot take any undue advantage of a facility that is meant for LDCs.
Meanwhile the Indian textiles industry is seeking "tweaking of South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) rules of origin" to make use of yarn and fabrics of Indian origin mandatory for exporting apparel to India, amid a fast increasing import of garments made of Chinese fabrics from Bangladesh.
The denim fabric industry in India may face margin pressures during fiscal ’19 due to oversupply. About 15 to 20 per cent of the total capacity is underutilised. Additionally competition will intensify as several players have undertaken capacity additions. This will translate into a continued denim fabric surplus in the market.
India is a leading denim fabric manufacturer in the world. The last leg of the denim value chain, comprising activities such as stitching, washing, garmenting, sewing etc, is characterised by high labor intensity. A sizeable chunk of these activities is undertaken by small scale industries which are yet to get fully accustomed to the formal banking system and the GST regime.
Operating margins are expected to remain in the range of ten per cent to 11 per cent in fiscal 2018 to ’19. The downturn may be relatively prolonged, partly on account of the regulatory disruptions that the industry underwent in fiscal 2017 to ’18.
Exporters will see some impact on margins because of reduced duty drawback, notwithstanding the increase in availability of input tax credit. However, the long-term demand potential for the segment remains intact due to denim’s versatile fashion appeal among the young populace, rising disposable income and the untapped semi-urban pockets of the country.
Pakistan is hosting textile Asia from March 27 to 29, 2018. This is a textile, garment, embroidery, digital printing machinery and chemical and allied services trade fair.
About 1,200 delegates from across the world are participating. Over 450 companies are showcasing 650 products at 800 stalls in the three day exhibition. China, Korea, France, Germany, Italy, Vietnam, Turkmenistan are showcasing products at the expo.
China has a big presence. Over 150 companies from Zhejiang province are participating at the exhibition. Textile Asia is a landmark event, which has provided an effective podium for joint ventures and collaborations among the local textile industry and international entrepreneurs.
Pakistani products do not get a proper market share due to high input costs. Pakistan is taking several concrete steps to increase the volume of overall exports. Changes will be made to the scope and coverage of the export package. The focus of this trade fair is value addition in the textile industry to increase Pakistan’s exports of value added textile and garment products. Efforts are being made to set the right policies and incentives that encourage private sector investment in value addition. The apparel segment happens to be the highest value-added link in the entire textile value chain.
Russia plans to double the country’s technical fiber production by 2020. With this aim, Russia will expand the use of its large reserves of oil and other resources, including timber and other raw materials for the production of synthetics. Thanks to Russia’s well-developed oil and chemical industries, and the presence of large-scale technical textile consumers domestically, the industry has good chance for a rapid growth during the next several years.
Currently, the domestic production of technical fibers can meet only 30 per cent of Russia’s annual demand. Low taxes and customs duties, as well as the proximity of Russia to both European and Asian markets, provides additional advantages to the domestic industry.
In Russia, there are currently a number of companies ready to fight for the domestic technical textile market through the launch of new investment projects. One of them is the BTK Group, which has invested in a new plant for the production of high-tech fabrics. Another leading Russian producer has undertaken aramid fabric production. Finally, Thermopol, which is a producer of holofiber, a synthetic insulation for outerwear, plans to significantly increase its production.
Most of these projects will be implemented within the Ivanovo region, a centre of Russian technical textile production. The new cluster will include a new synthetic fiber plant.
Pakistan is resolving problems faced by the textile sector. There is no duty on import of machinery and cotton. Duty drawback claims are being cleared. Gas and electricity will be made available to facilitate exports.
Textiles have been identified as a key priority area. Policies and incentives will be devised to encourage private sector investment in value addition and expansion in a bid to gain wider access to international markets.
Pakistan’s textile industry has witnessed dwindling investments over the last decade. Currently, around 35 per cent of the textile industry’s production capacity is impaired. Prospective investors are reluctant to make new investment decisions due to high cost of doing business. As a result, the industry has lost technological advantage over its competitors.
Readymade garments have shown an impressive growth over the years despite the overall poor performance of the textile sector. Exports of readymade garments registered 5.55 per cent year-on-year growth against the overall flat growth of the textile sector.
The industry wants long-term financing facility for indirect exports, Islamic financing and building of infrastructure for garment plants. It has also sought a long-term policy which includes consistent energy prices across the country, removal of the surcharge on the electricity tariff along with extending the duty drawback scheme for five years.
British retailer Marks & Spencer is shaking up its clothing and home leadership team. Queralt Ferrer, women’s wear and lingerie design director, and Belinda Earl, style director, are both stepping down.
Ferrer, design director since 2015, is moving to Amsterdam to be with her family, while Earl, style director since 2012, is stepping down from her commercial role but will continue to work in an advisory capacity.
Laura Charles has been promoted to the new position of lingerie director, while home director Neil Harrison will also take on responsibility for beauty. Jill McDonald was appointed in October as clothing and home managing director. She has been tasked with delivering the sustained sales and profit growth that has eluded Britain’s biggest clothing retailer for a decade. She has decided to merge the retailer's women’s wear and children’s wear teams in a move to attract more families to M&S.
M&S reset its strategy in November. The plan is to speed up store closures, accelerate the relocation and downsizing of other stores, and reposition its food offering. This year it has also detailed changes to its technology function, clothing and home logistics and food marketing.
