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Chennai Apparel Association is hosting the 14th edition of its garment fair from July 18. This is a platform for garment manufacturers and retailers of Tamil Nadu to expand business within the state and beyond and get a chance to understand the current market trends and upgrade themselves to new technologies.
This year the fair is being held at the Chennai Trade Centre and Convention Hall. Nearly 400 to 500 participants from all over India are expected to attend. Though the trend focus has always been the men’s apparel section, a great amount of emphasis is being given to the other sections namely women’s and children’s apparels. Brands like Lawman, Sunnex, Citrus and Perrymoni have been a constant. The plan is to introduce a new sari section, for which the organizers already in discussions with dealers and manufacturers.
This fair is open to all manufacturers and retailers in India. Participation in the fair consists of 75 per cent from other states and 25 per cent from Tamil Nadu. The fair hopes for a greater participation from Tamil Nadu in the long run.
The fair has seen a steady growth over the last twelve years. Starting with only 40 stalls it is now housing about 100 stalls. The intention is to grow, to be one of the biggest garment fairs of India by 2018.
A workshop on development of apparel brands will be held in Bangladesh on July 29. It is an effort to promote the country's apparel sector. Garments produced in Bangladesh are yet to establish their brands in the international market. The workshop will be organised by the Bangladesh Apparel Exchange and will help local manufacturers, entrepreneurs and those associated with the sector to expand their business globally.
Apparel manufacturers, top level managers and leaders of the textile industry are expected to participate which will throw light on the importance of brand creation for Bangladesh. The day long program will focus on sharing information on the development of Bangladesh's apparel sector by incorporating new designs to meet the demands of international brands. It will give insight on designing brands and selling directly to western wholesale and end consumers.
Further, it will highlight the importance of e-commerce, the modern direct-to-consumer selling method and execution while accessing the best resources at the lowest cost enabling margins to grow significantly. Bangladesh is the world’s second largest apparel exporter. The South Asian country remains fully focused on cotton products. Clothing exports could create more and better jobs in Bangladesh if the country makes improvements in productivity, product quality and reliability, and by enforcing better safety conditions and other compliance policies.
Milan, ISKO, CREATIVE ROOM and partners awarded talented students of the Denim Design and Marketing Award. Two parallel routes along one common path: Fashion. They came together in one contest, ISKO I-SKOOL 4th edition, the global competition created by ISKO, global leader in denim production and textile innovation, and by its style and design think-tank CREATIVE ROOM.
As per Massimo Munari, Art Director di CREATIVE ROOM who assists design students in making their outfits every year they are amazed by their courage and freshness. Fashion needs energy, novelty and forward-thinking minds, he added. Each year, the contest involves the most brilliant and creative young minds from worldwide prestigious fashion and business institutions. Everything is generated by a unique inspiration, denim: a journey into this versatile, evergreen style icon.
The contest involved over 60,000 students from all over the world. For the first time in ISKO ISKOOL history, the contest invited independent students to compete, by sending their application through the official website of the competition, iskooldenim.com. Every winner is awarded internships with the brands that support the initiative.
Denim Design Award: Students were asked to create denim outfits for the season of their choice, following a daring theme, GENDERFUL, a celebration of the new and inclusive ways to conceive the many models of self expression that transcend traditional gender categories to promote new and evolving forms of identity.
Marketing Award: Students were asked to design a strategic marketing plan and its tactical actions to explain and give value to one of the foremost themes in global fashion agenda today, the connection between fashion and sustainability, aesthetics and best practices. Winner of the Marketing Award was the team led by Sara Giordano (POLIMODA)
Denim Design Award: Winner of the Best Seller Award: Massimiliano Mucciarelli (Università Iuav di Venezia); Winner of the Responsible Innovation Award: Morine Uramoto (BUNKA Fashion College); Winner of the Best Show Piece Award: Sara Armellin (POLIMODA); Winner of the Reca Award: Mianchen Wang (The New School – Parsons); Winner of the Swarovski Award: Giulia Masciangelo (NABA)
Teijin Aramid is expanding its aramid production capacity for Twaron super fibre. It will invest in new spinning technology at the Twaron facility in Emmen, the Netherlands, in the first quarter of 2019. With demand for para-aramid fibre Twaron increasing the new spinning technology will enable the company to increase production capacity.
Teijin Aramid is constantly investing in technology to create innovative aramid products and solutions together with its customers. In the past years, five per cent of the annual revenue has been invested into research and development activities.
Twaron, Teijin Aramid's high-performance super fibre, is used more often and in more advanced products in different industries. Gert Frederiks, CEO and President of Teijin Aramid states the investment underscores the ambition to produce and deliver sustainable and cost efficient products to the market and reinforces the position as global market leader. It will enable to meet growing market demand and simultaneously implement latest technology. The spinning capacity expansion is planned to start in the first quarter of 2019.
The new technology also results in further automation of the spinning process which is a huge improvement in the amount of physical work for operators. This is in line with Teijin Aramid's plans to further automate production and improve HSE (health, safety, and environment) aspects.
As of April 1, 2017, Teijin has merged all its aramid activities into one global business unit. Since then, Teijin Aramid is responsible for all aramid and polyethylene products the company is producing, developing and selling. Therefore, the Teijin Aramid organisation now has aramid production facilities in Thailand (Teijinconex neo), Japan (Teijinconex and Technora) and The Netherlands (Twaron and Endumax).
Vastra will be held in Jaipur from September 21 to 24, 2017. This is a textile and apparel fair. The event will feature a fusion of finest and latest in textile products, from fiber to fashion, and cover the entire textile value addition chain. This is a trade fair where foreign and Indian buying houses participate.
Vastra will draw more than 300 exhibitors, looking to showcase a diverse range of textile and garment products of elite quality. The main exhibit include: fibers, yarns, fabrics, garments and apparels, made-ups and accessories, technical textiles, fashion trends, traditional textiles, technology and machinery and infrastructure for the textile industry in India.
Leading manufacturers and suppliers of plant and machinery, accessories, dyes, chemicals and technology suppliers, fashion designers, countries and states through specific pavilions, sectoral industry associations, international industry associations, research and development, education and training institutions form a major part of the show.
It is a platform for new joint ventures, strategic alliances and partnerships; to launch new products as well as harness new locations for setting up businesses in India. There will be live demos of traditional textile crafts, business fashion shows, conferences, networking events and more.
Malkha India spearheads a movement to give more control to cotton farmers, providing them the means of production. The initiative started in 2003, strives to bring control of spinning and weaving. And its founder Uzramma, says there are Malkha centers in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. The primary drive for her movement stems from the link between cotton farmer suicides and power looms, which function best with American cotton. The only cotton suitable for the power loom is American cotton, which won’t grow in India. So farmers need fertilizers and pesticides, which they buy with their own money until they can’t, and then they are forced to take loans.
India is the second largest producer of cotton in the world, and yet its major cotton export is American cotton, which doesn’t grow here naturally. While power looms are faster and can process more cotton, some native cottons are damaged and torn and are labeled inferior. In addition, weavers are paid very little.
The issue finds its roots in mass farming overseas. In the US, huge fields of cotton are harvested with large cotton picker machines that compact the cotton into bales but this is said to damage the cotton. Also, the cotton that is run through the power loom produces only one color of fabric and uses large amounts of electricity to run. Handweaving cotton allows a more flexible and cost-efficient production.
One of the largest hub in India‘s $40 billion-a-year textile and garment industry who are seeking millions of dollars in compensation following a landmark court ruling last year that declared they had long been grossly underpaid.
The Madras High Court ordered that garment workers should receive a pay rise of up to 30 per cent – the first minimum wage hike for 12 years – and that they could claim arrears going back to 2014. More than 150 claims have been filed against tailoring and export garment manufacturing units in the Chennai region alone, according to data requested by the Thomson Reuters Foundation under the Right to Information Act. The claims, which would benefit at least 80,000 workers at factories around the port city, add up to more than 490 million Indian rupees ($7.6 million).
According to workers’ unions these claims are probably the tip of the iceberg as they only represent cases filed by government labour inspectors. Under the 2016 Madras court ruling, Tamil Nadu’s garment and textile workers should see their pay rise from a monthly average of Rs 4,500 to 6,500– which campaigners say is comparable to wages for textile jobs in most other states. But workers say managers have defaulted or delayed payments since the ruling, with some even introducing pay cuts.
Despite the state’s minimum wage laws, salaries continue to be “grossly low” for thousands of workers who are still not given pay slips or are often hired only as apprentices. Under the 1948 Minimum Wages Act, state governments are required to increase the basic minimum wage every five years to protect workers against exploitation, but textile manufacturers have repeatedly challenged pay rises in Tamil Nadu.
Manufacturers in Tamil Nadu say the hike is too high, putting them at a disadvantage against competitors in other states. There are workers getting more than the minimum wage. The new norms are not distinguishing clearly between skilled and non-skilled workers, says S Shaktivel of the Tirupur Exporters’ Association.
GST has started showing results. It has resulted in the removal of check posts across 22 states. The move will result in improving the entire logistics system at the ground level in the coming days. Removal of check posts will help the Indian garment industry. Not only will Indian apparel exporters get more time costs are also likely to come down as logistic companies will now charge less for waiting time in terms of overall days that transport trucks take to deliver.
Earlier, a truck used to take five to six days to deliver products from Delhi to Mumbai and now it takes only three to four days. Exporters can expect to get an edge in terms of providing shorter lead time to buyers post the exclusion of check posts. Containers from Tirupur reach Cochin in less than six hours against 12 hours. There is less traffic on the route. However, time-saving is one aspect. Down the line the industry expects cost benefits too, and whether that will happen will be clear in the coming months. For almost 15 days after the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax, the industry had observed strikes and protests all over the country.
Erode-based Five P Venture India, and the Central Silk Board, based in Bangalore, entered a collaboration. Five P has introduced fibers such as linen, recycled cotton, Tencel and modal, and developed a variety of fabrics. With the board’s technical support, Five P will be able to develop new, niche products such as silk.
This collaboration could also help revive the heritage skills of handloom weavers in the Chennimalai belt. The Chennimalai handloom cluster in Tamil Nadu has so far not worked with any fiber other than cotton.
Making such value added products will not only take the company to the next level but also enhance the income of the handloom weaving community and improve their living standard. The company’s in-house brand ‘Nool By Hand’ was showcased at the Lakme Fashion Show, held during the Textiles India Fair. The apparel worn by men and women were made of handwoven organic cotton.
Chennimalai is noted for power looms and handlooms. But production has come down by 50 per cent due to frequent power cuts and load shedding. The increase in the prices of yarn has also affected production. The prices of 10-count yarn have increased considerably. Because of this, production cost has gone up.
Global digital textile printing equipment and ink sales are projected to grow 39 per cent by 2018. In the visual-communication sector, increased interest in printing on textiles seems to stem from key considerations; aesthetics and economics. As an alternative to PVC vinyl and rigid materials, printed textiles are versatile and appeal strongly to commercial customers. They typically find the softer, sleeker look and feel and more natural, fluid movement of textiles aesthetically appealing – whether for soft signage and graphics in retail, hospitality, or event environments.
Economic drivers are of course also influential; textile substrates can be less costly to store and transport, and can lend themselves more readily to re-use than rigid materials. This is attracting particular interest in the events industry, where stand designers and builders are seeing textile as a flexible, lightweight alternative that’s easier and cheaper to transport, construct, and de-mount.
The shift towards digital textile printing is also enabling new levels of customization and increased design complexity which – together with digital’s inherent just-in-time advantage – can be expected to fuel further growth. Garment production is another significant area of growth and migration from analog to digital production. Digitally produced garments are expected to become an important alternative to traditional screen printing within two years.
