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Over 50 per cent of the UKs clothing market has achieved a 10 per cent reduction in carbon emissions following a collaborative agreement with Waste & Resources Action Programme’s (WRAP), Sustainable Clothing Action Plan (SCAP), a new report reveals. As of today 20 per cent more cotton is now sustainably sourced by signatories. With high-street brands like M&S, Tesco and Sainsbury’s setting ambitious sustainable cotton targets, this will help ease the pressure on some of the world’s most water-sensitive countries.
The update lists a number of priority garments for brands and retailers to target, as they have the highest environmental costs to manufacture. Women’s dresses, jumpers and jeans were at the top of the list, followed by men’s T-shirts and jumpers. Water used to make cotton is 60 per cent of the total water footprint of fabric processing, outweighing cotton’s 43 per cent. Companies are taking steps to promote sustainable cotton sourcing and WRAP is calling on organisations to set a 70 per cent target for sustainable cotton sourcing by 2020.
Primark has helped rural female farmers in India increase average profits by 247 per cent through the third year of its Sustainable Cotton Programme. WRAP is targeting 60 per cent household washes to run at a lower 30C setting by 2020, a habit which has become more prominent since 2012. Elsewhere, a decline in the use of tumble dryers and ironing has reduced emissions of clothes in circulation by 700,000 tonnes annually. SCAP is plying a major role in helping to make sustainable fashion much more mainstream.
Versaperm, the world leader in measurement of vapour permeability and other instruments, testing service and consultancy leader, has developed a system for ISO fabric testing that significantly reduces testing time down to as little as thirty minutes for many fabrics.
The system has been designed to be used for both product development and quality control of fabrics and garments. It is ideally suited to textiles that need to permit the passage of water vapour — breathable — but strongly resist both water droplets and wind.
Following the successful $200 billion market for active wear, demand for new high performance textiles puts textile producers under considerable stress to introduce even more smarter fabrics. A drawback is that ISO fabric testing can take several weeks to make even a single permeability measurement which adds a huge time lag into the process.
Versaperm says that its latest range of equipment can test several fabrics at exactly the same time and to an accuracy in the Parts Per Million (PPM) to Parts Per Billion ranges. Further, unlike ISO standard systems, Versaperm’s equipment can also measure vapour permeability of multiple gasses such as oxygen and water vapour through the same sample at the same time.
Ricoh will make available two new direct-to-garment printers, the Ri 3000 and the Ri 6000. The two devices give printers flexible and cost-effective digital systems traditionally serviced by analogue equipment.
The new direct-to-garment printers are ideal for promotional items like T-shirts, cloth bags, hoodies, sweatshirts, and socks, says Vaughan Patterson, product marketing operations manager for Production Print at Ricoh SA. Both can print on a wide range of materials from 100 per cent cotton and light polyester to mixed polyester and even 50/50 blends.
Screen printers, specialist direct-to-garment printers, sign and display printers, commercial graphic arts printers, and entrepreneurs can create valuable products for many industries, as well as fashion, education, corporates, small and medium businesses, home decoration, youth groups, sports clubs, and charities.
One of the key benefits of the digital direct-to-garment devices is that it shortens traditional production processes in this environment, says Patterson. They get colourfast, machine-washable prints that stretch without cracking. And the ink is environmentally friendly. It also integrates the process with the rest of the print workflows. Printers can get low volume, personalised jobs finished to high quality specifications on light and dark garments without limiting half tones, dumbing down their designs, and even using photographs.
The systems also include user-friendly maintenance features such as an automatic ink circulation system for white channels that improves ink flow and performance. It also incorporates the seven-inch touch-enabled panel. The printers will be progressively available throughout Europe and South Africa from the third quarter of 2017.
Fashion forecaster MintModa and Archroma, a global leader in color and specialty chemicals, now have a strategic partnership leveraging the respective strengths of both companies in color creativity. Combining Archroma’s scientific color expertise with MintModa’s clear, narrative-driven color forecasts provides fashion and design-related industries with an actionable and trend-right color resource.
Because color plays a starring role in visual language of social media, carefully chosen palettes are essential for capturing a new generation of connected consumers also color Atlas by Archroma offers 4,320 new shades, extending their custom color business with a readily available, time-efficient color management system. MintModa’s ColoRevolution offers highly-curated color analysis and direction on its cloud-based subscription trend service.
MintModa founder and creative director Sharon Graubard says the customer is visually sophisticated, a voracious consumer of ever-changing images depicting highly-styled products, places and people. The emotional draw of color, hardwired into humans, becomes an ever-more powerful marketing tool.
The Color Atlas by Archroma represents a true labor of love, says Chris Hipps, Global Director, Archroma Color Management. The idea is to offer our customers options they never dreamed of. In fact, the level of color curation dovetails with the passionate drive and relentless commitment towards excellence, he added.
Lectra the world leader in integrated technology solutions dedicated to industries using fabrics, leather, technical textiles and composite materials is now helping pattern-making students in Italy benefit from cutting-edge technology and nurtures key skills. It has chalked out partnerships with over 850 fashion schools across the world, providing them with solutions and expertise to help teachers prepare students with the skills they require for the workplace. Working with leading education partners, Lectra organises regular student competitions in association with customers.
The latest venture in Italy is a clear example of industry and education working hand-in-hand to nurture young fashion designers. Students at Istituto Secoli developed their collections using Lectra’s Modaris and Diamino solutions to create their patterns, prototypes and markers. In addition, students from the master’s program in menswear cut their creations with Vector, Lectra’s state-of-the-art fabric cutting solution.
Lectra serves major world markets: fashion and apparel, automotive, and furniture as well as a broad array of other industries. Lectra’s solutions, specific to each market, enable customers to automate and optimize product design, development, and manufacturing.
With more than 1,550 employees, Lectra has developed privileged relationships with prestigious customers in more than 100 countries. It registered revenues of 288 million dollars in 2016.
Telengana government has decided to discourage cotton cultivation. At present, 2.6 lakh hectares is under cotton cultivation and the government proposes to restrict it to 6.5 lakh hectares across the State this kharif season. The government is looking at promoting cultivation of pulses, millets and oilseeds by offering a 75 per cent subsidy.
Last year as well, the State government had asked farmers not to cultivate cotton in the areas that are not suitable for growth. The government announced farmers can grow cotton in about 4.75 lakh hectares that is suitable for the crop. Farmers grew cotton in 6.75 lakh hectares 2015, down by 1.25 lakh hectares from the 8 lakh ha. in 2014.
Last year, Telangana was first to discourage cotton cultivation which was soon followed by Andhra Pradesh due to pink bollworm infestation which developed a resistance to Bollgard II resulting in a 30 per cent drop in yield. The government was hence looking at reducing cotton cultivation by at least by 33 per cent and decided to promote pulses and millets as alternative crops.
Donear has acquired Grasim Bhiwani Textiles. The acquisition will give the Donear Group world class manufacturing capabilities, an iconic fabric brand and access to marquee customers globally. It will significantly enhance Donear’s product portfolio, give it access to a strong nationwide retail network, wholesalers and multi-brand outlets through which Donear can expand its reach.
Grasim is the country’s largest manufacturer of PV and PW suiting, selling its products under the Grasim and Graviera brands in India and abroad. The biggest strengths of Grasim Bhiwani are its quality-conscious trade partners and global customers, who have been associated with it for a long time.
Grasim Bhiwani caters to international fashion houses in the US and the UK, supplying fabric to them for making garments. These garments are available in some of the largest retail chain stores. Donear aims to build further on Grasim’s existing strengths. Both Donear and Grasim Bhiwani will maintain their individual identities and stay committed to offer the best products and services to their valued customers as one team.
Textile is Donear’s core business. It has a production capacity of around 45 lakh meters a month. Donear also has a strong international presence. With a comprehensive product basket, the company is supplies fabrics to India’s largest brands including Louis Philippe, Van Heusen, Peter England, Blackberry, Arvind, Wills Lifestyle and more.
Chinese apparel export was growing exponentially till 2014 and later it showed a steep decline. In 2014, Chinese global apparel export was the highest ever and within two years it has lost 14.79 per cent of its exports. Due largely to its skilled workforce, China is ranked the number one textile and clothing exporters in the world producing over 43.1 per cent of global demand. However, now China is concentrating more on value adding tech intensive products. China’s textile industry is shifting gears for several reasons including higher costs of production and scarcity of a skilled labour. Exports are on the decline but the sector still maintains its key position in the world.
As per the 13th five-year plan of Chinese Government for 2016 to 2020, China is strategically moving towards more value adding tech intensive products. The plan is to maintain traditional market share and grow more on high value adding product range. Data indicates China is losing its export dominance since 2015 in almost all product sectors in textiles and clothing industry which are largely divided into eight major categories such as garment, cotton fabrics, chemical fabrics, wool fabrics, silk fabrics, knitted fabrics, textile machinery and best fiber.
An analysis of China’s Textile Industry Development Report (2014 to 2015) shows textile fiber production in China touches 50+ million tons, accounting for 54.36 per cent of world share. As much as 64.2 per cent of the world’s chemical fibers, 64.1 per cent of synthetic fibers and 26.2 per cent of cotton were produced in China. Further, apparel production in China reached 29.9 billion units in 2014, which is 10.4 per cent higher as against 2013. This huge production capacity of China gives a clear view that it is very probable that China will remain the top apparel sourcing country for international buyers.
C&A the global apparel retailer has disclosed details of its more than 2,000 suppliers from 40 sourcing countries. C&A published the supplier list in its new sustainability report, which included the addresses and names of suppliers, number of workers and product category of its entire Tier-I (cut and sew production units) and Tier-II (printing, laundries and embroidery) production units.
C&A global chief sustainability Officer Jeffrey Hogue says transparency leads to more accountability and behavior change: our priority is to ensure that the working conditions in our supply chain are upheld to our standards and the social and environmental performance continually improved. By being transparent about where our products are made, the customers and stakeholders can feel confident that they are making good choices in the partners and how the clothing is made.
In its new global sustainability report, C&A has disclosed its supplier list for three core reasons that is to be completely transparent about where its products are made, to improve worker rights within suppliers’ factories and to provide an open channel to problem-solve major labor issues.
At present C&A assesses suppliers based on Sustainable Apparel Coalition’s (SAC) Higg Index, which is universally used by many major apparel brands. The company updates its audit protocols annually to reflect transparency progress within its supply chain. To further promote transparency, C&A is working with a new set of zero-tolerance issues, including excessive working hours and failure to pay minimum wages, which will be taken into consideration for suppliers from this year forward. C&A aims to have 100 percent of its products derive from top-performing suppliers and go beyond auditing to fully engage workers in its global supply chain by 2020.
Austrian fibre maker, the Lenzing Group, known for its textile and nonwovens cellulose fibres is set to construct a state of the art ‘Lyocell fibre’ production plant in Thailand. The plant would be set up at Industrial Park 304 in Prachinburi Province of Thailand by the end of 2020. The choice of location was due to its extensive infrastructure, numerous tax benefits, availability of labour, competitive land cost, certified drainage system and sustainable biogenic energy supply. The production facility will have an annual capacity of 100,000 tons of fibres.
The decision to establish a plant in Thailand is part the brand’s strategy focused on strengthening the company’s core business operations. This is done by enhancing cooperation with buyers across the textile value chain to increase their share of specialty fibres to 50 per cent of the total group’s revenue by 2020 and further expand their geographical footprint.
