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"The global intimate apparel market is expected to grow at a CAGR of more than 4 per cent during 2017-21, says the latest report by Technavio. Consumers are demanding products that are both fashionable and comfortable. The increase in customisation of bras is an important driver for the market. The recovery from the recession in 2009 and rise in demand from emerging economies, especially China, are some other market drivers. Vendors are marketing their products to different consumer segments."
The global intimate apparel market is expected to grow at a CAGR of more than 4 per cent during 2017-21, says the latest report by Technavio. Consumers are demanding products that are both fashionable and comfortable. The increase in customisation of bras is an important driver for the market. The recovery from the recession in 2009 and rise in demand from emerging economies, especially China, are some other market drivers. Vendors are marketing their products to different consumer segments. Leading intimate apparel vendors face tough competition from the designer lingerie outlets, local vendors, and private labels. The intense competition and price wars have adversely affected profit margins of vendors.
Factors contributing growth
growth of global intimate apparel market: emphasis on customisation of bras to Technavio consumer and retail research analysts highlight the following three factors that are contributing to theincrease consumer base; greater demand for plus sizes; economic recovery from recession; and more emphasis on customization of bras to increase consumer base. Intimate apparel is now not only an essential product but also a fashion apparel. Most key manufacturers add new collections regularly to attract consumers. Intimate apparel is available in multiple colors, patterns, and designs because consumers, especially teenagers, prefer matching their daily clothes with complementary lingerie.
Brijesh Choubey, a lead apparel and textile research analyst at Technavio, says manufacturers are focussed on designing products that are consumer-oriented and based on their specific needs. For example, they are manufacturing laser-cut seamless bras, molded t-shirt bras, and strapless bras because these are in high demand among fashion-conscious consumers.
Greater demand for plus sizes
Obese women generally have bigger busts and prefer wearing bras that minimise their size. This has increased sales of minimizer bras and other products such as shapewear, which provide a foundation for other clothes. New-age shapewear is pleasant to wear and does not leave any pressure marks on the body. The US is the largest market for intimate apparel, and the demand for plus size intimate apparel is high as 34.9 per cent of the population, comprising all age groups, is obese. This has resulted in increased demand for plus size intimate apparel, especially lingerie and shapewear, adds Choubey.
Economic recovery has led to a decrease in unemployment rate, an increase in income, and improvement in consumer confidence. During the recession, the frequency of consumers buying intimate apparel had decreased, and they preferred buying low-priced intimate apparel in bulk. Since then, the intimate apparel market has witnessed intense growth because of increased consumer spending. Consumers are now willing to spend extra on more comfortable, trendy, and fashionable intimate apparel.
During January to April 2017cotton imports by the US surged marginally in volume terms by 0.1 per cent on a year-on-year basis. Total cotton imports include imports of cotton yarn, cotton fabrics, cotton made-ups and cotton apparels.
Cotton fabrics and cotton made-ups recorded a boost by 3.8 per cent and four per cent in volume terms. Imports of cotton yarns and cotton apparels fell six per cent and two per cent in volume terms.
In April, only cotton made-ups recorded a growth in volume-wise imports of 2.5 per cent whereas imports of cotton yarns, cotton fabrics and cotton apparels were down by 5.7 per cent, 5.1 per cent and 1.4 per cent when compared with April 2016.
India’s apparel exports to the US fell by four per cent year-on-year in April 2017. Among the top four apparel exporting countries to the US, only China and Vietnam registered a growth in apparel exports. China, the leading exporter of apparels to the US, saw an increase of 4.4 per cent in its exports. Resultantly, the country’s share in the US apparel import market rose by 150 basis points to 29.9 per cent.
Apparel exports of Vietnam to the US rose by 11.4 per cent. The country’s market share expanded by 170 basis points to 15.2 per cent. On the contrary, apparel exports of Bangladesh and Indonesia fell by 7.6 per cent and 3.5 per cent respectively. The market share of Bangladesh contracted by 50 basis points to 6.6 per cent and that of Indonesia shrunk by 20 basis points to 6.5 per cent.
Pitti Uomo is being held in Italy, June 13 to 16, 2017.The biannual event is about men’s fashion. It has attracted buyers from around the world, designers and creative people, industry players and managers. It includes presentations, fashion shows, displays and installations.
There are 1,231 brands presenting their spring/summer collection 2018, of which 546 are from abroad. Like the previous editions, the fair is also expected to provide a strong economic boost to the surrounding area.
The peaks in the fair's numbers go hand in hand with new records in the Italian men’s fashion industry. In 2016, turnover exceeded the nine billion euro mark for the first time, registering an increase of 1.2 per cent. This was driven by suits and knitwear, which together contributed 82.4 per cent to revenues, while sales of leather wear, ties and shirts slowed. Exports continued to play a fundamental role, rising 2.4 per cent, driven by Germany, Britain, Spain, Hong Kong and Japan, while markets that slowed included the US and France.
For 2017, the turnover for the textiles and fashion sector is expected to grow 1.8 per cent. Men's clothing looks set to do even better, above all, if the US market recovers.
American children's apparel retailer Gymboree has filed for bankruptcy. The company was hurt by lower-cost competition from rival brick-and-mortar chains. It plans to cut its debt by around a billion dollars and close 375 stores.
Gymboree joins a growing list of specialty retailers and department stores that have closed thousands of locations or filed for bankruptcy this year as consumers shift toward online shopping. San Francisco-based Gymboree opened its first store in 1986 and expanded rapidly, going public in 1993. The chain failed to achieve the levels of growth it had anticipated.
Gymboree's lenders agreed to provide a 35 million dollar loan to finance the company's operations and will invest 80 million dollars in the company when it emerges from bankruptcy. Gymboree expects to move through this process quickly and emerge as a stronger organization that is better positioned in today’s evolving retail landscape. The bankruptcy was widely expected after Gymboree refused to pay some of its bills in recent months, placing the retailer on a collision course with creditors.
In the past year, Sears and Macy's have closed scores of department stores while chains such as The Limited Stores, The Wet Seal and shoe retailer Payless Holdings have filed for bankruptcy.
The speed of fashion retail these days is boosting apparel sales, especially among women’s clothing purchased online. Of the more than 7,000 new apparel products that appear online every day, nearly half are aimed at women, while only 1,750 are geared toward men, with the rest children’s, babies’ and footwear. More than half of all online women’s apparel purchases are items that have just hit the market in the previous three months, compared with 38.8 per cent of spending on the newest men’s items.
There are other gender-based shopping differences. Women tend to shop seasonally while men buy shirts and underwear all year long. Women, meanwhile, look for dresses in the spring and sweaters in the fall.
Women’s apparel sees much more turnover in response to a quicker fashion cycle than other categories of clothing. Moreover, women’s clothes purchased online span a wide range of items of clothing than men’s or children’s apparel and women’s clothes are sold in the same ratio at the high and low end.
Online apparel consumers at all levels are keen on finding deals. There has been a 4.3 per cent year-over-year price deflation in online apparel sales compared to relatively flat apparel inflation in stores.
GST may necessitate a significant tweaking of the duty drawback schemes that have helped Indian exports compete in an increasingly adverse global market. The major concern of the textile exports industry is what would happen to the various drawback benefits, and particularly how the refund mechanism would play out. Today the industry is surviving because of drawbacks.
To illustrate, the recently launched policy of refunding state levies to exporters called Remission of State Levies can't exist in the new tax regime as there would be no state taxes. If the duty drawback policy is not tweaked to accommodate GST, the textile industry is set to lose close to Rs 1,500 crores in refunds.
The Remission of State Levies scheme is being studied to make it compatible with the GST regime. It will probably undergo some changes because value added tax is being subsumed under GST. Exporters had been getting duty drawback on the central levies imposed during the process of manufacturing of goods for exports. And, beginning December, they started to get reimbursement of state levies as well.
While there would be input tax credits under GST, there are many costs which were being taken care of under the various duty drawback schemes. There are many hidden costs as well. Unless they are addressed under GST, India would lose out to neighboring countries, particularly while exporting to the European Union.
The National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) has filed public comments with the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) outlining the US textile industry’s priorities in the forthcoming renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
The US textile industry welcomes President Trump’s decision to renegotiate NAFTA. It feels NAFTA is vital to the prosperity of the US textile industry. But it also feels NAFTA can be improved to incentivize more textile and apparel jobs and production in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
NCTO says eliminating loopholes that shift production to third-party countries like China and devoting more customs enforcement resources to stop illegal third-country transshipments are two changes that would make the agreement better.
In 1994, the North American Free Trade Agreement came into effect, creating one of the world’s largest free trade zones and laying the foundations for strong economic growth and rising prosperity for Canada, the United States, and Mexico. It aims at demonstrating how free trade increases wealth and competitiveness, delivering real benefits to families, farmers, workers, manufacturers, and consumers. It has set a valuable example of the benefits of trade liberalization for the rest of the world.
NCTO is a Washington-based trade association that represents domestic textile manufacturers.
"Activewear have gained popularity because of comfort, looks, and functional properties like keeping cool, dry, and odor free. According to the Cotton Incorporated Lifestyle Monitor™ Survey, half of all consumers (50 per cent) are willing to pay more for water repellent apparels, followed by thermal regulating (48 per cent), and moisture management (46 per cent) apparel. Such features are becoming more attractive to consumers."
Activewear have gained popularity because of comfort, looks, and functional properties like keeping cool, dry, and odor free. According to the Cotton Incorporated Lifestyle Monitor™ Survey, half of all consumers (50 per cent) are willing to pay more for water repellent apparels, followed by thermal regulating (48 per cent), and moisture management (46 per cent) apparel. Such features are becoming more attractive to consumers. In fact, research shows activewear shoppers are ‘very or somewhat likely’ to seek odour resistant features (63 per cent), moisture management features (60 per cent), thermal regulating and sweat hiding properties (both 59 per cent), water repellency (53 per cent), and antimicrobial features (42 per cent).
As Lacey Johnson, Global Brand Director, Bemis points out, many brands are looking to elevate more traditional silhouettes such as the T-shirt, classic crewneck sweatshirt, etc. “These classic silhouettes have been around forever but now Bemisss is helping brand partners reevaluate them to add a more technical aspect to the designs. Bemis Associates recently developed a line of Sewfree Bonding solutions specifically for natural fibres like cotton.
Johnson says the sewfree bonding offered by Bemis would be appreciated by consumers who workout both indoors and outside. The clothes one wears should never get in the way of performance when being active. Bemis’ technology helps clothes become a second — or third or fourth — skin. Whether this means avoiding chaffing, eliminating bulk, offering greater stretch, moisture-wicking capabilities, visibility with reflective adhesive applications, or protecting fabrics themselves with waterproofing, etc, sewfree bonding helps the wearer feel less restricted and worry less about the elements around them.
The Terra Collection allows designers to reinvent active and outerwear pieces by allowing a new level of breathability, lightweight versatility, and performance – all while maintaining the aesthetic of a soft fabric look, says Johnson. Such solutions are important as the industry is seeing an increased use of natural fibres.
L2 Digital Index
The L2 Digital IQ Index for activewear says the category is one of the fastest growing segments in apparel, and is expected to reach $117 billion in North America by the end of 2020. While Nike, Under Armour and Adidas are the top brands, L2 points out, activewear has seen an influx of new players looking to capitalize on the trend. Fashion apparel companies like Topshop and Victoria’s Secret have also joined the athleisure movement. In this increasingly competitive market, brands and retailers continue to search for growth opportunities and points of differentiation. As per L2 consumers are spending more time than ever researching their purchases online, often beginning days ahead of actually buying an item.
Activewear brands have always relied on athletes and celebrities to market their products to larger audiences, as per L2 reports. As street style and athleisure infiltrate high fashion, brands are coming full circle by turning to high fashion designers to collaborate on new lines. Whether it’s hardcore gym wear or designer athleisure, Johnson says consumers want activewear that works for them.
India will have a textile policy in three months. The draft has been finalized after consultation with stakeholders. The policy aims to achieve over Rs 20 lakh crores (USD 300billion) of textile exports by 2024-25 and create an additional 35 million jobs.
Responses from foreign players at the forthcoming Textiles India 2017 conference will also serve as inputs. A Textiles India conclave and exhibition is being organized in Gujarat from June 30 to July 2 for the Indian textile and handicraft sectors which will showcase the entire range of textile products from fiber to fashion.
The event will have over 1,000 stalls and will witness the presence of over 2,500 discerning international buyers, agents, designers, retail chains from across the world, and 15,000 domestic buyers. The three day event will include a global conference with six themes.
Textiles India 2017 is the first ever global B2B textile and handicrafts event in India. It holds the promise of becoming a landmark annual trade event for the Indian textile and apparel industry at the global level. It is celebrating the significant achievements of India's textile industry and the enormous promise of spectacular growth over the next few years.
India’s textile sector is a major contributor to overall industrial production, exports and employment. The textile sector is also rising on the new digital wave with players vying with each other to grab a higher share of online fashion.
Apparel retailers in South Africa like Mr Price, Edcon and TFG are facing falling sales. Shoppers are reluctant to spend in an economy fraught with uncertainty. Mr Price had a fall of 10.4 per cent in diluted headline earnings per share in the year to April 2017. Retail sales eased 0.5 per cent while comparable store sales fell 3.6 per cent.
Mr Price’s share price has decreased 21.04 per cent over the past year but is up 3.31 per cent so far in 2017. For the year to end March 2017, turnover growth for TFG Africa was eight per cent with a comparable sales growth of 2.8 per cent. In the last quarter, TFG Africa’s like-for-like sales were 0.2 per cent.
In the past year, TFG’s share price has shed 5.38 per cent and has declined 11.06 per cent in the year to date. For the 52 weeks to March, Edcon group sales decreased 6.7 per cent while adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation fell 45 per cent. Edcon is South Africa’s largest nonfood retailer.
Retailers’ revenues are likely to come under more pressure due to low consumer confidence and economic factors. South African consumers are unlikely to see a cyclical recovery in 2017 and even if this does materialise, it’s unlikely to be of the magnitude required to offset the structural headwinds facing the sector.
