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Carol L. Roberts and Benno Dorer have been elected directors of VF Corporation. Carol Roberts has a mix of experience across finance, HR, manufacturing and general management. She is a mechanical engineer. For 36 years she was with International Paper, where she held a number of leadership positions with increasing responsibility.
Benno Dorer led several well-known, global consumer brands. He is an economics graduate. He was with Clorox. For 14 years he was with Procter & Gamble, working in various marketing roles across a range of categories and countries.
VF Corporation is a global leader in branded lifestyle apparel, footwear and accessories. The corporation, based in the US, has two dozen or so major brands (including icons such as Vans, Kipling, Wrangler, Lee, The North Face and Timberland), a 60,000-plus staff and nearly 1000 contract factories producing over 1.3 million items a day across almost 50 countries.
As one of the pioneers of outsourced manufacturing, VF has policies designed to stamp out underage working, forced labor and similar abuses in supplier factories. VF takes a hands-on approach throughout the product cycle, from procuring the raw materials right through to providing customer service. Its effort at collecting data on key performance indicators is mostly geared toward internal improvements.
Luxury Jersey has teamed with Fulgar to create EVO, an innovative bio-based yarn. EVO is made from castor oil derived from non-food plants that grow spontaneously. This renewable resource does not require large amounts of water or take up land that can otherwise be used for cultivating foodstuffs. EVO is suitable for any textile application and ideal for sportswear. It is ultra-light, super stretch and extremely breathable, dries quickly and does not need ironing, has thermal properties and natural bacteriostatic. This whole range of distinctive values and benefits aims to ensure maximum comfort and performance, while retaining an intense eco-awareness.
Luxury Jersey is an Italian producer of high-quality knitted fabrics. Established in 2011, the company produces high-quality knitted fabrics intended for designers, ready-to-wear fashion houses and the luxury sector. In order to promote consumer well-being, Luxury Jersey bases its creative and manufacturing processes around the concept of sustainability, using an all-Italian, entirely traceable supply chain, from raw materials to weaving, dyeing and finishing.
Fulgar, also from Italy, is a company known for the most advanced products in the field of materials and hi-tech fabrics derived from organic sources. After sportswear and casual wear, the high-end fashion textiles sector is placing an increasing emphasis on sustainability.
Egypt’s most famous export is the silky soft cotton prized by makers of luxury bedding and clothing. Egypt’s sunny skies and superior seed help it grow a cotton known for unusually long fibers that produce a light durable fabric with an attractive sheen and soft touch. But last year agricultural production of Egypt’s high quality long staple cotton hit a more than 100-year low. Production has slumped since 2011, a year of political upheaval that coincided with looser regulations that degraded the quality of cotton.
Faced with big losses, farmers burnt their cotton crops, with many switching to rice. This is set to change. Farmers and exporters expect a comeback for the crop, spurred by the country’s decision to float its currency, halving its value overnight but helping push local cotton prices sky high.
In a bid to save its historic crop, Egypt in 2016 banned all but the highest quality cotton seed, dramatically shrinking the area under cultivation but restoring quality. It’s estimated that in 2016-17, Egypt will produce 1,60,000 bales, half the previous year’s crop and a fraction of the 1.4 million produced in 2004-05. Measures such as DNA testing and a system of international auditing will reduce imitation Egyptian cotton to 30 per cent of world supply by the end of this year.
Apparel Textile Sourcing Canada (ATSC) will take place August 21 to 23, 2017. A comprehensive trade show and conference, ATSC 2017 will bring to Canada hundreds of apparel and textile manufacturers from around the world, including China, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, the US, UK, Mexico, Colombia, Peru and many more. Through an impressive platform of seminars and sessions, attendees can make global industry connections, and gain the insights needed to navigate the international sourcing process. This is the first Canadian trade show to be launched by an online B2B trade platform. This time there is a 50 per cent increase in exhibit space. The decision to expand was driven by positive exhibitor and visitor feedback, strong attendance and a renewed commitment from international manufacturers and industry partners.
ATSC was introduced to provide Canadian businesses with the convenience of connecting with international suppliers on their home turf. New for 2017 will be a leading edge trends showcase featuring the latest and greatest in apparel and textiles and a high-profile roster of international speakers.
A fashion show and design contest will also be held, featuring items available to be sourced at the event as well as fashions from local designers and students from many of the Toronto-based fashion schools partnering with the event for the second consecutive year.
The US and Japan accounted for 53.5 per cent of Vietnam’s garment and textile sector’s export turnover last year. To meet its revenue target of $30 billion from exports in 2017, the sector will have to increase shipments to the US and Japan and maintain an export growth of six per cent in the two markets.
In 2016, Vietnam’s apparel market performed lower than expected, with exports bringing in $28.3 billion, or 90 per cent of the target, up 5.7 per cent year-on-year. The low export turnover is attributed to fewer export orders because of fierce competition from foreign textile and garment producers as well as a decline in global demand.
Vietnam’s leather and footwear industry expects to raise its export value by 10 per cent this year. To achieve the target, the leather and footwear sector needs to boost technological innovation, invest in new equipment and modernise existing equipment, expand the production scale of domestic enterprises to increase productivity as well as improve the quality of products.
Another promising element is the Vietnam-European Union free trade agreement, which will take effect in 2018 and afford Vietnamese footwear makers more opportunities to boost exports. Footwear currently ranks fourth and suitcase-bag-briefcase ranks tenth among Vietnam’s top ten foreign currency earners.
Bangladesh is looking for Duty Free Quota Free (DFQF) access to the US. By increase its volume of trade to the US with the help of DFQF, Bangladesh feels it would be able to progress further in women’s empowerment and elimination of terrorism.
Bangladesh’s apparel exports to the US, its single largest destination, have declined 1.96 per cent year-on-year. Garments account for 95 per cent of the goods exported from Bangladesh to the US. There is a change in the attitude of US consumers, who now prefer spending more on electronic gadgets compared to clothes.
Bangladesh now faces an export duty of 15.62 per cent under America's most favored nations' category. But apparel exports from Vietnam to the US may face stricter rules as the US has abandoned the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Vietnam—one of the major competitors of Bangladesh in the US market—was supposed to enjoy a zero duty benefit as one of the member nations of TPP. After the scrapping of the TPP, the export duty of 8.38 per cent for Vietnam will remain in force. This may ultimately benefit Bangladesh.
Nine out of 10 top apparel exporting nations of the world experienced negative growth in shipment to the US in 2016. Only Vietnam's apparel exports increased 0.30 per cent year-on-year in 2016.
Dhaka Apparel Summit will take place on February 25, 2017. The event will bring together some of world's leading experts in their respective fields to share their experiences and visionary thoughts on issues pertaining to the apparel industry and ways in which the business can realize sustainable growth well into the 21st century.
The main focus will be on the apparel industry of Bangladesh, its recent transformation and suggestions to chalk out sustainable development. As Bangladesh is a part of the global apparel supply chain, global apparel issues will also be discussed. The objective is to open a dialogue on framing strategies to secure a more sustainable apparel supply chain from local and global perspectives.
Discussions will shed light on different timely issues, including the Bangladesh readymade garment industry which is at the dawn of a new era in its development, with strides being taken toward achieving sustainable targets. The summit will offer a forum to express and discuss views with a broad spectrum of proposals to further improve the industry’s sustainable credentials. It also aims to bring about various methods to achieve these goals. There will be panel discussion sessions, offering a more open and interactive environment, and allowing full audience participation and the opportunity for a valid exchange of ideas.
The market for textile chemicals in Asia is expected to exhibit a steady CAGR of 7.6 per cent during 2014 to 2020. As of 2014, textile chemicals accounted for nearly two per cent of the overall specialty chemicals market.
Textile chemicals are a class of specialty chemicals and comprise chemicals and intermediates that are used in various stages of textile processing such as preparation, dyeing, printing and finishing. These are often used to enhance or impart desired properties and color to the fabrics during the manufacturing process.
The Chinese textile chemical market is expected to grow at CAGR of 8.6 per cent. In terms of market value, India is the second largest market for textile chemicals in Asia. The Indian textile chemicals market is expected to witness a steady growth at a CAGR of nine per cent in the same period. Countries like Vietnam, Bangladesh, and Indonesia also are expected to witness relatively high growth in the textile chemicals market.
From applications perspective, the market is composed of the apparels segment, the home furnishings segment and other (technical and smart textiles) segments. The apparels segment accounts for the largest share among these segments and is slated to register a CAGR of 6.8 per cent during the forecast period.
Primark has expansion plans in Germany. The retailer opened its first store in Germany in 2009 and the country now accounts for 22 of a group total of 328 shops. It plans to expand to 29 stores within the next two years, making the country its third biggest market by selling space behind Britain and Spain.
The chain now has 1.4 million sq. ft. of space for a German population of 80 million. Primark is a UK retailer. It’s owned by the food and retail giant Associated British Foods. The only thing holding Primark back in Germany is finding large enough stores in the right locations. Primark stores are usually much bigger than those run by other fashion retailers, often sprawling over several floors and including children's wear, home furnishings and cosmetics.
Shares in AB Foods fell in January after it reported that Primark's like-for-like sales dropped in Germany and the Netherlands in the 16 weeks to January 7, hurt by a rapid increase in selling space.
But that will not stop AB Foods from expanding Primark in Germany. Sales are predicted to grow at a high single digit rate in an otherwise flat market, to reach about 638 million pounds this year.
The annual International Apparel Federation (IAF) convention will be held in Brazil on October 17 to 18, 2017. IAF is the only federation in the world that has relationships with apparel associations in over 60 countries, including the US, India, China, Germany, France, Italy, South Korea and Taiwan.
Last year’s convention was held in India. Every year, a conference is organized in an IAF member country, with the aim of discussing topics of significance for apparel production chain, such as its relations with the textile industry, with retail and with the communities where its production units are located.
The next event will discuss on: Vision of the Industry and of Retail on Social and Environmental Compliance, Government and Institutional Actions on International Compliance Demands, Influence of Social and Environmental Responsibility in the End Consumer’s Purchase Decisions, Challenges of the Industry in Transitioning to the Industry 4.0 Model, Impacts of New Technologies on Retail Operations and What Does the Fashion Consumer Really Want?
There will be a total of 18 speakers, six moderators and two keynote speakers. Brazil is the fourth largest apparel producer in the world as well as the fifth largest textile manufacturer, with the largest integrated production chain in the western world. Every year, 9.8 billion items are manufactured in the country, with around 5.5 billion being apparel items.
