FW
The clothing industry is an environmental disaster. Acrylic, a common ingredient in workout clothes or dresses, for example, is derived from petroleum, as is nylon. Petroleum is derived from crude oil, i.e. fossil fuels, meaning they are not sustainable.
The further we move away from natural fibers like cotton, which are more expensive and water-intensive to grow and process, the more we wear toxic clothing. Scientists and entrepreneurs are constantly introducing new ways to create fabrics and clothing. The future of clothing is about spider silk, recycled waste or algae.
Spiber is a Japanese company that makes materials using spider silk. Spiber has been working on prototype clothing using its product, including a collaboration with North Face on a jacket. Spiber isolates proteins from spiders and then synthesizes fibers in a laboratory through a process of fermentation using sugars and microbes and then a spinning process that turns the polymers into threads.
Adidas is using bio fabrics similar to spider silk to make breathable sneakers. The company has introduced the world’s first major bio fabricated shoe. To make the shoes, Adidas worked with Amsilk, another German company. This is a material made up of synthetic proteins, designed to produce the same toughness as natural spider silk.
To come to a conclusion as to what women around the world think of finding a pair of jeans isn’t an easy task. This was the subject of a panel discussion at the 2016 Initiatives in Art & Culture (IAC) fashion conference held in Manhattan.
While discussing the topic, Invista Global Director Jean Hegedus presented a new quantitative study conducted by them to examine the denim habits of women world over. The study, conducted for Invista by 2CV Research, talked to thousands of women across five countries including Brazil, China, Germany, and the United States, on the role denim plays as far as their wardrobes are concerned.
While the findings of the study were vastly different around the world, there were a few constants. Women in every country love denim. It was found out that the average woman owns eight pairs of jeans, with women in Brazil owning as many as nine pairs on average.
Well, this doesn’t mean that she wants to wear jeans all the time, though, with most women reporting they prefer to wear jeans around the house, except in China, where denim is preferred. To average American women, jeans are the pant of choice for running errands, while in China it is just the opposite with most women there preferring leggings for running about.
All across the world, close-fitting jeans proved most popular with only Brazillian women preferring straight silhouettes. Despite talk about the days of the skinny jeans gone by, Invista’s survey found that most US women still prefer skinny jeans above straight-leg styles.
As per the study, only 52 per cent of women around the world described buying jeans as ‘easy’ and in the US and Germany this was far less, with only 42 per cent of American women and 30 per cent of German women saying buying a pair of jeans is rather easy. On this subject, China was the sole exception where 75 per cent of women said buying jeans was easy.
Bangladesh has emerged the second largest apparel exporting country after China and has an annual export turnover of around $30 billion. Accordingly, Bangladesh requires huge quantities of textiles, particularly fabrics, to cater to the requirements of its apparel industry. However, since the country doesn’t have a good back-up for producing the necessary raw materials like fabrics needed for making garments on its own, it is largely dependent on sourcing the fabric materials from different centers in the world including India.
The leading markets from which Bangladesh sources its requirement of fabrics include China, Thailand, Taiwan, Hong Kong, India, South Korea, Indonesia. Bangladesh was the fourth largest market for Indian manmade fibers during 2014-15. It imported around $4 billion worth of manmade fibers during 2014 of which India’s share was around ten per cent. Bangladesh sourced around $2 billion worth manmade fiber based fabrics during 2014 of which India’s share was 11 per cent.
Indeed, there is a great opportunity for Indian manufacturers and exporters of fabrics in Bangladesh market. The main items of export from India include polyester filament fabrics, nylon filament fabrics, saris, furnishing articles, laces, mufflers etc. Bangladesh hopes to double its apparel export earnings by 2020.
Buyers want to visually appraise wool before they buy. Textile makers say they would not purchase from the Australian wool auction if visual appraisals are abolished. They refuse to support a selling system that doesn’t allow them to touch the wool before putting a price. Since they buy the wool fiber based on the style of the wool, they are in favor of physical inspections of the lots.
Their big concern with an electronic portal is the loss of the emotional aspect in the bidding room because a buyer might change their own limits after looking at the reaction of their competitors.
The auction system is seen as the most transparent market since it is clear to everybody what the value of the goods sold in the auction is. Fine Italian fabric makers will only pay the current high premiums for certain types of Australian wool if there are visual assessments. They say the whole Australian wool clip can’t be treated like a commodity. Since they buy the wool fiber based on the style of the wool, they are strongly in favor of physical inspections of the lots.
There are fears the system of using numbers in the auction system over visual appraisals would dumb down the auction system.
Cotton Council International’s (CCI) 9th biennial summit was held in the US, November 5 to 7, 2016. The summit explored challenges and opportunities facing the general use of cotton in the textile supply chain, as well as specific topics surrounding US cotton, including innovation and global economic issues.
Cotton is facing increasing competition from manmade fibers that can offer greater length uniformity at a lesser cost. So the themes of change and challenges to business-as-usual permeated the conference. The practical value of longstanding economic models, such as supply and demand, in today’s increasingly complex and tech-driven world was debated.
Some 415 delegates from 31 countries gathered for the summit. The audience represented 16 per cent of global cotton use. US cotton producers reiterated their commitment to maintaining strong relationships with the global cotton supply chain.
Economics and innovation were common threads of the conference, which included a cotton commodity update and an examination of certain domestic policies relevant to cotton. The panel comprised US exporters and textile mill representatives. Additional updates on agricultural, fiber quality and textile innovations were presented.
CCI hosted the conference in cooperation with Cotton Incorporated and USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service to help facilitate global networking opportunities for US cotton.
Non-tariff barriers are the biggest challenge for Pakistan’s exports. These are in the form of non-tariff barriers like standards, technical regulations, sanitary and phyto-sanitary measures and conformity assessment procedures.
Maintaining of quality and standards is important for Pakistan’s exporters to remain competitive in international markets. The country plans to ask China and the United States for help in upgrading the laboratories to the international mandatory standards.
The Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority has already been established to ensure quality products. On the other hand, the high charges taken by the Pakistan Council for Scientific and Industrial Research and the Pakistan Industrial Technical Assistance Centre for making various tests are causing a lot of problems for small and medium exporters who have to meet the conditions laid down by their foreign buyers.
Large industrial set-ups have their in-house test lab facilities whereas small and medium exporters are compelled to pay a high price for each test. The Synthetic Fiber Development and Application Centre, for instance, was established about three years ago to facilitate small and medium sized exporters test their export products as required by their customers. But exporters complain that for one single test they have to pay around Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000, which puts an extra burden on the input cost of products.
Ralph Lauren is shutting down its sub-brand ‘Denim & Supply’. Instead the company will cater to the denim market through its brand Polo. Apart from Polo, Ralph Lauren owns brands such as Chaps and Club Monaco. Club Monaco operates 59 stores via licensed partners and 77 department store concessions.
Denim & Supply was created in 2011. Its range featured fine denim items combined with military-style jackets and suits, and included signature pieces with a bohemian vibe. In the last few seasons, the range displayed more of an urban feel. The brand gained recognition for its style, but struggled to attract its 15- to 30 year-old consumer target, due to its high price positioning. It was distributed by denim specialty stores and also available through retail corners in department stores.
Despite enjoying an international presence, with some 20 Denim & Supply branded stores, the label accounted only for a very small part of the Ralph Lauren group's business.
Ralph Lauren has also decided to stop working with the less profitable multi-brand stores: between 20 and 25 per cent of the label’s wholesale clients will not be served any longer. Fashion brand Ralph Lauren, that opened in 1967, is named after its founder.
In Africa, Morocco leads the way in apparel exports and the country is set to hold firm in that position as more markets look for shorter delivery times. Benefitting largely from business with Inditex, the parent company of brands like Zara and Massimo Dutti, Morocco exported more than $3.5 billion worth of apparel in 2015. Moroccan producers have experience in quick response.
Morocco has deep know-how in producing for famous brands. Fast fashion is a major domain and it fulfills the demand of retailers and brands who have to serve clients very quickly. The Inditex group has doubled production in Morocco. Speediness is an important reason to choose Morocco for production.
Among fashion exporters Morocco has reached the seventh position. It has high ambitions to foster this industrial sector in terms of quality, sustainability, technology and logistics. More and more international brands and private label retailers are working with agents in Morocco to handle their sourcing, dealing and buying. Demand for fast fashion now covers 25 per cent of total purchases and short-term deliveries (less than six months) account for 35 per cent of order volume. Thanks to its nearness to Europe, Moroccan companies can compete with the Asian apparel producing nations.
For the last two years the hosiery and blanket industry in Ludhiana faced dull sales owing to warm winters. Now the industry is reeling under the aftershock of demonetization. Some units have cut down production or stopped it altogether owing to the cash crunch. So have the 200-odd blanket manufacturers in Amritsar.
Ludhiana has nearly 15,000 big, medium and small hosiery and knitwear units making shawls, sweaters, jackets, gloves, caps and warmers. Jammu and Kashmir is Ludhiana’s biggest market for hosiery products as it has long winters and a huge inflow of tourists and pilgrims at Vaishno Devi. But all orders from the valley this year have got cancelled due to the unrest.
The hosiery industry was already hit by relatively warmer winters in the last two years. And now the note ban has left it with no cash to pay labourers. The return of unsold stock from wholesalers and retailers was also high. After the note ban, there has been no fresh demand from retailers and wholesalers, who in turn say there are fewer customers. So units in Ludhiana feel there is no point in producing when there is no demand. They expect to suffer losses to the tune of crores.
World cotton production for 2016-17 is expected to be seven per cent higher than last year. India will remain the world’s largest cotton producer, although its production is forecast to remain unchanged from 2015-16. Output in China is projected to decrease by four per cent while production in the United States is expected to grow by 24 per cent.
World cotton consumption may remain unchanged for 2016-17 despite the widening gap between polyester prices and international cotton prices. Mill use may rise in three of the top ten consuming countries — Bangladesh, Vietnam, and the United States. This will offset losses in China, Turkey and Brazil, where mill use is likely to reduce.
With China paring its cotton stocks, and demand continuing to surge, Indian cotton exporters see an opportunity for the current season. Currently, China is buying its cotton requirements from the US. But since Indian prices are as competitive as other international prices, exports may happen to China once the cash crisis in India subsides.
Stocks in China are expected to decline by 15 per cent by the end of 2016-17. But Indian shipments of cotton to Pakistan have remained muted due to border clashes. Pakistan is one of the major buyers of cotton from India.
