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While companies like ASOS have been offering courses in how to cut, sew and stitch at the Stitching Academy, in collaboration with local social enterprise Fashion Enter, garment manufacturing industry in the UK is facing severe shortage of skilled workers.
Sourcing from low-cost manufacturing countries like China and India has negatively impacted the UK industry. The number of jobs has fallen from about 800,000 in 1980 to 100,000 today. Now, realizing the need of the hour, several companies are trying to tackle the skills gap. Last month, Fashion Enter announced plans to launch a Fashion Training Academy in January, after securing £570,000 of funding from Haringey Council. The academy will train around 3,000 people over the next five years, with the capacity for 1,620 places a year by 2019. It will teach from the basic ‘level 1’ of the stitching academy to level 5, providing trainees with haute couture manufacturing skills.
Also, the Fashion Retail Academy, an industry-backed school, has introduced a garment technology course to teach skills including machining and pattern cutting. It had previously concentrated on areas such as fashion buying and merchandising. Mulberry, the luxury bag-maker too, is trying to deal with the ageing skilled workforce. In 2005, half of its employees were over the age of 50, while 13 per cent were past the state retirement age.
The company launched a programme with Bridgewater College in southwest England, training 300 new employees for its second UK factory, which opened in Bridgewater last year.
The tax authority in Bangladesh has withdrawn the special tax rate for apparel exporters in a bid to prevent transfer of profit from other businesses to export-oriented industries. From 2005 to June 30, 2014, taxmen calculated tax at an estimated 10 per cent at the time of annual tax assessment. But the National Board of Revenue (NBR) did not extend the facility in the Budget for fiscal year 2014-15 following allegations of shifting profits from other businesses to export-oriented industries. The tenure for the special tax rate for readymade garment and knitwear exporters expired on June 30, 2014.
Under the previous rules, there was scope to show higher income from apparel export, by shifting from other businesses, in the tax file. Taxmen smelt that a large volume of undisclosed money was whitened by taking advantage of the provision. From the current financial year, taxmen would not allow the special tax rates to the readymade garment sector and knitwear exporters for their export earnings. In April 2014 the NBR had cut the rate of tax at source for apparel exporters to 0.30 per cent from 0.80 per cent that would continue until June 30, 2015. Exporters say investment in the apparel sector would be discouraged by the provisions.
Pakistan's weaving and spinning sectors registered a drop in exports by 2.37 per cent in July due to erratic power supply. The weaving sector operated at 60 per cent of its production capacity. But the share of textiles in total exports of Pakistan improved by 64 per cent. Yarn exports dived by 35.32 per cent in July 2014. Exports of fabric dropped 43 per cent in quantity and 8.13 per cent in value. Exports of knitwear, bed wear, towels and readymade garments increased by 21.66 per cent, 14.54 per cent, 7.43 per cent and 3.76 per cent.
Exports dropped by 7.8 per cent in July 2014 compared to July 2013. If the basic textile sector is not revived, the value-added sectors of textiles would come under pressure, which buy raw materials from the former. The ongoing political turmoil in the country would badly impact exports in August.
Pakistan’s textile and apparel industry consists of ginning, spinning, man-made fiber, weaving, finishing, apparel, terry towel, tarpaulin and canvas, and knitwear machinery sectors. The textile and apparel industry as a whole employs 40 per cent of total industrial workers and accounts for 46 per cent of total manufacturing. There are a little more than 1,220 ginning units, featuring an installed capacity of 20 million bales of cotton. The spinning sector comprises 408 spinning units. The country has 10 man-made fiber units.
During the last edition of the trade show in July, Bread & Butter (BBB) Founder Karl-Heinz Müller had announced his plans of shifting the 2015 show to Barcelona. However, he has now decided to stick to Berlin. Muller had earlier got negative feedback for changing the venue since brand representatives were skeptical about the new location and date and many regular BBB exhibitors claimed that Barcelona was not an option for them.
Bread & Butter Barcelona was scheduled to take place from January 8-10, 2015, which could have been the kick-off event of the season. The industry’s response towards this shift was damp. As Müller says “Various discussions with the decision makers of our industry made clear that people rather want to stick to the current format. Most exhibitors of course have the healthy and safe German market in focus. Therefore we follow the call of our industry and stay on our common grounds at former airport Berlin-Tempelhof. Bread & Butter is going to take place simultaneously with the other Berlin trade shows from January 19-21, 2015.” He says “At the moment I cannot say yet if or when we will hold an event in Barcelona in the future, maybe in addition to Berlin. As I have said in my presentation: Maybe a summer event in Barcelona is more advisable.”
Meanwhile his plans for Seoul remain unaffected by this. “We will present our concept in Seoul on 12th September 2014 as planned. All preparations run at full speed. BREAD & BUTTER will take place in Seoul in September 2015,” he added.
Last season, Müller had caused a stir by announcing plans to open up the show for end consumers but backed out in the end. The hot topic at the current Bread & Butter was the planned relocation of the trade show to Barcelona this coming January as announced by Müller.
The industry has reacted positively to this move. As Dietmar Axt, from Mustang put it that it’s a good decision and underlines the significance of Berlin being the European epicenter of fashion trade shows. Similar sentiments were echoed by Christian Brennenstuhl of Filson who seconded Müller’s decision of staying in Berlin. He said for Filson Barcelona was not an option.
Accessories and clothing that are aimed at tracking performance and health are getting fashionable. Technology developers and fashion designers are working more closely on wearables. Ralph Lauren plans to unveil its high-performance smart compression shirt soon. The shirt features sensors knitted in to read heartbeat, respiration and other biometrics. Data collected by the shirt is stored by a black box, which also is enabled with ways to capture movement and direction. The black box transmits data, including stress levels and energy output, into the cloud for display on a tablet or smart phone. The Ralph Lauren polo pony is highly visible in bright yellow on the front of the shirts. David Lauren, the executive vice president for advertising, marketing and corporate communications and a son of the designer, is optimistic that the new shirts will be able to catch the eyes of fans around the globe. The new T-shirt will be the first wearable technology product released by a mainstream fashion label. For the near future, the company will be focusing much of its attention on integrating technology into everyday wear. In addition to the t-shirts, there are also plans for a classic dress shirt that is tech-enhanced and a new line of contemporary streetwear.
Meanwhile HP is developing a high-design smart watch that is Android and iOS compatible, allowing a user to take in notifications for email, text and calls, and to manage music and apps.
Football helmets can measure impact and tennis rackets can tell how hard a person hits the ball, and how good their backhand is in real time. The digital fitness category has grown tremendously and consumers range from serious athletes to hobbyists. Wearable technology devices like smart glasses, bracelets, watches and fitness tracking devices are getting popular. Knowing their pulse, their wellness level and their activity level makes them feel great. Added to this is the fact that wearable products also look great.
TEXAPP Bangladesh, the textile and apparel forum will be held on September 3, 2014. It aims at bringing together Bangladesh’s textile and apparel industry leaders and machinery importers under one roof. It will address issues related to forming a common position of the Bangladeshi textile and apparel industry in the global arena; set development goals in a phased manner; enhance competitiveness of the industry; boost inter-regional trade with an aspiration to expand present capacities; and launch Vision 2022, based on discussions held at TEXAPP Bangladesh 2014, to further take the industry forward in the coming years.
TEXAPP will be a part of Textech Bangladesh 2014 which is scheduled to run from September 3 to 6, 2014. Textech is one of Bangladesh's oldest and biggest exhibitions on textile apparel machinery and technology. Textech Bangladesh has been serving the textile and apparel sectors of Bangladesh for over a decade. It is the only international branded exhibition of its kind in South and South-east Asia held in Bangladesh, Indonesia and Sri Lanka annually.
Textech has been seeing an overwhelming increase in the number of exhibitors over the years. Its concurrent exhibitions – Dye+Chem Bangladesh and Dhaka international yarn and fabric show-- bring the world’s leading manufacturers of dyes, chemicals, yarn and fabric to Bangladesh.
textechonline.org/textechbd2014/index.html
Envoy Textiles, the largest denim fabric producing unit in Bangladesh with an annual production of 24 million meters is going to set up a yarn manufacturing factory with a production capacity of about 50 tonnes per day by the first quarter of 2016. The yarn project is expected to save huge costs. Presently, the group procures yarn from local and international markets to feed the mills.
Around 80 per cent of the yarn to be produced by the new factory would be consumed by mills of the group and the rest 20 per cent would be sold out in the market. And earnings from selling the 20 per cent yarn will be used to buy other types of yarn to feed the mills. The major capital machineries to be imported for setting up the manufacturing plant are mainly from Germany, Switzerland and Japan.
Envoy introduced rope dyeing denim for the first time in the country. It is expected that the company’s annual profit would then be increased approximately to Tk 40 to Tk 45 crores and the annual turnover would stand at 50 million dollars. The company’s third quarter (April ’14 to June ’14) net profit stood at Tk 11.4 crores, slightly down from Tk 11.9 crores in the same period a year earlier.
www.envoytextiles.com/
China is the world's biggest wool producer, biggest wool processor and the powerhouse economy driving global woolen textile consumption. But the country's wool industry is also an enigma. It is a mix of high-technology processing mills and modern fashion-conscious consumers with wool growing and harvesting techniques that don’t appear to have changed in 100 years.
China has the world's biggest sheep flock estimated at about 140 million head and producing about 363,000 tonnes of wool. But the gritty dust typically reduces clean fleece yields from many Chinese farms to as low as 40 per cent. Merino sheep in the Yang Chan district are typically housed in winter (October to April) to ensure their survival, but long months on earthen floors and in yards also add to the dirt and stains in their wool.
While state-owned farms have traditionally produced much of China’s better wool, the vast majority of Chinese sheep are now owned by private farming groups or families. Mechanical shearing gear is rare in China. Farms use blades or scissor-type shears. Wool growing ideas in China are still pretty basic. Grain can be drying in the sun on the edges of highways. There are indications China is seeing its sheep for meat production rather than fiber.
The 15th Preview in Seoul (PIS) organized in September will focus on functional materials and fashion apparel. About 30 Korean and foreign companies have applied to participate in this year’s PIS, and functional textile companies form a considerable portion of the exhibitors. In particular, these functional textile companies have developed fine and highly functional fabrics for fashion materials, thereby increasing the fabrics’ functionality and texture.
The development of functional materials and rising demand can be attributed to the recent, widespread awareness of functional materials for sports, outdoor, casual, daily wear, and women’s apparel in the fashion market. Hyosung, Kolon Fashion Material, Huvis, and other leading textile chemical companies participated in PIS in 2006 and will be part of this year’s edition again after a gap of eight years showcasing highly functional yarns and new, diverse products.
Hyosung is planning to introduce ‘Creora’, a company that holds the world’s largest share in the spandex market, ‘Robic’, ‘Aqua-X’, ‘Cotna’, ‘Aerogear’, and other highly functional nylon- polyester yarn brands. Furthermore, ‘Cotna’ offers materials that have cotton-like texture and the functions of polyester. Hyosung endeavors to produce a synergetic effect at the exhibition with other yarn suppliers and textile representatives. </br>
Kolon Fashion Material will unveil ‘cela’, ‘XF-Series’, ‘MIMOFIL’, ‘ROJEL’, ‘U-VEIL’, ‘NAROPORA)’, ‘neoVENT’, and other distinguished, functional materials. In particular, ‘cela’ boasts its natural appearance like that of cotton, holds its shape firmly, and provides comfort. ‘MIMOFIL’ highlights its visual presentation through a two-tone effect, thus being recognized as a highly fine material.
Huvis will exhibit ‘Seaone’ that can provide comfort and UV protection and will introduce ‘XN’, which is made out of dyed polypropylene materials that offer lightweight and thermal protection. Furthermore, Huvis will display ‘MOKA’ that has underwent weaving and yarn processing technique to imitate cotton’s texture. Medium-sized textile companies such as Young Textile, Young Tex, Paka, Shin Heung, ST One Chang, and Duck Wo Corporation are also preparing to welcome buyers with highly functional and fine materials at PIS.
Leading Indian and overseas companies will converge at the IKF Complex in Tirupur from September 9 to 11, 2014 to showcase the latest in natural fibres like cotton, wool, silk & flax/ramie; man-made like regenerated & synthetic fibres; specialty fibres and well as natural, man-made, blended and elastic, fancy as well as specialty yarns at the 6th edition of Yarnex - India International yarn exhibition.
With each edition, Yarnex has grown into one of the most important trade shows for fibres and yarns in the country. This is where the textile value chain congregates to catch-up with the latest developments and indulges in business networking. The 2013 edition of Yarnex had over 3,000 high value customers from India and overseas visiting the show. The products showcased were from across the fibre groups, including specialized and high performance varieties that were new to this region.
Trade visitors will have access to high quality suppliers from India and overseas, including the leaders in this segment. With technical assistance ready at hand, knitters and weavers can discuss product development and commercial aspects which helps the decision-making process. Yarnex is organized by S S Textile Media, an organization that has been successfully conducting the F&A Show in Bangalore for 11 years and has added Homtex - the India International Home Textile Exhibition in 2012 to its portfolio.
