FW
Global premium denim market under one roof
Faithful to its original concept and values, Denim Première Vision brought together a selected offer reflecting the global premium denim market. Around 87 exhibitors including weavers, manufacturers/launderers/finishers, accessory makers, fibre producers and spinners and technology developers and promotional organisations represented the value-chain of worldwide denim production.
Six new companies were rigorously selected of which three were manufacturers – Baykanlar Tekstil, Firemount Textiles and Ariteks Boyacilik, one weaver – Advance Denim Limited, one accessories manufacturer – Kasiv Leather Label and one fibre producer- Hyosung Corporation exhibited at the show. Know-how and developments from the 21 important countries in jeanswear industry were on display during the event. Turkey represented 33 per cent of exhibitors, Italy made up14 per cent, Spain were 8 per cent, Morocco at 8 percent and rest of the exhibitors were from Japan, France, Germany, Pakistan and Hong Kong.
Innovative functional denim fabrics on display
Many exhibitors showcased new functional denim fabrics and alternative new fibres. Among them, for instance, Orta launched its BioKinetic denim, Prosperity unveiled some new fabrics including Amicor, an antimicrobial fibre, and Sweet Indigo, a fabric that demands 60 per cent less chemical oxygen in its production.
Bossa’s new line of fabrics included four-way stretch high-recovery denim with climate control properties created using Coolmax, another variation with 21per cent Cleancool, a Japanese antibacterial fibre, and 79 per cent organic cotton range of sustainable fabrics. Also new is their denim range was product made with Ice Cotton, a 100 per cent natural cotton produced by Swiss company Spoerry.
Tejidos Royo launched a series of 3D fabrics, Tencel fabrics featuring high-resolution special motives as part of their Ambi-Wash project. This group of fabrics is made with high-end sustainable fibres and processes employing environmentally friendly dyeing substances made by Italian specialist Montega Verde and washed by Italian laundry Lim.
Important sessions marked the event
This season’s major events included The Denim Trend Tasting seminar held on November 18, 2015, which was organised by the Première Vision fashion team. The seminar focused on seasonal influences and forecast of Spring/Summer ’17 trends. The session was presented by consultant Michelle Branch, an international expert in the denim industry - from product development to production, from technological innovations to finishing, from style to the construction of collections, including marketing and sales challenges.
The 1st Denim Smart Conversation was held on November 19, 2015. An exclusive master class was organised to understand the innovations and challenges related to responsible creation and production in the denim industry. This event also presented the strategies and actions put in place by Denim Première Vision to better respond to the new issues of responsibility in the sector.
Denimpremierevision.com
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The 17th edition of Denim Première Vision - an event for the entire global chain of upscale and creative jeanswear witnessed a relatively low visitor turnout compared to its May edition. However, exhibitors expressed satisfaction over the overall response they received during the two days on November 18 and 19, 2015 in Barcelona. Nearly 4,000 international visitors against 4,131 in May 2015 included premium and high-end fashion and jeanswear brands; designers, and major luxury names. </br>
Global premium denim market under one roof
</br>
Faithful to its original concept and values, Denim Première Vision brought together a selected offer reflecting the global premium denim market. Around 87 exhibitors including weavers, manufacturers/launderers/finishers, accessory makers, fibre producers and spinners and technology developers and promotional organisations represented the value-chain of worldwide denim production. </br>
</br>
Six new companies were rigorously selected of which three were manufacturers – Baykanlar Tekstil, Firemount Textiles and Ariteks Boyacilik, one weaver – Advance Denim Limited, one accessories manufacturer – Kasiv Leather Label and one fibre producer- Hyosung Corporation exhibited at the show. Know-how and developments from the 21 important countries in jeanswear industry were on display during the event. Turkey represented 33 per cent of exhibitors, Italy made up14 per cent, Spain were 8 per cent, Morocco at 8 percent and rest of the exhibitors were from Japan, France, Germany, Pakistan and Hong Kong. </br>
Innovative functional denim fabrics on display
</br>
Many exhibitors showcased new functional denim fabrics and alternative new fibres. Among them, for instance, Orta launched its BioKinetic denim, Prosperity unveiled some new fabrics including Amicor, an antimicrobial fibre, and Sweet Indigo, a fabric that demands 60 per cent less chemical oxygen in its production. </br>
</br>
Bossa’s new line of fabrics included four-way stretch high-recovery denim with climate control properties created using Coolmax, another variation with 21per cent Cleancool, a Japanese antibacterial fibre, and 79 per cent organic cotton range of sustainable fabrics. Also new is their denim range was product made with Ice Cotton, a 100 per cent natural cotton produced by Swiss company Spoerry. </br>
</br>
Tejidos Royo launched a series of 3D fabrics, Tencel fabrics featuring high-resolution special motives as part of their Ambi-Wash project. This group of fabrics is made with high-end sustainable fibres and processes employing environmentally friendly dyeing substances made by Italian specialist Montega Verde and washed by Italian laundry Lim. </br>
Important sessions marked the event
</br>
This season’s major events included The Denim Trend Tasting seminar held on November 18, 2015, which was organised by the Première Vision fashion team. The seminar focused on seasonal influences and forecast of Spring/Summer ’17 trends. The session was presented by consultant Michelle Branch, an international expert in the denim industry - from product development to production, from technological innovations to finishing, from style to the construction of collections, including marketing and sales challenges. </br>
</br>
The 1st Denim Smart Conversation was held on November 19, 2015. An exclusive master class was organised to understand the innovations and challenges related to responsible creation and production in the denim industry. This event also presented the strategies and actions put in place by Denim Première Vision to better respond to the new issues of responsibility in the sector. </br>
Denimpremierevision.com
Sri Lanka is aiming at a quantum jump in apparel exports despite the market scenario being grim. The country is targeting $50 billion in apparel exports by 2020. The apparel categories span sportswear, lingerie, lounge wear, bridal wear, work wear, swim wear and children’s wear.
Sri Lanka’s apparel exports are the main contributor in the country’s total exports, which stood at $4.5 billion in 2013 and surged by 9 per cent to $4.9 billion in 2014. In the January-September period this year Sri Lanka’s apparel exports fetched $3.6 billion.
Sri Lanka has become a reliable and high quality manufacturer on the global map over the course of time and it caters to reputed international brands like Victoria’s Secret, GAP, Liz Claiborne, Next, Jones New York, Nike, Tommy Hilfiger, Pink, Triumph, Ann Taylor and Speedo.
Sri Lanka’s apparel export is the most significant and dynamic contributor to the economy. The industry has enjoyed epic growth levels over the past four decades and is today Sri Lanka’s primary foreign exchange earner accounting for 40 per cent of total exports and 52 per cent of industrial products exports. The industry is almost entirely privately owned.
To promote opportunities in India for textile machinery manufactures, India’s ITME Society organised a networking dinner at NH Fiera, Milan recently. Industry members, Associations, media and government officials from various countries attended this by invite-only event. The meet saw a good gathering of 17 associations, 36 journalists and above 50 MNCs from 17 countries. Basant K Gupta, India’s ambassador to Italy graced the evening as the chief guest while the guest of honour was Raoul Ascari, Chief Global Development Officer, SACE.
Ascari spoke about the support offered by SACE to Italian companies interested in investing in India, and the presentation generated much interest among the guests, making everyone believe that India and Italy will in future activities benefit from each other in the textile and textile engineering industry.
Gupta highlighted the various textile parks and schemes initiated by the government of India, which is expected to create more opportunities for textile machinery manufacturers and textile companies in India. He also pointed out the Indian’s governments schemes to encourage ‘Make in India’ and the high demand for modern textile machinery in India.
Raju Paithankar, from Indian Textile Technologist made a presentation about the traditional textile fabric of India ‘Pashmina Cashmere’, which is a rare and luxury fibre, and obtained from a specific breed of goats, which survive at a height of 17,000 feet in Ladakh. Two Italian companies, Loro Piana and Reda and Paithankar are together working extensively to produce and promote this traditional fabric from India.
The use of child labor in Uzbekistanʼs cotton harvest is becoming rarer, but there are indications adults are being press-ganged into service this year. In 2012, Uzbekistan banned the practice of child labor following a punishing cotton boycott by leading western brands. Authorities have taken a range of measures to reduce the incidence of child labor and make it socially unacceptable.
Apparent efforts by Uzbekistan to reduce reliance on underage workers prompted the US to promote Uzbekistan from Tier III to Tier II on its watch list. However, the burden of meeting harvest quotas has shifted to adults, who may be recruited against their will though large numbers of citizens seem to be willing recruits and see the harvest as an opportunity.
Organised recruitment of large number of people within such a short period of time carries risks linked to workers’ rights. There are certain indicators of forced labor. Students from colleges and universities take part in the harvest. But there are doubts if they are coming of their own will. Labor has been drawn from the healthcare and education sector and this has had a devastating effect on the quality of public services.
There have been widespread reports of intimidation of civil society campaigners seeking to document abuses in cotton harvesting.
Bangladesh’s earnings from exports to the US saw a robust 15.76 per cent growth during the first quarter of the current fiscal. This represents 20.04 per cent of the country’s total export earnings during the period. Increase in export earnings was mainly due to the good performance of the readymade garment sector.
The US is the largest export destination for Bangladesh’s goods. Major exports to the US market during the period were woven garments, knitwear, frozen shrimps, home textiles and caps. Around 31.94 per cent of Bangladesh’s total woven garment exports entered the US market followed by knitwear at 12.85 per cent.
The 2009-10 fiscal marked the end of an up-and-down period for Bangladesh’s exports to the US. From robust $2.5 billion during the 2000-01 fiscal, exports had fallen below two billion dollars by 2003-04. Exports to the US rose steadily to cross the three billion dollar mark in 2005-06 and peaked at nearly 3.6 billion dollars during the 2007-08 fiscal.
Bangladesh’s export earnings from the US in fiscal 2013-14 were impressive at $5,583.62 million, up from $5,419.60 million in fiscal 2012-13. Exports in 2011-12 were also impressive, totaling $5,100.91 million, slightly down from $5,107.52 million in fiscal 2010-11.
Media reports suggest that South Korea has set a target date of sanctioning of the bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) with China through parliament at November 26, 2015 after a meeting between the government and the ruling Saenuri Party.
Sources claim that the government and the ruling party on Tuesday held an emergency meeting to discuss pending issues, agreeing to ratify the China-South Korea free trade agreement during a parliamentary plenary session scheduled for November 26, 2015. Kim Yong-Nam, spokesman of the ruling party, has said to have expressed that his party and the government will make efforts to run a consultative body with opposition parties to ratify the free trade accord by the target date.
The Saenuri Party, which has a majority in the National Assembly, can ratify the Sino-Korea FTA though opposition parties would be against it. Seoul and Beijing signed their FTA in June after three years of negotiations. Under the deal, the two sides agreed to eliminate tariffs on more than 90 per cent of traded goods each within 20 years after the implementation.
Germany introduced its Partnership for Sustainable Textiles initiative on Wednesday at the joint booth of the German Embassy in Hanoi and the Friedrich-Ebert Foundation in an international exhibition of machinery and materials for the garment industry in Hanoi. The government of Germany aims to provide information related to the pioneering work of the alliance so that interested Vietnamese firms can take part, the German Embassy said in a press release.
The Partnership for Sustainable Textiles was established at the request of the German Minister of Economic Cooperation and Development, Gerd Mueller, in Berlin last year. The initiative, gathering German representatives from multiple economic sectors, federal government agencies and unions, aims to improve the social, ecological and economic supply chain of the garment and textile industry, the release said.
But the real focus of the alliance’s objectives is on textile products being manufactured in better ecological and social conditions. The essence of the alliance’s work is the realisation of projects in the countries involved in garment and textile manufacturing, especially in Asia, and highlighting the unique role textile and garment enterprises have in Vietnam and other regional countries. Without suppliers of very high quality materials in Vietnam and other Asian countries, the final goal of the alliance cannot be reached, said the release.
The Partnership for Sustainable Textiles pays special attention to Vietnam, as the garment and textile industry of the Southeast Asian nation, which is the world’s fourth-largest exporter, makes up 3.7 percent of the global market. The industry accounts for about eight percent of gross domestic product in Vietnam as well as 13-15 percent of the total export value of the country. There are 5,000 Vietnamese companies operating in the industry with 2.5 million employees, according to the release.
The government of Zimbabwe has decided to release about $26 million to procure cotton inputs this season in a bid to restore viability in the sector. Under the arrangement, Agritex has been directed to identify farmers and to distribute planting seed, chemicals and fertilizers while Cottco will be responsible to buy the crop at the end of the season.
Agritex will provide a database of farmers that would have received inputs to Cottco for buying purposes. While government will be the dominant player, private merchants can also buy the crop to the extent of money invested into production. This step signals at the government’s emergence as single player the way it was before the liberalisation of the industry about two decades ago. Government was then the dominant player in cotton marketing through the Cotton Marketing Board. Then, Zimbabwe was among the best in cotton quality at a global scale during the CMB era.
The CMB was privatised in 1994, under the Economic Structural Adjustment Program, which gave birth to Cotton Company of Zimbabwe, a private company working towards the development of the cotton sector in the country. The liberalisation of the cotton industry also resulted in the entry of other private players. However, privatisation of the sector did not work in favour of the country’s cotton cultivation sector.
Ustr.gov
Mincom.gov.bd
The Bangladesh government has decided to establish a separate national body to oversee the post-inspection remedial activities in the readymade garment industry. The aim is also to strengthen the government's capacity so that it can take over the responsibility of the safety initiatives being carried out by the western retailers' groups-Accord and Alliance-- after 2018.
The body will consist of experts and engineers from the Fire Service and Civil Defense, Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (RAJUK), Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments (DIFE) and Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET). Industry representations from Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) will also be a part of it.
The core target of such body would be to monitor and supervise all the safety programmes making sure that inspection of all garment factories is done, remedial work takes place properly with all engineering aspects and safety work continues. Accord and Alliance were formed with a five-year plan immediately after the Rana Plaza building collapse in 2013 to create a safe and healthy garment working conditions in the country’s garment industry.
The Cotton Crop Assessment Committee (CCAC) has reduced the estimated cotton target for 2015-16 for the third time to 11.4 million bales, about 25 per cent lower than the earlier estimated 15.49 million bales.
The reasons behind lowered outlook for cotton production are pink bollworm and white fly attacks that massively damaged the crops in regions like Sindh and Punjab, the committee was informed in a meeting attended by representatives of Pakistan Central Cotton Committee, Karachi Cotton Association, Trading Corporation of Pakistan, Pakistan Cotton Standards Institute, and Provincial research and extension officials. The unexpected rainfall also damaged the cotton crops. Farmers were reluctant to use fertilisers and pesticides due to low cotton prices last year, which consequently led to poor crop management this season, the officials told the committee.
The government set the target for 2015/16 at 15.49 million bales from 7.7 million acres. The CCAC scaled down the target for the second time to 13.38 million bales for the current season. The cotton target in Punjab was projected at 10.5 million bales from six million acres but has registered a downfall of 6 per cent and is estimated at just 5.6 million acres. Similar situation prevails in the Sindh region where the produce was projected to be 4.4 million bales from 1.6 million acres. But the crop was sown in just 1.4 million acres resulting in reduced targets by 10 per cent.
The Khyber Pankhtunkhwa and Balochistan regions have also missed their estimated cotton cultivation targets due to pest attacks. Cotton growers feared 50 per cent crop damage due to the cotton leaf curl virus (CLCuV) and whitefly attacks in Multan and Khanewal.
Cotton.par.com.pk
