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13 million tons of clothes per year are thrown away by the US alone and conditions in clothing factories worldwide are often poor. A case in point is the Rana Plaza collapse which showed the human impact of an industry largely built on outsourced, low-paid labour. Over 150 billion items of clothing per year are produced by the industry, which is enough to provide 20 new garments to every human on the planet. Therefore, one can imagine that addressing the impacts is difficult.
A trend-driven industry
Quite fickle and driven by trends, no product solution in fashion stays in the market for long and even the economics of fashion are limiting. Decision-makers are invariably driven toward cheaper options as per-item profit in the industry is as low as 4 per cent. Thus, the question is, how can the industry truly transform itself?
The Future Fabrics Expo, an exhibition at London’s Olympia exhibition centre recently, attempted to provide answers to this dilemma and showed some practical steps being taken to stimulate change.
A limited range of manufacturing materials makes sustainable clothing unsuitable for markets with fast product turnover is one of the accusations made at ethical fashion and by association, sustainable products in general. Essentially, they would go out of fashion too quickly. This perception was challenged by the Future Fabrics Expo. Developed by not-for-profit organisation, The Sustainable Angle the exhibition showcased over 1,500 ethically and sustainably produced materials, from luxury haute-couture fabrics to specialised textiles for sportswear and upholstery. Fabrics were derived from diverse crops such as tree bark, pineapple leaves and mushrooms, or created from industrial by-products or special polymers intended for fully closed-loop recycling.
Since, this is a trend-driven industry, products are updated or replaced quite frequently and Future Fabrics highlighted the sheer range of sustainable solutions available on the global market today. It demonstrated that the pace of innovation in sustainable technology is reaching a point where it can comfortably keep up with consumer demand.
Is it viable for production costs? Production costs
mean everything in high-volume, low-cost fashion. And, this can be an uphill task for sustainable practices to compete with their budget alternatives. Thus, the question is, whether ethical manufacture is viable in highly competitive markets with low profit margins. Tamsin Lejeune, Founder of the Ethical Fashion Forum, believes this. She disputed the idea that ethical business practices must necessarily hurt revenues, while speaking at a Fashion SVP seminar session chaired by Oliver Horton.
She illustrated how striving to meet 100 sustainable and ethical goals had already fetched Marks & Spencer benefits worth £625 million. She was using the company’s recently extended Plan A initiative. She said that every business needed and efficient supply chain and it can’t be efficient if it’s damaging the environment through wasteful manufacturing processes.
Besides, she also mentioned M&S’ partnership with ethical labour project Better Work, and explained how investment in sustainability could generate greater returns for the business. Lejeune stated that there was evidence that raising wages for garment workers increases productivity.
She concluded by mentioning that sustainable business values are now resonating with consumers increasingly.
www.ethicalfashionforum.com
The textile printing industry represents 30 billion yards of material volume on an annual basis worldwide. However after a decade of advances in digital printing technologies for textiles, only two per cent of the world’s printed textiles are produced digitally.
There is a growing demand for a greater variety of colours and designs at quicker turnaround cycles. Textile designers are rethinking their approach to production and manufacturing of textiles. Digital textile production is becoming the cost-effective choice for brands. Digital printing on textiles is done today mainly on polyester fabrics using dye sublimation.
Digital printing is a relatively new technology in the textile market. It has dual applications in printing, acting both as a sampling and as a production tool. In sampling, digital printing offers immediate results, provides tremendous flexibility in design and coloration while saving time and money. As a production tool it helps in minimising inventory waste as there is no discharge of dyes and chemicals, reducing downtimes, and cutting costs and providing the option of mass customisation.
The three-day 41st edition of India Knit Fair was held in Tirupur recently. The fair showcased the autumn/winter and summer collections of apparels made by Indian manufacturers.
Organised by Apparel Export Promotion Council, Tirupur Exporters’ Association, and India Knit Fair Association, T-shirts, night wears, formal wears, sports wears and other garments of 50 manufacturers were on display at the fair.
A significant section of exporters in the Tirupur knitwear cluster felt that with the changing business scenario, the fair too should undergo changes, though it was being held twice a year for the past 20 years.
G R Senthilvel, Secretary of Tirupur Exporters and Manufacturers Association feels that the traditional way of putting stalls and expecting serious buyers to walk in was getting lesser popular worldwide. So, the organisers need to explore innovative methods such as inviting global apparel sourcing companies/groups for their super market chains and niche markets, to the fair so that Indian manufacturers could benefit by their participation, he adds.
A veteran exporter and Chairman of Confederation of Indian Industry (Tirupur district council), M Veluswami agreed with Senthilvel and felt that the event needed to undergo change in its outlook as lesser number of ‘serious buyers’ were visiting the fair. He stated that better marketing of the event abroad and inviting buyers directly instead of waiting for them to come was needed.
www.indiaknitfair.com
An attack of whitefly has devastated the cotton crop in north India. Yields have fallen sharply, with allegedly spurious pesticides worsening the situation, even sparking farmer suicides.
Whitefly is a plant-sucking pest. It has damaged most of the cotton crop in Punjab and to a large extent in Haryana. The crop loss due to this is estimated at 40 to 50 per cent of the total.
Punjab and Haryana together produce 4 to 4.5 million bales a year. However, compared to a 800 kg hectare yield in Punjab during 2013-14, it fell to 528 kg last year. Similarly, the yield in Haryana fell from 761 kg a hectare to 665 kg a hectare.
Erratic weather played a crucial role in the growth of the whitefly. If the temperature had been lower in the winter, it would have kept the incidence down, as ground frost helps to break the whitefly’s life cycle. The situation has brought to light the need for an improved variety of genetically modified (Bt) cotton. Farmers have been advised to sow a combination of indigenous narma, hybrid and Bt cotton, as this can help curb the spread of pests.
Punjab has announced a relief package of Rs 600 crores for farmers affected but farmers say this would amount to about Rs 8,000 an acre, against their actual cost of Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000 an acre.
In 2010, during massive job losses, the clothing and textile industry was saved by it, claims the African National Congress (ANC) and they can do this even for other sectors, it further state.
Clothing and textile workers union, South African Clothing and Textile Workers Union (SACTWU) says the industry has stabilised and at least 2,400 jobs have been created in 2014 alone. This despite an estimated 100,000 job losses in the sector between 2003 and 2011.
In Cape Town, hundreds of people joined the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) march against job losses and retrenchments recently.
The ANC said that it saw what happens when the government comes together and they saved the textile and clothing industry and that they would ensure that jobs were protected.
Faeiz Jacobs of the African National Congress (ANC) says that the clothing and textile industry was suffering, the ANC stepped in and saved thousands of jobs. He added that at the party’s upcoming National General Council (NGC), Cosatu’s demands and grievances will be discussed.
However, Khalid Sayed, the ANC Youth League’s leader is sceptical and feels that the NGC must not be only a ‘talk shop’. www.anc.org.za
In 2016, the US apparel and footwear industry is expected to grow by three to five per cent. The strong US dollar will continue to have negative foreign currency translation effects on the industry’s gross profits for the rest of this year. Next year, provided foreign exchange rates stay the same, companies will experience a roughly 40 basis point drop in operating margins because of higher sourcing costs at current exchange rates.
Apparel companies will continue to benefit from low cotton and oil prices this year, which could help the industry’s operating margins. Sales for department stores have fallen 24 per cent since 2002 and more and more apparel companies are realigning their focus and growing their online and direct-to-consumer offerings.
Apparel companies, particularly big names like Nike, Ralph Lauren, VF Corp and PVH, are expected to grow sales and expand operating margins through their organic growth initiatives. Nike, VF Corp and Hanesbrands have been the primary revenue and income growth drivers for the apparel sector this year, and they all sell athletic apparel, which points to the continued trend toward athleisure-focused sales.
E-commerce sales in the apparel sector may grow 14.2 per cent next year and online penetration will reach 16 per cent of total sales.
www.nike.com
Ajit Desai, Managing Director, Kariba Textiles said that due to the rise in cost of imported raw materials as a result of continued depreciation of the Kwacha, textiles manufacturing companies are becoming expensive to operate in Zambia.
The materials required to manufacture blankets, he said, which are acrylic yarn and fibre, are not manufactured locally, which makes production of blankets costly in Zambia. He also urged other investors recently, to consider yarn manufacturing, especially since many farmers grow cotton, in turn helping to reduce the cost of producing blankets.
Only one textile company is operating in the country for some time, he added, as investors are scared to explore the textile sector as it is expensive to import raw materials and the Kwacha is not competing favourably against other major currencies. Desai said that because the blankets are sold in the local unit yet the raw materials are bought in foreign currency, the weakened Kwacha was affecting the operations.
Desai further stated that they import the raw materials on credit, which are quoted in foreign currencies, and after the blankets are manufactured, they are sold in Kwacha. However, the challenge is, paying back for the raw materials to the supplier because of the continued instability of the Kwacha. This has a negative impact on the business as prices can’t be increased unexpectedly, he said.
He further urged the government to consider buying blankets from local firms as a way of supporting the manufacturing industry, through its various departments such as hospitals and prisons. Dismas Chapula, economist, Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry economist for industry monitoring said that the government was committed to supporting textile industries because of its potential to create employment.
The ever-changing world of fashion is fluid where ideas, processes and innovations from across the world are in continuous progress, changing the game frequently. C.L.A.S.S. is to hold a unique event at its headquarters in Milan in January 2016 to keep up with the most interesting innovations in the textile field.
At the event, fashion professionals will be introduced to a new generation of textile technologies, providing customised programmes focussed on design synergy, innovative textile research and strategic communication. The creators of C.L.A.S.S. Education are eager to spread the knowledge of the new production process, smart textiles and innovation in the field.
Pioneering the first communication programmes for brands and companies that approach innovation and excellence throughout sustainability, Founder and CEO of C.L.A.S.S., Giusy Bettoni is an expert in her field. A creative-thinker, experienced product developer and educator at Parsons School of Design of New York, James Mendolia will impart excellent knowledge of product development and academic leadership to lead the C.L.A.S.S. Education process.
C.L.A.S.S. Education, which addresses fashion designers, merchandisers, product developers, sourcing specialists and textile technicians, will introduce fashion professionals to a new generation of textile technologies. This includes, onsite textile supply chain assessment, hands-on material analysis, luxury fashion tours, and interactive Eco-Fashion workshops.
Innovative Textile Solutions: Eco-Fashion Workshop, the first C.L.A.S.S. Education’s class, is to be held in January 2016 in Milan.
www.classecohub.com
Bangladesh’s export earnings from the US market in the first quarter of the current fiscal year grew by 15.75 per cent. Earnings from India also witnessed a growth of 11.42 per cent year on year because of a huge rise in exports of jute and jute products. But readymade garment exports to India posted a growth of only 4.2 per cent.
This was because Bangladesh’s garment makers lost some competitiveness because of lower cotton price in India. As India has surplus cotton with lower prices, pricing of India’s garment products was better during the period.
Earnings from the US market posted a negative growth of 8.42 per cent year on year. But there was a rise in readymade garment exports to the US. This was because of progress in factory remediation work, the steadiness of value of the taka against the dollar, relaxation of US visa processing and value addition by Bangladesh’s garment makers. In addition economic activity has picked up in the US.
Confidence of US buyers in Bangladesh has grown in recent months. The US recently eased visa processing, allowing a visit by mid-level garment officials of Bangladesh. This helped marketing of Bangladeshi products in the US market.
Hansae will set up a production facility in Haiti. Hansae is a South Korean garment manufacturing company. It will build the factory for manufacturing garments and generate jobs for 5,000 people. It will help Hansae better serve its clients in the US market.
Retailers are on the lookout for opportunities to source production as costs rise in Asia. Hansae is mainly engaged in manufacturing garments like shirts, knits, women’s suits and casual apparel. It has production units in Guatemala, Indonesia and Vietnam, from where it exports to overseas buyers such as Abercrombie & Fitch, American Eagle, Gap, Hollister, Sears, Kohl's, Nike, Old Navy and others.
Textiles are a crucial component of Haiti’s economy. They represent Haiti’s largest manufacturing sector, accounting for 90 per cent of exports, and about 10 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product.
Most garment companies operating in Haiti focus on high volume, low margin apparel almost exclusively for the US mass market. Besides being close to North America, Haiti-based producers have competitive advantages that have enticed South Korean investors in recent years. Those include competitive labor costs, tax benefits and US legislation that expands duty-free access for textiles made in Haiti to include those made with fabrics sourced from anywhere.
