FW
The Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers’ Union (Sactwu), an affiliate of Cosatu, has revealed members of clothing industry in the metro areas of South Africa would receive a 7.5 percent wage increase and workers in the non-metro areas would receive an 8 percent package increase – of which 7.5 per cent will go on wages and 0.5 per cent to improve employer contributions to the provident fund.
This second-year wage increase would be in line with the consumer price index (CPI) as at November 2018, plus an additional 1 per cent. In the event of CPI plus 1 percent resulting in the total labour cost increase being less than the rand value increase for 2018, the adjustment would be the rand value equivalent of the 2018 total labour cost increase. The wage settlement was arrived after three rounds of ordinary negotiations, the declaration of a dispute and two conciliation sessions to attempt a settlement of the dispute.
The agreement covers more than 60,000 clothing workers, employed in 745 factories nation-wide. The wage increase component alone, combined for all the workers, will mean a total cash amount injection of R250m into the domestic economy, over the next year.
India is likely to outdo China in the textile sector. Contributing factors are cheap labor and modernization. With quality and skilled labor and machinery, India can easily overcome Chinese competition in the textile industry as labor costs in China are very high compared to India’s.
India aims at doubling the annual revenue from textiles by 2025. Foreign direct investment is being encouraged in the textile sector, which has the potential to create millions of jobs. High-tech machines which help deliver quality goods will enable India to reach the set targets at the production level. Tamil Nadu alone accounts for 39 per cent of the total textile production in the country. There are 4.13 lakh handlooms in Tamil Nadu providing employment to 6.08 lakh weavers while the 3.66 lakh power looms and 1,889 spinning mills provided employment to another 2.40 lakh people. Knitwear and woven garment production units provide employment to over five lakh people.
The textile sector in India is showing signs of recovery. The stressed advance ratio of the textile sub-sector has improved in March 2018 from the levels of September 2017. The sector was heavily hit by demonetization, GST, rupee appreciation and high domestic cotton prices. Packages and incentives are expected to create a strong turnaround in the textile and clothing sector.
In an assessment carried across the company last year, Canadian apparel manufacturer Gildan has reset its strategic priorities to fulfill its vision of ‘Making Apparel Better’, by working towards human and labour rights, health and safety along with water management, for long term success of its operations.
The assessment was done in partnership with an independent third party to analyse the social, environmental and economical issues most critical to its stakeholders. ‘Traceability’ and ‘chemical management’ were also indicted as the material issues of special concern for safety and sustainability.
With this, the company plans on focusing safe and ergonomics workplace, empowering women at work, respecting freedom of association, and ensuring fair wages for workers. It will also take steps to reduce the water usage, ensuring safe chemical management and addressing the climate change.
Highlighting its initiatives for last year, the company has decreased its water intensity by 10 per cent as a result of its refurbishment efforts which has resulted in the replacement of its jet dyeing machines at its textile facility in Honduras. Also, the company has recycled its 86 per cent of its waste.
As its environmental goals, the company has increased its green house gas emission intensity by 20 per cent per kg of product since 2015. Also, it has increased its energy intensity by 9 per cent and landfill waste intensity by 40 per cent, compared with its 2015 base year.
"The third edition of CENTRESTAGE, Asia's premier fashion event will be held from September 5 to 8, 2018 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. Organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), the event, since its inception, has consolidated Hong Kong's position as a fashion hub in Asia, offering an ideal platform for fashion brands and designers to gain local and international exposure. This year’s event will feature a record-breaking 220 fashion brands from 22 countries and regions. It will be visited by brands and designer labels from Austria, Germany, Poland and Switzerland. The theme will be ‘Tomorrow Lab’. It will feature three thematic zones: Allure: representing craftsmanship, refinement and elegance; Iconic: displaying contemporary, chic and avant-garde designs; and Metro: showcasing casual, youthful expressions of urban life."
The third edition of CENTRESTAGE, Asia's premier fashion event will be held from September 5 to 8, 2018 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. Organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), the event, since its inception, has consolidated Hong Kong's position as a fashion hub in Asia, offering an ideal platform for fashion brands and designers to gain local and international exposure.
Theme for this edition
This year’s event will feature a record-breaking 220 fashion brands from 22 countries and regions. It will be visited by brands and designer labels from Austria, Germany, Poland and Switzerland. The theme will be ‘Tomorrow Lab’. It will feature three thematic zones: Allure: representing craftsmanship, refinement and elegance; Iconic: displaying contemporary, chic and avant-garde designs; and Metro: showcasing casual, youthful expressions of urban life.
CENTRESTAGE 2018 will hold around 20 fashion shows over four days. These will include three internationally celebrated Asian fashion labels who will
present their latest 2019 Spring/Summer collections at the opening gala show CENTRESTAGE Elites: Japanese avant-garde streetwear label Facetasm by Hiromichi Ochiai, Hong Kong ready-to-wear womenswear label Idism by design duo Cyrus Wong and Julio Ng, and Chinese luxury womenswear label Ms Min.
The show will include over 20 fashion shows that will display latest collections by exhibiting brands. The "Fashion Hong Kong Runway Show", on Sept 5, 2018, will feature eight Hong Kong designer labels including Anveglosa, Doriskath, Harrison Wong, House of V, Loom Loop, Maison Vermillion, Miking NG and Methoddolgy.
Design display
Online fashion hub Fashionally will feature its Fashionally Collection #12 fashion show, where 10 rising local fashion designers will highlight Hong Kong's design prowess. Moreover, the Fashionally Presentation will spotlight three budding Hong Kong labels, Tak Lee, Redemptive, and YLYstudio. Each of them will stage an unconventional hybrid presentation combining a fashion show and theatrical performance for their 2019 Spring/Summer collection.
Excellence rewarded
Another highlight of the event will be the finals of The Hong Kong Young Fashion Designers' Contest 2018 (YDC) where 16 shortlisted candidates will compete for five awards including the New Talent Award and Best Footwear Design Award. Furthermore, Redress, a non-government-organisation promoting environmental fashion, will present the Redress Design Award, the world's largest sustainable fashion design competition, on September 6. The Knitwear Innovation and Design Society will present the Knitwear Symphony 2018 & the 8th Hong Kong Knitwear Designers' Contest on September 7 to promote Hong Kong's knitwear design and wool manufacturing capabilities.
A meeting of minds
International style masters and industry experts will share their perspectives on industry trends and the future of fashion during the Meet the Visionaries Series and Trend Talk Series of seminars. Meet the Visionaries Series seminar on Sept 6, 2018 will address the theme "In Conversation with the Asian Creative Forces Shaping the International Fashion Scene". On 7 Sept, at another seminar of the series, internationally acclaimed fashion designer Martine Rose will share insights and anecdotes from her career.
The Fashion Summit, the first large-scale summit in Asia on sustainability in fashion, will be held on the theme "Circular Economy". A panel comprising leading academics, key industry players, NGOs, media, decision makers and leaders from various disciplines and across geographical boundaries will discuss sustainability solutions for fashion.
In collaboration with over 100 partners, including retail stores, hotels and institutions, Hong Kong in Fashion will feature more than 90 entertaining and engaging events including exhibitions, workshops and dance performances, as well as promotions featuring themed afternoon tea sets and giveaways.
Metakeys: Centrestage 2018, HKTDC, Fashion Summit,Fashion
The value of Japanese apparel imports fell 7.97 per cent in May 2018 as compared to April 2018. The value of knitted apparel imports and woven clothing imports too plummeted in May as compared to April. The fall was mainly due to declining value of the yen.
However, cumulatively during January to May, Japan’s import value surged by 2.46 per cent. Bangladesh and Vietnam continued their robust performance in their respective apparel exports to Japan during the first five months of the year. Bangladesh’s apparel exports jumped 13.64 per cent while Vietnam’s shipments to Japan surged 14.81 per cent.
India’s apparel exports to Japan rose 9.54 per cent in the said period. However, India’s knit clothing exports to Japan fell 1.11 per cent. Japan has signed an FTA with the EU, which is said to have made imports cheaper from the region. The deal removes EU tariffs of 10 per cent on Japanese cars and three per cent on most car parts. It would also scrap Japanese duties of some 30 per cent or more on EU cheese and 15 per cent on wines, and secure access to large public tenders in Japan. Europe’s food sector is one of the biggest winners from the deal.
Pascal Perrier has been appointed the new CFO of La Perla. He will spearhead the growth of the label launched last February by Dutch investment company Sapinda. A French resident, Perrier is a graduate in veterinary medicine and agronomy from Toulouse and a specialist in International Marketing from the HEC business school in Paris. He has thirteen years of experience at Burberry, nine of which as CEO of the Asia-Pacific region, as well as at Balenciaga, Saint Laurent and Céline.
During these 13 years, Perrier played a key role in building the Burberry brand, which has a market capitalisation of $11 billion, and whose most important business region is Asia-Pacific. To further fuel La Perla’s growth,Sapinda appointed Alessandra Bertuzzi as the lingerie label’s Creative Director. Bertuzzi has over 28 years of experience at La Perla, and took over from Julia Haart, the Creative Director from May 2016.
Sapinda expects La Perla to grow in all its markets. The Italian label operates 140 monobrand stores worldwide, of which 50 per cent are in the EMEA region, 30 per cent in the Americas and 20 per cent in Asia.
The Philippine garment and textile industry is undertaking strategic initiatives, projects and partnerships involving key players, manufacturers, and stakeholders. The garment and textile sector was considered a sunrise industry during the 1990s. But the end of the Multi-Fiber Agreement, which granted preferential tariffs to the country’s exports of garments and textiles, saw a decline in the sector’s general performance. As a result, garment and textile enterprises in the Philippines which relied on quotas underwent difficulties leading to closure of factories and downsizing.
The MFA, which prescribed quota allocations in identified textiles and garments that are for export to developed countries from developing countries like the Philippines, India, and Vietnam, was replaced by the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing in 1995.
The Philippine garment and textile industry trade has steadily and continuously declined between 2005 and 2011. Its garment export performance dropped by 39 per cent. At present, 39 per cent of the industry is composed of exporters, and 61 per cent is subcontractors, which include small contractors catering to garment exporters, or backyard businesses. Employment under the textile and garment industry in the country is at 1,37,000 and 4,22,000 respectively.
The Philippine garment and textile industry is gearing up to jumpstart its resurgence and gain back its reputation as a competitive player in the domestic and international markets.
For Q2 Gap net sales increased eight per cent compared with last year. Comparable sales increased two per cent compared with a one per cent increase last year. Gap has delivered its seventh consecutive quarter of positive comparable sales growth. Gross profit increased 10 per cent compared with last year.
Gross margin was 39.8 per cent, an increase of 90 basis points compared with last year. The effective tax rate was 23.5 per cent for the second quarter of fiscal year 2018.
During the quarter, the company repurchased 3.2 million shares for 100 million dollars and ended the second quarter of fiscal 2018 with 385 million shares outstanding. The company’s dividends during the second quarter of fiscal year 2018 increased five per cent compared with last year.
Gap ended the second quarter of fiscal year 2018 with 3,626 store locations in 43 countries, of which 3,187 were company-operated. The company continues to expect comparable sales for fiscal year 2018 to be flat to up slightly. The company continues to expect its fiscal year 2018 effective tax rate to be about 26 per cent.
In estimating the earnings per share impact from foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations, the company estimates current gross margins using the appropriate prior year rates.
Ethiopia plans to generate $240 million from the textile sector in the 2018/19 fiscal year. The country gained $ 110 million, 46 per cent of the expected outcome, in the 2017/18 fiscal year from the sector. According to the Minister of Industry, Bogale Feleke, failure in achieving the plan was caused by lower exports, shortage of cotton, lack of trained manpower, and instability in some parts of the country.
The minister revealed that agreements to release efficient foreign currency in the textile and apparel market have been signed with the National Bank of Ethiopia and Development Bank of Ethiopia. He also informed that the government had developed National Cotton Development Strategy, a 15 years strategy, in order to address cotton shortages. According to the minister, the strategy aims at improving local cotton production and putting Ethiopia at the top of cotton production in Africa.
The Director General of Textile Industry Development Institute, Silesh Lema, stated that maximum efforts are being undertaken to enhance foreign currency earnings from the sector. He said that the institute is doing its best to expand market opportunities and attract potential buyers from the global market.
Demand for African textiles and garments is increasing globally, and African patterns are gaining recognition as truly fashionable and iconic pieces. International fashion houses are integrating more and more African influences in their latest collections.
International textile manufacturers are turning to Africa as a new source of labor – and a growing consumer market. Africa is clearly and quickly taking on a greater role in the global fashion value chain. A great example of this is Ethiopia which is investing in industrial parks to accelerate textile production and the country’s productivity as well as developing a heavy industry that will allow its full industrialisation by 2025.
The African Development Bank will continue to support the fashion industry so that it can make its full contribution to the growth of our economies, as well as give Africa its rightful place in the global cultural and creative landscape.
