FW
Milano Unica New York was held from January 24 to 26, 2016 when the region was facing a massive snow blizzard. But despite that, booths were busy with attendees till the final hours of the fabric show. The show stressed on the importance of Italian fabrics.
The current exchange rate makes Italian fabrics more affordable for US manufacturers and designers are looking for better fabrics with quality of made-in-Italy production. Milano Unica recently partnered with the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) to launch a new fabric-development program. The program will pair three up-and-coming designers with Italian textile mills. Each will go to Italy, identify a mill to work with and create fabrics. They will then get 10 meters to work with in their next collection.
CFDA has already selected a women’s wear designer, Ryan Roche, and an accessories designer, milliner Gigi Burris, for the program. A men’s wear designer will be announced at a later date. Many new players in the US apparel market have never had the opportunity to work with Italian fabrics and mills before. In fact, many Italian mills have agents in the US and several US customers. They are looking to expand their US business.
www.milanounica.it/MU/index.php/en/fairs-eng/mu-ny-en
The recently concluded Munich Fabric Start and Blue Zone, held from February 1 to 3, 2016, at the MOC Messe Zentrum was visited by many fashion and textile industry players. The fair heralded a positive atmosphere with all its halls filled with visitors.
The area focusing on denim and casual fabrics ‘The Blue Zone’ disclosed some novelties. The new trend area has been completely redesigned and moved inside the exhibiting area, close to the entrance. New displays showed a mix of products, photo collages and a wall of Polaroid prints from catwalk shows featuring denim pieces providing extra inspiration.
Novelty at the show was Blue Zone's booth display characterized by semi-transparent white fabric walls. Another novelty will be seen at the September 2016 fair: ‘Kesselhaus’, the area just opposite the Zenith Halle where Blue Zone took place, will host a new pavilion measuring about 2,500 sq., mt. aimed to present new projects and product categories.
Among the most significant trends presented were jacquard denims and chambrays in bright or darker blue hues (Bossa) but also in some shades of green (Bossa, ITV, Berto). Camouflage effects, microstructures, herringbone stripes and paisley motives decorated many fabrics.
Exploitation has become the dominant business model in global trade, says a global trade union study by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC). More than 160 million workers make up the hidden workforce. They are employed indirectly in supply chains and subject to labor abuses but help big companies earn trillions of dollars.
Some of those workers are in Cambodia, where low wages are the major attraction to businesses. Transparency is lacking in the multiple layers of contractors and subcontractors employed by major companies. There are no safe, secure, regulatory environments that provide fundamental rights.
In 50 major companies, including Nestle, Coca-Cola, General Electric and Walmart, only six per cent of the workers in their supply chains are directly employed. The 50 companies have combined revenues of $3.4 trillion. Big companies have to work toward ensuring supply chain transparency, safe and secure work, a living wage and collective bargaining rights for all workers.
The situation for workers is made worse in countries like Cambodia because of domestic regulatory systems that are weak thanks to an unwillingness among governments to hold large companies accountable. If countries where multinationals are headquartered were to legislate to mandate due diligence, then it’s possible to prosecute companies across borders.
Cotton producers in the US plan a seven per cent increase in plantings this year. Producers want to return some of the acreage back to cotton after bad weather at planting and low prices slashed acreage by 22 per cent last year to the smallest since 1983. All-cotton plantings are pegged at 9.19 million acres, compared with 8.58 million last year and 11.04 million acres in 2014.
Some tradersʼ estimates have ranged from 125,000 to 225,000 running bales in US upland export sales for the week ended January 28. Cotton futures retreated from an eight-session high to finish lower in spot March Wednesday, touching the low in the late going, while December settled higher.
Futures settlements during the reporting week ranged from 62.45 cents to 60.86 cents, basis March, and averaged 61.54 cents. May dipped 34 points to close at 62.41 cents, July eased off 11 points to 62.77 cents and December gained 21 points to 62.62 cents. World production is projected to increase 2.8 per cent, with consumption up a mere 0.2 per cent. Global stocks would amount to 81 per cent of consumption.
World ending stocks are estimated to decline five per cent following a seven per cent decline this season. An additional decline in world stocks is forecast for 2016-17.
Karl Mayer’s textile machine Kamcos 2 focuses on the user. It has an optimised user interface design. The processes are designed not from a technical standpoint but on the basis of the machine’s operating sequences on site. The operator is helped by being guided through his daily jobs – from entry of the yarn into the machine to production of the final fabric.
The operating concept, with process-oriented main navigation systems, can be used via a modular arrangement and a uniform interface for the various types of machines. This applies to every area – from warp knitting, through warp preparation, to the production of technical textiles. For specific configurations, the contents of the production side can be adapted to the requirements of the user roles or machine features. To avoid any operator errors, monitoring algorithms have been integrated, and access is controlled via an RFID data chip with a specifically authorised access key in each case.
The user interface with its exceptional design, provides all the performance features of a modern automation platform. All the functions of modern textile machines can be fully integrated. This is based on the principles of an efficient, real-time data bus. Integrated elements include the a yarn monitoring system for instant detection of yarn breakages and rapid machine stoppage, a newly developed camera monitoring system for inspecting the textile web, and a new machine lighting system with status indicator for providing information on the operating status.
www.karlmayer.com/
Russia wants to develop its own textile industry and reduce dependence on Turkish textiles and clothing. It’s believed the development of garment production in the Caucasus will create up to two million new jobs. Dagestan for one is seen as a possible center for textile and light industry. The republic has a number of advantages over other regions, including a huge labor base, the traditional love for working with fabrics etc.
Imports of textiles into Russia are about one-third of the total supply. The share of imports in the clothing, footwear and accessories segment is more than 80 per cent. Bangladesh and Vietnam are among the seven largest apparel exporters to Russia. Although their shares are not as big as China’s, their growth is more impressive.
Vietnam has signed a free trade agreement with the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) comprising Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. This is likely to boost apparel exports from Vietnam to the EAEU. There are 653 large and medium enterprises and about 4,000 small companies in Russia engaged in the garment and textile industry. Domestic manufacturers benefit from Russia's light industry development strategy, which provides state support for textile and garment manufacturers, including modernisation of technological base and enhancing their competitiveness.
High density cotton cropping has been tested on 1,000 acres in Telengana this season. The aim is to increase cotton yield. The initial feedback has been encouraging and indications are that the yield would increase to 800 kg per hectare from the average current level of 540 kg per hectare.
So the high density cropping coverage would be gradually increased to 5,000 acres next year. Similarly, in Nagpur, a model of drought resistance cotton crop will be tested. It’s expected to consume less water compared to the normal variety.
With China cutting down on its cotton imports, India has found a new market in Pakistan. In the December quarter, the country exported 16.6 lakh bales of cotton to Pakistan against 3.8 lakh bales in the same period last year. The sudden jump in exports to Pakistan was due to a whitefly pest attack that damaged about 40 per cent of crop in that country.
The prevailing trend in cotton exports is likely to continue for the rest of the year as other countries such as Bangladesh, China and Indonesia are also ramping up their cotton procurement from India. India will study the latest developments in cotton farming across the world and see what can be adapted.
"The international event offers ample opportunity for delegates to network with their peers, mingle with expert panelists and exchange ideas with their peers and competitors alike on issues of mutual interest. Past keynote speakers include: Paul Charron, Former Chairman of Liz Claiborne, Dr. William Fung, Group MD of Li & Fung, Edwin Keh, Former COO of Walmart Global Procurement, Andrew Wu, LVMH Group Director in China among others."
The Prime Source Forum (PSF), the leading global event that brings together executives and senior stakeholders from the apparel and footwear supply chain is in its 11th year and the next edition is scheduled to be held on March 14 and 15 in Hong Kong. This year, Ethiopian Minister and Special Advisor to Prime Minister Arkebe Oqubay will be the keynote speaker at the PSF. Oqubay is also the author of ‘Made in Africa: Industrial Policy in Ethiopia’ which focuses on Africa’s economic transformation, industrialisation and policymaking. PSF spokesperson, Josephine Ching says, they are happy to have someone like Oqubay’s calibre joining Prime Source Forum this year. “Ethiopia is fast emerging as global manufacturing hub and delegates will benefit immensely from Minister Oqubay’s insight and perspective,” says Ching.
Ethiopia’s emergence in global sourcing map
A recent McKinsey report where, Chief Purchasing Officers (CPOs) of $70 billion in 2014 purchasing volume in the apparel sector, were surveyed regarding their sourcing strategy. The report revealed while sourcing powerhouses such Bangladesh and China will remain significant players, Ethiopia is on the list of countries that CPOs expect will play a bigger role in their apparel manufacturing.
Fellow keynote speaker Tino Zeiske, Senior Vice President for Corporate Responsibility at Metro Group will share his perspective on the sustainable development in the fashion industry following the G7 Summit and COP21. K C Tan of Dassault Systemes will lead a discussion on the adoption of 3D and Virtual Reality technology in the apparel sector. A diverse group of brands and supply chain experts will delve into best practice for initiating and accelerating the application of this technology in the apparel supply chain.
PSF initiated in 2006focues on the implementation of quota elimination in the apparel industry, with the support of three founding organisations, the American Apparel and Footwear Association (AAFA), United States Fashion Industry Association (USFIA; formerly USAITA) and Foreign Trade Association (FTA) in Brussels. However, PSF is not limited to just sourcing aspect of the supply chain, it also reflects on sources of information for the fashion industry. Held in Hong Kong since 2006, the event brings together over 400 top professionals from more than 20 countries who delve on the challenges and opportunities that manufacturers, suppliers and retailers face in the apparel supply chain.
This international event offers ample opportunity for delegates to network with their peers, mingle with expert panelists and exchange ideas with their peers and competitors alike on issues of mutual interest. Past keynote speakers include: Paul Charron, Former Chairman of Liz Claiborne, Dr. William Fung, Group MD of Li & Fung, Edwin Keh, Former COO of Walmart Global Procurement, Andrew Wu, LVMH Group Director in China among others.
Top organisations including adidas, APLL, Clarks, Coats, Cotton Council, Cotton Inc., Crocs, Dassault Systemes, EastMax, Fung Retailing, GAFTI, H&M, InvestHK, Lectra, LF Sourcing, New Balance, Primark, PVH, among others are expected to participate in PSF2016.
World’s leading industrial thread and consumer textile crafts business, Coats has appointed Valerie Hayden as their Human Resources Director, Asia. Valerie joins from Dentsu Aegis Network, a global media group, where she was Regional Head of Human Resources, Asia Pacific.
She will work on all aspects of HR to help support the growth of Coats’ Industrial business in Asia. This includes HR leadership and advice on talent management, performance management, engagement, recruitment and reward. She will also be a member of Coats’ Asia leadership team.
Valerie has more than 25 years' HR experience gained across a broad range of industries including manufacturing. She has been based in Asia for nearly 20 years and former roles include Senior Vice President, Human Resources at Swiss Re, as well as senior HR positions at Rolls Royce Singapore, Novell Asia Pacific (a business software provider) and Hilton International, Middle East and Asia Pacific. Valerie reports to Ashok Mathur, Chief Operating Officer, Asia Industrial and is based in Singapore.
At the Heimtextile Fair Germany, Pakistan, the 4th largest exhibitor received almost half the number of orders this year compared to previous year. Heimtextile is a mega event for all textile millers and exporters of the world, where this year around 220 Pakistani exhibitors participated under the Trade and Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) umbrella at the Pakistan pavilion.
Pakistani exporters have seen a massive drop in international orders lately, due to the energy crisis and the slowdown of global economy, said an exhibitor at the Heimtextile Fair and Ayesha Textile Mills CEO Abdulla Kamal. He said international buyers were moving away from Pakistani market due to delay in shipments. On the other hand, China is very good in timely delivery, he observed.
The global economic slowdown has also played a key role in keeping buyers away from the recent exhibition. Europe is passing through a low-growth phase, remarked Kamal. He said during the peak textile season, the government severs the gas supply. This time, though, the situation was better since the government cut supply to domestic consumers in order to facilitate the industries.
Moreover, he said the law and order situation in the country was another major hurdle in grabbing orders. The recent terrorist attacks on schools and colleges have dented Pakistan’s reputation internationally. Buyers are frightened to even come visit us, let alone give orders, he concluded.
