FW
The Hirdaramani Group, based in Sri Lanka, prioritizes sustainability in its business model. It encourages apparel manufacturers across Sri Lanka to invest in restorative and regenerative processes in creating sustainable products for the betterment of their own practices, the country, and the environment. Earlier this year the future-focused apparel conglomerate further cemented its long-standing commitment to the circular economy by becoming one of the few manufacturers globally to participate in the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Make Fashion Circular initiative, and pledging to incorporate innovative operational solutions that challenge the current take-make-waste industry model.
This company began with tailoring and soon branched into garments, textiles, carpets and jewelry. As globalisation of the fashion industry rapidly increased, Hirdaramani expanded with demand, building facilities throughout Sri Lanka and opening ventures in Bangladesh, Vietnam and in recent years Ethiopia. Already a pioneer in the industry, through its collaboration with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Hirdaramani joins an A-list of global industry stakeholders, corporations, NGOs and fashion houses who have pledged to incorporate circularity into the core of their business. The company has drastically reduced water use by employing low liquor ratio washing machines and waterless washing through ozone technology. Chemical use is optimized using state-of-the-art machinery.
Last year, garments and footwear exports from Cambodia were up 24 per cent from 2017. The garment industry is Cambodia’s largest employer. The value of exports in the garment sector continued to grow at about 10 per cent for the past three years. Much credit goes to the growth in the travel goods sector, while the footwear industry is also a major contributor. Growth in garment exports has been relatively stable but it may decline this year. The main concerns are next year’s wage increase and the EBA issue.
Cambodia has benefited from its EBA status in the European Union since 2001. Under the EBA, all Cambodian goods, except arms, enter the bloc tariff and quota-free. However, the European Union is now reviewing the deal following concerns regarding democratic setbacks in Cambodia. Massive job losses are feared from the second quarter of 2020 should the trade preferences be revoked. The EU bloc is Cambodia’s largest trading partner, accounting for 45 per cent of its exports.
Around 17 garment factories have been established in Cambodia in the last two years, generating 11,502 jobs in the sector. The investors are from Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, China, and Australia. The factories produce handbags, wallets, sportswear, T-shirts and jackets.
The fashion industry in Europe has cut its carbon dioxide emissions by 24 per cent between 2008 and 2017. Fashion in Europe is moving toward sustainability. In 2017, the European textile and leather industry emitted 8.7 billion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere compared to 11.4 billion tons in 2008.
The Italian industry is the most polluting European fashion industry. The sector’s emission of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere is 30.2 per cent of the fashion industry’s emissions in the continent. The second most polluting market in the fashion industry in Europe is the British. However, the country has reduced its CO2 emissions over the years. France occupies the third position within the most polluting fashion industries in the region. Although French textile and leather increased their emissions by 1.9 per cent between 2016 and 2017, the sector has reduced its pollution, emitting 36 per cent less than in 2008. Spain and Portugal, meanwhile, are the other two most polluting fashion industries in Europe. However, the fashion industry in Spain and Portugal has reduced pollution by 20.7 per cent and 25.8 per cent between 2008 and 2017.
Fashion is one of the most polluting industries in the world but the sector has been taking more and more sustainable steps in the last ten years.
Fast fashion brands are heading for Africa now. The effects will be catastrophic for the environment. The link between fashion, food security, and health care is barely noticed. And that link is climate change. The fashion industry contributes ten percent of all greenhouse gas emissions on earth. In effect, the industry’s use of water and energy has also highlighted it as one of the planet’s biggest polluters. Climate change is already having a negative impact on food security and consequently health.
As Africa’s population continues to rise, demand for clothing also increases. Even though sustainable fashion brands exist in Africa, there are few, highly-priced brands, and their market penetration is low. Africa is the continent with the highest growing population.
Despite Africa’s potential as a profitable market for ethical fashion, global ethical fashion giants lack a notable presence. Sustainable fashion is usually priced higher than ordinary fashion. There is very little knowledge of sustainable fashion in Africa. Africa’s contribution to sustainability in fashion has come through the consumption of imported secondhand clothes. At least 80 per cent of Africans wear secondhand clothes. The sooner the effect of fast fashion is realized and the importance of ethical clothing emphasized the better will it be for Africa.
Guess wants to boost brand relevancy and has chalked out a new strategy to take it forward. The American fashion retail company will set up celebrity and influencer collaborations to engage more effectively with a younger and broader audience made of millennial and Gen Z consumers. Customer centricity is another key area. The company will implement processes and platforms to offer customers a seamless omni-channel experience. Widening the global footprint is another priority. Guess will continue to expand the reach of its brands by optimizing the productivity and profitability of its current footprint and expanding its distribution channels. The strategy will be to increase profitability and sales while delivering global expansion.
Product excellence is also part of the group’s strategy. The company will extend its product offering to provide customers with a wider range of products for different occasions and lifestyles and will seek to better address local product needs. This consists in improving the areas of logistics, sourcing, product development and production, inventory management, and overall infrastructure.
By reaching all these objectives, the company expects to increase its turnover by 250 million dollars and boost its operating profits by 150 million dollars. On product side Guess made good progress with denim development and expanded presentations in stores and online.
China’s textile industry is a key player globally. In 2018, China’s chemical fiber production exceeded 50 million tons, making up over two thirds of global production. Textile exports from China reached 37.6 per cent of the world’s total in 2018, a 3.5 per cent increase from the previous year, while apparel exports accounted for 31.3 per cent of the world’s total. China is the world’s biggest textile exporter.
Domestic retail sales of apparel grew by eight per cent in 2018. China’s textile industry’s investments in fixed assets grew by five per cent in 2018, before slowing in the first half of 2019. Investments have focused on technology and innovation, resulting in increased productivity. With its position at the forefront of the world’s textile industry, China is now entering a new era of textile manufacturing and design. Among the key components are technology and innovation, culture and local talent and sustainability.
China’s textile industry has steadily placed more investments further overseas, upstream and downstream. Between 2015 and 2018, Vietnam received the highest investment volume, followed by Ethiopia, Myanmar, Egypt, Cambodia, Malaysia, Pakistan and Tajikistan. An estimated 18 per cent of China’s textile exports go to the US.
Ralph Lauren will power all of its offices, distribution centers and stores with 100 per cent renewable electricity by 2025. In order to reach this goal, the brand will pursue a combination of virtual power purchase agreements in North America and assess a select number of US sites for onsite solar power installations.
Ralph Lauren has joined the UN Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action, which contains several climate-related commitments, including prioritizing the use of raw materials with low-climate impact and pursuing energy efficiency measures and renewable energy across the supply chain. Looking forward, the brand will set a science-based greenhouse gas reduction target next year.
For the first half of the year, Ralph Lauren’s net profit was up 37.3 per cent. Sales were up 2.3 per cent. Ralph Lauren has resumed its sourcing in Bangladesh. The American fashion company stopped producing garments in the Asian country in 2015, after the Rana Plaza collapse. Ralph Lauren has ambitions to increase sales by a billion dollars by 2023. Marketing spend will go up by a 100 million dollars over the next five years. The aim is for half of the company’s growth to come from core categories — men’s shirting — and half from undeveloped categories like denim, wear-to-work, outerwear, footwear and accessories.
Vietnam’s import and export value as of November 2019 was up 7.6 per cent compared to the same period in 2018. Vietnam’s textile and garment sector has reached only one third of the export turnover goal set for 2019. Although textile and garment export turnover ranked third nationwide, after utilities and computers, the turnover was much lower than the set target. Meanwhile, materials produced by FDI businesses are sold within their closed support chains or to foreign parent companies.
Therefore, domestic textile and garment businesses still need to import materials. With a population of nearly 100 million, and clothing consumption approximating five per cent to six per cent of total consumption, Vietnam holds great appeal for international fashion companies. Currently, large-scale textile enterprises in Vietnam are trying to cooperate with FDI companies to produce material supplies as well as textile products under their own brands to increase their domestic market share.
Vietnam has been affected indirectly by the perpetual trade war. Yarn exports to China have fallen this year. The shrinking of the global fashion industry has also played a critical role. This fiscal orders received by manufacturers have fallen. Like any other apparel sourcing country, Vietnam needs further investment in high-value items.
Bimal Arora, Honorary Chairperson, Center for Responsible Business, Aston Business School
Bimal Arora, Chairperson, Center for Responsible Business, Aston Business School believes that over the last few years, the Indian garment industry has become more resourceful and skilled. “However, it needs to pull up its socks and be more competitive,” he said at the sixth edition of CRB’s Flagship Annual Conference. The conference was held from November 20-22, 2019 in New Delhi.
Sustainability fuels innovation and competition amongst brands
“The Indian fashion industry faces circularity issues that need to be addressed resiliently,” he said. “Rather than changing the economic or financial bottomlines of brands, we need to revamp their operations inherently and incorporate sustainability into their business models,” he added.
According to Arora, sustainability can be a big asset if used correctly. “It is not just about cost anymore,” he says further adding that several manufacturers have changed their buyers’ perception of sustainability through their operations. “Sustainability is helping these manufacturers to innovate and become more competitive. Brands that adopt cyclical changes in their business models are not affected by the slowdown.”
A neutral space for discussing challenging issues
Elaborating on the program of the CRB conference, Arora said, “Now in its sixth year, this conference has come a long way. It acts as a platform for garment industry professionals by offering them an independent neutral space for dialogues, deliberations and discussions on complex and challenging issues. Having a complex design program, the conference covers diverse issues over three days. Each of its session is covered by specialists.”
Gant has appointed Patrik Söderström as new chief executive officer starting February 1 of next year. The executive until now held the position of vice president of global markets and sales.
The appointment of Söderström comes after Brien Grevy, current chief executive officer of the company, announced his resignation last October to return to German sportswear Adidas. Söderström joined Gant in 2016, after holding the position of general manager of Luxottica for northern Europe. Prior to that, he had positions in Reebok and Levi Strauss.
His understanding of how to lead the commercial business and channel landscape and navigate in today’s rapidly changing retail environment, while having an understanding of the power of the brand has already proved invaluable to Gant’s growth. Looking ahead, his passionate leadership will be vital for Gant’s future growth.
Gant was founded in 1949 by Bernard Gantmacher and his children Marty and Elliot. The company has 600 directly operated stores in seventy markets around the world, in addition to having a presence in 4,000 multibrand stores and corners in department stores. The company’s revenue is around 1 billion dollars.
