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Bangladesh’s earnings from exports of readymade garments to India are up 79.09 per cent. Indian business giants such as Reliance and Tata have started their apparel businesses and opened up retail chain shops across the country. This has opened up an opportunity for Bangladesh to act as a supplier for them. The purchasing power of Indian people has increased, which has driven them to import more apparel from Bangladesh. The Indian market is closer to Bangladesh compared to Europe or the US. The shipment time is just four hours from Bangladesh to India. Also, it is a win-win situation for both countries since Bangladesh imports raw materials for garment making such as cotton and machinery from India. So Indian exports are also helped.
India and China are two of the biggest markets for Bangladesh. Both countries have shifted from manual industries to high-tech industries and wages have been increasing, which has eventually led to a hike in production costs. Remediation work of more than 95 per cent of the factory buildings in Bangladesh has been entirely completed and has fulfilled the requirements of Accord and Alliance, the two platforms of western buyers. Bangladesh is not only seeing growth in exports to India, the quality of products has improved.
Shima Seiki , the industry leader in knitting, showcased here at ITMA Bacelona, with a great new ambition and confidence, a new way of looking at knitting and wide range of possibilities that knitting can offer under its new theme KNITify the World – Smart Solutions in Textiles, Proposing knitting as an alternative manufacturing solution for non-fashion related industries, Shima Seiki demonstrated that what was impossible to knit in the past can now be knitted, and what was never even considered knitable is now possible with its KNITification solutions.
Shima Seiki , the industry leader in knitting, showcased here at ITMA Bacelona, with a great new ambition and confidence, a new way of looking at knitting and wide range of possibilities that knitting can offer under its new theme KNITify the World – Smart Solutions in Textiles, Proposing knitting as an alternative manufacturing solution for non-fashion related industries, Shima Seiki demonstrated that what was impossible to knit in the past can now be knitted, and what was never even considered knitable is now possible with its KNITification solutions.
“Through combined application of our patented core technology that is widely accepted as the benchmark of the industry, Shima Seiki is disrupting the conventional perception of knitting, offering its benefits to prospective customers who are as yet unaware of the true and current potential that knitting possesses,” commented Masaki Karasuno, Media Relations-Planning Group, Total Design Centre, Shima Seiki, Japan.
Shima Seiki's new comprehensive knits machines boosts global textile sector
Leading computerised knitting machine manufacturer Shima Seiki, has launched a comprehensive line-up of products, including new Wholegarment knitting machines, computerised flat knitting machines, and computer graphic design systems, as well as various digital solutions. The manufacturer, which earlier was engaged with 3D design, has now introduced a 4D machine. “This machine does all programming and simulation with its keyboard manipulating the 3D space,” says Masaki Karasuno.
The machine offers both 3D and 4D facilities. Its keyboard manipulates the 3D space. The brand offers both the software and hardware for this machine. “With left hand one can control the machine while the right hand can be used for drawing. The machine works on suede tape yarn. Usually, when one feeds the yarn it twists. It also has a special device called the yarn unwinder for unwinding. This can be installed with the existing machines,” adds Karasuno. The machine creates virtual simulations by scanning existing data or creating the yarn digitally.
Intersia machine with loop presser for more productivity
Shima Seiki has also introduced the Intarsia machine with a loop presser. This is a new machine with a smaller, wider compact carriage, which allows 15 percent higher productivity and higher energy efficiency. It’s a lot more productive and sustainable. “This machine works on suede tape yarn. It twists when you feed the machine with yarn. It has a special device called the yarn unwinder. This can be installed with the existing machines,” adds Karasuno.
Shima Seiki also offers a machine with a loop presser bed with two systems. Two colored yarns can go back and forth on this machine so that one color show and other does not. This can be done on every single needle. It is the jacquard that is also used in denim. It allows the creation of three dimensional patterns to be created and cups like this never seen before. The machine right now offers an option of ten colors though it can be further upgraded to 20 colors.
Scarf knitter for sportswear with elastic yarn
Another of its innovations is the scarf knitter. This machine knits sportswear with elastic yarn. “It combines the seamless properties of Wholegarments with underlayer for sportswear. We use elastic yarn to overcome the problems of circular yarn in flat knitting. The tension motoring device in the machine calculates stretch properties in a fabric. This ensures size consistency throughout the product and from product to product,” adds Karasumo. This machine makes the entire garment besides its conventional knitting. It has an additional yarn carrier which moves back and forth between two colors,” adds Karasuno.
Great potential for technical textiles
“Knitting offers great potential for technical textiles with its inherent characteristics: stretch and compression,” continued Karasuno. “Flat knitting provides further potential with its capability to shape fabric on the machine. New knitting techniques such as inlay made possible with special loop pressers feature add further value to knitting and have gained particular attention for its ability to produce hybrid knit-weave fabrics that allow insertion of technical yarns heretofore considered incompatible with knitting, into existing knit fabrics. These include carbon fibre, monofilament and even metallic yarns. Shima has even developed a special Yarn Unwinding Device for unwinding spools of technical yarn to ease yarn feed for such difficult-to-handle material.”, Karasuno concluded.
"One of the most disastrous impacts of the fashion industry on the environment is the enormous amount of water needed to grow raw materials like cotton. Brands require around four years of drinking water on an average to make one cotton T-shirt. Additionally, the chemicals sprayed on cotton crops, electricity power in the garment factories, the fossil fuel emissions from transportation of clothing across the seas, railway and road networks and by air to high street stores add to the growing pollution by the fashion industry."
One of the most disastrous impacts of the fashion industry on the environment is the enormous amount of water needed to grow raw materials like cotton. Brands require around four years of drinking water on an average to make one cotton T-shirt. Additionally, the chemicals sprayed on cotton crops, electricity power in the garment factories, the fossil fuel emissions from transportation of clothing across the seas, railway and road networks and by air to high street stores add to the growing pollution by the fashion industry.
As per a 2017 report from the Ellen MacArthurFoundation, an environmental advocacy organisation set up by MacArthur, an equivalent of one truck of textiles is land filled or burned every second, .An estimated €443 billion is wasted every year on clothing that is barely worn. The report further predicts that the fashion industry will consume more than a quarter of the world’s annual carbon budget by 2050.
Increasing garment life through recycling
To deal with this, the British parliament recently recommended a 1per cent tax on each garment to stop
companies from over-producing. However, the recommendation was rejected last month. The report presented a vision of a new system based on circular economy principles that offers benefits to the economy, society and the environment.
As per this vision, designers will henceforth design clothes differently. These clothes will not only be worn longer but also rented, resold and reused much more often. Materials will be recycled, either for making new clothes or using as insulation, mattress stuffing or wipe cloths. The report has been endorsed by some big fashion brands including Nike, C&A, and H&M.
Using sustainable materials
The MacArthur Foundation report also recommends less synthetic materials that do not leak microfibres into the existing water systems. Some of the leading designers are already using such sustainable or recycled materials in their collections. These include reputed brands like ASOS, Marks & Spencer, Burberry, etc. Fast fashion brand Zara recently announced by 2025 all its collections will be made from 100 per cent sustainable fabrics by 2025. These also include the collections of its partner brands, including Zara Home, Massimo Dutti and Pull&Bear, etc.
The new flagship boutique of English fashion designer Stella McCarthy in London’s Old Bond Street stocks biodegradable mannequins to display her handmade organic cotton collection. On the other hand, Patagonia sells bags that prevent microfibres from being released into waste water streams when synthetic clothes are washed in a machine.
Though these efforts are praiseworthy, it is actually reduction in the volume of clothing produced that holds the key to making the industry more sustainable. The efforts of H&M on this front are definitely noteworthy. The brand takes back old clothes through its Garment Collecting Recycling Programme. In 2018 alone, they collected 20,649 tonne of clothing. The brand recently partnered with the second-hand online marketplace Sellpy, for selling second-hand clothing on their own website. The project will be trialed on the Swedish website of its subsidiary clothing chain and Other Stories. Hope, other brands take a leaf from this.
Violeta Andic, Director of the plus-size Violeta label of the Spanish clothing brand Mango, and its Operations Chief Carlos Costa are stepping down from their roles. In charge of the Violeta label since its launch in 2013, Andic spent the past 12 years at the Spanish fashion brand, founded in 1984 by her father Nahman Andic and her uncle Isak Andic, who currently holds the role of chairman. Before taking the helm of Violeta, the executive was responsible for special collections between 2008 and 2013. Andic will be replaced by Laura San Martin, currently in charge of the brand’s outlet stores and has been with the company for more than 15 years.
Meanwhile, Carlos Costa, director of operations and strategy since 2013, is leaving Mango to focus on a personal project. He is also a member of the Mango board of directors, and before joining the clothing label he led the Barcelona office of Boston Consulting Group. His responsibilities as head of operations at Mango included overseeing the areas of logistics, imports and exports, IT systems, human resources, corporate social responsibility and operational strategy. Mango has yet to announce his effective departure date and replacement.
Many Chinese and Bangladeshi textile companies have collaborated for this year’s Texworld USA edition. One such collaboration including that of Chinese Nantong Fenglan Textile Co with the Bangladesh company Farseeing Knit Composite. While Li presented his own textiles, Taher brought a number of T-shirts and other garments to the exhibition booth.
Running his company in Nantong city in east China's Jiangsu province, Li has formed partnerships with two Bangladeshi textile plants starting from 2012 to better explore international opportunities, and Taher's company was one of them.
Farseeing Knit Composite imports around 95 percent raw materials from China to meet the demand for his garment plants. This partnership further strengthened the both the companies’ position in the market as a U.S. customer of Nantong Feglan Textile placed an order of 6,600 pieces on site.
Global trade languished for a seventh straight month in May, says the CPB World Trade Monitor. The tariff battle between the US and China is heightening uncertainty and slowing growth in Europe and elsewhere in Asia. The reduction of trade between the two countries has damaged confidence and companies worldwide are wary. Other problems include: a surge in oil prices. Trade was flat in the three months through May, compared with the previous three-month stretch, after six consecutive months of declines. The overall index stood at 124.5 in May, a 0.3 per cent rise from a month earlier, when it fell 0.6 per cent. The latest reading was 0.4 per cent lower than in May 2018. Global markets remain vulnerable to shocks in confidence or sentiment this year.
China’s trade imports and exports are both below 2018 peak levels. The International Monetary Fund has further reduced its global growth outlook, already the lowest since the financial crisis, and suggested that policy missteps on issues such as trade could derail a projected rebound. The IMF also slashed expectations for growth in the global volume of trade in goods and services, reducing its estimate by 0.9 points.
Switzerland-based Steiger’s Vega 3.130 is a compact flat knitting machine for technical textiles. It can be equipped with warp and weft insertion for inlay applications involving high-performance yarns. It has a specific cam-box for semi-rigid yarns, as well as adapted sinker kinetics. The distance between the needle-beds can be specifically adjusted and set and other key features include a special take-down for 3D products, a new system of clamp and scissors that can cut yarns like Kevlar, and a selectable carriage inversion ramp for optimised production. The machine can also be supplied in a special format to process carbon fiber preforms for use in automotive, aerospace and industrial composite applications. Steiger has also launched a new app, which will allow, for example, a Steiger machine user in Brazil to live link to a Steiger technical expert in Europe for assistance.
The company launched the Stitch Lab in 2017, where experts in knitting and programming work together with clients on developing their future applications. In the Stitch Lab Steiger develops 3D articles for knitwear, for medical applications and for composite materials. The Vega 3.130 is a product of the Stitch Lab.
Steiger, based in Switzerland, is part of the Cixing Group, the world’s largest manufacturer of flat knitting machines.
In the first six months of 2019, Turkey’s textile and raw material exports dropped by 5.8 per cent. Textile exports to Italy decreased 7.5 per cent compared to the same period previous year. Exports to Germany were down 3.8 per cent. On the whole, exports to the 28 EU countries fell 9.2 per cent. Italy is Turkey’s largest importer followed by Germany.
From January to June, Turkey’s exports of cotton woven fabrics decreased 11.2 per cent. Yarn was the second most important product group in this period with a share of 18.6 per cent. Yarns from synthetic manmade filament fibers had a share of 42.3 per cent in total yarn exports. Knitted fabric exports fell 1.9 per cent. Export of knitted fabrics containing elastometric and rubber yarn decreased by 8.3 per cent. In the first half of the year, fiber exports rose by 6.8 per cent. Synthetic manmade fibers accounted for 62 per cent of total fiber exports. Export of these fibers increased by 10.8 per cent.
The country’s garment exports decreased one per cent. The sector’s share in Turkey’s total exports is 9.9 per cent. In the first half of the year, the top three countries with the highest exports were Germany, Spain and the UK.
Zara plans to make greater efforts to become fully sustainable. This means transitioning to 100 per cent sustainable fabrics by 2025. Around 80 per cent of the energy consumed in Zara’s headquarters, factories and stores will come from renewable sources. Zara is bent on eliminating landfill waste. By 2023, Zara’s wood-pulp-derived viscose will not come from endangered forests.
Zara produces an average of 500 new designs a week and 20,000 designs each year. Zara is pushing into new markets right now, expanding into India and expanding its online presence globally. Among all of Zara’s announcements — from reducing landfill waste to using renewable energy — the switch to lower impact materials and removing hazardous chemicals from the supply chain is the most significant shift, by far.
Fast fashion is a business model built around disposable consumption and limitless growth. The bulk of fashion’s environmental impact happens in the manufacturing phase, in making new textiles and materials that become clothing and shoes. Zara is responding to consumers’ growing concern about sustainability and social issues. Consumers are more informed than ever about what’s going on in the world, and they don’t want to feel like they’re harming the planet when they buy fashion. Sustainability has become a way for a brand to differentiate itself.
The ongoing India Trend Fair is in Japan from July 24 to 26, 2019 aims to promote India’s businesses in Japan and give them a platform from which to grow their retail network in Japan. The fair focuses on accessories, jewelry, handicrafts, and home ware and around 200 Indian companies are taking part. This includes categories such as denim, finished garments, accessories, footwear, cushions, bed linens, and carpets. Buyers include manufacturers, wholesalers, trading companies, importers, select and specialist shops, department stores, volume and online retailers etc. This is an exclusive business matching event, which gives exporters an opportunity to showcase their products and supply value added products with a special emphasis on products designed to suit Japanese fashion trends and requirements.
The event is hosted by the Japan India Industry Promotion Association, a non-profit that works to promote trade between India and Japan. It collects and analyses information on Japanese and Indian industrial markets.
Japan is a sophisticated market, leaning towards small-lot and short cycle delivery of supply. Consumption is diversified and quality expectations are very high. High quality and expensive Indian garments are gaining popularity in Japan. Customers like selecting garments that have a different character when compared with dresses and kimono worn at such occasions as weddings and parties.
