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Lenzing has developed a web technology platform. This is a nonwoven web formation process that starts with botanic wood pulp and produces a nonwoven fabric made of 100 per cent continuous Lyocell filament. This web can be integrated with standard non-thermal based nonwoven bonding technologies, such as hydro entangling and needle punching. In addition, the patented technology enables a unique self-bonding mechanism where filaments bond into a fabric during the laydown process. This self-bonding mechanism enables a product range with a much wider variety of surface textures, drapeability and dimensional stability than other nonwoven technologies utilizing 100 per cent cellulosic fibers.
Currently, most nonwoven products are made with plastic materials like polyester or polypropylene, which take hundreds of years to decompose. Coupled with inadequate disposal techniques, the nonwoven industry is a leading contributor to landfill issues globally. With the Lenzing web technology, absorbent nonwoven fabrics with botanic origin will be manufactured using an environmentally responsible production process.
While the nonwoven segment currently making up 30 per cent of Lenzing’s core business, it is committed to driving stronger growth through more active involvement in innovations across the value chain. The nonwoven fabric market is expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 7.5 per cent a year through 2022.
The menswear section of Moda, known as Moda Gent, will relocate to Pure London to join the Pure Man line-up for the February 2019 show. The brand, since its launch in 2016, has grown fast and showcases over 100 menswear brands ranging from formal classics to more on-trend labels, including sportswear and accessories. The addition of the Moda Gent event should support its ongoing expansion.
The earlier sale of Pure London to the ITE Group created plenty of opportunities for consolidation and realignment. The company now aims to present a stronger menswear offering in London and continue Pure London’s long-term strategy to create a unified Festival of Fashion by delivering collaborative solutions to meet buyers needs across all sectors.
Exporters are benefiting from a weak rupee as they get more money while converting their dollar export earnings into Indian currency. Software exporters are expected to be the highest beneficiaries of the declining rupee.
The weak rupee has added to the earnings of the textile industry too. Exporters of apparel, pharmaceuticals, steel, packaging films and software have witnessed a rise in their revenues. It’s like a free money for export oriented software units as almost every contract is in dollar terms and the conversion rate has gone up significantly. The fluctuation in the rupee does not affect offshore clients and hence contracts remain intact at the previously decided terms.
Export oriented units are seeing an average increase of two to seven per cent in their revenues because of the declining rupee. The weak rupee is expected to give a cushion to apparel exporters who were heavily burdened by the sharp rise in the cost of imported raw materials. Apparel exports are expected to do better now. The growth was almost stagnant since the past few years but a weak rupee has brought cheers to many exporters. Their revenues are likely to edge up by over three per cent.
The Institution of Mechanical Engineers an influential UK-based association has called on the textile sector to clean up its act with a new eight-page report that urges government intervention – in partnership with industry – to develop new solutions to problems such as textile microfibre pollution, the creation of excessive waste and the reduction in the carbon footprint of the apparel sector.
The report ‘Engineering Out Fashion’ waste recommends three priority areas for action from the UK government. It specifically calls for public and private investment partnerships to provide incentives for the development of more environmentally friendly fibers. It also urges the government to work with the fashion industry and manufacturers to develop a comprehensive framework to tackle ‘green washing’, or false sustainability claims.
In particular, the institution calls for ‘urgent action’ to tackle the waste produced over the lifecycle of an item of clothing. This includes: addressing water-intensive processes during manufacturing, such as removing excess dyes, and tackling the problem of disposing off a garment at the end of its life. The report highlights garment aftercare affects an item’s carbon footprint and advocates individuals to wash their clothes at a lower temperature, use mesh laundry bags to catch threads, rely on tumble dryers less often or install filters on washing machine waste pipes.
Messe Frankfurt's Parisian textile and apparel sourcing shows, which will be held at the Parc du Bourget from September17-20, 2018, expects 1,850 exhibitors, an increase if 10 per cent compared to the previous edition. The shows will split up the companies and other installations into six distinct spaces, grouped under the slogan "The Fairyland for Fashion."
The main event of the 44th edition of Texworld will launch a new trade show dedicated entirely to leather. Leatherworld, event will bring together 33 – mainly Chinese – companies specialised in the material. The show will be attended by some 1,000 textile exhibitors, mostly from China and India. The national pavilions of Pakistan, Thailand and South Korea will also be joined for the first time by one from Taiwan, while Indonesia returns to the show with eight manufacturers.
Apparel Sourcing will feature almost 700 manufacturers and, for the first time, and feature a section focusing on services, from packaging specialists and software providers to logistics firms and inspection and certification agencies. The trade show will also host some 20 runway shows, as well as 43 conferences and discussions.
Textile Forum, to be held from October 10-11, 2018 at One Marylebone, London, will showcase its broadest range of luxury fabrics to date with many exhibitors emphasising on not just quality of fabrics but also on provenance. A W Hainsworth is using Textile Forum as the launch pad for its new lambswool fabric. Best known for its heavier wools, Hainsworth will offer this new luxurious lighter weight cloth that is ideal for spring / summer garments for women.
First-time exhibitor AnBella Designs, part of Antex Broderie, specialists in Schiffli machine embroidery, will showcase a low minimum order range of limited edition designs. Dormeuil will display its latest collection of luxury cloths made in the UK, as will Linton Tweeds.
Other new exhibitors include Higgs & Higgs, which will display European made cotton prints and jerseys, Jozwiak, wool and wool blend fabrics designed for classic menswear and corporate wear and Weavabel its range of handtags, labels, leather patches and packaging. Besides designers, top end retail fabric buyers are also visitors at Textile Forum. Jane Makower will showcase her most popular core lines, including moss crepe, needlecord, corded lace, transparent tulle and duchess satin.
In the new 70+ page briefing, KPMG notes the $2.5 billion apparel industry is well positioned to implement SDGs within its supply chains to significantly reduce its global environmental impact. Since 2015, four in ten of the world’s largest companies are said to have referenced the Sustainable Development Goals within their corporate reporting, each identifying independent efforts to creating a more circular supply chain.
As with all SDGs, the report highlights the progress different industry organisations and manufacturers have made to improve the sustainability of their supply chains. Regarding gender equality, it cites Gap’s Personal Advancement and Career Enhancement (P.A.C.E) initiative – introduced to empower women working across the sector working in Asia – as an example of progress.
Invista will add to its nylon 6,6 polymer capacity in China. The plan is to add 40,000 tons of nylon 6,6 polymer capacity. The current capacity is 1,50,000 tons. US-based, is a chemical intermediates, polymers and fiber business. Construction is targeted for mid-2019 and production is set to begin in 2020.
Invista has additional plans. These include: a new adiponitrile (ADN) plant for China by 2023 as well as additional ADN capacity resulting from retrofits of Invista’s latest ADN technology in France by 2019. ADN expansion is also a theme at Invista’s plant in Texas, where additional capacity will be introduced by 2020.
Adiponitrile, an organic compound, is an important precursor to the polymer nylon-6,6. The company is continuing to make strategic investments to best meet customers’ needs. The forecast for the future growth of the nylon 6,6 polymer market sees an increased demand in Asia and Invista is expanding its capacity to meet that demand.
With leading brands including Lycra, Coolmax and Cordura, Invista is one of the world’s largest integrated producers of chemical intermediates, polymers and fiber. The company’s technologies for nylon, spandex and polyester are used to produce clothing, carpet, air bags and other everyday products.
Australian designer Tess Whitfort has won the Redress Design Award showing her sustainable collections on the runway in Hong Kong. Her collection is inspired by punk and counterculture. She takes elements of grungy, rebellious style and mixes them with a bit of elegance and refinement. She has a holistic approach. She examines every element of her collection through the sustainability lens. She uses deadstock linen, eco-friendly screen print inks, and upcycled metal hardware. But she is known for highly complex zero waste patterns.
She believes aesthetics matter. If a garment is not beautiful, desirable, cool, covetable, there’s no point. But she also has a strong focus on sustainability. Traditionally, the designer’s role has been to create a beautiful garment or collection, perhaps taking it one step further to imagine a customer wearing it. It is not yet the norm for designers to consider what happens to a garment after its first owner tires of it.
Yet up to 80 per cent of a product’s environmental impact is decided at the design stage. Designers have enormous power to look beyond aesthetics in order to green fashion. That’s vital in the context of the industry’s current waste crisis. Out of the 53 million tons of material used for clothing production every year, 87 per cent is landfilled or incinerated after its final use.
"Streetwear has been constantly evolving and shaping the fashion industry in unexpected ways. Offering something for everyone; from high to low, casual to chic, streetwear is an important segment of fashion business today. For example, the market for US urban streetwear in 2015 was valued at about $80 billion by Statista. And a study by Bain & Company last October revealed, high-end streetwear helped boost global sales of luxury brands by 5 per cent. A takeaway from the sportswear segment, streetwear is the favourite buzzword in fashion today. From heritage houses to fast-fashion brands, retailers and big-budget investors, everyone wants has a stake in steetwear. Almost half a century old and hyper commercialised, street fashion is all about youth culture in its truest form and youth culture sells. In fact, its global mainstream dominance has democratised the entire fashion system."
Streetwear has been constantly evolving and shaping the fashion industry in unexpected ways. Offering something for everyone; from high to low, casual to chic, streetwear is an important segment of fashion business today. For example, the market for US urban streetwear in 2015 was valued at about $80 billion by Statista. And a study by Bain & Company last October revealed, high-end streetwear helped boost global sales of luxury brands by 5 per cent. A takeaway from the sportswear segment, streetwear is the favourite buzzword in fashion today. From heritage houses to fast-fashion brands, retailers and big-budget investors, everyone wants has a stake in steetwear. Almost half a century old and hyper commercialised, street fashion is all about youth culture in its truest form and youth culture sells. In fact, its global mainstream dominance has democratised the entire fashion system.
Growing popularity, lucrative for business
Streetwear category, which started decades ago, is now witnessing a huge growth, despite the advent of many
new players, luxury collaborations, and high-end designers. Today, as everyone aspires to look unique and exclusive, streetwear caters to their needs by offering limited drops or releases by reputed brands like Nike, Supreme and Johnny Cupcakes
The popularity of streetwear can be gauged from the fact that Supreme that started out as a skate brand in New York and never held a runway show, won the CFDA Menswear Designer of the Year Award last June. In fact, the brand’s recent sale saw jackets, sweatshirts, and the coveted Madonna “Justify My Love” T-shirt sell out in seconds. The Madonna tee retailed on Supreme’s site for $48, sold out in all colorways, and was reselling later that day for $250 on StockX, the ecommerce resale marketplace. And as retail analyst and insights director of Edited Katie Smith point out, the shift toward more comfortable and functional clothing has led to an increase in activewear as a trend. But with a saturation point in activewear, consumers went looking for the ‘new cool’ and turned to the street. She says streetwear has a similar casual aesthetic, with a wider and less sporty silhouette.
In India, the popular ‘street’ brands are fairly new not more than five years old. These include: Noughtone, Sahil Aneja, Huemn or Theorem. Being fairly new incumbents, these brands are yet to make a mark and will take a long time for them to shake the designer fashion system that continues to be dominated by ethnic wear designers. However, top designers are incorporating street influences to give a fresh spin to their work. For example, designer Narendra Kumar went all out on sport influences, using ‘fakes’ as the main theme for his last collection. Similarly, more traditional Indian wear labels like Ritu Kumar and Anita Dongre, embraced sporty accessories like elongated belts on saris and bum bags and sneakers with everything in collections.
Cotton the preferred fabric
A number of brands incorporate a significant amount of cotton into their streetwear offerings. However, the Supreme Fall/Winter collection also included denim, a cotton corduroy shirt with flannel hood, printed and oxford button-front cotton shirts, and cotton twill shirts and pants. The brand prefers to stick to natural fibres.
The Yeezy collection of luxury labels Kanye West has also been cotton-rich from the beginning. The Kanye and Adidas Originals Yeezy Season 1, launched in February 2015, featured high-priced, oversized jackets, sweatshirts, sweaters, and leggings. According to Monitor Survey, around 92 per cent of consumers prefer clothes made from natural fibers like cotton and 66 percent of them willing to pay more for them.
Adding luxury to streetwear
In recent years, luxury labels like Gucci and Burberry have joined the category. Other labels like Louis Vuitton are also adding streetwear designers to their brand. There are loads of collaborations happening at the highest levels like Adidas Originals by Alexander Wang, Topman x Vision Streetwear, Off-White, and Jimmy Choo. This mixing of high and low brands and price points is been done with great effect. These collaborations lend a taste of luxury to shoppers without harming the reputation of the designers. Luxury labels will continue to offer streetwear because that’s what the consumer wants, bringing their designers recognition among these young buyers.
