FW
Wolford’s Aurora collection of leggings and pullovers is Cradle to Cradle gold certified. The new styles created use premium stretch yarn belonging to the Roica Eco-Smart family, the world’s first yarn awarded the Cradle 2 Cradle Material Health Gold Level Certificate and the Hohenstein Environment compatibility certification, which provides evidence of compliance and offers confidence as a responsible choice.
In addition to premium stretch yarn from the Roica Eco-Smart family, Aurora pieces are made using two other responsible fibers, Lenzing Modal, a cellulosic fiber derived from sustainable forestry, and infinito by Lauffenmühle, a specially modified oil based biodegradable polymer.
Instead of using new materials, Wolford’s new collection is developed to return the ingredients back to the cycle. It simply borrows them for the lifetime of the product, which supports responsible product ingredient sourcing. At the end of the Aurora collection product lifecycle, Wolford will return them to an industrial composting station to naturally break down without releasing harmful environmental substances.
Wolford is committed to becoming part of the solution and activating change as it continues to explore responsible material innovations. Wolford is recognized for high quality skin wear and is a favorite among fashion influencers. The brand believes sustainable luxury is a new ingredient and is dedicated to expanding its collections each season and using responsible materials.
Isko has a production capacity of 250 million meters of fabric a year and works with high street brands. Based in Turkey, Isko is the world’s largest denim supplier. It was the first denim mill in the world to be awarded the Nordic Swan Ecolabel, which evaluates all the environmental issues in the life-cycle of a product. It is also the only mill in the world to obtain life-cycle assessments, which assess environmental footprint, for all its products.
Isko is prioritising sustainability. It has assessed all its 25,000 products, so it knows exactly how much energy and how much water each one uses. Isko has been a member of the Sustainable Apparel Coalition since 2015. To reduce its environmental footprint, Isko is using lower-impact fibers and developing technologies that improve the performance of fabrics throughout their lifecycle. This is in addition to its leading methods of minimising water consumption and other kinds of waste.
The company has also developed numerous patented technologies that can be produced in any low-impact fiber combination, from organic to recycled. Its Reform stretch technology, for example, showcases how to design longer lasting, better-functioning products. Another example is POP technology, which combines one-of-a-kind shine with a unique silky softness that begins in the yarn and stays with the garment.
The latest Lectra Fashion PLM 4.0 solution is an industry 4.0-friendly solution. It embodies Lectra’s mission to empower fashion companies navigate the challenges and opportunities of Industry 4.0. It provides an outstanding user experience delivered in a full-feature, modular structure adaptable to businesses large and small, and available at an attractive price point. The solution is available in three starter configurations developed to target specific fashion industry processes—design to source, develop to source and develop to manufacture.
The platform is a cornerstone solution that connects processes, systems and supply chains. Drawing on lessons from machine learning, the solution equips users with tools enabling them to work more efficiently and accelerate the product development process.
Lectra Fashion PLM 4.0 represents the culmination of a multi-decade journey to connect brands and retailers with their supply chains, and to build a comprehensive, end-to-end suite of integrated solutions that can be adapted and configured for almost any business model.
Thanks to an active customer feedback loop, Lectra has also made the solution’s user interface more accessible and intuitive. These changes include a homepage that automatically adjusts to user behavior, consistent search functionality, clear integrations between modules and solutions, new style overview and product detail pages, and a new add to cart function that allows users to organize their workloads.
Indonesia will prepare a retaliatory policy if the United States moves forward with its plan to impose tariffs on 124 products imported from Indonesia as part of its effort to reduce the trade deficit between the two countries. However, to prevent the US from imposing tariffs, Indonesia would first pursue a soft approach to explain that the trade deficit was not caused by the export of products listed in the Generalized System of Preferences (GPS).
Indonesia does not want a trade war because it will cause losses to all parties. The US is in the process of evaluating Indonesian products listed in the GPS, a trade system that was designed to promote economic growth in developing countries by providing preferential duty-free entry.
If the US continues with its plan, a number of Indonesian products exported to the country, like textiles and the textile products, would be affected. At present, the US is the largest clothing importer from Indonesia. If the country were to lobby with the US to expand its Generalised System of Preferences to include more Indonesian apparel and accessories, this would facilitate the entry of more Indonesian products into the US at lower tariffs. Indonesia saw an increase in textile production by eight per cent in the period January to March 2018.
Germany has overtaken the United States and become the largest export market for Bangladesh’s readymade garments. Due to strong economic activities in Europe, especially in Germany, and preferential treatment received by Bangladeshi exporters, Europe’s largest economy has become the largest market for Bangladeshi garment products.
Bangladesh’s readymade garment exports to Germany grew 8.65 per cent in fiscal ’18 against a growth of 2.84 per cent in the US market. Export earnings from the UK, the third highest export destination for Bangladesh, increased by 11.76 per cent. Readymade garment exports to the UK grew by 12.63 per cent. Export earnings from France grew by 5.94 per cent. Readymade garment exports to the market grew by 4.94 per cent.
Export earnings from Spain in fiscal ’18 grew by 21.40 per cent. Readymade garment exports from Spain in the period were 21.24 per cent higher than earnings in the previous fiscal year. Export earnings from Poland grew by 20.53 per cent. Earnings from Poland by exporting readymade garment products grew by 20 per cent.
In Asian markets, export earnings from China slumped by 26.80 per cent. Export earnings from Japan grew by 11.74 per cent. Readymade garment exports to the market grew by 13.73 per cent. Export earnings from India grew by 29.87 per cent. Readymade garment exports to India in the period grew by 114.68 per cent.
Earth Alive Clean Technologies a leading Canadian Clean-Tech company, developer and manufacturer of state-of-the-art microbial technology-based products for sustainable agriculture and mining, has launched the Clean Fiber Initiative, a collaborative research project to improve production of natural fiber crops in Canada and around the world.
Hemp has lower water requirements than other fiber crops; it is also highly regenerative for farm soils. Scaling up hemp production will require not only increasing the number of acres but also maximizing crop yield and quality. Hemp is a fiber crop that is experiencing rapid expansion in North America and around the world.
Cotton environmental impact is under growing scrutiny. With 30 million acres of cotton grown around the world and the serious challenges it poses such as soil degradation, water depletion, and pesticide contamination, cotton growers are in need of new tools and approaches that protect soil quality, while maintaining crop productivity.
Michael Warren, Chief Executive Officer, Earth Alive says Soil First platform will allow producers to improve productivity of their fiber cultures, while reducing the net impact on the environment it can monitor crop performance across a range of factors that are important to them.
Earth Alive currently has hemp trials underway with conventional and organic growers in Canada, as well as the US. Cotton trials are underway in Peru and Burkina Faso. Earth Alive is calling for more producers to join the initiative. Participants will establish Clean Fiber Initiative trial sites on their commercial plantations and Earth Alive technical staff will monitor and evaluate the plots throughout the initiative.
Jens D Lukaczik is the new president of Bremen Cotton Exchange. Lukaczik is managing partner of the Bremen-based Cargo Control Germany. The new vice presidents are: Ernst Grimmelt, managing partner of Velener Textil, Fritz A. Grobien, managing partner of Albrecht, Müller-Pearse & Co. Trade, and former president Henning Hammer, managing director of Otto Stadtlander.
The Cotton Exchange remains a reliable service provider for members. For the future, it will continue to intensify its communications, both internally and externally. In times of fake news and an increasingly emotional public debate, competence and objectivity are its strengths in public discourse. The aim of the Bremen Cotton Exchange is to further strengthen the clear advantages of the natural and sustainable raw material cotton in the consciousness of the consumer, as well as in ecological, social and political discussion.
The members of the board and the executive committee represent different areas of the textile supply chain, e.g. trade, processing and logistics. With this diverse expertise, the Bremen Cotton Exchange has access to a comprehensive network and global information resources throughout the cotton industry.
At its 144th Annual General Assembly in the 146th fiscal year, the board of directors reported to the members on the past financial year and presented its accounts in accordance with the articles of the association.
India’s apparel exports may decline by ten per cent in fiscal ’19. In 2017-18 exports declined by four per cent. The downturn continued in fiscal 2018-19 with a month on month decline of eight per cent to ten per cent. The country’s apparel exports have taken a beating from October 2017 onwards. GST has resulted in non-refund of several embedded taxes.
The 20 per cent jump in cotton prices in the last few months has also hit exports severely. India’s domestic apparel market has grown at a CAGR of ten per cent since 2005. Due to presence of strong fundamentals, the domestic apparel market is expected to grow at 11 per cent to 12 per cent CAGR up to 2025. The Indian domestic market has performed better than the largest consumption regions like US, EU and Japan, where depressed economic conditions has led to lower demand and growth.
The domestic market size is dominated by the ready-to-wear category, with a 84 per cent share, which is further growing at a CAGR of ten per cent to 11 per cent. The ready-to-stitch market is expected to grow at a CAGR of seven per cent and reach about 20 billion dollars by 2025.
"The Institute of Textiles and Clothing (ITC) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) in partnership with the Vision and Beauty Team at Alibaba and The Textile Institute, UK is organising the first-of-its-kind academic conference titled ‘Artificial Intelligence on Fashion and Textile Conference 2018’ from July 4 to 8, 2018. The four-day conference is exploring the integration of fashion and textile supply chain and artificial intelligence (AI). Over 250 researchers, engineers, practitioners and IT professionals from the AI and fashion fields are participating."
The Institute of Textiles and Clothing (ITC) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) in partnership with the Vision and Beauty Team at Alibaba and The Textile Institute, UK is organising the first-of-its-kind academic conference titled ‘Artificial Intelligence on Fashion and Textile Conference 2018’ from July 4 to 8, 2018. The four-day conference is exploring the integration of fashion and textile supply chain and artificial intelligence (AI). Over 250 researchers, engineers, practitioners and IT professionals from the AI and fashion fields are participating.
The conference was inaugurated by Bernard Chan, Under Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, HKSAR Government; Dr Lam Tai-fai, Deputy Chairman of PolyU Council; Professor Timothy W. Tong, President of PolyU who delivered the welcome address; and Mr Zhuang Zhuo-ran, Vice President of Alibaba Group. PolyU President, Professor Timothy W Tong, in his welcoming address said the universities in Hong Kong have world-leading research and developing capabilities which is helping them to perform well in AI technology and related fields. Other speakers who will share their insight and research findings include Professor Zowie Broach, Head of Fashion of Royal College of Art; Mr MengleiJia, Senior Technical Expert,Taobao Technology Business Unit of Alibaba Group; Ms Kim Wong, Professor of Practice, ITC, PolyU; and Professor Dacheng Tao, Professor of Computer Science, School of Information Technologies, The University of Sydney.
To solve the imminent issues on the application of AI in the fashion ad textile supply chain, ITC and Alibaba are also organising a global competition called
“FashionAI Global Challenge 2018”. More than 6,000 researchers and engineers forming over 5000 teams from 42 countries participated to compete for a prize pool of RMB1.34 million. The selected 10 best teams are now present in Hong Kong and will present their solutions at PolyU tomorrow (5 July).
Concurrently, a Fashion AI Concept Store is being held at PolyU campus from July 4 to July 7 to demonstrate the integration of AI and fashion retail. The store integrates novel and intelligent technology to provide the ultimate shopping experience to customers and to improve sales and customers services at the same time.
Techtextil India 2019, slated from November 20-22, 2019 at the Bombay Exhibition Centre, Mumbai will launch the World of Composites, a dedicated pavilion that aims to bring stalwarts of the composite industry from India and across the world. Techtextil India is the leading international trade fair for technical textiles and nonwovens in India and for the region, offering solutions from the entire textile value chain for all industry applications.
Indian composites market is expected to touch $2 billion by 2021 with major industry growth drivers being government projects like smart cities development, sanitation and water infrastructure development projects, and renewable energy projects. Industry growth is predicted at a CAGR of 14 per cent. With this nature of demand, the World of Composites will be a top choice for product sourcing for industries like automobile and ancillary manufacturers, wind energy, aerospace and defence, construction, marine, electrical and electronics, etc. which constitute major end user applications of composites covering all the key segments.
The combination of these two will open a gamut of opportunities for exploring new business ventures with the most high-potential manufacturing sectors across the country to witness cutting edge technology and end to end solutions.
