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"The global market for denim jeans is expected to touch $79.2 billion by 2022, driven by the expanding urban population, an increase in white-collar employees, changing perceptions about ‘executive wear’ and the resulting acceptance of jeans as business casual attire for men and growing base of women in the workforce."
The global market for denim jeans is expected to touch $79.2 billion by 2022, driven by the expanding urban population, an increase in white-collar employees, changing perceptions about ‘executive wear’ and the resulting acceptance of jeans as business casual attire for men and growing base of women in the workforce.
A transformation on the way
Denim is the world's favourite fashion fabric which through the ages underwent sea changes. From being originally designed for cowboys, miners and factory workers, to being a symbol of youthful rebellion, to being a staple in western closets to finally becoming the world's best loved clothing, denim jeans continues to rule the fashion world. The diverse denim jeans market offers wide-ranging styles to new age customers, from bell-bottoms and classic boot-cuts to 'mom' and 'boyfriend' jeans. Denim trousers are found everyone’s wardrobes, and most women own more than one and up to 10 varieties of cuts and washes. Denim sales based on styles and fits are heavily dependent on street fashion and celebrity fashion trends. In terms of style alone, denim jeans are expected to forever remain the most dominant apparel within the global casual clothing segment. Denim garments' ownership is highest in the US, Colombia, Mexico and other South American nations, and lowest in India, Japan and other Asian markets.
The denim jeans market is primarily categorised into high-end/premium, mass market and economy/standard, with high-end premium jeans accounting for a 55 per cent of the market. The market is dominated by women who showcase a keen interest to adopt latest fashion and trends in clothing.
Factors riding growth
Opening up of markets that traditionally resisted the jeans culture, denim manufacturers continued innovation in design such as digitally printed jeans, vegan fabrics and sophisticated weaves, and technology innovation in stretch and performance, and fibre blends. Growing westernisation and urbanisation, rising fashion consciousness, coupled with growing affluence of the middle-class population are anticipated to further propel the demand for denim jeans over the coming years. Another key trend in the market is the proliferation of denim jeans in the corporate world as an accepted executive wear. Blue jeans in the boardroom are also gaining prominence with jeans becoming the new symbol of power dressing expressive of valuable executive qualities such as confidence and innovativeness.
Growing expanse globally
As stated by Research & Markets report, the US represents the single largest market worldwide. Asia-Pacific ranks as the fastest growing market with a CAGR of 7.1 per cent over the analysis period, led by China, which features among the world's largest cotton growers and a leading denim weaver and jeans manufacturer. Other factors driving growth in the region is growing urban population, rising standards of living, increasing disposable incomes, preference for high-end and premium designer labels among the expanding base of affluent middle class population, globalisation, changing cultural norms and breakdown of cultural imperialism all which lay the foundation for the acceptance of jeans. Fast-fashion brands like Zara and H&M are aggressively expanding into the Asia Pacific region, which is strengthening the demand for standard jeans.
Arab countries like Saudi Arabia and Kuwait are exploring investment opportunities in Uganda especially in textile manufacturing, construction of warehouses and assembling buses. Uganda is looking for investors in textiles and leather. The country has now imposed a ban on the export of raw hides and skin to enable the leather industry to grow.
Uganda currently has only three textile plansts, yet they harvest cotton twice a year, with production standing at 1,02,619 bales a year. Uganda has the best quality cotton in east Africa but most of it is exported semi-processed.
About 10 per cent of Uganda’s annual cotton output is processed locally and 90 per cent of its cotton as lint is exported. The country has more than 38 cotton lint exporters.
Uganda produces seven million metric tons of grain a year; however, the storage infrastructure available is for only 550 metric tons, leaving a very big gap. So it would like investors to build storage facilities, especially warehouses, and assembling of buses for public transport. The aim is to have warehouses with a capacity of 7,00,000 metric tons distributed across regions. Land for construction of warehouses will be provided, and an added benefit is that there would be huge employment opportunities.
The Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) will upgrade its six cotton sliver plants. The aim is to increase cotton supply to khadi institutions. The plants' production capacity will be increased by 40 per cent. KVIC will spend about Rs 40 crores on the upgradation of the plants. More such sliver plants may be set up. Another plan is to encourage prison inmates to take up khadi production and provide a platform at KVIC's khadi outlets. If this works the scheme will be extended to prisons across the country.
Recognising the importance of enhancing the wages of khadi artisans to a moderate level, and in order to ensure that the profession provides sustainable life support, the commission will increase the remuneration per hank. This will increase the income of over 1.5 million khadi artisans across India. Higher wages are expected to help improve khadi production in India.
KVIC has set a target of Rs 2000 crores of sales of khadi and village industries products in the year 2016-17. Last year sales stood at Rs 1510 crores. Going forward, KVIC is aiming at sales worth Rs 5,000 crores in the next two years. KVIC is also setting up export cells to promote overseas sales of the products.
Garment factories in Bangladesh are adopting sustainable practices. The sector has made impressive efforts to embrace green practices and ensure well-being of workers. Some 67 garment factories of Bangladesh have obtained a highly regarded global certification -- the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) of the US Green Building Council. Another 222 factories have registered to obtain the recognition.
Currently, Bangladesh has 13 platinum-rated, 20 gold-rated, 27 silver-rated and 7 LEED-certified garment factories. Seven of the world’s top ten green factories are from Bangladesh, including the top three platinum-rated industrial units. Platinum is the highest level of certification that a factory can earn.
Green factories in Bangladesh are not only about saving energy or water or protecting the environment. They are also about ensuring a safe workplace. A green factory also houses schools, childcare, health care, recreation and training facilities dedicated to workers.
The two-storey Eco Couture is LEED gold-certified and is located on a 1,44,000 sq ft space where all operations from sewing to packing of a product take place. Eco Couture is designed in the concept of an opera house where artistes work. Garment workers are treated like artistes as they are involved in innovative work.
SEAMS, the National Association for the US Sewn Products and Textile Industries, will mark its 50th anniversary at the annual Spring Networking Conference ‘Shaping the Next 50 Years’. The conference on sewn products will be held at OMNI Grove Park Inn in Asheville, North Carolina, from May 16 to 17, 2017. The conference will explore trends and opportunities that diverse sewn products brands, original equipment manufacturers, suppliers, and retailers will encounter as they grow into the future.
The event is meant for textile providers, contract manufacturers, brands, vertical retailers and their suppliers and service providers who collectively represent the complete concept-to-consumer supply chain. It aims at promoting the continued growth of the US fashion, sewn products and textile industries through educational programs, networking opportunities, business opportunity matchmaking, industry collaboration and special member benefits packages.
Attendees will have the opportunity to introduce their company to all attendees, meet industry-focused benefits providers, and visit special products/services displays during the conference.
Highlights include a keynote presentation on trends and predictions delivered by a noted futurist, feature presentations covering trade, government relations, human resources and more, breakout sessions on several relevant industry topics to choose from, and a panel discussion, which will provide an update on trends in military, automotive, industrial and other segments. The focus is on preparing members to embrace the future.
A new single-day conference program will be preceded by an optional plant tour, golf outing, opening reception and dinner.
Lectra has conceived a strategy to empower fashion and apparel, automotive and furniture companies. A digital value chain will provide real-time connections between creative teams and product development teams, smart factories, suppliers and consumers.
This offer, capitalizing on data analyses and exploitation, will translate into even smarter, connected equipment and finely tuned integration between equipment, software and services. New industry-specific services will reinforce the offer, enabling Lectra to continually improve customer processes.
Initially, tested in 2017 with select customers, some of whom have been involved with the offer since the beginning of the design, the new offer will be commercialized from 2018. Lectra will increase the share of revenues dedicated to R&D to ten per cent for the period 2017 to 2019, representing a rise of about 50 per cent between 2016 and 2019.
Factories are propelling a new digitalized life cycle for products that will benefit consumers. Mass production is making way for large-scale customized production as well as providing quick-to-market, quality products expected by demanding customers.
Lectra is a leader in integrated technology solutions dedicated to industries using fabrics, leather, technical textiles and composite materials. It serves major world markets: fashion and apparel, automotive and furniture as well as a broad array of other industries. Lectra’s solutions, specific to each market, enable customers to automate and optimize product design, development, and manufacturing.
India wants to build manufacturing hubs in the four countries of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam. Private companies will be helped in establishing a presence in these four countries and regional value chains.
These countries have the Generalized Scheme of Preferences (GSP) facility through which they have low or no duty on their exports to developed countries. So India is interested in creating manufacturing hubs, especially textiles, in countries like Vietnam. If Indian manufacturers go to these countries and produce, they will be able to utilize the GSP benefits to get market access to the developed countries.
The government cleared a Rs 500 crores project in August 2016 for exploring such opportunities. India does enjoy GSP benefits in certain sectors but the United States and European Union have been threatening to end India’s GSP benefits, given its rising share in world exports.
India’s exports to these four countries increased by more than eight-fold in 2015 compared to 2005. This accounted for a 24.3 per cent share in India’s exports to the Asean region. Imports, on the other hand, increased nearly six-fold from 2005 to 2015, accounting for a 9.4 per cent share in India’s imports from the Asean region.
Hohenstein has developed a test procedure for assessing the biodegradation of textiles. Biodegradability of textile products is becoming an increasingly important factor in assessing their sustainability, focusing not just on manufacturing and product safety, but on what happens to a product once it reaches the end of its useful life cycle.
Hohenstein is developing a protein-based water and dirt-repellent finishing agent to provide an alternative to hydrophobic processes using fluorocarbon chemicals. The aim is to functionalise textiles in a stable, economical and sustainable way using fungal proteins produced with biotechnology as a replacement for per- and poly fluorinated hydrocarbons that are potentially dangerous to humans and the environment.
The subject of responsible chemical management in companies along the textile chain has recently been growing in importance. Using the Oeko-Tex modular system of certifications and tools for increased sustainability as a basis, Hohenstein provides companies with solutions for incrementally optimising their chemical management systems to meet these market requirements successfully.
Hohenstein also provides its expertise in the area of pattern making techniques and fitting tests. The latest data on breast volumes for women, for example, enables further improvements to be made to bra cup sizes. The group is developing a thermoelectric cooling bandage for mobile cold therapy for acute injuries and post-operation treatment.
Hohenstein will present these developments at Techtextil, Germany, May 2017.
Fashion house BCBG may file for bankruptcy. It will close most of its approximately 200 US stores. Bankruptcy would have the advantage of shielding it from legal action by landlords, who have been put under pressure by a wave of retail bankruptcies and shuttered stores.
BCBG is from the French phrase bon chic, bon genre. It was founded in 1989 and grew through its retail shops and distribution in department stores including Saks Fifth Avenue and Bloomingdale's. It also acquired Herve Leger, maker of skin-tight dresses, and started a lower-cost line called BCB Generation.
The company’s retail store business declined by 20 per cent over the past three years. It reported consolidated net sales of just over 600 million dollars in the 12 months to December. Retail accounted for 71 per cent of its revenue, while wholesale accounted for 18 per cent. The percentage share for licensing and e-commerce sales were in single digits.
BCBG’s form-fitting party dresses have been worn by the likes of Selena Gomez, Drew Barrymore and others. Competing specialty retailers, including The Limited and American Apparel, have also filed for bankruptcy in recent months and are closing down stores. The US retail sector is struggling as shoppers are abandoning malls in favor of internet shopping.
A slowdown in exports and weak remittance growth are the new challenges for Bangladesh. Challenges on the external front include: a protracted slowdown in key export markets (particularly the EU) and a further weakening of remittances. The EU and the US account for over 70 per cent of exports, and weaker growth, together with retreat from trade liberalisation, could adversely affect export growth, mainly the garment industry, with a negative impact on the balance of payments. A sustained appreciation of the US dollar could erode Bangladesh's cost advantage and harm export competitiveness.
Bangladesh needs to boost private investment to sustain high growth. A significant increase in public investment is also necessary to maintain competitiveness and generate further productivity growth. The delayed VAT law should be implemented. In addition, structural reforms, strengthening institutions and capacity development remain priorities to unleash the full potential of the economy.
Many of Bangladesh's economic institutions and governing practices will need to be upgraded to support its transition toward middle-income status and as the country becomes more integrated globally. Other policies should seek to foster resilience, diversify the economy, and promote inclusive growth, including by addressing infrastructure and capacity gaps, while preserving debt sustainability. Low energy prices provide scope for scaling back subsidies.
