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"The spring edition of CHIC, held from March 14 to 16, 2018 ended on an optimistic note with yet another increase in visitor figures. Held at the National Exhibition & Convention Center, Shanghai the fair hosted 1,210 exhibitors from 21 countries. Around 112,666 visitors of all business channels were registered at the fair, among them were leading department stores, shopping malls, multibrand stores, agents, distributors. Chen Dapeng, President, Chic & EVP, China National Garment Association observed, “Consumers in China develop rapidly, ‘consumer upgrade’ is the keyword, the Chinese market is consumer oriented, demand is an individual young style. The offer has to adapt to the needs of this target group, the industry has to become even more innovative and face the technological challenges.”
The spring edition of CHIC, held from March 14 to 16, 2018 ended on an optimistic note with yet another increase in visitor figures. Held at the National Exhibition & Convention Center, Shanghai the fair hosted 1,210 exhibitors from 21 countries. Around 112,666 visitors of all business channels were registered at the fair, among them were leading department stores, shopping malls, multibrand stores, agents, distributors. Chen Dapeng, President, Chic & EVP, China National Garment Association observed, “Consumers in China develop rapidly, ‘consumer upgrade’ is the keyword, the Chinese market is consumer oriented, demand is an individual young style. The offer has to adapt to the needs of this target group, the industry has to become even more innovative and face the technological challenges.”
Chic Shanghai indicates to the Chinese market current trends, which is mirrored by fresh young design and a full visual concepts developed in cooperation with WGSN. It addresses the young trendsetting consumers, China’s driving force for strong growth in retail sales, which increased by 10.2 per cent in 2017 to about $5.7 trillion According to BCG study, this target group accounts for 65 per cent of consumption increase in China with a predicted growth of 11 per cent per year until 2021. The total domestic consumption contributed nearly 60 per cent to the economic expansion of the country last year.
Thorough networking
Exhibitors at the designer area Impulses, a core segment at Chic occupying the entire North Hall included the likes of Hua Mu Shen, Shan Zi, Mood for Mode. They were satisfied with besides numerous concrete cooperation agreements, high value orders were also placed. International exhibitors in the Fashion Journey area were from Brazil, Denmark, Germany, France, China, Hong Kong, India, Italy etc. Numerous promising cooperation took place that need intensive follow-up after the fair. Moreover, many companies even received orders at the fair. The Polish Investment and Trade Agency participated for the first time in Chic with its national export programme ‘go-to-brand’.
Heritage the International Fur Federation (IFF) presented for the first time with international producers such as auction houses NAFA and SAGA. Turkey was again represented under IDMIB /ITKIB by 10 companies. For national participants, grouped in pavilions of respective Chinese provinces, Chic is an essential business platform, they regularly meet buyers and this time too they registered a good number of orders.
Exhibitors’ views
Jean Pierre Parmentier, Marketing Sales, Delphine Charlotte Parmentier, France, stated, “It was our first time in the French pavilion and Chic in general. The fair was good for us. We got good visitors and made important contacts. The fair was well-organised so that we had no problems, everything was very easy for us. We were looking for buyers and distributors for this big market and made a lot of contacts and signed some orders.” In similar vein, Maxime Zheng, Chief Representative in China, Maison Lener, France said, “Our company is a family business that is now lead by the 3rd generation. We have participated in Chic for 5-6 years. Orders are usually placed in Paris or our Beijing showroom that opened last year. But this time at Chic, we received high number of orders. We met new customers and our new collection was well received.”
Service platform Chic
Expanded visitor management, online and offline, was a central aspect of the fair. Online via WeChat and official CHIC APP more than 200,000 visitor request for specific product groups were made, exhibitors uploaded more than 700,000 pieces of product information. Active exchange was initiated by the Buyers’ Talk on the second day of the fair, dealing with the development of buying systems of department stores and shopping malls, trend information was given at Chic Buyer’s Theme Salon on Day 2.
The VIP Buyers’ Meeting brought international brands and interested agents and distributors together – a service that the organiser will expand in future. “For us CHIC is an important platform for trend information and to find European brands we can introduce to the Chinese market,” says Wen Liu, CEO, Jesery from Wuhan, representative of Canadian designer brand JAC.
The next edition of CHIC will be held from September 27 to29, 2018 at the National Exhibition & Convention Center, Shanghai.
National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), Agricultural Statistics Board, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) in its annual Prospective Plantings Report, issued on March 29, estimated the planted area for all US cotton in 2018 is at 13.5 million acres, a 7 per cent increase over 2017.
Upland cotton area is estimated at 13.2 million acres, up 7 per cent from last year. American Pima/ELS cotton area is estimated to grow by 4 per cent to 262,000 acres. Acreage increases are projected in 15 of the 17 cotton producing states in the U.S. Only Louisiana, Mississippi and Virginia showed slight decreases. The largest state acreage estimates came from Texas (7.3 million acres) and Georgia (1.45 million acres). American Pima area is estimated at 262,000 acres, up 4 per cent from 2017.
The Children's Place has announced an exclusive licensing agreement for the greater China market with Zhejiang Semir Garment, the force behind China's largest specialty children's apparel retailer Balabala. CEO Jane Elfers says the tie-up is a "game changer" that "fundamentally changes the trajectory of the international growth opportunity" and could add up to $150 million to annual sales in five years.
Semir, through their Balabala brand, currently operates and franchises approximately 4,400 children’s apparel stores and has the largest children’s apparel ecommerce business in China through partnership with third party platforms, such as Tmall, JD and VIP. Over the first five years of this agreement, Semir will execute an omni-channel strategy by opening at least 300 Children’s Place locations in greater China. This partnership is projected to generate $125 million to $150 million in retail sales in year five.
David Xu, President of Balabala, says, The Children’s Place will bring unique quality, fashion and value to the customers in China. The combination of deep knowledge of the market, the strong retail experience and local sourcing capabilities with the innovative design and appeal of The Children’s Place apparel, accessories and footwear will result in unsurpassed market reach creating significant value for shareholders of both companies.
Staubli’s D4S is a fully automatic toe-linking device for sock knitting machines. It’s based on an idea for automatically linking socks directly on the knitting machine so that no operator intervention is required. It is available for sock knitting machines with a diameter of 3½” to 4½” and from 8 to 19 gauges.
Stäubli is a textile machinery manufacturer, offering an extensive machinery range that provides mills with increased advantages in terms of reliability, long service life and versatility in application.
Once the D4S is installed on a knitting machine, adjusting to different gauge ranges is fast and easy. The D4S represents a quantum leap for knitters who want to excel in the hosiery market. Some of the key benefits of the innovative device include significantly higher productivity in sock manufacturing, short idle time of the machine for removal of the finished knitted socks, and rapid payback thanks to price/performance ratio. The machine is also easily adaptable to various diameters.
The Swiss company, founded in 1892, offers automatic drawing-in machines, the latest generation of dobbies, electronic jacquard machines, carpet weaving systems, technical weaving systems, and knitting solutions. Machinery from Staubli is known for exceptional reliability, unsurpassed production speeds, and very long service life.
Factors such as rupee appreciation, higher cotton prices, higher MSP have affected the textile industry in India. The rupee appreciation affected revenues of textile players as for many of them a major chunk of revenue comes from exports. Rising cotton prices following the pink bollworm infestation in the cotton crops affected margins of major textile players. Cotton prices witnessed volatility of 19 per cent (annualised) and with the physical market size of cotton estimated at around Rs 68,000 crores, the cotton industry faced an annualised price risk of over Rs 13,000 crores.
Players like Vardhman Textiles started hedging on the Multi Commodity Exchange of India to cope up with the persistent volatility in cotton prices. The readymade garment industry is the largest contributor to the country’s textile exports and employs about 12 million people now. The country’s textile industry currently generates about $150 billion in annual revenues — $110 billion from the domestic market and $40 billion through exports. The sector contributes four per cent to India’s GDP, is one of the largest sources of employment generation in the country and accounts for 14 per cent of exports.
India aims at doubling the annual revenue of the textile industry in the country by 2025.
The GSP Plus status granted by the European Union has helped Pakistan increase exports of value-added textile goods by up to 90 per cent, leading to an export growth of 13 per cent during the last eight months. The package given to exporters in the shape of duty drawback on taxes has also helped the growth of textile exports.
Currently, the garment sector has a limited product line for the export market. But buyers demand new garments based on G3, G4 and technical fabric materials. So, Pakistan has to offer more diversified products to take benefits from GSP Plus. Under GSP Plus Pakistan goods have duty free access to 28 EU member states. The GSP (Generalised System of Preference) Plus facility allows almost 20 per cent of Pakistan exports to enter the EU market at zero tariff and 70 per cent at preferential rates. Duty free access helps Pakistan products to compete with products originating from Bangladesh, Vietnam and Turkey and many other countries.
Suppliers of about 40 per cent of the world’s raw cashmere Mongolia, hopes to increase profit trading in the wool used in some of the world’s priciest luxury fashions by opening up a new online platform for global buying via China’s Bohai exchange.
According to the Mongolian Commodity Exchange (MCE) the platform will begin trading in mid-April. Trading in agricultural products and also coal and copper could follow at a later date. But cashmere currently accounts for around 90 per cent of the exchange’s total trade: In 2017, 7,000 tonnes of washed cashmere were sold on the MCE with a total value of 521 billion tugrik ($217.99 million).
Chuluunbaatar Bayar, GM, MCE stated that cooperation with the Bohai Commodity Exchange is opening up a market for Mongolian commodities not only in China but to other countries as well. He further added Italian buyers would be able to buy Mongolian cashmere via the Bohai exchange. The cashmere launch follows the signing of a strategic cooperation agreement with the Bohai Commodity Exchange (BOCE) in January. BOCE already trades a variety of textile products including cotton, cashmere, goose feathers and eiderdown.
Mongolia has maximized profit from its cashmere industry, by processing cheaply across the border in China. The Mongolian government launched a four-year program to boost the industry in February, with the aim of increasing exports more than fivefold, providing financial support to help domestic firms improve technology and boosting the country’s processing capacity.
Mongolia has an estimated total of 27 million goats, and an annual cashmere production capacity of 9,400 tonnes.
India will export 70 lakh bales of cotton in the ongoing season amid aggressive demand from countries like Bangladesh, Pakistan and China and also countries like Vietnam, Indonesia and Turkey. Buyers are interested in sourcing cotton from India as they find it cost effective and less expensive compared to other countries.
So far, India has sold 55 lakh bales of cotton, of which 17 lakh bales have been shipped to Bangladesh, followed by 11 lakh bales to Pakistan, ten lakh to Vietnam, seven lakh to China, seven lakh to Indonesia and Taiwan, and three lakh to other countries including Sri Lanka, Turkey and Thailand. India has already shipped nearly 55 lakh bales in the current season and contracts have been signed for another ten lakh bales scheduled for shipment in April-May. India exported 63 lakh bales of cotton last year.
Bangladesh, the world's largest cotton importer, does not have much of its own production and its spinning mills largely depend on imports. India is the largest producer of cotton in the world with 365 lakh bales this year, followed by China, the US, Pakistan and Brazil. The five major consumers of cotton are China, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Turkey.
Panorama Berlin will be held from July 3 to 5, 2018. This is a serious forum for the fashion industry. In addition to early sightings of coming trends, industry exchange is an indispensable USP of Panorama Berlin.
Over 800 selected women’s and men’s collections, from contemporary to formal to casual and denim will be expanded with the spring/summer season 2019 through the integration of shoes and accessories as well as lifestyle items, presented in stylistically homogenous worlds.
Around 60 brands covering athleisure and sports fashion will showcase their new spring /summer collections for 2019. Two seasonal themes (yoga and beachwear) will round off the offer. The Retail Solutions area will offer a new platform for the whole world of possibilities to optimize stationary retailing. From digital solutions and gastronomic franchise concepts to shop fitting and merchandising, another area will bring together service providers and tools that will turn trade in fashion into action. Short lectures and panels will provide further insights and ideas.
The range of the eco-fashion format Xoom for sustainable fashion will be expanded. Selvedge Run will remain an integral part of Panorama Berlin. This time the slogan for the show is Connecting Communities.
Global Fashion Agenda, a leadership forum on fashion sustainability around the Copenhagen Fashion Summit launched the inaugural, sustainability-centered CEO Agenda. It has been developed with fashion titans such as Kering, H&M, Target, and Li & Fung and makes a case for change.
Eva Kruse, CEO, Global Fashion Agenda says fashion is one of the largest industries in the world, but also one of the most resource and labor intensive. The environmental, social and ethical challenges the industry faces today are not only a threat to the planet, but also a threat to the industry itself. That’s why there’s no alternative but for sustainability to become an integral part of any company’s business strategy.
The CEO Agenda 2018 spells out seven priorities that should be top of mind for any CEO in fashion right now. Three priorities for immediate implementation include supply chain traceability; efficient use of water, energy and chemicals; respectful and secure work environments, etc. Apart from this, there are four transformational priorities for fundamental change in the long run. These include sustainable material mix; closed-loop fashion system; promotion of better wage systems; and fourth industrial revolution.
