FW
The next edition of Kingpins Transformers denim seminar series will be held on April 17 in Amsterdam, and the focus will be on transparency. Leading ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ is Everlane, with its promise of ‘radical transparency’. A single click enables customers to see the entire process chain along with photographs. Andrew Olah, Founder of Kingpins Transformers discloses, “Everlane is growing by leaps and bounds because of what they’re doing. We can be sure their business model will be copied as all successful business models are copied.” In the long term every company will have to be transparent and show their entire supply chain. And consumers won’t want to buy from brands that don’t give that information, withhold that information or don’t know it.
For those that refuses to face the consequences, he sees a fate that’s similar to the rise and fall of IBM, which failed to recognise that the industry was going in the direction of personal computers, remained rooted in mainframe and ultimately lost it’s dominance. Olah does not claim to have the answers there is no one-size-fits-all solution he warns. Through panels and interactive sessions that include movers and shakers in the fibre, textile, technology, chemical and machinery sectors, Kingpins Transformers educates companies to help them sail through rocky waters. Kingpins Transformers, is a summit series spotlighting members of the denim community who are committed to creating, implementing and sharing the changes that need to happen in the jeans industry to make it more environmentally viable, socially responsible and financially sound.
Inditex Group, the world’s biggest clothes retailer and owner of the well-known fashion brand Zara has opened its first branch office in Pakistan. As per a Pakistan government statement, “Due to Pakistan Embassy and its Commercial Section in Spain’s sustained pursuance with Inditex Group, which comprises of 8 international renowned brands (Zara, Massimo Dutti, Pull and Bear, Bershka), Inditex Group has opened its buying house in Pakistan first time ever. It is heartening to inform about the significant and positive development with regards to trade between Pakistan and Spain,” It added.
Jose Manuel Romay de la Colina, a representative of the Inditex Group recently met Commercial Counsellor Muhammad Hamid Ali at the Embassy of Pakistan in Spain and “officially confirmed opening of its buying house in Karachi”. Romay was hopeful that due to the presence of buying house it is likely that Inditex Group will double its imports from Pakistan in the coming year or two with additional technical collaborations in the field of textiles and design,” the statement from the group’s official said.
Pakistan exports to Spain touched $405 million in the first five months of the current fiscal 2017/18. “It is likely to reach $550 million once we will include the data of December 2017 in terms of value the maximum increase in exports from Pakistan to Europe took place in Spain,” the statement noted.
“We are sanguine that for the first time in Pakistan and Spain bilateral trade history, our exports to Spain will cross $1 billion mark during the current financial year of Pakistan. Similarly, it will also likely cross one billion dollars as per the financial year of Spain which is from January 2017 to December 2017,” the statement added. After recording slow growth during the past couple of years, exports of textile and clothing went up by eight per cent to $6.642 billion in the first half of the current fiscal year of 2017/18. Textile exports from Pakistan which account for over 60 per cent of the country’s total annual exports.
Rakhi Parasurampuria, Director, Baba Textile Machinery Pvt Ltd. speaks to fashionatingWorld in an exclusive interview.
What machines do you have showcased here? Rakhi explains, “Some of our machines on display are embroidery, laser cutting and mix. Innovation is our password, we keep innovating on our machinery along with introducing new technologies in every fair we participate in.”
What is the USP of your brand? “It’s all about our product. Our USP is that we are better in every respect when compared with other players in the market. Our products are quality-oriented, cost effective and we provide a warranty.
“Our job does not end post selling the machine. Another plus point is our after sales service and this aspect makes us stand out from the crowd. We are known for service we provide to our clients when needed.
“We have been in the market for 15 years now and we are growing strength by strength just because we don’t leave any stone unturned as far as customer’s satisfaction is concerned. There is a department for each of the vertical we handle. Let me repeat, we never compromise on service, no matter how much it costs us.”
Discussing the brands forte, “Embroidery machinery is our forte,” Rakhi gushes, “we sell most of the machines in this segment. We have machinery set ups in cities including in Banaras, Ahmedabad and Bangalore.”
Imported or indigenous? “We import all our machinery from China. We do not have any manufacturing in the country because it is not possible manufacture the kind of machinery that we get currently import. We are constantly adding new products and machinery to our portfolio.” What is your take on the competition? “Initially when we started it was difficult, but today we well settled in the market. Competition has always been there and will always be there in future too. The only difference is earlier we would feel threatened by our competitors, are out of our space.”
Where are you present, “We are well established in the Northern and Eastern regions of India. We have offices in Kolkata, Delhi and Ahemdabad too. Recently we opened an office in Jaipur.”
Demand scenario “The market is back on track. It’s comparatively better than it was a year ago when it was tough times. But now all is settled.”
What is the government’s involvement? “The steps that the government is taking is appreciable. We faced issues with reforms but the economy is getting streamlined day by day. It is expected to get better in the long term.”
What is your take on GTE? Rakhi shares his view, “This is the third day of the GTE fair and overall it has been good. Yesterday has been comparatively low in terms of footfall, but today, attendance is significant and is increasing with every passing day. “We hope for more footfall tomorrow as it is the last day of the fair. GTE has really been very productive as far as our business is concerned and there is no doubt it could have been the same for other participants too. This is the platform that helps in many ways, right from building new relations to getting acquainted with new technology, he adds.
The American Apparel & Footwear Association signed a MoU with Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production (WRAP) during AAFA’s Social Responsibility Committee meeting in Long Beach, CA. The collaborative venture will leverage the organisations’ expertise in corporate social responsibility (CSR) for the apparel and footwear industry with a focus on labour and working hours. As per the agreement, AAFA and WRAP will work together to provide industry tools, resources, and thought leadership to be delivered at AAFA committee meetings, educational events, and webinars. As a part of the agreement, WRAP will be recognised as AAFAs official CSR partner.
Rick Helfenbein, President and CEO AAFA says they are excited to enter a more formal agreement with WRAP. AAFA helps members address changing regulations and international sanctions, and also to move beyond compliance, into forward-looking approaches to social responsibility. They are looking to leverage WRAP’s extensive and unique expertise in CSR space, as they work directly with factories and value chains around the world. This new arrangement will help provide AAFA members with essential guidance on a wide range of social responsibility issues. In 2018, AAFA and WRAP will develop guidance for AAFA members on North Korean sanctions as well as developing industry best practices for working hours.
India’s woven fabric export continued to rise in December following a steep recovery in November. It was also higher than the levels two years ago. While spun yarn exports grew at a slow pace, the rise in fabric export shows a tremendous potential for export of value added products. Volumes rose 10 per cent to 397 million sq mt valued at $302 million. Cumulative export in the first nine months of 2017-18, was 3,190 million sq mt, a marginally down by 0.1 per cent as against the same period a year ago. In terms of value, woven fabric export was valued at $2,510 million (Rs 15,970 crore).
During December, 142 countries imported woven fabrics from India, spearheaded by Bangladesh and followed by Sri Lanka and the UAE. All three accounted for 33 per cent of the total woven fabric export during the month. Seven countries did not import any fabric as in previous year, while 16 countries imported fabric valued at $1 million this December. Afghanistan, Nepal and Paraguay were the fastest growing large markets for woven fabrics which accounted for 3 per cent of total export value in December.
Around 55 per cent of woven fabrics exported were made of 100 per cent cotton valued at $65 million (Rs 1,020 crore) with volumes at 190 million sq mt. The average unit price realisation was at $0.87 a sq mt, about US cents 5 more than a year ago period. Plain fabric exports accounted for 65 per cent of all types of woven fabrics exported in December 2017, up 6 per cent in volume year on year with shipment totalling 312 million sq mt worth $198 million. Bangladesh, UAE and Sri Lanka were the top markets for plain fabrics.
Denim was the second largest woven fabric exported in December with volumes increasing by a steep 30 per cent year on year in value rising 31 per cent to $31 million. They were largely imported by Bangladesh with Egypt and Sri Lanka following. Denim exports to Bangladesh alone was valued at $19 million.
Although US menswear revenues are expected to grow 5 per cent in the next 2 years, outperforming womenswear, few brands are catering to the burgeoning market on their digital platforms this was revelaed by The Dark Horse of Fashion report. The study, found a third of brands carrying both women’s and menswear did not feature any men’s products on their e-commerce homepages. A further 19 per cent demoted these products to secondary status by only showing them below the fold.
Calvin Klein was tinted as a coed brand missing a trick, prioritizing womenswear on its homepage, while men's underwear was its most viewed product page in 2017. The study also found 15 brands that did use their data to target men more precisely in this way saw significantly higher open rates in emails featuring menswear-specific subjects, suggesting a clear marketing benefit.
This could go some way to explaining the bias identified by Zine's survey, as, by this logic, menswear brands should be aiming to coordinate a smaller pool of more highly influential digital promoters. In a market increasingly dominated by e-commerce and digital marketing, fashion brands carrying menswear would do well to take heed of L2’s findings as men’s apparel and accessories come into their own in an industry that is traditionally female focused.
It is a shift which is being reflected across all levels of the industry with Nordstrom gearing up for the opening of its first men’s flagship in New York and menswear labels outnumbering women’s wear in the short list for last year’s LVMH Prize. The increased importance of men’s fashion is even affecting the catwalk as more and more brands choose to host coed runways.
Post the release of foreign trade data for December 2017 by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Sanjay Kumar Jain, CITI, Chairman, has expressed apprehension over the 3 per cent fall in CAGR in textiles and apparel exports as against the corresponding period of December 2016. Textiles and apparel exports were $2996 million in December 2017 when compared to $3075 million a year ago. However, the cumulative export has slightly improved by 2 per cent CAGR as exports recorded $26,136 million in April-December 2017 as against $25,721 million in April-December 2016.
Jain noted the share of textiles and apparel exports in the All Commodity Exports (ACE) also fell by 2 per cent in December 2017. Jain, was happy with the cumulative increase in textiles and clothing exports during April-December 2017, but was unhappy with the consistent increase in imports of textiles and clothing during the same period. Imports during December 2017 stood at $165.34 million as compared to $137.24 million in December 2016, registering an increase of 20.48 per cent.
Jain further pointed out that as per latest data from Export Promotion Bureau of Bangladesh, India’s imports of garments from Bangladesh touched $111.3 million during July to December 2017, indicating a sharp rise of 66 per cent as against $66.9 million during the same period last year. This situation is negatively affecting the domestic yarn, fabric and garment manufacturers. There is a greater need now to impose safeguard measures such as Rules of Origin and Yarn Forward and Fabric Forward Rules on countries like Bangladesh and Sri Lanka that have FTAs with India to prevent cheaper fabrics produced from countries like China sent via these countries. Garment manufacturers in India have to pay duty on imported fabrics, while Bangladesh can import fabric from China duty free and convert them into garments and sell to India duty free. This is putting the Indian garment industry at a major disadvantage.
As per provisional figures from The State Bank of Pakistan, textile trade surplus dropped year-on-year in 2017 up to December by 1.9 per cent due to imports rising by a larger amount and at faster pace than exports. Exports rose 4.5 per cent to $12.93bn as against $12.37bn the year before. The main segment increase in exports came from an increase in exported readymade garments, knitwear, bed wear, cotton yarn and towels.
From January to December 2017, Pakistan largely exported knitwear, readymade garments, bedding and cotton cloth. All together, they account for over two-thirds (71 per cent) of the total value of export, with readymade garments and knitwear each accounting for 19 per cent of total export receipts and bedding accounting for 17 per cent of total export receipts. Import payments rose 22.4 per cent to $3.98bn as against $3.25bn the year before. The bulk of the increase came from ‘other textile items’ followed by synthetic fibre, synthetic and artificial silk yarns, and worn clothing. Raw cotton made up the bulk of Pakistan’s textile import payments, making up one-fifth of its total value. Synthetic and artificial silk yarn accounts for 17 per cent, while 13 per cent of textile import value came from synthetic fibre. Worn clothing accounts for just 2 per cent of the total import value. All other textile items account for 47 per cent of the total import value.
The Directorate General of Anti-dumping and Allied Duties (DGAD), under the Ministry of Commerce, says the imposition of anti-dumping duty is not needed on imports of polyester staple fibre (PSF) from China, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. The period of investigation was from April 1, 2015 to September 30, 2016.
The investigation started due to an application filed by Alok Industry, Indo Rama Synthetics and The Bombay Dyeing for imposition of anti-dumping duty on import of non-dyed PSF ranging from 0.6 to 6 Deniers, excluding recycled PSF and specialty fibres such as cationic dyeable, fire/flame retardant, low melt and bi-component fibres from the above mentioned countries.
Non-dyed PSF from 0.6 to 6 Deniers are used to spin yarn of 100 per cent PSF or in blends with natural, artificial and/or synthetic staple fibres to manufacture textiles, sewing thread, other industrial textiles, nonwoven applications, and more DGAD said in its final findings, “Though the import of product under consideration (PUC) has increased during POI as compared to base year, however, the quantum is not substantial as compared to total demand in India. The share of imports is only 7 per cent which is not significant enough to cause material injury to domestic industry. The PUC has been exported to India from all the subject countries at dumped prices as compared to its normal value in the respective subject countries. However, the same are not solely responsible for causing material injury to the domestic industry as reflected by the analysis of various economic parameters,” it added.
The investigation concluded that “there is insufficient evidence to conclusively establish that dumping has caused material injury to the domestic industry. It is evident by the positive growth in domestic industry’s production capacity, production, sale volume, market share etc.”
One of the largest fashion weeks and trade shows in Asia, the Hong Kong Fashion Week organized by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, has drawn 1,400 exhibitors from 23 countries every year. The fashion institute selected four students from its collaboration project Jessica Welia Halim, Julianto, Raegita Zoro and Rilya Krisnawati — to present their collections at HKFW 2018.
Four Indonesian fashion students from Istituto di Moda Burgo Indonesia (IMBI) had a rare chance to present their Fall/Winter 2018 collections in this international event. This opportunity was the result of the teamwork between the Italian fashion institute and one of the biggest fashion associations in the country, Indonesia Fashion Chamber (IFC).
Between August and October 2017,Ali Charisma, the chairman of IFC, mentored six of the institute's final-year students. Jessica used songket fabric from Palembang for her collection, traditionally recognized as "the queen of all fabrics. Besides connecting with Hong Kong buyers, Jessica is also in correspondence with buyers from India and France.
Raegita Zoro's collection, called "Rebellious Part 2," also won the attention of Hong Kong's fashionista. Julianto on the other hand has presented a women's ready-to-wear collection called embrace it features elegant evening dresses in soft natural hues, embellished with crystals, pearls and sequins
Raegita's punkish collection is subjugated by black fabric with occasional bursts of yellow, lime green and pink. Buyers from India and Dubai have expressed their interest in Raegita's collection.
