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The European Commission has repeated its concern over labour rights situation mainly with respect to freedom of association and successful implementation of the 'Compact' in the readymade garment sector of Bangladesh. It warned Bangladesh of taking steps, including launching investigation, to improve the situation ahead of withdrawal of the existing trade facility under the Generalised System of Preference (GSP).
The EC expressed concern and issued a warning in its report on the effects of GSP and the special incentive arrangement for sustainable development and good governance (GSP+) covering 2016-17 to the European parliament and the council. The report, published recently also raised concerns about the declining human and labour rights situations in Cambodia. The EU in particular raised the alignment of the Bangladesh Labour Act (BLA) and the Export Processing Zone (EPZ) Act with the ILO labour rights conventions as one of the priority actions.
Following declining human and labour rights situations in Bangladesh and Cambodia, the commission engaged more actively with these two countries and involved relevant stakeholders like NGOs, CSOs, international organisations, social partners, and businesses. By generating millions of employment opportunities in the readymade garment industry where the large majority of workers are women the EBA (Everything But Arms) has contributed to its socio-economic development.
As per state minister for labour Mujibul Haque Chunnu the labour rights situation has improved and better now, and the government has also formed a new wage board to review the wages of the garment workers for the betterment of their living standard. The EC's latest warning has come after suspension of Bangladesh's GSP benefit by the US government in June 2013. The EU previously reminded Bangladesh authorities about taking necessary measures for ensuring workplace safety and labour rights to sustain its GSP benefit in the EU markets. The EU is the largest market of Bangladeshi products those enjoy duty-free facility under the EBA. Bangladesh fetched $17.75 billion from apparel exports to the EU in last fiscal year which is 63.06 per cent of total RMG exports, according to BGMEA data.
Post the success of the men's Fashion Week in January, a repeat is on the table as new players are entering the market. Now it is the turn of Danish show CIFF to make its appearance. The organisers of Copenhagen's premier fashion show have been looking towards Paris for several seasons but now they are well and truly ready to make their move as they took the opportunity of the edition currently being held in the Danish capital to launch a little teaser campaign.
A panel at the entrance of the Copenhagen show, advertised the dates of the next ‘CIFF Paris: from Wednesday 20th to Tuesday 26th June’. The launch is planned during the men's Fashion Week, with a marginally longer duration than that of its new French competitors. ‘Who's Next is scheduled for June 23 to 25; Man/Woman for June 21 to 25, and Tranoï for June 22 to 24.
CIFF brought together over 2,000 brands from the entire fashion spectrum for its dynamic winter edition: from men’s wear to women’s wear, from formal apparel to jeans, from premium to accessible and designer labels, from footwear to children’s wear. In 2014, CIFF teamed up with the Denim PV show, each giving the other a certain amount of visibility for a few seasons, an initiative aimed at linking up brands and manufacturers. CIFF’s Danish competitor, Revolver, is headed towards Milan and has been associated for several editions with the White show, within which it has a dedicated area. Copenhagen's summer shows, held in August, work hard to attract international visitors, especially from Southern Europe. The new events would permit both CIFF and Revolver to offer a Scandinavian alternative, fitting into a premium slot within the international show calendar.
The Clothing Manufacturers Association of India (CMAI), the apex association of the apparel industry, has welcomed the Union Budget, as positive and growth oriented for the apparel industry. In a statement, Rahul Mehta, President CMAI, says in addition to certain specific provisions for this industry, the general focus of the Budget on rural economy, including significant fund allocations, would help in pushing up demand for apparel in the domestic market. He also welcomed the added emphasis on infrastructure development and stated that apparel manufacturing involved significant domestic transportation of raw materials as well as finished goods and infrastructural bottlenecks have been hindering this industry.
Mehta thanked the FM for enhancing the allocation for the special scheme for the apparel sector from Rs 6,000 crore in 2017-18 to Rs 7,148 crore for 2018-19. While extending government contribution of 12 per cent towards EPF of new employees, which was an element in the special package, to all sectors, its applicability has also been extended to the next three years. This will provide additional momentum to hiring of workers by the apparel industry.
Referring to the reduction of women employees' contribution towards EPF to 8 per cent for the first three years, Mehta pointed out workers in the apparel industry will be among the primary beneficiaries of this provision, since the sector extensively employed women. He also thanked the FM for enhancing the turnover limit from Rs 50 crore to Rs 250 crore for eligibility to the reduced corporate tax rate of 25 per cent and sated that a large number of units in the apparel sector would benefit from this. He stated the enhanced economic growth envisaged in the Budget will help in improving demand for apparel, which is one of the primary needs of the masses. Mehta added the positive impact of the Budget on the apparel industry will also be reflected in job creation, since this is the most labour intensive industry in the country.
"The Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) presented a pavilion at the Copenhagen International Fashion Fair (CIFF), the premier fashion event in Northern Europe, from January 31 to February 2 the aim was to assist Hong Kong designers go global. The pavilion, ‘Fashion Hong Kong Gallery’, showcased latest collections from four Hong Kong fashion accessory brands: Cafuné (designer: Queenie Fan), Pomch (designer: Felix Tai), ro and Volare (designer: Franco Yeung). Networking events will also be arranged to provide greater exposure and more business opportunities."
The Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) presented a pavilion at the Copenhagen International Fashion Fair (CIFF), the premier fashion event in Northern Europe, from January 31 to February 2 the aim was to assist Hong Kong designers go global. The pavilion, ‘Fashion Hong Kong Gallery’, showcased latest collections from four Hong Kong fashion accessory brands: Cafuné (designer: Queenie Fan), Pomch (designer: Felix Tai), ro and Volare (designer: Franco Yeung). Networking events will also be arranged to provide greater exposure and more business opportunities.
The Fashion Hong Kong Gallery is a feature of the HKTDC’s Fashion Hong Kong campaign, which was launched in 2015 to promote Hong Kong fashion designers and labels in the global fashion arena through a series of international events. These include large-scale runway shows and displays at major international fashion events such as Tokyo Fashion Week, New York Fashion Week and London Fashion Week, as well as Hong Kong pavilions and networking activities at fashion fairs. Northern Europe’s largest and longest-running fashion fair, CIFF has evolved into a major event for the global fashion industry. This edition will feature some 2,000 international labels across various exhibition halls, including Style Setters Bungalows where the Fashion Hong Kong Gallery will showcase Hong Kong’s creativity to global buyers and media, helping the city’s designers and labels expand internationally.
As per Rebecca Tse, Senior Product Promotion Manager, HKTDC, this is the fourth time Hong Kong designers showcased at Copenhagen. This time, the focus was on CIFF and Hong Kong labels of different styles. In addition, they arranged networking events for designers and buyers. The HKTDC will continue to review Hong Kong’s strengths in fashion markets around the world.
Innovative display by budding designers
Among the exhibits was Cafuné is the label of Queenie Fan, a handbag designer born and bred in Hong Kong. Fan studied Industrial Design at the Rhode Island School of Design in the US. Central to the brand is a strong attention to construction and detail, and a devotion to creating a harmonious balance between timeless and playful elements.
The Pomch a brand founded in 2011 by director Felix Tai, a graduate of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University School of Design majoring in industrial and product design. The brand, focussed on handbags, has been featured at global events, including the DMY International Design Festival in Germany and Paris Fashion Week, winning high acclaim from renowned media such as Elle, Marie Claire and Hypebeast.
A graduate of the College of Fine Arts at the University of New South Wales in Australia, Franco Yeung is a designer and merchandiser for more than eight years, working with clients in the US, Italy, Israel and other parts of the world. In 2008, he founded his brand with the name ‘Volare’, an Italian word meaning ‘fly’. Having participated in New York Fashion Week with the HKTDC last February, the designer launched his new collections of men’s and women’s footwear at CIFF.
In financial year 2016-17 Bangladesh exported woven garment worth $14.39 billion. But most of the fabric for this export is being imported. Bangladesh till now is lagging behind in weaving and woven processing infrastructure. The country requires building more weaving facilities to cater to local export oriented garment industries. This will help in reducing apparel export lead time from Bangladesh. It will also save on foreign currency.
After discussing with Italy-based company Itema — one of the world's leading suppliers of quality, high-performance weaving machinery and support services to the industry — and exploring their solutions it was clear that the Itema Group could be one of the most important company for Bangladesh in providing technologically advanced weaving machinery to establish world-class weaving facilities in Bangladesh. Itema and its Bangladeshi representative Pacific Associates organised a seminar titled “Itema Innovation Roadshow in Dhaka” recently. A discussion ensued between Christian Straubhaar, Sales & Marketing Director, Itema Group and Tareq Amin, Editor & Publisher of Textile Today.
Straubhaar said Bangladesh should keep its produced shirting and clothing fabric inside for growth of its industries. He spoke about obstacles in growth path of textile industry where electricity is the big issue, and suggested Bangladesh textile mills could opt for Airjet because Itema Rapier machine need less power and it could be a great solution to this problem.
Tareq Amin of Textile Today noted factories are asking for grid electricity instead of having their own captive power. Bangladesh is a key market for Itema, the company is showing its commitment in investing even more attention, resources and energy in the country. Straubhaar advised the Bangladesh textile industry to keep costs low so that they could gain a competitive advantage. High-efficiency, advanced and sturdy machinery were the need of the day.
Top British retailer Sainsbury’s, has decided not to sign the new Accord while Marks & Spencer, John Lewis and Debenhams are undecided over signing the new factory safety deal in Bangladesh, following a harsh retail environment in the UK. Several other companies may follow suit due to concerns over costs and lack of support from factory owners and the Bangladeshi government.
Following the Rana Plaza building collapse in April, 2013 that killed over 1,100 people mostly garment workers, European brands and retailers came up with the Bangladesh Accord on fire and building safety. The initiative invested over $55 million in safety monitoring, training of health and safety committees and site inspection by 200 trained engineers. Its signatories have also contributed funds for safety measures, including improving structural design and installing fire doors and sprinkler systems.
Over 1,600 factories are covered by the Accord whose renew by due date ends in May. About 60 major international brands using 1,200 Bangladeshi factories – including H&M, Zara’s owner Inditex and Primark – have signed up to a new version of the Accord.
The tough retail environment in the UK was an indication that retailers were trying to limit corporate social responsibility spending. The original Accord cost the largest brands $5,00,000 a year before further commitments to support any work needed in factories from which they source. The new deal will last three years maximum with reviews every six months to assess whether the Bangladeshi government is ready to take over its work.
Sainsbury’s said while it would not be signing up, it remained supportive of progress in Bangladesh. Jenny Holdcroft, assistant general secretary of the international union IndustriALL, assessed that brands need to stay with the accord otherwise all the hard work and money they have invested will quickly be undermined. She said that those brands that did not contribute were letting other more responsible companies ‘carry the can’ for continuing the safety work.
The Salvatore Ferragamo Group, one a leader in the luxury sector, released the group’s preliminary consolidated revenues for fiscal 2017, which was €1,393 million down 3.1 per cent at current exchange rates and 1.4 per cent at constant exchange rates 2016. As of 31 December 2017 the Salvatore Ferragamo Group reported total revenues of €1,393 million down 3.1 per cent at current exchange rates.
The Group's Retail network was 685 points of sales, including 410 Directly Operated Stores (DOS) and 275 Third Party Operated Stores (TPOS) in the wholesale and travel retail channel, as well as the presence in department stores and high-level multi-brand specialty stores.
Among the product categories, at constant exchange rates, footwear posted a decrease of 1.7 per cent decrease as compared to FY 2016 and handbags and leather accessories of 0.8 per cent, while fragrances registered a 2.2 per cent increase.
Asia Pacific emerged the top market in terms of revenues, decreasing by 2.1 per cent due to the significant decrease of Chinese tourists, and the ongoing negative performance in particular in Hong Kong. Europe posted a decrease in revenues of 3.6 per cent as compared to FY 2016, with a positive performance for the retail channel and a negative trend for the wholesale business, negatively impacted by the destocking activity. North America recorded a revenue decrease of 4.2 per cent in FY 2017, also negatively impacted by the department stores sales.
Fit has been an on-going issue in the apparel sector for decades but with a rise in online shopping, consumers are increasingly finding it difficult to find clothing that fits the first time around. Fast fashion too has contributed to fewer fit cycles and eliminated the human element in favour of virtual fit. As Andrea Kennedy of apparel industry publisher Fashiondex, said during a Texworld USA talk 94 per cent of fashion professionals surveyed for the study agree that garment fit is a problem at retail today.
Lead times of fast fashion in some cases is just two weeks. 75 per cent of respondents pointed to fast fashion fit issues. On an average, majority of companies are fitting two samples per style to maintain stringent timeframes and the consequences are obvious; around 68 per cent of their returned garments are because of fit issues.
Two decades ago, companies were fitting as many as four samples per style and fit issues were only seen in 30 per cent of returns. The survey revealed 40 per cent companies still use a professional fit model to fit their samples, 23 per cent make someone at the company who wears the sample size try it on, and 15 per cent just try it on themselves. Though 3-D virtual fit has been getting a good amount of press in recent years, only 2 per cent of those surveyed said they are using it. Most aren’t doing size run fittings anymore. They are fitting the sample size — and finalizing before perfecting it — then scaling up and down from there for the other sizes.
One problem, is that companies are often not making, fitting and correcting their samples all in the same place which often means DHL packages back and forth and expanding delivery times. Eighty-nine per cent of those Fashiondex surveyed said they’d be interested in a service that would permit them to complete the full fit process locally.
The Winter2018 editions of Texworld USA and Apparel Sourcing USA opened their doors to exhibitors and visitors on January 22nd at the Javits Center. Over three days, a wide range of international suppliers from around the globe showcased textiles, trims, accessories, manufacturing and private label development services and finished apparel for industry buyers, designers and experts.
Both shows garnered a record-breaking 371 exhibitors representing 14 countries and over 4,000 visitors. The expo showcased textiles with innovative structures, material mixes and new colour palettes across 14 product categories. Visitors were able to see latest textile trends, materials, fabrics and more with an exclusive opportunity to network and meet designers and suppliers from around the world while taking in the free educational seminars.
Exhibitor Global Textile said, “Our company has been to other trade shows and this is the most planned and organised. The visitors are more focused and know what they want, know what they like and it makes for a great experience. We are doing great business and are able to find exactly what the US market wants.” Jennifer Bacon, Show Director, Fashion & Apparel said, “As organizers, we recognise that our responsibilities extend far beyond providing a space for the industry to do business here in New York City.
We believe in building a true industry event that unites the best talent from the industry with access to education and valuable resources, as well as a chance for our vibrant community to connect and exchange ideas. We are also aware of the changing fashion ecosystem. Texworld USA and Apparel Sourcing are dedicated to contributing to the fashion industry worldwide.”
Texworld‘s educational seminar series, organised by Lenzing Fibers returned with sessions hosted by curated panels of experts discussing global textile and sourcing landscape, including sustainable solutions and the circular economy. Texworld Trend Showcase explored the latest designs trends for the upcoming season.
The H&M group continued to grow globally in 2017. Sales including VAT increased by 4 per cent to SEK 2,31,771 m in the financial year. Sales increased by 3 per cent in local currencies. Sales excluding VAT amounted to SEK 200,004 million. Gross profit increased to SEK 1,08,090 million. This corresponds to a gross margin of 54.0 per cent. Profit after financial items amounted to SEK 20,809 million. The group’s profit after tax amounted to SEK 16,184 million, corresponding to SEK 9.78 per share.
A total of 479 stores were opened and 91 stores were closed, resulting in a total net addition of 388 new stores. During the year, eight new H&M online markets and five new H&M store markets were opened. At the end of the financial year the H&M group had 69 sales markets of which 43 were online.
Speaking on accelerating their transformation in a rapidly changing industry Karl-Johan Persson, CEO said, they have three main action areas:
• Be restless around the core: We must always have the best across product assortment and mix, look, value for money and sustainability. The best customer offering always wins. Our physical stores must offer a more inspiring and convenient customer experience and be more customised to local needs. The digital store is a process that should never settle. The offering needs to be constantly improved and broadened to ensure it maximises engagement and sales. We are integrating our physical and digital stores to offer our customers a great shopping experience with services ranging from Click and Collect to Scan and Buy and online returns in store.
• Invest in the enablers – new technology and ways of working. We will invest even more in analytics and intelligence. We see huge potential across the board from assortment planning to supply chain and sales. We will continue to invest in our tech foundation. This includes: building scalable, robust platforms; faster development of consumer-facing apps; and broadening our use of technologies like Cloud, RFID and 3D.
• Drive growth – both traditional and new. Our expansion across digital will accelerate. We will be broadening our assortments, rolling out digital to new markets and linking to new platforms, like Tmall for mainland China. We will continue to open new stores – there is still significant growth capacity in physical stores in many regions and countries. We will constantly optimise and refine our physical store portfolio. There is still potential for strong growth in some regions whereas in others we can get a better balance by reducing store space. We constantly work on new ideas and innovations that will drive us forward – and there are many in our pipeline for 2018 and the years to come.
