FW
Denim brand G-Star Raw has developed Cradle to Cradle gold level certified jeans. To develop sustainable denim, G-Star partnered suppliers Dystar, Artistic Milliners and Saitex, evaluating the entire design process to identify opportunities to reduce environmental impact.
The result is a denim fabric made from 100 per cent organic cotton, grown without any synthetic fertilizers or toxic pesticides, and the cleanest indigo-dyeing process to-date. The process uses 70 per cent less chemicals, no salts and produces no salt by-product during the reduction or dye process, consequently saving water and leaving clean, recyclable water effluent.
To further enhance product sustainability, G-Star removed all components that could not be easily recycled — such as rivets and zippers — replacing them with eco-finished metal buttons. Additionally, the brand will ensure all labeling and carton packaging are responsibly sourced.
G-Star Raw takes responsibility to lead by example in promoting sustainable denim innovation. G-Star also worked with Saitex to develop new washing techniques that ensure 98 per cent of the water used can be recycled and reused, with the remaining two per cent evaporating, leaving no water left behind to be wasted or released into the environment. The new denim fabric and its revolutionary indigo process will become an open source for the rest of the industry to use.
At Kingpins New York Anubha Industries announced its partnership with Bluesign Technologies to implement a strong chemical management and strengthen their sustainability performance. Anubha is looking at using only clean chemistry in the entire process of denim manufacturing by responsible sourcing using bluesign® approved products. The development of an input stream management in the production process will help them achieve standards for an environmentally friendly and safe production and correspondingly provide customers with sustainable products.
The bluesign® system provides Anubha the bluefinder through which it can access a database of chemicals that are approved by bluesign® to ensure sustainable, high quality and safe materials. Joining the bluesign® system also ensures Anubha key focus on all issues related to the e Environment, Health and Safety and to efficiently work towards sustainability targets.
Aditya Goyal, MD, Anubha Industries exults, “We are proud to become a bluesign® system partner. With laser focused approach on increasing transparency and environmental management performance we are determined to further improve the sustainability of our entire supply chain. We consistently commit to the goal of becoming the most sustainable denim company in India.”
Jill Dumain, CEO at Bluesign Technologies replies, “We are glad to be partnering with Anubha as our first Denim Textile Manufacturer System Partner in India. Anubha has shown its commitment towards sustainable Denim production and we are proud they have chosen bluesign technologies as their partner for chemical management to drive sustainability performance. Together with Anubha, we strengthen our aim to create a responsible Denim supply chain for a more sustainable fashion industry.”
Anubha Industries is a specialist for denim and advanced fabric solutions. Headquartered in Surat, with over 500 employees, the company manages the complete industrial chain from fabric through to finished product.
The bluesign® system is the solution for a sustainable textile production. It eliminates harmful substances right from the beginning of the manufacturing process and sets and controls standards for an environmentally friendly and safe production.
American Eagle Outfitters has joined other US apparel makers in estimating strong earnings for key holiday selling season but said it expected lower profit margins as against a year ago period. Chief Financial Officer Robert Madore said they expect markdowns in promotional environment to remain pretty consistent with last year, which is what we’ve seen in the beginning of the holiday season thus far. The company might be as aggressive on promotions as it was last December, post Aeropostale’s bankruptcy, when it sought to keep shoppers from flocking toward heavily discounted Aeropostale apparel. American Eagle’s gross margin - gross profit as a share of revenue - dropped 1.2 percentage points to 39 per cent in the Q3 ended Oct. 28, due largely to higher warehousing and shipping costs on online orders and enhanced promotions. Despite these drawbacks, American Eagle delivered Q3 earnings and comparable sales ahead of Wall Street targets, driven by strong demand for its Aerie line of lingerie and significantly strong sales for its Aerie brand. Aerie has driven much of the company’s growth in recent quarters.
Comparable sales from the brand rose by 19 per cent in the latest quarter while those for American Eagle marginally moved up by 1 per cent, reversing many quarters of decline. Recent sales at American Eagle have also been driven by newer trends in women’s jeans, helping the company maintain an remarkable 33 per cent share of the U.S. denim market for young shoppers.
Last month, Gap Inc. and Abercrombie & Fitch also forecast strong holiday-quarter earnings, driven by demand for their Old Navy and Hollister apparel. American Eagle’s net income dropped 16 per cent to $63.7 million, stung by promotions and a $14 million charge. Excluding one-time items, the company earned 42 cents per share, topping analysts’ estimate of 38 cents. Revenue rose 2 per cent to $960.4 million. Analysts had expected $960.8 million.
Apparel producers can win with higher levels of productivity, new opportunities and growth using inkjet print, digital front end (DFE) and production workflow technologies from Electronics For Imaging, Inc, products showcased at the recent ShanghaiTex exhibition held from November 27-30 at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre. New products on display included the EFI™ Reggiani Vogue, an industrial textile printer designed for superior-quality direct-to-textile printing in fashion applications. Building on EFI Reggiani’s 70 years of experience in textile imaging, the new printer is the most-advanced, leading-edge textile product in the EFI Reggiani digital printer product line, and gives users the ability to master speed and tension to ensure the most accurate fabric handling.
Adele Genoni, GM, EFI Reggiani, stated, “Whether it is for apparel and accessories, sportswear or footwear, the EFI Reggiani Vogue can handle it. The new printer, along with the entire EFI Ecosystem of products including Optitex 2D/3D design software, Reggiani digital printers and inks, and our newest Fiery proServer offering, create an effective, more-efficient manufacturing model for the fashion space.”
Higher productivity and savings
Taking centre stage in EFI’s stand at ShanghaiTex, the Vogue model is the first in a series of EFI Reggiani printers that will incorporate new electronics and best-in-class innovations for industrial textile printing. It prints at resolutions up to 2,400 dpi with 16 printing heads, 8 colours and 4- to 72-picolitre drop sizes. Using virtually any type of textile ink, it also boasts an innovative recirculation system that saves ink and reduces maintenance during machine operation and between stoppages. The recirculation system also reduces the need for specific air conditioning and humidity controls, saving energy and reducing overall usage costs.
New Fiery proServer with dedicated textile functionality
This new printer and the rest of the EFI Ecosystem incorporate the latest digital technologies for best-in- class performance. Another product making its debut at ShanghaiTex, version 6.5 of the EFI Fiery proServer DFE, can be used with all EFI Reggiani digital textile printer models and features advanced colour management and screening technology. The result for users is high-quality prints with saturated blacks, vivid colours, clean pastels and smooth gradients, without compromising fine detail designs. The DFE also provides important production tools including shrinkage correction and step-and- repeat management, plus a set of design tools to create repeats, colourways, manage seasonal pallets and create colour ranges.
ShanghaiTex attendees also got a preview of a future, cloud-based product, the EFI GO app. This advanced new tool will give users mobile access to statistics and data in their textile production operation. With the app’s real-time print factory monitoring capabilities, users can better identify and track inefficiencies while staying apprised on overall manufacturing costs and performance.
Global yarn production improved in Q2 of 2017. It increased in Asia, Europe and Brazil and slightly declined in the US. Global yarn stocks have also improved compared to the same quarter a year earlier.
Global fabric production improved almost nine per cent in the second quarter, with the most significant increase in Brazil, Asia and Africa (10.4 per cent, 9.8 per cent and 9.2 per cent respectively). The situation has improved compared to the second quarter of last year, with an increase in global fabric output of almost four per cent. In the second quarter, worldwide fabric stocks slightly increased, with the most significant change observed in Brazil for the second quarter in a row.
Global yarn stocks decreased one per cent in the second quarter. Asia, Europe and Brazil saw their yarn inventories increase by 0.7 per cent, 2.3 per cent and 11.5 per cent respectively, but the world average is driven down by a 12 per cent decrease in yarn stocks in Egypt. Worldwide fabric stocks rose by 3.3 per cent in the second quarter. Brazil reported a strong increase of 23 per cent. Global fabric inventories decreased by eight per cent.
The World Bank has noted Cambodia has moved up the manufacturing value chain significantly. However, the country’s political climate is in turmoil and is likely to have an adverse impact on its growing garment industry. The uncertain political climate has raised concerns over trade relations and even the currently trade benefits Cambodia enjoys. This dissonance comes just after a meeting in August where the US and Cambodia discussed enhancing their partnership under the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) in order to facilitate trade.
Further, the EU is considering reworking Cambodia’s trade status under its Everything But Arms (EBA) program which permits Cambodia’s garments and other exports to enter the EU duty free. GMACs Deputy Secretary-General Kaing Monika had appealed for calm, “We are just worried there might be some misunderstanding by the US or EU about the decisions of our government. What we are trying to say is to caution people not to misunderstand the situation in Cambodia.”
Cambodian workers are happy with their recent 11 per cent wage hike to $168 per month, which they will earn as of January, currently there is no labour unrest despite the current tension. GMACs Deputy Secretary-General is of the view that the EU would not roll back Cambodia’s trade privileges as part of EBA, but that it would not be entirely detrimental if it did. For the year to October, the US imported textiles and apparel valued at $2.18 billion from Cambodia, a 2.42 per cent decline when compared to the same period in 2016.
As per the World Bank’s latest economic update, Cambodia’s exports of clothing and other textile products grew in the first six months of the year, touching $3.3 billion, but that level of growth may not continue.
Walmart has joined the Cotton LEADS program that supports responsible production practices by cotton growers. Ken Lanshe, Walmart’s Vice President, General Merchandise, Technical, Quality and Sustainability says through the Cotton LEADS program, Walmart hopes to learn from and collaborate on efforts that US cotton farmers are taking to be responsible and sustainable producers.
Walmart joins over 480 companies worldwide which recognises both the environmental gains cotton growers in Australia and the United States continue to achieve and their commitment to meeting the challenge of growing sustainable cotton.
Mark Messura, Senior Vice President Global Supply Chain Marketing at Cotton Incorporated, a founding member organisation of the Cotton LEAD program explains, the program is at the forefront of the world’s efforts for sustainably-sourced cotton. Joining Walmart in the Cotton LEAD program brings the scale and commitment of an industry leader together with the leaders in cotton sustainability and responsibly-sourced cotton.
The Cotton LEADS program is a joint effort of the Australian and US cotton industries. Its founding members are Cotton Australia, the Australian Cotton Shippers Association, the Cotton Foundation, the National Cotton Council of America, Cotton Council International and Cotton Incorporated. The programme is designed to raise awareness about responsible growing practices and commitment to continuous improvement among cotton producers in the member countries, including responsible production practices, strict regulations that protect the environment and people, the ability to affect positive change nationally, nationwide cotton research and development programmes, and sustainability benchmarking.
India has not been able to take advantage of improving global environment, especially compared with its Asian peers. Though export growth has recovered relative to the past few years, at 9.4 per cent, it appears sedate compared with Vietnam’s 23.8 per cent, South Korea’s 18.4 per cent and Indonesia’s 17.8 per cent.
GST has disrupted many businesses, at least in the short run. Under GST, exporters are supposed to first pay tax on the inputs they buy from suppliers and then claim tax refunds. Delay in refunds has shrunk liquidity, especially for small and medium enterprises, which contribute almost 40 per cent to exports.
Exports of gems and jewelry declined 6.8 per cent in April-October. Exports of readymade garments, leather products and electronic goods grew 2.5 per cent, 0.6 per cent and 2.8 per cent respectively. Vietnam and Bangladesh have been able to occupy a larger share in the low-end manufacturing space being vacated by China as it moves up the sophistication ladder. For instance, Vietnam’s share in global readymade garment exports has soared from 1.7 percent to 5.3 percent in the past decade, and that of Bangladesh from 2.5 percent to 6.7 percent while India saw a mere 0.8 per cent improvement. Lower comparative advantage has been a result of infrastructure bottlenecks, rigid land and labor laws, and inferior logistics compared with these economies.
The UK has pledged £40 million to aid more than 5,00,000 people around the world who have either survived modern slavery or are at risk of becoming victims. The support will address slavery and trafficking in countries with a high prevalence of these crimes in South Asia, and others such as Nigeria.
The aid package include funds to prevent trafficking and forced labor among women migrant workers from South Asia, which has the highest prevalence of forced labor globally. This will focus on victims of forced domestic work and garment manufacturing, providing skills training to women before they move to a nearby country for work, supporting women at their destination so they can access help if they are exploited, and working with governments to improve laws and policies to protect vulnerable people from becoming victims of this crime.
In addition, funding is included for support in Nigeria focused on creating credible alternative livelihoods in hospitality, creative industries, technology and agri-entrepreneurship, so people are not forced into a life of trafficking, providing better victim support and counseling, and increasing public awareness of the risks of trafficking. About 40 million people are estimated to be modern day slaves. Hundreds of thousands of people are at risk of exploitation.
The domestic textile industry in Indonesia must diversify their products to remain competitive says the Indonesian Trade Chamber of Commerce, however, industry players are looking to the government to make the first move. Vice chairman of Indonesian Trade Chamber of Commerce Benny Soetrisno revealed the textile industry that produces clothing is already saturated. So, one has to move the production slot to another product.
Benny believes there needs to be support from raw materials products in the upstream industry. However, the upstream textile industry is high risk, high investment and low on returns. He feels the government needs to give incentives as well as ease investment so investors are attracted. At present, the industry operating in Indonesia has been integrated with classification in three areas. Firstly, the upstream sector largely produces fibre products. Secondly, the intermediate sector, company’s production processes include spinning, knitting, weaving, dyeing, printing and finishing. Thirdly, the downstream sector is garment factories and other textile products.
Ade Sudrajat, Chair, Indonesian Textile Association (API) says before diversification, internal problems of state rules, energy, human resource capability and logistics capability must be addressed. As product diversification can work alone if internal and external problems are addressed. The need of the hour is bilateral cooperation with the US and the EU to expand local textile exports enable Indonesia to be able to successfully compete with Vietnam and Bangladesh whose textile industry is growing at a rapid pace. Unhappy with exports growth Sudrajat says this year export should has seen double digit growth but with current situation it an at most grow 4 per cent.
The Ministry of Industry estimates textile industry exports will grow 11 per cent per year. For 2018, it’s pegged at $13, 5 billion and in 2017 it was $12.09 billion.
