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Cotton growers in Maharashtra are facing the same problems as their counterparts in Gujarat—a low remunerative price and a widespread attack of pink bollworm on Bt cotton. The bonus of Rs 500 does not seem to have helped much in Gujarat which means distress level among cotton growers in Maharashtra, who have not been given such bonus, could be higher.
A severe spell of pink bollworm attack has caused damages worth Rs 10,000 crores to cotton growers in Maharashtra. The pink bollworm attack has damaged nearly 40 per cent of the estimated crop. The GM variety of Bollgard II has lost much of its resistance to pest attacks.
Gujarat had announced in October a bonus of Rs 500 per quintal for cotton over and above the minimum support price of Rs 4,020 per quintal for the small staple variety, Rs 4,270 for the medium staple, and Rs 4,320 for the long staple.
Gujarat is India’s top cotton producing state, accounting for nearly 25 per cent of the national yield. Cotton is grown on over 2.7 million hectares in Gujarat. Though Maharashtra has a larger acreage under cotton—normally 3.8 million hectares but 4.2 million hectares this year—it has lower productivity.
A number of textile and garment firms in Vietnam may benefit from the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) expected to be signed next year. This is especially true for firms that have close production chains, from fiber, cloth, yarn, and buttons to finished products. There will be ample opportunities to upgrade the value chain for the textile and garment sector as EVFTA will provide tariff preferences to Vietnamese exporters to the EU.
Vietnamese producers can upgrade their value chain, adding weaving or knitting stage to existing cutting and sewing. At present, this operation is particularly challenging, as it requires financial resources and high-skilled workers to manage the high-technology machinery. Vietnam, rich in labor and limited in available capital, is deeply engaged in the low-end of garment manufacturing activities (the cut and sew stage of production). The textile and garment sectors actually show huge differences between each other. Textiles are more capital-intensive, relying on technology and requiring highly skilled workers. They add higher value than the garment sector, which is labor-intensive and mainly reliant on low skilled workers.
However, many textile and garment firms in Vietnam might not be able to enjoy the benefits of EVFTA as many companies that import materials from countries like China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, and not from EVFTA members.
International forecast output of man-made fibres (cellulosic and oil-based, filament and staple fibres) has been set at 71 million tonnes as against 30 million tonnes of natural fibres. As per estimates by CIRFS, the European man-made fibres association, worldwide production of man-made fibres is set to increase further, whilst natural fibres will remain the industry’s biggest ‘employer’. At the farm level, estimated sales in 2016 amounted to around US$ 50bn. Due largely to the higher price of cotton and jute in 2015, output rose sharply by a further 8 to 10 per cent in 2016.
Of all the natural fibres, cotton is well known for consuming large volumes of water and use of pesticides to control the ever growing number of pests. On the other hand, many of the figures available are outdated and thus fail to reflect the correct position as new varieties and modern cultivation methods have led to tremendous improvements in these areas.
Extensive training programmes in the producer countries are helping small farmers gain higher yields whilst using fewer resources. The introduction of a nationwide water management system in Israel recently hit the headlines while describing the country as a ‘water wonder’. The Israeli water authorities launched a programme in 2008 not only to desalinate larger quantities of sea water, but also to repair leaky pipeline systems, install closed irrigation systems and, in collaboration with farmers, to tread new ground in cultivation. Comparing cotton yields per hectare between countries such as Mozambique with 162 kg, the USA with 912 kg, China, Turkey and Brazil with 1500 kg each, Israel has now taken the lead with 1892 kg.
Diesel has announced the departure of its creative director Nicola Formichetti and a new CEO Marco Agnolin. Renzo Rosso, Founder of Diesel and head of the OTB group has now recruited a specialist in fast fashion for this managerial role. Agnolin served for seven years as Chief at Bershka, the youth label from Spanish giant Inditex. The manager, introduced as a retail specialist, will fill the role left vacant by Alessandro Bogliolo, who left Diesel for Tiffany & Co this autumn.
The appointment therefore seems to highlight a new direction for the Italian brand. While Alessandro Bogliolo, who took the company’s reins in 2013, came from a luxury background, having previously served as director of operations at Bulgari, Marco Agnolin’s experience is much more clearly oriented toward the mass market, as shown by his time at Inditex, fist as country manager in Italy, then as chief of Bershka.
Who will be replace Nicola Formichetti’s successor as creative director is a big question. It also raises doubts as to whether the brand will continue to work in line with the selective distribution strategy implemented by its former CEO. As of now, the group has not specified any strategic guidelines for Diesel’s future.
Diesel, which accounts for 60 per cent of the OTB group's turnover, reported sales of 960 million euros in 2016, although its balance sheet still registered a loss.
Centro Algodonero Nacional (CAN) has become the 11th laboratory to be certified under ICA Bremen’s ‘International Laboratory Certification Scheme’. CAN’s Managing Director, Javier de Blas says by following ICA Bremen’s recommendations they have been able to further increase the quality of their laboratory. Based in Barcelona, CAN is an independent laboratory which provides an extensive raw cotton testing service to the entire cotton chain, from farmer to spinner. They join 10 other laboratories to become certified under the scheme, which aim at establishing an approved list of laboratories worldwide that meet a standard level of quality assurance.
ICA Bremen has developed the scheme based on American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) International and Commercial Standardisation of Instrument Testing of Cotton (CSITC) as well as building on the good practices of USDA and its own laboratory experience. Open to any international cotton testing laboratory, participating laboratories must meet a level of quality assurance based on specific criteria in eight modules, including conditioning, maintenance, calibration and testing procedures. Around 14 other laboratories are currently in the process of assessment. Once certified, they will become a ‘laboratory of choice’ to resolve quality disputes in line with the ICA Bylaws and Rules as well as providing a service to the cotton industry.
ICA Bremen is an 'international centre of excellence' for cotton testing, research and quality training. Operating from existing, state of the art laboratory facilities in Bremen, Germany the centre was officially launched in October 2011. ICA Bremen’s services include: Laboratory certification, laboratory testing, WCC classing authority, quality arbitration, round trials, cotton grade standards, R&D, training and quality expert certification.
The Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute’s Fashion Positive initiative has launched ‘Innovators Hub’, a resource centre for the growing circular fashion movement. Lewis Perkins, President of the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute says at a time when resource scarcity and growing global population make positive change the need of the hour, the rapid innovation of safer, healthier materials offers one of the fastest routes to achieving a circular economy. The Fashion Positive Innovation Hub aims to accelerate this process for the fashion industry.
Created with funding from the non-profit H&M Foundation, the Innovators Hub provides one-stop access to critical resources for material innovators striving to drive circular materials development through the innovation of safer, healthier materials developed as per principles of the Cradle to Cradle Certified product standard.
Annie Gullingsrud, Director-Textiles and Apparel sector for the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute says until now, creating safe, healthy circular materials that also meet designers’ requirements for performance, quality and aesthetics has been a notoriously challenging process. The Fashion Positive Innovators Hub has been designed to simplify the material innovation process by addressing the three biggest challenges currently faced by material innovators in fashion: Education and know-how; technical assistance; and funding opportunities.
The Fashion Positive Innovators Hub offers: Circular economy know-how, including a library of videos and interactive tools demonstrating how to apply the principles of the Cradle to Cradle Certified product standard to fashion. Chemical and material screening using the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute Material Wise tool which permits users to screen for known hazards with free access to the Cradle to Cradle Certified v3 banned list and v4 restricted substances list, including the Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals (ZDHC) manufacturing restricted substances list v1.1.; Access to investors, accelerators, brands and manufacturers via the Fashion Positive network, created to connect material innovators with the resources and support necessary to bring high-potential material innovation projects to scale.
The owner of Italy's top-end lingerie La Perla, is in talks with China's Fosun for the sale of majority stake in their luxury lingerie group. Italian entrepreneur Silvio Scaglia, the founder of telecom group Fastweb, bought the ailing group for €69 million euros at a court-led auction in 2013 through family holding Pacific Global Management. The Italian entrepreneur has invested over €300 million in the company founded in the post-war years in the Northern town of Bologna, as he had hoped to sell the brand’s products abroad, mainly in Asia. The group, which has 30 boutiques, posted sales of €140 million this year and is expected to breakeven by the end of 2018, Scaglia was reported to have said. The conclusion of the deal is subject to Fosun's approval.
Shanghai investment group Fosun, which owns holiday resort company Club Med, will "continue investing in the brand to develop its full potential as a global luxury fashion house...," the statement added.
German sportswear and equipment MNC Adidas has announced it will close down its hardware division, and therefore, stall production of wearable fitness devices. The announcement is one that has been doing rounds in the past as well, as Adidas had already been shifting focus from hardware development for a while now.
Stacey Burr, Vice President, wearable sports electronics at Adidas stated the company is not going to see a new running watch from Adidas for a while. The company plans to move over to the software segment, specifically, the Adidas App and Runtastic, Adidas' mobile fitness company that combines traditional fitness with mobile applications, social networking and elements of gamification, which made its comeback in 2015. Adidas had, in the past, released multiple wearable fitness trackers under the name miCoach, culminating in the miCoach Smart Run smartwatch.
However, the exit is not permanent, as Adidas has reportedly announced plans to partner with Fitbit for a curated edition of the iconic smart watch, scheduled somewhere in 2018.
Bestseller is a strategic partner in the Global Fashion Agenda, a group working to set a common direction for industry efforts on sustainability. Bestseller has announced three strategic action points on post-consumer textile waste in response to the ‘Call to Action’ put out by the Global Fashion Agenda in early 2017. The action points are considered accelerators in the transition to a circular fashion system, and Bestseller has committed to report on the progress annually till 2020.
By 2020, all Bestseller designers and buyers will have completed a training module on circular fashion design. Bestseller’s sustainability manager Dorte Rye says knowledge is the foundation to address the overall topic and the first action point of ‘implementing a design strategy for cyclability’. The second action point supports the focus on ‘increasing volume of used garments collected’. By 2020, Bestseller will offer and promote a used garment collection channel to consumers in selected markets together with relevant partners, it must be a setup that makes sense for all parties involved.
Bestseller will conduct a pilot with two jeans styles containing recycled post-consumer cotton. The jeans are to be included in the ‘never out of stock range’ within Jack & Jones. In 2018, the pilot will be completed and results evaluated.
Dorte says it is important to note that the Call To Action is focused on post-consumer textile waste, meaning that other recycled materials already used in the Bestseller supply chain, such as recycled polyester from PET bottles, are not included in this context. The specific products in the pilot will contain the highest possible amount of recycled post-consumer cotton to reach a high level of quality. The remaining cotton will be sourced as either Better Cotton or organic cotton.
"While fast fashion brands such as Michael Kors Holdings, Ralph Lauren and others are vying for bigger share of the holiday market, their main intent isn’t increasing sales but winding up with less of unwanted merchandise. Hence, inventory stock-up is one of the major concerns for these companies. And to circumvent this, brands are using increasingly sophisticated tools to track apparel and accessories through the supply chain, which aims to avoid the typical post-Christmas fire sales."
While fast fashion brands such as Michael Kors Holdings, Ralph Lauren and others are vying for bigger share of the holiday market, their main intent isn’t increasing sales but winding up with less of unwanted merchandise. Hence, inventory stock-up is one of the major concerns for these companies. And to circumvent this, brands are using increasingly sophisticated tools to track apparel and accessories through the supply chain, which aims to avoid the typical post-Christmas fire sales.
The reducing number of departmental stores and their non-stop discounting proposition is posing another set of threat tocompanies. Even with discounts, brick-and-mortar stores are unable to attract customers are they are increasingly preferring online shopping, with smartphones becoming the preferred means of commerce. On top of that, omnichannel retail is posing another set of concerns as customers, for instance, may buy an item online and then return it to a store.
David Bassuk, Co-Head of retail practice at AlixPartners LLP, points out every Monday morning, retailers typically hold a manager meeting to look at the sell-through rates, or the percentage of the total inventory sold, for the past week. During the holiday period, they meet daily – and decide if they should use promotions or increase their markdowns to stay on track with their inventory.
Managing inventory well
There’s a lot of speculation about whether retailers are really able to manage inventory properly in the world of omnichannel. John Idol, CEO, Michael Kors, has pledged to cut the number of days with big promotions by as much as 65 per cent this quarter. Research predicts smarter promotions will set up retailers and fashion brands for a better 2018. The industry also has closed thousands of stores this year, helping supply better match demand.
Tapestry Inc, owner of the Coach and Kate Spade brands, uses historical seasonal sales data to build its stock allocation plan for each store. And it has the capability to restock its retail stores as many as three times a week during the holiday season, said spokeswoman Andrea Resnick. High-end department stores and specialty retailers have started tagging their products with radio-frequency identification sensors, which casinos have been using for their gambling chips, to track inventory in real time. As another safeguarding perspective, Simeon Siegel, an analyst at Instinet LLC, said that it’s probably safer to stock too little than too much. But that means companies will have lower sales growth when they begin to rebound.
