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Apparel Textile Sourcing Expo will be held in Canada, August 22 to 24, 2016.This will be Canada’s first apparel and textile trade show. Garment factories and fabric mills from around the world will be present.
Canada has needed a trade show where apparel and textile importers and retailers can learn about sourcing best practices while meeting international producers from around the world. The event offers an important new resource for its domestic market.
The expo will give Canadian retailers and manufacturers access to apparel and textile manufacturers from China, India, Bangladesh, Mexico, the USA, Taiwan, Vietnam, Indonesia, Mauritius, Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, Jordan, Peru and Myanmar.
In addition to the exhibition floor, the expo will feature a slate of seminars covering issues such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, industry best practices, the changing Canadian market and sourcing tips.
The Canadian Apparel Textile Sourcing Expo hopes to become an efficient and convenient trade platform for the global textile and apparel industry. It is expected to fill a void in the market.
Companies looking to better monitor their offshore production will want to attend the show. It connects buyers with manufacturers of apparel, textiles, garments, fashion accessories, and home textiles from around the world.
On May 25, 2016, the Federation of the European Sporting Goods Industry (FESI) organised its first European Winter Summit at Flanders’ Bike Valley.
Key players of the winter sport industry gathered to discuss the main challenges and possible solutions for the sector in order to effectively enhance participation in winter sport activities.
Generally, the attractiveness of winter sports is dwindling and there is a clear need to build drivers for the attractiveness of winter sport activity.
Participants agreed that such a holistic approach calls for the set-up of a multi-stakeholder platform, involving all the main stakeholders active in winter sports and willing to work on solutions.
Several initiatives were presented from which the winter sector can profit, including a number of EU funding programs such as COSME; Horizon 2020, Erasmus + Education training youth, European Structural and Investment Funds and the European Fund for Strategic Investments.
The event agreed to formalize the winter summit concept and invite more stakeholders around the table to maximise cooperation.
To develop long-term strategies, another meeting will be held in 2017. This will strengthen the alliance by developing the required multi-stakeholder platform.
Common winter sports include skiing, snowboarding, figure skating, luge, bobsleigh, curling, snowmobiling and ice hockey.
White Women's Pre-Collections + Menswear was held in Milan, Italy, June 18 to 20, 2016. Foreign buyers also grew 20 per cent especially from the Far East. Japan showed a 18 per cent growth and China 15 per cent. The visitor number from the US also increased by 13 per cent and that from Russia rose by 26 per cent.
The show presented 250 brands (185 were women's pre-collections) that attracted over 6000 buyers, of whom 20 per cent were foreign buyers and 13 per cent Italian buyers.
Top buyers visiting this edition were H Lorenzo (Los Angeles), Need Supply (Richmond), Hotoveli (New York), Gallerie Lafayette (Paris), Isetan and United Arrows (Tokyo), The Cartel (Dubai), Margreeth Olsthoorn (Rotterdam), Sprmrkt (Amsterdam) and Bosco Dei Ciliegi (Moscow).
The special exhibition Denim R-Evolution curated by Don The Fuller brand presented the last 30 years of the history of jeans as seen through different treatments developed for the well-known indigo denim garment. Since 2010 jeans started their ecological era when the industry introduced eco-friendly denim without damaging its image. That was the beginning of an era of eco-friendly sand treatments, Oeko-Tex ageing and zero water washes.
Twelve Northern European brands like Wood Wood, Uniform For The Dedicated and Henrik Vibskov participated.
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Belgium is investing in Vietnam’s textile industry.
Vietnam’s participation in free trade agreements has spurred on an increase in foreign investment in the textile industry. Seeing the potential of Vietnam’s textile market, several big foreign shoemakers have been shifting production to Vietnam.
Europlasma is just one of 15 leading Belgian tech firms with textile solutions that have come to Vietnam, in the hope of seeking co-operation opportunities while learning more about the demands of Vietnam’s textile market. As the EU-Vietnam free trade agreement takes effect, businesses from both countries will benefit from this agreement.
Europlasma is presenting its nano-coating solution to Vietnamese textile firms. One of its latest technologies is a solution for durable water repellent treatment for sporting goods. Europlasma has come to Vietnam to introduce its products to local textile and apparel enterprises.
International co-operation is needed to support Vietnam to raise its fabric production capacity to meet trade deal requirements, specifically, the yarn forward rule of origin under the TPP and the fabric forward rule of origin under the EU-Vietnam free trade agreement.
Belgium is the sixth European trade partner of Vietnam. The trade volume is increasing every year. Traded goods are mainly chemicals, machines, iron, textile and shoes, and agricultural products.
"The United States Fashion Industry Association (USFIA) has released the third annual Fashion Industry Benchmarking Study, a survey of 30 executives from leading fashion and apparel brands, retailers, importers, and wholesalers. Conducted in conjunction with Sheng Lu, Assistant Professor at University of Delaware Department of Fashion & Apparel Studies, the survey asked respondents about the business outlook, sourcing practices, utilisation of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) and preference programs, and views on trade policy. "
The United States Fashion Industry Association (USFIA) has released the third annual Fashion Industry Benchmarking Study, a survey of 30 executives from leading fashion and apparel brands, retailers, importers, and wholesalers. Conducted in conjunction with Sheng Lu, Assistant Professor at University of Delaware Department of Fashion & Apparel Studies, the survey asked respondents about the business outlook, sourcing practices, utilisation of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) and preference programs, and views on trade policy.
Business outlook
The survey reveals despite challenges like the intense pressure on retailers to remain relevant and uncertainty in US politics, the majority of respondents (92 per cent) are optimistic about the five-year outlook for the US fashion industry - a record high since conducting the study in 2014. Industry executives rank ‘market competition in the United States’ as their top business challenge, this year. For the first time since 2014, the concern about competition exceeds concern about ‘increasing production or sourcing cost.
Sourcing practices
US fashion companies are more actively seeking alternatives to ‘Made in China’ in 2016, but China’s position as the No.1 sourcing destination seems unlikely to change anytime soon. Meanwhile, sourcing from Vietnam and Bangladesh may continue to grow over the next two years, but at a slower pace. US fashion companies continue to expand their global reach and maintain truly global supply chains. Respondents’ sourcing bases continue to expand, and more countries are considered potential sourcing destinations. However, some companies plan to consolidate their sourcing bases in the next two years to strengthen key supplier relationships and improve efficiency. Ethical sourcing and sustainability are given more weight in U.S. fashion companies’ sourcing decisions, today. Respondents also see unmet compliance (factory, social and/or environmental) standards as the top supply chain risk.
Trade policy
US fashion companies are excited about the conclusion of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations and they look forward to exploring the benefits after TPP’s implementation. Thanks to the 10-year extension of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), US fashion companies have shown more interest in sourcing from the region. In particular, most respondents see the “third-country fabric” provision a critical necessity for their company to source in the AGOA region.
Utilisation of trade agreements
Free trade agreements (FTAs) and trade preference programs remain underutilized in 2016 and several FTAs, including NAFTA and CAFTA-DR, are utilized even less than in previous years. U.S. fashion companies also call for further removal of trade barriers, including restrictive rules of origin and remaining high tariffs.
USFIA have additional new findings this year, focusing on the outlook for growth in Vietnam as they prepare for the implementation of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, specifics on how ethical sourcing and sustainability factor into sourcing decisions, and even whether companies are considering new, buzz-worthy destinations like Myanmar and Cuba for sourcing.
The study was conducted between March and April 2016 based on a survey of a survey of 30 executives from leading US fashion and apparel brands, retailers, importers, and wholesalers. In terms of business size, 92 per cent of respondents report having more than 500 employees in their companies, while 84 percent of respondents report having more than 1,000 employees, suggesting that the findings well reflect the views of the most influential players in the U.S. fashion industry.
The World Trade Organisation (WTO) has asked the G20 economies to lead by example in the fight against protectionism by rejecting new trade-restrictive measures and rolling back existing ones. Protectionist and trade restrictive measures by G20 countries touched a new high between mid-October last year and mid-May this year, the WTO has observed.
G20 economies applied 145 new trade-restrictive measures, equating to an average of almost 21 per month, a significant increase over the 17 per month recorded in the previous reporting period. "This is the highest monthly average registered since the beginning of the monitoring exercise in 2009, which helps explain that the overall stockpile of restrictive measures introduced by G20 economies grew by 10% during the review period," the WTO said in its report that was released last Tuesday.
The main factor behind the rise in trade-restrictive measures was an increase in the number of trade remedy investigations by G20 economies. Anti-dumping actions account for the majority of restrictive measures imposed, with most of the investigations concentrated in sectors such as metals (particularly steel) and chemicals. G20 members also imposed more distortive measures in the form of government support for sectors such as infrastructure, agriculture and export-specific activities.
Terming this trend "worrying", WTO Director General Roberto Azevedo reportedly said, "A rise in trade restrictions is the last thing the global economy needs today, with GDP growth sluggish and 2016 expected to be the fifth year in a row that trade has expanded by less than 3%". Of the 1,583 trade-restrictive measures, including trade remedies, recorded for G20 economies since 2008 by this exercise, only 387 had been removed by mid-May 2016. The total number of restrictive measures still in place now stands at 1,196. These trade-restrictive measures, combined with a notable rise in anti-trade rhetoric, could have a further chilling effect on trade flows since the prospects for world trade in 2016 and beyond remain uncertain. The recent WTO trade forecast predicted merchandise trade volume growth of 2.8% in 2016, unchanged from 2015.
The organisation noted that although some G20 economies have been eliminating trade restrictions, the rate by which this is done remains too low to dent the stockpile of such measures. Of the total number of trade-restrictive measures recorded for G20 economies since 2008, the share of eliminations, or roll-back, make up less than 25% whereas the restrictions cover over 6% of all G20 imports and 5% of global imports. The report also found that during the reporting period a total of 100 measures aimed at facilitating trade were taken—a monthly average of 14 measures. According to the organization, this represents an increase compared to the previous reporting period, but remains below the average trend observed since 2010.
Peru's clothing exports to the United States reached $193 million between January and April 2016, a $7million increase from the same period in 2015. Peru–US bilateral trade figures reflect an upward trend in shipments to the North America.
Exports of cotton T-shirts for men went up by 8.1 per cent and those for women went up by 46.9 per cent. Shipments of cotton top tanks for women or girls went up by 105.3 per cent, as seen in the year's first four months. Shipments of woven or knitted top tanks went up by 41.4 per cent. Other products, such as cotton dresses for women, up by 51 per cent, also contributed to greater exports to the United States.
Likewise, growth was also experienced by other products made of synthetic fibers like shirts for men, women and children. Peru’s textile and clothing exports have grown by an average of 11 per cent per year in the last ten years, thanks in large part to sector-specific investments focused on output growth and modernization, an increased global demand due to the quality of the goods and speed of delivery; and, perhaps most significantly, increased trade preferences granted by the United States.
Organized by the Turkish Clothing Manufacturers’ Association (TGSD), a fashion conference will be held in Turkey, October 12 to 13, 2016. Turkish Clothing Manufacturers Association was founded in 1976 with the purpose of preparing the environment necessary for development of clothing industry in Turkey, becoming a leader for the sector, promoting the sector abroad and achieving sectoral cooperation. Currently, TGSD has approximately 400 members, all of which are leaders in the Turkish apparel industry.
TGSD became a full member of Euratex, the European Textile and Apparel Federation which brings the European textile and clothing industries together under a single roof, on June 6, 1997. This membership has enabled Turkish clothing industrialists’ rights to be discussed on the same table as European industrialists and has completed the integration process with the European Economic Cooperation.
Turkey has always been an important junction in trade between the East and the West, and now it’s becoming a junction for fashion too – bringing the best of international fashion to its own streets, and exporting its home-grown fashion to the world. Turkey is already well known as one of the world’s leading nations for manufacturing high-street fashion and denim. The dynamic new spirit among Turkey’s fashion brands is creating style that is cosmopolitan yet truly Turkish.
Curtains came down on the 90th edition of Pitti Uomo (the men's fashion trade show) last Friday and signaled an increase in attendance figures. According to closing figures, the event, which took place in Florence from June 14-17 recorded a 3 per cent jump in Italians, or 12,100 buyers and a 2.4 per cent increase in foreigners, the non-Italian attendee numbers reaching 8,400. The 90th edition offered a particularly rich four-day program with both new brands attending and special events taking place; a total of 1,222 brands, of which 248 were new. The event showcases the latest Spring/Summer collections, which set the tone early on in the season, giving a positive signal to the current market, while the economic context is rather grim.
Pitti registered a 2.5 per cent growth in buyer numbers which reached 20,500 compared to 20,000 last year. In total it attracted more than 30,000 visitors. After a mild start with a lacklustre first day attendance, Pitti was full in the days that followed. Asian buyer numbers increased the most in this edition. Britain registered the largest growth in buyer attendance recording double-digit growth, up 18 per cent; Belgium followed, up 7 per cent, and Germany was up 5 per cent. Worth noting was the strong Russian comeback, up 10 per cent, after the collapse of recent seasons and an increase in "incredible" buyers from the Baltic countries and Eastern Europe. Only the French disappointed.
Concerning the other continents, there was an evident shift in power towards Chinese buyers, whose attendance increased 14 per cent, while American buyers increased 3 per cent and Japanese by 4 per cent. Enrico Labriola Trade show organisers also highlighted "excellent results for Portugal, Denmark, Mexico, Australia, South Africa, Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan." Among the 15 highest ranking countries for overall attendance, Germany was at the top of the list, followed by Japan, Spain, the UK, the Netherlands, China, France, Turkey, Switzerland, Belgium and the US.
KAKEN, a government-accredited organization of Japan that specializes in textile laboratory tests, will represent GINETEX in the country adding onto GINETEX’s national members that now amount to 22 in the world. With a strong presence in all of Europe, North Africa and Brazil, GINETEX now welcomes KAKEN as its national member in Japan, in order to promote and support the use of textile care symbols in the land of the rising sun. Today, the Japanese market represents over 300 clothing brands. The signature of this partnership with KAKEN in Japan is a historic moment for GINETEX, which will be represented for the first time in Asia.
Thomas Rasch, President of GINETEX feels the integration of KAKEN translates their common will and desire to standardise all textile care symbols around the world. With the precious support of 22 national members, GINETEX will continue to our work on promotion and use of these symbols, on an international scale.
Kaken is the most trusted and the biggest textile products inspection organisation in Japan. In addition, they are in cooperation with many industries including Japan Textile Evaluation Technology Council (JTETC), a well-known NPO, which has close relations with the government of Japan. A key player in the Japanese textile market and in the industrial market at large, this organization inspects and tests textiles (staples, filaments and yarns, woven and knitted fabrics and finished products), leather, rubber, chemicals, paper products and other industrial supplies, with the objective of obtaining certifications. KAKEN is an ISO 9001: 2000 certified textile testing laboratory.
KAKEN will take advantage of its strong influence and long-proven legitimacy in the Japanese textile Ecosystem (including government institutions, national textile industry organizations, textile and clothing manufacturers as well as consumer associations), to broadly communicate on the change and standardization of textile care symbols – now qualified ISO 3758, a certification backed by GINETEX, the guarantor of textile care labeling codes.
