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Velocity Apparelz is ramping up its presence in Africa by opening a plant in Ethiopia. Velocity is the manufacturing arm of Dubai’s Vogue International. It has factories in United Arab Emirates and Egypt. The company specialises in denim and sources material from China, India, Pakistan, Turkey and Italy. The Ethiopia plant, located on a campus measuring just under a square mile, will produce jeans and knit garments. The entire factory is fully automated, set up on conveyor systems, powered by wind and lit by LED bulbs, and has its own water treatment facilities on-site. Other sustainable practices include waterless washing, sublimation fabric printing and laser-blast technology. The factory is presented as one of the most advanced in the world.
The company sees Africa as the next manufacturing base of the world. It has developed a campus-based structure which houses all the workers and in time will have facilities like entertainment, schools and hospitals. Velocity hopes to ultimately provide jobs to around 10,000 people in Ethiopia.
The parent company Vogue opened in 1988 and since then has been committed to sustainable manufacturing. The Vogue group of companies is a fully integrated one-stop shop design and garment manufacturing facility offering design, production, logistics and its own retail brands.
www.voguevelocity.com/
Knitwear manufacturers in Tirupur feel the Northeast presents great opportunities. They plan to go through the e-commerce route. This will help knitwear manufacturers immensely as it drastically cuts the cost of marketing. Knowledge of English is high in the region and some of the states have English as the official language. People are internet savvy.
Markets in the Northeast demand apparels made of heavy GSM (grams per square meter) fabrics that can withstand the cool climates in states such as Meghalaya, Manipur, Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh. Fashion garments are popular among youngsters here.
The region is emerging as a magnet for upscale apparel and accessories labels. Makers of sports and fashion wear, branded jewelry chains and retailers are heading to the north-east to open their first stores or expand their presence. Rapid economic growth in recent years has increased the purchasing power of consumers in the region. This is a brand-conscious and fashion-forward market. Pockets of the north-east mirror the consumer behavior of high-income pockets of suburban Delhi and Mumbai.
The region’s traditional ethnic clothes represent the true spirit of India. However, supply chain and logistics-related issues loom as potential challenges and scaling up may be a challenge given the limited density of population of cities in the region.
Luxury lingerie brand Marie Jo has been chosen the top award at the first ever Belgian Fashion Awards. The label beat 23 premium brands to be voted ‘Fashion Brand of the Year’ by the Belgian public. Discussing the win, brand design Manger Lieve Vermeire said: “Being able to take this award home with us is recognition of our passion and proof that we can count on a host of loyal fans. Marie Jo women are certainly power women that make their voice heard.”
Van de Velde CEO Erwin van Laethem noted, “Resolutely choosing what consumers want, with a product that looks fantastic, but at the same time is also comfortable and fits perfectly is a proven recipe for success. I would like to give a big thanks to all Marie Jo fans for their support and I dedicate this award to them. We are grateful to have the opportunity to empower them with our lingerie day after day.”
Belgian lingerie manufacturer Van de Velde launched Marie Jo in 1981 to create a perfect-fit, fashion-forward lingerie which empowers women. The brand is known for its discreet luxury approach and attention to quality and craft. The Belgian Fashion Awards ceremony took place in Antwerp on November 16 as a part of Fashion Talks, an industry conference organised by the Flanders District of Creativity, a non-profit organisation established by the Flemish government.
Jointly developed with ProLH GTZ, Jababeka Industrial Estate is the first modern Indonesian eco-industrial estate under a technical cooperation program. It is collaboratively established by Indonesia's Ministry of Environment and the Republic of Germany is planning to turn Kendal in Central Java into a ‘fashion city.’
As Jababeka president and director S D Darmono says his company would build a textile complex in the small city to provide space for textile and garment manufacturers to develop their businesses. There will be garment factories that will be close to textile factories, a trade center and design training centers at the textile complex, he revealed after a closed-door meeting with Industry Minister Saleh Husin.
While Bandung, West Java, has long been known as one of the country’s garment and textile hubs, in the near future Kendal in Central Java may feature prominently on the fashion map. Known as a ‘City of Santri’ (Islamic students) for its ubiquitous Islamic boarding schools, Kendal may be transformed into a fashion city integrating all aspects of the textile and garment industry as a result of the plan.
As per the plan, a bonded warehouse is also expected to be set up near the complex, functioning as a location to stockpile raw materials for garment manufacturing.
Fashion segment for high-end Russian products have skyrocketed despite the fact that the mid-market sector has been stagnating. There is an ever expanding chasm between normal Russian consumer and the super-rich which has seen approximately 70 per cent of Russians dramatically reducing their garment and footwear spending since 2016, with 12 per cent said to have abandoned the thought of buying new clothes in the near future. This is reflected in the fact that there has been no major shopping mall which has opened in Moscow or St Petersburg during the above mention period, while footfall in existing malls have dropped; besides about half of all Russian fashion retailers have closed some of their stores in the past year (about 1,230 outlets countrywide).
Sales in Russia’s luxury branded clothing sector have seen sustained growth. Chanel, for one, the Paris-headquartered fashion group, reported a 15 per cent rise in sales in Russian outlets; Prada and Burberry have seen similar success, with Burberry recording growth of 200 per cent in value terms over the past 12 months. Analysts says this is largely due to the fact that Russia's super-rich shoppers have cash to spend and also the huge number of Chinese tourists’ inflows into the country who have an irresistible urge to spend. In terms of market break-up, imports still predominate with 78 per cent of all items in the fashion sector currently sourced from abroad; further successful promotional activity, sales and discounts remain the key drivers in the sector. During 2015-2016, 44 multinational fashion retail chains withdrew from Russia, while only 11 forayed into the country. However, those companies that have weathered the storm are now well-positioned to occupy the niche abandoned by the withdrawing multinationals.
In September the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade announced that the Eurasian Economic Commission had withdrawn import duties on all knitwear fibres and most viscose fibres. The move was intended to stimulate local production of knitwear and viscose fibre items, including clothing, underwear, hosiery and sportswear. Overall, it is expected that cutting the payable duty will lead to the prices of the related items falling by as much as 10 per cent.
"EU’s sales to the US recorded a noticeable growth rate (+16 per cent), thanks to a favorable exchange rate. Among the EU top 10 customers, moderate expansion was recorded by Hong Kong and China On the contrary, exports to Russia (-27 per cent) and Ukraine (-1 per cent) slipped back again, as economy remains depressed in these markets. Clothing exports to its main consumers indicated a higher growth rates than for textiles."
According to a statement of CITH, Textile and Clothing Information Centre, the EU textile and clothing exporters succeeded in gaining further market shares in third countries (+3.6 per cent). According to CITH, the European Union’s (EU’s) imports picked up by +9.6 per cent in value terms, due to sharp increases from Asian countries. On the contrary, imports from the Mediterranean area (Turkey, Egypt, Morocco, and Tunisia) achieved a modest growth or even decreased over the period. According to CITH, 2015 evolution impacted the overall trade balance of the EU-28 whose deficit deteriorated further in value, by + 14 per cent (+29 per cent for textiles and +13 per cent for clothing.
EU’s sales moves north
EU’s sales to the US recorded a noticeable growth rate (+16 per cent), thanks to a favorable exchange rate. Among the EU top 10 customers, moderate expansion was recorded by Hong Kong and China On the contrary, exports to Russia (-27 per cent) and Ukraine (-1 per cent) slipped back again, as economy remains depressed in these markets. Clothing exports to its main consumers indicated a higher growth rates than for textiles. Data shows a noticeable growth in the US, Hong Kong, South Korea, Canada and China (with rates between +19 per cent and +22 per cent), which made the US the second largest EU customer and China the 6th largest customer. Exports to the Saudi Arabian and Mexican markets also experienced a significant growth (+17 per cent and +15 per cent). Russia and Ukraine on the other hand declined, following the political turmoil.
Textile imports grows
As far as the textile imports coming from EU top 20 suppliers, they were all up, except from Egypt, Thailand and Australia. With a 16 per cent growth, the US witnessed the highest growth among the main suppliers, followed by China, Pakistan and Vietnam, with 11 per cent. Meanwhile, Morocco and New Zealand recorded 17 per cent and 39 per cent increase at the bottom of the ranking. Double digit growth recorded from most Asian countries as far as clothing imports are concerned. China, the top supplier recorded a 6 per cent increase, with 30 billion of clothing articles sold to the EU market whereas Bangladesh recorded a 24 per cent increase recording the second place. Meanwhile, strong imports’ upturns were also observed from Cambodia (31 per cent), Vietnam (26 per cent), Hong Kong (25 per cent) and the US (26 per cent). Myanmar is now ranking 17th in the top-20 EU’s clothing suppliers with a 79 per cent increase.
Since 1981, CITH, the Textile and Clothing Information Centre, provides statistical information on trade in textile and clothing. The basic data are collected by Eurostat from national customs and subsequently treated by the CITH. The organization can provide tailor-made reports on customers’ request, which can be updated on a regular basis, or adapted to a specific format. Statistical information covers EU goods’ flows (by products or CN/HS codes), trade balance, export and import average unit prices and major EU exporters and importers.
Bangladesh’s 171 readymade garment factories which are on the suppliers’ list of ‘Accord on Fire and Building Safety’ have made zero progress on factory remediation suggested by the platform of major European brands and retailers. These factories got three months to one and a half years time, but no one has started remediation process yet after the approval of respective corrective action plans of the units by Accord.
According to Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), of the 171 factories, most of them were inspected by Accord more than one and a half years ago. On February 11, Accord provided the BGMEA with a list of 553 factories in which the remediation progress was below 40 per cent. According to the BGMEA, the progress on remediation in 211 factories was 0-10 per cent, in 85 factories 11-20 per cent, in 103 factories 21-30 per cent and 154 factories made 30-40 per cent progress. Of the 553 factories, 522 are the members of the BGMEA.
The BGMEA is planning to start a series of meeting with the factories to know the reasons for the slow progress on remediation work at their factories. The meeting will also find a solution to expediting the remediation work in the factories.
The Pakistan government recently revised downward cotton production as well as area target and fixed it at 14.1 million bales from three million hectares for the next season 2016-17 against 15.49 million bales from 3.11 million hectares estimated for the current season (2015-16). The country has already missed the current season crop production target by around 34 per cent and expected that it will remain at 9 million bales.
The Federal Committee on Cotton (FCC) met with Amir Marwat, Secretary Ministry of Textile Industry to set the targets for cotton area and production for the cotton crop season 2016-17. The committee agreed to fix the overall cotton area and production targets for the year 2016-17 as Punjab will produce 9.5 million bales from 2.31 million hectares, Sindh 4.5 million bales from 0.66 million hectares, Khyber Pakhtunkhawa 0.003 million bales from 0.001 million hectares and Balochistan will produce 0.098 million bales from 0.038 million hectares.
The secretary urged to develop coordinated strategy of stakeholders including the Meteorological Department for organising ‘farmers awareness programs to train farmers and enhance their capacity about cotton crop regarding best management practices.
The Buyers Forum in Pakistan has agreed to collectively work towards improving working conditions in the factories and influence their supply chains through policy and advocacy and enterprise improvement programs to promote sector growth through better compliance initiatives.
Rick Slettenhaar of the Netherlands Embassy, representing the conveners of the Pakistan Buyers Forum, complimented the participants on the progress made and urged the Forum to focus increasing its footprint in 2016 to attain concrete results. Romina Kochius, representative of GIZ (German Development Agency), delivered a presentation on the key outcomes of the project on the Implementation of Social Standards in Textile Sector in Punjab during a briefing session with the government, diplomatic development partners and other international agencies. She shared that the success of the project is in the social dialogue approach through which workers and employers jointly work towards issues of workplace compliance which has ultimately reduced industrial conflicts and increased overall efficiency and productivity.
According to Caroline Bates, representing labour standards in global supply chains, a program for action in Asia and the garment sector, briefed the participants about the Garment Sector Stakeholders Forum (GSSF) jointly facilitated by the ILO and GIZ. The Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development, Ministries of Textiles and Commerce signalled their continued commitment to make the textile sector in Pakistan sustainable.
The recently signed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is one of the largest free trade agreements in the world with its members accounting for about 40 percent of the global economic output, the implementation of the TPP will have major implications for the Asia-Pacific region, many of which are particularly significant for China. While there are challenges, the TPP also gives many countries the opportunity to reform their existing policies. Joining the TPP could give China the opportunity to change many of its domestic rules and move to more market-oriented trade and business systems - similar to the opportunity China had in 2001 while joining the WTO.
On the other hand, the TPP can help usher in the second phase of domestic reforms in China. But the TPP has another dimension that might be a greater challenge for China. It comprises the US and several of its political allies and partners.
The TPP also includes several members with whom China has difficult political relations and territorial disputes in the East China Sea and the South China Sea such as Japan, Vietnam, Brunei and Malaysia. This makes TPP an even greater political challenge for China. One possibility option before China is quick conclusion of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) negotiations that include China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand and member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. But the RCEP might not be as ambitious as the TPP. Many RCEP members, who are members of the TPP, might see more economic gains from the TPP, which could make the RCEP insignificant in the long term. Perhaps a better option for China would be to press for convergence of the RCEP with the TPP and push for a Free Trade Area for the Asia-Pacific, which it has already proposed. But the FTAAP must be as ambitious as the TPP to make it a credible alternative. Otherwise, more regional economies will choose the US-led TPP leading to strategic complications for China.
