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"The fast fashion trend of today is posing a challenge for the global dream of sustainable fashion. The millennial contemporary fashion is using up a vast amount of natural resources, thus making sustainable fashion a distant dream. With fast changing fashion trends becoming an integral part of modern life, the ecological footprint of the country is in many ways second only to oil and the statistics increasingly illustrate the threat looming large. In the US alone, 80 billion pieces of clothing are now purchased each year, 400 per cent more than just two decades ago."
The fast fashion trend of today is posing a challenge for the global dream of sustainable fashion. The millennial contemporary fashion is using up a vast amount of natural resources, thus making sustainable fashion a distant dream.
With fast changing fashion trends becoming an integral part of modern life, the ecological footprint of the country is in many ways second only to oil and the statistics increasingly illustrate the threat looming large. In the US alone, 80 billion pieces of clothing are now purchased each year, 400 per cent more than just two decades ago. In the UK, domestic clothing consumption increased from one million tons in 2010 to 1.1 million in 2015. Moreover, the average household owns around £4,000 worth of clothes, nearly a third of which hasn’t been worn for at least a year, meaning that UK consumers are hanging on to roughly £30 billion of unworn clothes reveals WRAP’s 2012 ‘Valuing Our Clothes’ report. In fact this is a trend world wide as fashion is becoming fast changing and far reaching.
Demand and availability of unused clothing pose a threat
The WRAP’s report also reveals that textiles accounts for five per cent of the UK’s total carbon and water footprints. Manufacture of textiles around the world and especially in the developing countries use up vast amounts of natural resources and often results in hazardous gases, pesticides and dyes being released into the environment. Adding to this the drastic increase in demand for fashion clothing and its availability appears to put pressure on end markets. In the UK, the amount of textiles collected for reuse and recycling increased nearly fivefold in the last 20 years, peaking at an estimated 650,000 tons in 2014.
While some of the markets have been struggling lately, some East African countries are considering banning the import of used clothing to their countries. Elaborating on the reason Cécile Martin, WRAP Technical Specialist in Textiles says for long there has been a debate about the impact of exported clothing on countries’ domestic industries, especially because Africa also receives first virgin goods from Asia, also of a lower quality, though WRAP has no official research on the impact.
However, serious effort is required for the clothing industry to become sustainable from end to end making production and design more resource-efficient, and phasing out dangerous chemicals, to ensuring clothing is more durable and has a sustainable outlet once the clothing is outdated for the first user.
WRAP announces Sustainable Clothing Action Plan (SCAP) initiative
To promote the concept of sustainable clothing WARP has put forth the Sustainable Clothing Action Plan (SCAP) and is forming the basis for a European-wide action plan on clothing, ECAP. A key part of SCAP’s work is focused on designing for durability as it would result in significant carbon, water, and waste reduction. WRAP has also introduced the ‘Sustainable Clothing Guide’, which provides tips on making clothing more durable – both in terms of physical attributes and emotional durability. The guide identifies the top five actions for eight key product categories: children’s clothing, occasion wear, knitwear, tailoring, denim, sportswear, casualwear and underwear. In other efforts WRAP’s extensive SCAP Knowledge Hub, offers different initiatives, processes and technologies that organizations could use in attempts to lessen their environmental impact.
China’s Xinao Textiles, is one of the world’s leading worsted spinners of wool, producing machine knitting yarns for the sweater, sports, outdoor, underwear and sock industries. The company has now opened an innovative knitwear development center in China.
The center comprises a research and development unit, which houses laboratories and small scale processing machinery in order to conduct experimental trials, a training and education department containing a 100-seat lecture theatre devoted to training future textile technologists, designers and engineers, and a fully equipped textile testing laboratory. Students will get hands-on training.
The operation and activities of the knitwear center will be overseen and guided by an advisory board. The advisory board comprises both international and Chinese experts, who have wide experience in a range of fields such as design, knitwear manufacturing, spinning, finishing, processing machinery and textile chemistry and dyeing.
The center is a result of close cooperation with The Woolmark Company along with other strategic partners from the design, textile machinery, textile chemicals industries, textile universities and leading knitwear companies. Xinao is engaged in the research, development, manufacture and sale of worsted yarn. The company’s main products include worsted yarn and intermediate products of wool tops, mainly used for downstream textile and clothing sectors.
Apollo Global Management, LLC and Nike have entered into a strategic partnership for an apparel supply chain in the Americas. This innovative partnership will increase regional manufacturing capabilities, enable quicker delivery of a more customized product to consumers and drive investment in sustainability.
Apollo Global Management, together with its consolidated subsidiary Apollo, is a leading global alternative investment manager with offices in New York, Los Angeles, Houston, Chicago, Bethesda, Toronto, London, Frankfurt, Madrid, Luxembourg, Mumbai, Delhi, Singapore, Hong Kong and Shanghai. As of June 30, Apollo had assets worth $186 billion in private equity, credit and real estate funds invested across a core group of nine industries where Apollo has considerable knowledge and resources.
To establish the strategic partnership, a new apparel supply chain company has acquired the existing apparel suppliers in North and Central America and plans to invest in advancing its manufacturing operations and expertise to produce innovative, technical and customized apparel. In addition, this new company expects to acquire additional textile and apparel suppliers in the Americas in order to broaden and diversify its capabilities and product offerings. This will create a more vertically-integrated apparel eco system from materials suppliers and apparel manufacturers, to final embellishment, warehousing and logistics.
Apollo has announced that the new supply chain company has acquired two businesses to form the cornerstone of this strategy: the apparel manufacturer, New Holland, and the embellishment, warehousing and logistics operator, ArtFX. The investment is made by the Apollo-managed Special Situations I fund.
Nearly three months after being approved by the Cabinet, the textile package announced by the government in June awaits implementation in spirit. The special package involves a total outlay of Rs 6,000 crores aimed at improving competitiveness and generating jobs through a string of labour reforms. However, in apparel manufacturing, the specific sub-sector within textiles targeted by the package, hiring and production increase is yet to happen under the new norms.
As per sources the textile commissioner’s office is currently in consultation with stakeholders to iron out the difficulties in implementing the new norms. These include issues over wages, allowances and other statutory dues to be paid to workers. Also, the ministry has fixed overtime hours for workers not exceeding eight hours a week, in line with International Labour Organisation (ILO) norms. Manufacturers claim all this needs time to be incorporated in their operations. The package paved the way for fixed-term employment in apparel manufacturing looking at its seasonal nature.
While manufacturers have welcomed the move that will allow them to deal with excess demand and idle labour at different times of the year, workers have argued that it would affect their livelihood.
KPR Mill, with its state-of-the-art production facilities in Tamil Nadu, is one of the largest vertically integrated apparel manufacturing companies in India. The company produces yarn, knitted fabric, readymade garments and wind power. Now, the mill is set for expansion. The expansion of KPR’s garment capacity by 36 million garments to cope up with the upsurge in market demand has been progressing well and nearing completion. This would make the company be called as one of the largest garment producing corporates in India. The response from existing customers as well as from new markets is much encouraging.
The company has a workforce of over 15,000 employees, it has a cumulative capacity of 3,53,568 spindles to produce 90,000 MT of yarn per annum, a knitting facility to produce 27,000 MT of fabric per annum and a garmenting facility to produce 95 million pieces of ready-made knitted apparel per annum and an industry-acclaimed ETP embedded fabric processing unit with a capacity of 90,00 MT per annum.
Violence in Kashmir has resulted in the textile industry in Ludhiana go into a loss of over Rs 100 crores. Several hosiery units supplying goods to Kashmir have suspended production while a majority of these outfits have closed down their shutters. The textile industry from Ludhiana supplies shawls, jackets, sweaters, gloves, caps, warmers and blankets to Jammu and Kashmir. It may be noted that knitwear houses manufacturing shawls did send their raw material to Kashmir but the raw material is stuck up ever since the unrest started in Kashmir.
According to Tarun Jain, Chairman, Bahadur-Ke-Textile and Knitwear Association, the Ludhiana hosiery industry has suffered a loss of nearly Rs 100 crores due to the unrest in Kashmir. Jain himself suffered losses worth over Rs20 lakh as the shawls sent to Kashmir for embroidery is stuck due to the unrest.
He said a majority of traders could not sell their goods beyond Jammu city. Informing that there were several small towns near Srinagar where hosiery material is sold in bulk. However, due to the problem, these places have become completely inaccessible. Jain rued that if the hosiery industry closes down, it would affect other sectors as well. For example, nearly 40,000 labourers are working in factory units located in Bhadaur Ke cluster. If an average worker is married and has two children then over 1.5 lakh people are dependent on the industry. While many hosiery units have closed down, several traders in Kashmir could not make payment of the previous year’s purchase. Further, there are cycle and motor mechanics, printers and other traders who are also dependent on the industry.
Himatsingka will invest Rs 1,300 crores in order to augment its manufacturing capacities and capabilities. These investments will be made in a phased manner beginning FY’16 through FY’18. They will aid in doubling the group’s sheeting capacity and help the process of backward integrating into ultra-fine count cotton spinning. The aim is also to set up the world’s largest spinning plant under one roof and foray into manufacturing terry towels.
Himatsingka intends to pursue initiatives to drive growth in its distribution verticals as well. Today, with over 10 brands, the group has among the largest portfolio of home textile brands with an annual throughput of over Rs 800 crores. It’s a vertically integrated home textile group that manufactures, retails and distributes bedding, bath, drapery, upholstery and lifestyle accessory products.
On the manufacturing front, the group has significantly enhanced performance parameters by bringing in a new paradigm on efficiencies, productivity and technology. On the global distribution front, it has been expanding its brand portfolio and thereby bringing more relevant and differentiated solutions to the global shelf. Himatsingka clocked revenues of Rs 1886 crores for FY’16. It has brought to market a DNA verified cotton value chain solution under the Pimacott brand.
Export of garments from Thailand is expected to move south with more manufacturers migrating to neighbouring countries to tap cheaper costs and better tariff benefits. Vallop Vitanakorn, an adviser to the Thai Garment Manufacturers Association, said after investing in places like Cambodia and Vietnam in the last four years, manufacturers were expected to generate $600 million in overseas sales this year.
As a result, garment exports from Thailand were forecast to decline about 7 per cent to $2.55 billion. But that was not an alarming development, Vallop observed. Exports from neighbouring countries particularly Cambodia and Vietnam is expected to grow further compared to Thailand’s which was worth less than $3.15 billion this year, he claimed. The estimated $600 million in sales from overseas this year will be contributed from 33 apparel manufacturers operating in Cambodia and Vietnam. They had a combined initial investment capital of about 4 billion Baht. Vallop feels more garment enterprises would expand businesses to neighbouring countries, with Myanmar a potential option if it has stable infrastructure development. He says in future export income from Thailand would not increase but exports from Thai manufacturers operating overseas would. But he said garment manufacturers would still keep their investments in Thailand intact because the country has skilled labour.
Tons of fast fashion clothes end up in trash bins, incinerators, and landfills. Fast fashion is the second filthiest global industry after oil. Fast-fashion chains pay a high environmental cost by announcing collections that claim to recycle clothes. Nevertheless, only 0.1 per cent of all clothing from charities and programs that recycle clothes is actually recycled.
Natural fibers such as silk, linen, cotton and semi-synthetic fibers have a decomposition process similar to food, yielding methane. However, it's nearly impossible to compost these textiles. Additionally, these fibers go through an array of unnatural processes on their way to becoming a garment. Other fibers such as acrylic, nylon and polyester have a petroleum base. This means it can take them a 100 years to completely decompose.
The problem further intensifies by the speed of trend turnover. Fast-fashion chains, due to their quick and large output, are changing trends speedily to incite sales. This will ultimately lead to recent purchases going out of style sooner than before and so an infinite pile of clothes in the trash.
One way out for fast-fashion chains is close-loop sourcing. In a close-loop technology, a product recycles back into almost the same product. This fundamentally imitates the natural process of life. Nonetheless, commercially scalable, closed-loop textile recycling technology is still five to ten years away.
While consumers’ affinity for denim jumped from 39 per cent to 63 per cent from 2003 to 2016, China is now the second largest jeans market in the world, valued at $12 billion in 2015. This came through in a survey by Cotton Council International (CCI) and Cotton Incorporated’s 2016 Global Lifestyle Monitor.
This favourable market ranking has helped the forthcoming Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics – Autumn Edition to attract an increasing number of industry-leading denim suppliers to participate in the event. The show would go on from October 11 to 13. Over 170 domestic and overseas exhibitors will showcase their newest denim collections here. The event will see the debut of Invista at the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai).
Featuring five co-exhibitors, the new Lycra® Moves Denim Pavilion by Invista will offer an interactive demonstration of Invista denim technologies including Lycra® dualFX®, Lycra ® Beauty and Coolmax® as well as the latest Thermolite® IR technology. What’s more, the pavilion will feature a series of performance denim and garments under three themes: Urban Noir, Earth Expedition and Reform.
