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UK will host a fashion industry conference ‘The Emperor's New Clothes’ at the University of Leeds in the North of England on September 8. It will enable participants to explore points of difference, challenge myths and preconceptions, and consider alternative approaches for a more sustainable fashion and textiles future. The conference is organised by researchers from the School of Design at the University of Leeds and will host speakers and attendees from a diverse range of backgrounds, industry and academia, design and technology, micro enterprises and industrial giants.
Among the speakers is Dr Alison Gwilt, Reader in fashion and sustainability at Sheffield Hallam University, who is a fashion design researcher, author and consultant who explores and promotes a range of innovative design methods and approaches that seek to enable the fashion and textiles community to adopt more sustainable and ethical practices.
Professor William Young teaches sustainability and business, and is co-director of the sustainability research institute at the University of Leeds. William's research is focused on consumer behavior around sustainability issues. He will be talking about the mainstreaming of sustainability issues in consumer attitudes along with some behaviors and how retailers and consumer-citizens are filling the void being left by slow government action.
The keynote address will be by Kate Fletcher, a professor of sustainability, design and fashion at London College of Fashion. Kate has written more than 50 scholarly and popular publications in the fashion field.
Outdoor Industry Association (OIA) and the Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC) have signed a new MoU, signifying another step in their five-year-old partnership to drive environmental and social best practices in the global apparel, textile and footwear supply chain.
The objectives detailed in this third MoU include: ensuring broad adoption and alignment around the Higg Index as the ‘go-to’ supply chain sustainability management tool for companies in the industry sectors in which it applies, starting with apparel and footwear; avoid duplication of efforts among groups and serve as a model for other industries as a collaborative effort and catalyst for change among others.
The new agreement includes specific Higg Index adoption targets set by OIA for its members as well as a commitment from the SAC to provide OIA members with access to the Higg Index web tool through 2017 and beyond. (OIA is subsidizing small to medium enterprise members’ access to the tool in 2016 as part of its campaign to boost broader adoption of the Higg Index.) To date, 53 outdoor industry brands have Higg.org accounts, 43 Brand Modules are in progress or completed, and 21 Brand Modules have been posted.
Over 319 companies from 28 countries, an increase of 20 per cent more than at the previous event in 2012 have registered to present their latest products and innovations at the world’s leading trade fair for textile care ‘Texcare International 2016’ which will open its doors in Frankfurt am Main from June 11 to 15, 2016. For the first time, Hall 9 is being used in addition to Hall 8, which means the fair occupies 30 per cent more exhibition space than four years ago. Wolfgang Marzin, Chairman of the Board of Management of Messe Frankfurt explains that he was delighted about the increase in the size of Texcare, an outstanding result that underscores its significance as the world’s leading trade fair for modern textile care. All market leaders are here in Frankfurt to launch their innovations onto the world market.
Visitors to Texcare come from the dry-cleaning trade, industrial laundries and the textile-service sector.
The clothing and textile industry in South Africa is beginning to stabilise after years of turmoil and job losses. Competitiveness has risen partly as a result of support programs. Measures have been taken over the last few years to defend South African borders against the influx of illegal imports flooding the market. Support has been provided through the Clothing and Textile Competitiveness Program, which ensured that 65,000 jobs were kept and 7000 new ones created.
The footwear and leather industry has also been revived. It now contributes significantly to export earnings, with 20 new factories having been opened. Clothing and textile companies have adapted to the fast fashion approach, getting a product to retailers faster than imported goods. Currently, minimal export takes place, even though opportunities are there. There is the African Growth and Opportunity Act, which the industry hasn’t exploited yet. There is the advantage of the weak currency, which too hasn’t been exploited.
South African shopping malls have more of global retail players than of South African fashion. So the shopping malls today are increasingly becoming indistinguishable from retail malls elsewhere in the world. Well-branded domestically produced fashion is often absent.
According to a consortium of environmental groups, most companies using cotton do nearly nothing to improve environmental sustainability in their supply. A report titled ‘Top Brands Failing on Cotton Sustainability’, compiled by Rank a Brand, one of Europe’s largest brand-comparison sites on sustainability and corporate social responsibility in conjunction with World Wildlife Fund - Solidaridad and Pesticide Action network UK, reveals that 29 of the estimated 37 biggest cotton users scored in the red in a recent survey of policy, sourcing, use and traceability.
Interestingly, H&M, which is known for its poor manufacturing oversight, dirt-cheap textiles, rampant green washing initiatives and its connection with repeated manufacturing tragedies, scores remarkably well on the Rank list, thereby raising questions as to the credibility of the list. H&M's favorable placement, however, is almost certainly due to the fact that only publicly available information was used in scoring company performance, the environmental groups said. Also placed highly on the list is Ikea, the only company to fall within the ‘Leading the Way’ category. This is followed by ‘On its Way,’ a level occupied by H&M and Adidas. Next up: ‘Starting the Journey,’ which include Kering (parent company to Gucci, Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta, and others) and Marks & Spencer. And ranking poorly, in the ‘Not Yet in the Starting Blocks’ category’ is Burberry, Macy’s, LVMH, Uniqlo’s parent company Fast Retailing, Coach, Gap, Ralph Lauren and Richemont.
Leading garment exporter of Bangladesh, Envoy Textiles has been recognised by a US organisation for its green initiatives that helped save a significant amount of energy and water in its production process. Envoy Textiles received the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design's (LEED) platinum certification - the first Bangladeshi exporter to get the recognition from US-based Green Building Council in the denim category.
Platinum is the highest level of green-factory certification that a structure can earn and LEED is a popular green building certification programme used worldwide. The procedure includes a set of rating systems for design, construction, operation, and maintenance of green buildings, homes, and neighborhoods. The programme aims to help building owners and operators be environmentally responsible and use resources efficiently. Envoy Textiles saves 30 per cent electricity by means of the green initiatives, according to Abdus Salam Murshedy, managing director of the company.
The factory in Bhaluka of Mymensingh produces high-value denim fabrics for renowned retailers such as Marks & Spencer, GAP, Wrangler, Tesco and Next. This recognition is a reward for the 10-year old factory after it met standards by improving working conditions and adopting the environmental protection system in its production process.
Vietnam’s exports to China for the first five months of 2016, has gone up by 16.5 per cent year on year while imports from China fell 3.67 per cent. Vietnam mainly imports machines, equipment, mobile phones, computers, fabrics, iron and steel from China.
Vietnam expects to ship about $20 billion worth of commodities to China and spend $48 billion on imports from partners this year. Its trade deficit with China would total $28 billion, 13.6 per cent lower than last year’s $32.4 billion dollars. The contraction could be a good sign for Vietnam which has long been dependent on exported goods from China. However, China still enjoys a vast surplus in cross-border trade.
The United States continues to be Vietnam’s biggest buyer, importing $14.6 billion worth of commodities from Vietnam, up 14.9 per cent compared to the same period last year. It was followed by the European Union with $13.3 billion in imports, up 11 per cent.
Vietnam had $134 billion in trade revenue with foreign partners during the period, with an export turnover of $67.7 billion, up 6.6 per cent year on year, and an import value of $66.3 billion, down 0.9 per cent.
The auction of Chinese cotton reserves began on May 3, 2016. The results in the first week showed a very active participation of spinners with a purchase rate of 99.9 per cent. This purchase rate is much higher than the 3.4 per cent purchase rate for all of 2015. Out of the 1,21,165 metric tons offered, 1,20,350 metric tons were purchased by spinners. Of the total volume purchased, 27,671 metric tons were domestic cotton and 92,679 metric tons were imported cotton. The imported cotton offered in the auctions was fully purchased while the domestic crop was 97.2 per cent purchased.
US and Australian cotton were the most popular during the auctions and were also purchased at a higher price. So the high purchase rate indicates a shortage of cotton, specifically high-grade imported cotton, in the Chinese market.
The auction floor price offered this year appeared to be acceptable to buyers compared to last year. The high rate of purchase is likely to continue at least during the first weeks as Chinese mills are short of cotton. Spinning mills are the main buyers. However, some traders are also involved in auctions mainly to source imported cotton as some of them see a recovery in global cotton prices.
Textile companies in Zimbabwe have suspended exports to South Africa due to the depreciation of the South African rand. The rand has been on a steady slide against the dollar. Due to exports suspension, some of Zimbabwe’s mills have reduced their working periods. As a result, capacity utilisation has gone down to around 30 per cent. Capacity utilisation in the industry last year declined to 34.3 per cent from 36.5 per cent in 2014.
South Africa has traditionally been a strong market for Zimbabwe’s textile industry. Since Zimbabwe is using a strong currency, the weakening of the rand and other regional currencies means that exports have become more expensive compared to cheap imports. The situation has been compounded by high production costs locally, which further erode earnings in a squeezed domestic market.
Currently, the textile industry in Zimbabwe employs less than 5,000 people and it’s possible the figure might shrink further due to low production levels. At its peak the textile industry employed about 30,000 workers.
The challenges facing the textile industry are mainly working capital and subdued aggregate demand due to issues of liquidity, stiff competition from imported products, and obsolete equipment.
Workers in the Cambodian garment sector will have new minimum wages from January 2017. Wage discussions would be carried out by a tripartite working group consisting of representatives of trade unions, the Ministry of Labor, and the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC). GMAC represents about 600 factories that export garments and shoes.
All parties coming to the negotiating table have to prepare themselves by conducting surveys on social and economic criteria as well as the poverty line. The aim is to reach an agreement on the new minimum wage by October this year. In recent years, the minimum wage in the Cambodian garment and footwear sector has increased significantly from $66 per month in 2012 to $140 per month at present. The garment and footwear industry is the largest foreign exchange earner for Cambodia. In 2015, the sector exported goods valued at seven billion dollars, making up about 80 per cent of the Southeast Asian nation's total export earnings.
There are around 1,000 factories producing garments and footwear in Cambodia, which together employ nearly 7,50,000 people. The ruling party is caught between satisfying Cambodia’s electorate of 10 million, of which garment sector workers are a significant part, and keeping investors happy.
