Vietnam International Fashion Week 2021 saw Vietnamese fashion designers make a strong comeback after having postponed their new collections due to the pandemic. Thirteen Vietnamese designers and fashion brands introduced new collections of evening gowns, suits, street wear, and ao dai (Vietnamese traditional dresses) for adults and children during the event. Designs were made with high quality materials, including metallic fabrics, silk, organza, lace, and velvet with hand embroidered and printed patterns. Designer Adrian Anh Tuan’s collection featured designs for men and women, including evening gowns, suits, long coats, and retro-styled ao dai, along with colorful dresses.

Handbags in leather and accessories were also included. Designer Nguyen Tien Truyen’s collection featured suits, dress suits, bodysuits, T-shirts and shirts in modern styles and forms, blending colors of black, blue, latte and pink to reflect the revival of the city. Minh Chau highlighted the beauty of ao dai in voile and embroidered with Vietnamese traditional patterns like a white lotus. Young designer Quy Cao showcased street wear in vivid colors and innovative designs inspired by ao dai.

The catwalk performance featured winners from Vietnamese beauty pageants, and top models. Vietnam International Fashion Week, first held in 2014, has become the leading fashion event in Southeast Asia and the fourth largest in Asia after Tokyo, Seoul, and Shanghai fashion weeks.

Uniform goods and services (GST) tax will be applied at 12 per cent on manmade fiber, yarn, fabrics and apparel. The aim is to address the inverted tax structure in the manmade fiber textile value chain and help the manmade fiber segment grow and emerge as a big job provider in the country.

Textile and apparel production in India is approximately $140 billion including $40 billion of textiles and apparel exports. The textile and apparel industry contributed two per cent to the overall GDP of India in 2019 and 11 per cent to total manufacturing. The industry has the capacity to generate around 70 jobs in garmenting and an average of 30 jobs overall for every Rs 1 crore invested as compared to 12 jobs created on an average in other industries. With direct and indirect employment of close to 105 million people, this industry is the second largest employment generator in the country, next only to agriculture. More significantly, women constitute 70 per cent of the workforce in garment manufacturing and about 73 per cent in handloom.

Also seven Pradhan Mantri Mega Integrated Textile Region and Apparel parks will offer the opportunity to create an integrated textile value chain.

India’s growth as a manufacturing hub for textiles will depend on the attractiveness of its domestic market and on investments in high-end textile machinery in emerging areas like technical textiles and manmade fiber. Various initiatives were taken in 2021 including approving the setting up of seven Pradhan Mantri Mega Integrated Textile Region and Apparel Parks (MITRA).

Under this scheme world-class industrial infrastructure is aimed at attracting cutting edge technology and foreign and local investment in the sector. The parks are aimed at generating around one lakh direct and two lakh indirect employment per park. A uniform goods and services tax rate at 12 per cent has been levied on manmade fiber, yarn, fabrics and apparel that has addressed the inverted tax structure in the manmade fiber textile value chain.

This is expected to help the manmade fiber segment grow and emerge as a big job provider in the country. The production linked incentive scheme for textiles is especially focused at high value and expanding manmade fiber and technical textile segments of the textile value chain. The textile and apparel industry in India contributed two per cent to the overall GDP of India in 2019 and 11 per cent to total manufacturing.

Bangladesh-based Far Chemical is merging with SF Textile. Far Chemical will take over all assets and liabilities of SF Textile, which is a 100 per cent export-oriented yarn spinning company that has been in operation since 2016. The production capacity of the company is 42,250 spindles of cotton, viscose, and CVC yarn spinning. Far Chemical is a concern of Far Group. The group was established in 1993 based on a 100 per cent export-oriented sweater industry. The group has two other firms, ML Dyeing and RN Spinning Mills.

Earlier, Far Chemical recommended a one per cent cash dividend for the year ending on June 30, 2021. Far Chemical Industries manufactures, exports and sells chemicals to export oriented textile and apparel industries in Bangladesh. Its products include softening, retarding, leveling, anti-foaming, scouring, fixing, and bleaching agents, as well as stabilizers. The company was founded in 2007. Far Chemical has decided to shift its factory to its land from the Export Processing Zone. The company hopes to complete processing within six months after which it will be shifted to the new location. The sponsors and directors jointly hold a 30.24 per cent share, institutions hold a 14.80 per cent share and the general public holds a 54.96 per cent share in the company.

The premiere of the trade show events to happen in Germany, January 18 to 20, 2022 is postponed. Due to fast changing Covid situation world-wide, it will only be possible for Frankfurt Fashion Week (January 17 to 21, 2022) to take place physically in parts. This means trade-visitor events, Neonyt, Premium, Seek, The Ground and Val:ue, will not take place in January instead will run for the first time in a physical form in July 2022.

Showcases, previews, installations and exhibitions will take place in January, though, and will continue to be held on a basis of 2G rules (admission only for participants with proof of vaccine or recovered status) and 2G-plus rules (all participants must be fully vaccinated or recently recovered and be able to present a negative antigen test on a daily basis).

Conferences, talks and panels will also partly go ahead in reduced, hybrid form. Messe Frankfurt is the organizer of the trade fair formats Neonyt and Val:ue. Premium Group organizes the trade shows Premium and Seek, the fashion festival The Ground and the Fashiontech Conference.

Nevertheless, the summer dates have already been announced: Frankfurt Fashion Week is scheduled to run from July 4 to 8, 2022, with trade shows taking place from July 5 to 7, 2022.

Advance Denim’s newest production facility in Vietnam is eco-friendly, reports Sourcing Journal. The Chinese denim manufacturer not only wants to supply customers the most innovative denim styles in Vietnam but also introduce sustainable innovations.

For instance Big Box dyeing saves up to 95 per cent of the water used in conventional dyeing while using traditional liquid indigo. It is the first mill in Vietnam to use Archroma’s aniline-free indigo for a cleaner, safer indigo dye without using the harmful carcinogenic chemical.

Advance Denim then added BioBlue indigo to its dye ranges in Vietnam, creating a clean indigo that does not produce environmentally harmful toxic waste. BioBlue indigo also creates a safer work environment by eliminating the highly flammable and unstable chemical sodium hydrosulfite from the workplace.

The factory is located in a resort town Nha Trang. Advance Denim felt the responsibility to protect the natural environment and installed an innovative reverse osmosis water purification system designed to effectively remove residual indigo and harmful impurities. This process creates water that is almost 50 per cent cleaner than the national standard for chemical oxygen demand. This also enables the facility to recycle close to 40 per cent of the water used in its manufacturing process.

Average cotton yield per unit area in China in 2021 is up three per cent reveals the latest cotton yield survey by the National Cotton Market Monitoring System.

But the total output of new cotton in China is expected to be down 2.5 per cent. The meteorological conditions in Xinjiang cotton region were generally suitable, and cotton grew well in the later period, making up for the influence brought by the early extreme weather, and the cotton output was stable while rising. Heavy rains and floods occur frequently in the Yellow River basin, cotton bolls fall off or rot, cotton bolls are affected to a certain extent, cotton quality and yield are decreased.

The weather in the Yangtze River basin is suitable, with sufficient sunshine and rain. Considering the low base effect caused by the disaster weather last year, the cotton yield per unit area has increased. Due to the decrease of cotton planting area, the total cotton output is still declining. Total output of cotton is estimated to be 1,66,000 tons, down 11 per cent.

China’s cotton output in 2019 fell three per cent from 2018. Xinjiang’s cotton production fell two per cent from the previous year. Cotton production in Xinjiang accounts for 84 per cent of the country’s total. The cotton target price subsidy policy for Xinjiang has aroused the enthusiasm of cotton farmers for planting and has steadily increased the area of cotton planted in Xinjiang.

Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail will set up a greenfield garment manufacturing unit in Andhra Pradesh at an investment of Rs 110 crores. The factory is likely to provide employment to about 2100 people, mostly women. The hope is to develop it into a major garment hub employing some 20,000 women. A model housing colony which can house 25,000 people will come up near the garment manufacturing unit, making it convenient for women employees.

With revenue of Rs 5,249 crores and spanning a retail space of 8.4 million square feet, Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail is India’s first billion-dollar pure-play fashion powerhouse with an elegant bouquet of leading fashion brands and retail formats. It brings together the learnings and businesses of two renowned Indian fashion icons, Madura Fashion and Lifestyle and Pantaloons, creating a synergistic core that act as the nucleus of the fashion businesses of the Aditya Birla Group. As a fashion conglomerate, the group has a strong network of 3,212 brand stores across the country. It is present across 31,000 multi-brand outlets and 6,800 point of sales in department stores across India. It has a repertoire of leading brands such as Louis Philippe, Van Heusen, Allen Solly and Peter England.

In the last five decades, Bangladesh has become one of the fastest growing economies of the world. Its per capita income has reached $2,554, one of the highest in South Asia. Poverty rate declined to 20.5 per cent, both ways trade increased to $82 billion during the same time. Foreign exchange reserves have reached 45 billion.

Largest formal women employer This success story of Bangladesh as largely been woven by the ready-made garment (RMG) industry in the country, says Faruque Hassan, President, BGEMA. With 3,500 active clothing factories at present, the apparel industry generates 81 per cent of Bangladesh’s export revenue. It is the world's second largest garment supplier, with its products going to 167 countries.

The RMG industry is also the largest formal employment sector for women in Bangladesh. The industry employs around 60 per cent of women, mostly within the age group of 18-30 years. This contributes to women empowerment and poverty reduction in the industry besides bringing about many positive changes like a drop in early marriage and early motherhood, increase in female literacy rates, etc.

Great strides in safety and sustainability

The industry itself has gone through a massive transformation since its inception. Its technology features, workplace safety, product quality and range, and environmental sustainability-- all have improved significantly. The sector has made great strides in safety and sustainability. Entrepreneurs have engaged with the government, ILO, local and international labour federations and brands through the initiatives titled 'ACCORD', 'Alliance' and 'National Action Plan'. Bangladesh made a joint declaration with ILO, EU, USA and Canada called the Sustainability Compact in 2013 to make it more sustainable.

World’s highest number of green factories

All factories in Bangladesh are compelled to go through a robust remediation program and install all the required safety equipment as per the standards. The country has the highest number of green garment factories in the world. US Green Building Council (USGBC) certified a total of 152 Bangladeshi factories as LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), among them 44 are LEED platinum-rated and 94 are LEED gold-rated units. These factories are moving from semi-automatic to more automatic mode using sophisticated machines, technologies and software to prepare the industry for next phase of growth.

Bangladesh has also formed the RMG Sustainability Council (RSC) involving equal number of representatives from industry bodies, brands and unions in its governance.to build local capacity, It has entered into collaborative arrangement with a number of development partners and the government to train workers and mid-management officials on occupational safety and health and on social dialogue.

Explore the MMF sector

Bangladesh now aims to carve out a niche in high-end garment products market. It aims to harness the potential of the man-made fibre (MMF) market. Localization of MMF will enable it to explore the potential in active-wear, athleisure, suits and high-end formal-wear, outerwear, lingerie etc.

To achieve the next phase of business sustainability, Bangladesh needs to make make a continuous effort to cope up with the global fashion trends and realign its business strategies accordingly. It must strive to remodel its business from labor intensive to a value-added one through innovation, modern manufacturing, diversification, technology upgrading, up-skilling and re-skilling of our workforce.

Focus on human resources

To achieve its desired economic development, Bangladesh also needs to focus on its human resources. It needs to adopt a People Centric Approach while devising its strategies and policies.

The RMG industry will play a pivotal role in Bangladesh’s economic development. To achieve its target of $50 billion worth of exports, the government and the industry must continue to work together.

Crocs plans to buy privately owned Italian footwear label Heydude. The rubber clogs maker looks to cash in on the pandemic-led surge in demand for casual shoes. Consumers stuck at home during the lockdowns last year ditched dress shoes for more comfortable footwear, benefiting companies such as Crocs. Demand has remained firm this year.

Heydude brings about 43 per cent of its sales from online channels and is known for its lightweight casual shoes. In comparison, Crocs brings in 37 per cent of its sales through its e-commerce division. Heydude has remained insulated from production constraints caused by factory closures in Vietnam, as it predominantly makes its footwear in China. However, the brand has been affected by global freight issues and has seen significant delays and elevated costs in terms of getting its products to the United States.

Crocs which expects its 2021 revenue to grow 65 per cent from last year has launched the All-Terrain Clog and the Classic Slide in a joint collaboration with Pleasures, a street wear brand which draws inspiration from street style, punk and grunge. The latest joint collection unveils two innovative designs that deliver a sleek futuristic feel with all the comfort Crocs is known to provide, while still keeping the trendy, punk and grungy look that dominates Pleasures’ designs.