Heidi O’Neill is the new president of Nike Direct which handles the digital initiatives. In her new role, O’Neill will be responsible for all Nike digital products, services and member experiences, as well as lead Nike Direct through the next transformative and digitally-led era.

O’Neill, a 20-year Nike veteran, has held senior management roles across the company, including her current role. She has also held positions of increasing responsibility, including VP of US apparel; VP, general manager of Nike’s women’s category, and VP, general manager of Nike stores globally.

She began her career at Nike as a marketing director in apparel. Prior to joining Nike, O’Neill held roles at Levi Strauss. She is a founding board member of the Nike School Innovation Fund.

Adam Sussman, previously Nike’s chief digital officer, will assume an expanded role to become VP, general manager, Nike Direct digital and geographies. Sussman will continue to oversee Nike digital and the consumer vision for digital products, experiences, services and capabilities across the marketplace, while taking on management responsibility of the four key Nike direct geographies. Sussman will report to O’Neill.

Nike, based in the US, is the world’s leading designer, marketer and distributor of authentic athletic footwear, apparel, equipment and accessories for a wide variety of sports and fitness activities.

Apparel Summit of the Americas was held in Honduras from November 27 to 29, 2018. The who’s who of US active wear brands had assembled -- 250 executives from 125 organizations. Business was closed, joint ventures were initiated and mergers were negotiated during the event.

Honduras is the number one country of origin for US imports of cotton T-shirts and sweatshirts. The new strategic textile investments in Honduras are focused on manmade knits, adding to the region’s importance in the growing active wear category.

Honduras is attracting lots of foreign investments, creating thousands of new jobs, improving infrastructure and ports, enhancing education, building safe, affordable housing, generating stable renewable energy and above all else increasing the capacity for apparel production in the Americas.

The existing textile and apparel industry infrastructure in Honduras has outstanding conditions for investment and expansion opportunities. There are 18 industrial parks that together have a construction area of more than 1.8 million sq. mt., and advantages like availability of airports, ports, highways, telephones, water and electrical supply, customs paperwork, low working costs, machinery and logistics. The textile and apparel industry has the capacity of biomass production as well as wastewater management technologies allowing high productivity in a sustainable manner.

A meeting of the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC) is being held from December 2 to 6, 2018, Côte d'Ivoire. The theme is: ‘Cotton Challenges: Smart and Sustainable Solutions.’ The event is focused on technologies being developed to assist small-scale farmers, particularly in Africa. Examples of innovative new technologies are being featured, including self-driving harvesters and artificial intelligence, as well as a live display of a flying drone.

The key message from the event is doubtless robots and artificial intelligence are eliminating jobs and putting people out of work in many of the world’s industries. In some less developed countries, however, high-tech solutions are being created to perform agricultural tasks for which human labor is either too expensive or simply not available. Cutting-edge technologies are focusing on new ways to enhance cotton cultivation throughout the growth cycle.

Formed in 1939, the ICAC is an association of cotton producing, consuming and trading countries. It acts as a catalyst for change by helping member countries maintain a healthy world cotton economy; provides transparency to the world cotton market by serving as a clearinghouse for technical information on cotton production; and serves as a forum for discussing cotton issues of international significance.

UKFT is working on the new £5.4m Future Fashion Factory project to develop advanced digital and textile technologies that will increase competitiveness and productivity in the design and production of luxury fashion, led by the University of Leeds alongside project partners including Burberry, Royal College of Arts, Wools of New Zealand, Wooltex UK and the British Fashion Council (BFC). The industry-led collaborative research project links the textile design and manufacturing centres within the Leeds City Region with the creative design and retail centre of London.

It brings together expertise from ten core industry partners, with many more forming a wider network spanning design, manufacturing and retail in the UK. The project involves collaboration with the Universities of Leeds, Huddersfield and the Royal College of Art as well as the Centre for Textile Excellence in Yorkshire.

Adam Mansell, CEO, UKFT will lead the project, spearheading the drive to increase productivity, shrink design process lead times, lower costs, and importantly, reduce waste.

By 2019 China will overtake the US as the world’s largest fashion market. Many luxury labels already depend heavily on Chinese customers, who have for some time been the world’s biggest buyers of luxury goods. The wealth of China’s nearly 1.4 billion people is rapidly multiplying, creating legions of new consumers with disposable income to spend on things such as sports, entertainment, and of course, clothes and shoes.

It’s shaping the way the fashion industry operates. Italian label Ermenegildo Zegna, for example, now looks to China, not the US, as the place where it tests new products before deciding whether to roll them out around the world. Sports brands such as Nike and Adidas are investing heavily in their Chinese businesses, as the growing middle class has more leisure time and money to devote to exercise and fitness.

Under a moderate scenario of growth, China is expected to add a number of consumers and spending power roughly equivalent to Germany’s current economy by 2025. China is poised to reach a milestone that signals how the rebalancing of economic power in the world is reshaping industries with it. There is an ascendance of young shoppers and policies are encouraging shopping.

Lectra’s Fashion On Demand is fashion’s first end-to-end personalization solution. This is a breakthrough solution enables fashion companies to personalize at ready-to-wear production speed. It automates the entire personalization process from product development to the final cutting stages.

Fashion On Demand is available in the form of two packages, one dedicated to made to measure, and the other to customization. This turnkey solution automates on-demand production right from order reception to production development stages and the cutting room. Companies can define the product customization criteria and range for each item depending on the package (such as altering product characteristics for customization and pattern adjustments for made to measure) and launch production processes right from the get-go, without interfering with their standard workflows.

The digital revolution has prompted consumers to demand personalized products and experiences. This is an advantageous business model for fashion companies as it allows them to accurately match supply with demand and solve a host of problems that regular business models usually face. By simply knowing ahead of time what and how much their consumers want, companies can produce in precise quantities and avoid overstocking and markdowns. In addition, as consumers pay upfront for their orders it improves cash flow for businesses. Fashion companies can use personalization as a way to outshine their competitors and earn consumer loyalty, by offering one-of-a-kind products that make their customers feel exclusive.

Chanel has banned the use of exotic animal pelts in its collections. The brand removed Python skin bags from its website recently although secondhand bags were still on sale from online resale sites. Its handbags made from them reportedly sell for up to $10,300. Animal rights groups welcomed the move, with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) hailing Chanel as giving a lead to other luxury brands.

Although top fashion brands have been under heavy pressure to renounce fur, with Gucci, Armani, Versace and John Galliano all deciding to go fur free, Chanel's decision to stop using exotic skins came as a big surprise. Animal rights campaigns against the use of crocodile and snake skin products have not got the same traction with the public as similar crusades against fur, with some luxury brands even investing in reptile farms so they can guarantee that skins are sourced ethically.

Apparel exporters in Bangladesh are opening factories in rural areas. The apparel sector in the country is gradually spreading to rural regions from a handful of industrial belts in urban areas. Triple Seven Apparels has a factory on 21 bighas of land in a remote place. The 2,40,000 sq ft floor of the factory is centrally airconditioned. The production line opened in December 2016 with four swing lines, which has now extended to 16 swing lines. The plan is to add ten more swing lines next year. About 1,500 people are currently working in the factory. The capacity is around four lakh units of woven products a month.

Approximately 150 export-oriented apparel factories have already been established in rural areas. Labor is easily available and employment gets generated. So the rural economy gets a boost. Factories in rural areas help garment workers live in close proximity to their own village areas, where the living cost is much lower than in the city. In addition they get training and experience in garmenting.

A factory established in a rural area adds value to other economic activities like small businesses, house rent services, bank and insurance facilities and hospital facilities.

Taipei IN Style (TIS), held from November 8 to 11, 2018, emphasised the ‘Sustainable Fashion and Functional Innovation’ in Taiwan’s high quality textile and apparel industry. This was illustrated by four themes: ‘Sustainable Fashion and Functional Innovation- the Power of Taiwanese Brands,’ ‘International Exposure Projects – Presenting Asia’s Fashion Talents’, ‘Expanding Fashion Industry with Smart Tech’ and ‘Asia’s Fashion Apparels Brands gathered at Taipei IN Style.’

Taipei IN Style 2018 featured over 120 apparel brands from Japan, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, etc. It hosted a total of 13 house shows and an international competition, 5 seminars about fashion trends and international market potentials, as well as one brand event, attracting buyers from Europe, Japan, China, Southeast Asia and around the world.

The fair gathered top designer brands and fashion institutes from around the world, including Gioia Pan who won the 18th Golden Top Award in China, Yenline Hsu known for her exquisite techniques, ‘Madammay’ and ‘Hong Chubby' designed by May Hsu, which focus on detail cuttings and achieve fashion and high quality at the same time.

As a knitwear exporting country, China is still a giant, but is smaller than it once was, with some production recently moving to countries like Vietnam and Bangladesh and even parts of Africa. China, with its huge population of 1.37 billion, had been the epicentre of the world’s knitwear exporting industry for decades with its enormous labour pool and low labour costs, but now rising labour costs and labour shortages have, and are still changing significantly.

The situation in China’s domestic manufacturing industry is quite different, however. With consumers wielding real spending power with domestic fashion brands, China has to find ways to satisfy demand. At last month’s ITMA Asia + CITME in Shanghai, Knitting Industry spoke to Mr Ikuto Umeda, Director of Sales Headquarters at Shima Seiki Mfg. Ltd., the man responsible for, amongst other things, sales of Shima Seiki machines in China.

Adopting Industry 4.0

“With rising living standards and booming demand, China’s domestic needs in terms of knitwear and other apparel cannot be met conventionally. Production needs to change, and China has to deal with it. China has to adopt Industry 4.0,” Mr Umeda opened.

Digitalisation and automation were accordingly the key message at ITMA Asia + CITME, which hosted over 1600 exhibitors and attracted around 100,000 visitors, many of whom flocked to see Shima’s Total Fashion System.

Digitalisation

The Japanese company’s solution is a complete digital system which aims to maximise profits while achieving zero inventory loss, zero leftover stock, zero lost sales opportunity and most importantly zero waste through smart, speedy and sustainable production.

The concept started off as the Total Knitting System in the 1980s and was then extended into other areas of fashion and textiles via the company’s P-CAM cutting and SIP printing technologies, emerging as the fully-fledged Total Fashion System only in recent years.

Automation

The automation part of the Total Fashion System comes in the shape of the company’s WHOLEGARMENT knitting technology, a pioneering seam free knitting solution, which is now gaining real traction in the Chinese domestic market. Ikuto Umeda explains:

“Our solution for automation is of course our WHOLEGARMENT knitting technology, which many people in our industry already know well. Garment make-up, including neck linking is difficult in China as labour costs have risen and there is now a shortage of labour. This has increased the need for automation and therefore we have been selling our flagship MACH2XS and MACH2S WHOLEGARMENT machines in significant numbers over the past three years in China.”

Sustainability

According to Mr Umeda, Shima’s Total Fashion System is the only complete sustainable digitalisation solution that can meet China’s needs. “For exports, China has now reduced its capacity with the China +1 countries plus Bangladesh growing as knitwear suppliers. But domestic demand in China is huge – with the country’s rising standard of living and the aspirations of the young generation demand is so high that it cannot be met conventionally.”

“As I said earlier, production needs to change. China has its own fast fashion brands which are booming, and to satisfy them, the industry has to adopt Industry 4.0. Our zero-waste solution offers significant cost reduction and IT based production management systems like our Shima KnitPLM are essential for manufacturing efficiency.”

Mr Umeda believes that, even if large scale production returns to traditional manufacturing centres like Europe and the USA, it will have to be automated and digitalised.

“Reducing yarn waste in knitwear production is one of the advantages of WHOLEGARMENT knitting but zero or low waste is not the only solution. What about the waste that is created when garments do not sell?”

“Highly realistic simulation capability on APEX3 allows virtual sampling which minimises the impact the sample-making process has on manufacturing, both in terms of time and cost. With our new manufacturing model, the production cycle can be shortened to such an extent that on-demand production is possible without being limited to seasonal cycles. This allows the product planning stage to be extended to allow more accurate analysis of consumer demand and this drastically reduces waste because the manufacturer doesn’t make what the market doesn’t want.”

Importance of patents

As a technology leader, Mr Umeda stresses the importance of patents for Shima Seiki and more importantly the company’s commitment and right to enforce its patents to protect its cutting-edge knitting technologies from some unscrupulous copycat manufacturers in Asia. The company owns around 5000 patents worldwide, around 2000 of which cover its WHOLEGARMENT technology.

Shima’s patent portfolio covers not only knitting machines but also knitting techniques and systems. For example, in conventional WHOLEGARMENT knitting, where the garment is knitted by combining three tubes side by side (sleeve, body, sleeve), Shima has many patents covering shoulder bind-off, neck bind-off and neckline knitting techniques for a variety of neckline styles.

Also protected by worldwide patents are multiple pocket style techniques, gusseting techniques for underarm engineering for fit, as well as numerous set-up techniques for commencing knitting.

Shima also has global patents covering unconventional WHOLEGARMENT knitting. For example, the method of knitting a garment on its side from cuff to cuff is also covered by multiple patents. These include patents covering cuff bind-off, cuff set-up, side bind-off and side set-up techniques.

On patents, Mr Umeda is very clear and very firm. “We will and do enforce our patents. We must protect the technologies we have spent many decades developing and most importantly we must protect our customers who use our WHOLEGARMENT technology.”

Knitifying the World

Ikuto Umeda goes on to talk about Shima Seiki’s technical textiles business – the company has sold a lot of machines into the shoe-upper sector and other non-fashion segments in recent years, not just WHOLEGARMENT technology but also technologies such as the company’s SVR hybrid inlay technology.

He talks about ‘Knitifying the World’, where products made using traditional manufacturing methods will in future be made using 3D knitting using the company’s flat knitting technology. There are many examples of Knitifying on display at the Shima booth ranging from luggage and handbags to suspension fabrics for chairs to wearable computing and heated garments.

“We are planning to expand our ‘non-fashion’ division to realise our goal of Knitifying the World with our technology,” Mr Umeda states. On the question of what will be the next ‘killer application’ in technical textiles, he comments: “Wearable technology will be an important area of application, especially when applied to the automotive industry. Of course, composites are also possible, especially using our hybrid inlay knitting technology using special yarns such as carbon fibres.”

Made in Japan

Our final question for Ikuto Umeda relates to manufacturing machines in China – all of Shima’s competitors do it to a greater or lesser extent, but not the Japanese company. Mr Umeda concludes: “There are of course tariff issues between Japan and China which would make manufacturing there difficult, but the real issue is that we make cutting edge technology and while we make cutting edge technology it will and must continue to be Made in Japan.”