Levi’s has been ranked as the world’s top ranked apparel brand in a report which assesses leading global brands on their green supply chain practices in Asia. The next best placed apparel brands are C&A, followed by Nike, both of which are which major risers in the list. Primark, H&M, Inditex and Target are all also in the top ten in the report, which indicates that the apparel industry is pressing suppliers in Asia harder than ever on textile pollution information disclosure.

The brands are rated in the fifth version of the Green Supply Chain CITI (Corporate Information Transparency Index) evaluation report, published by Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs (IPE). The report aims to use environmental big data to generate solutions to help leading multinational and local brands develop green procurement on a greater scale. In all, 306 brands were ranked, 76 in the textile and apparel sectors.

The latest report shows a huge spike in the number of apparel brands which are using the IPE’s database to screen their Chinese suppliers for environmental compliance and push them to disclose information.

The report also shows that 10 apparel retailers have now joined the IPE Green Supply Chain Map, the only tool in the world to openly link leading multinational corporations to their suppliers’ environmental performance. These ten brands include Adidas, Esprit, Gap, Inditex, Levi’s, New Balance, Nike, Puma, Target and Tesco.

To be held from January 8 to 11, 2019 the next edition of Heimtextil will bring together all participating textiles editeurs and optimally integrate them into the product offer for interior designers and retailers. Around 40 international fabric suppliers will present their collections for the upcoming season in the newly designed hall 8.0. The event will include presentations by: Alhambra/Tormes Design and Pepa Pastor (both Spain), CTA, Decobel and Foresti Home Collection Group (all Italy), Damaceno & Antunes (Portugal), Saum & Viebahn (Germany) and N.V. Wind (Belgium).

The Style Library will be the ideal meeting place for all eight German brands, Zoffany, Harlequin, Sanderson, Morris & Co, Anthology, Scion, Clarke & Clarke and Studio G DecoTeam will also get a new area in hall 8.0.

Besides showcasing current design trends, DecoTeam will also offer a broad-ranging event programme: lectures, workshops and talks with well-known guests will provide first-rate information and fantastic entertainment.

With the advent of technology and to keep up with growing demand, Kalamkari — the hand-painted or block-printed cotton textile art, is being replaced by mechanised production where chemical dyes and screen-printing are used. Instead of designing on the cloth using a pen, the mechanised technique involves creating digital prints and then making large stencils.

The reason for the shift to mechanised way of producing cotton textile is because crafting the material by hand takes a longer time. The fabric has to be first soaked in buffalo milk and cow dung before being washed. The colors used on the fabric are also natural and it takes four or five days to produce one original hand block-printed kalamkari durrie or saree. Now, its mechanised counterpart does not use natural colours, obviously to cut costs.

The tedious process in the natural hand block method also reflects in its cost. While a meter of hand block-printed Kalamkari fabric would cost Rs 150 to Rs 170, it would cost around Rs 80 for the screen-printed variety.

With GSP Plus, Sri Lanka’s exports to the EU increased 18 per cent. In June 2017 the country regained GSP Plus from the EU. The facility was reinstated following Sri Lanka’s positive steps towards restoring human rights in the country. It took one-and-a-half months for the ratification of the agreement with the EU for the market expansion to commence in earnest. The expansion fructified in the month of July. From July 2017 Sri Lanka’s export figures grew 10.34 per cent year-on-year. Sri Lanka’s apparel exports account for 60 per cent of the country’s exports to the EU.

The country is now trying to diversify its export base. Sri Lanka's export basket has not changed much since the 1990s. If Sri Lanka is to substantially increase export revenues, diversifying to new sectors is the key to success. The EU is Sri Lanka’s second largest trading partner, next to India.

The European Union is the largest single trade market accounting for 16.5 per cent of the world’s imports and exports. This allows developing countries to open their markets for 500 million consumers over the European Union. It follows trade deals with 70 countries around the globe, representing 40 per cent of the world’s Gross Domestic Product.

New Zealand is tackling head-on the challenges created by disposable fashion. Formary is a textile reuse program that recycles end-of-life textiles into good-as-new ones. The initiative is a collaboration of organizations building the systems and technology to extract much greater value from clothing, seeking to reduce environmental impacts and save resources.

The program will approach the issue from a systems perspective designed to propel the fashion industry towards a circular model where used clothing is looped back into useful production. Doing so has the potential to capture billions of dollars’ worth of resource value that —sometimes literally— goes up in smoke. Formary is collaborating with BlockTexx, an Australian fashion technology firm that connects textile manufacturers, retail brands and logistics providers by means of a secure, block chain-enabled marketplace. Their shared goal is to map and develop workflow models to tackle the preponderance of waste stemming from the creation of billions of garments a year.

BlockTexx’s focus on using technology to unlock the immense value in textile waste along the entire supply chain is intended to complement Formary’s expertise. Incorporating technology provides traceability, transparency and real metrics on material flows and impacts that informs organizational sustainability reporting. So-called fast fashion isn’t slowing down, which means the problem of textile waste is only going to get worse.

Prosperity Textiles, based in China, is a denim producer. And what makes Prosperity stand out is not simply its products but its ability to meld flawless denim fabric production with a sustainability-oriented mindset that permeates every stage of the textile supply chain. Prosperity has adopted innovative green manufacturing concepts through all stages of the company’s operations, from product development, raw material procurement and processing, to natural resources and energy utilization including waste management. Prosperity’s denim production is based on the employment of best quality yarns available on the market, while still targeting the most sustainable sources, from BCI to organic, recycled cotton, and from Tencel Lyocell to Sustans.

The introduction of eco-friendly dyeing and finishing practices allows the company to create indigo shades and performance denims, with less water and energy consumption compared to traditional systems. Last year, Prosperity produced 20 per cent more fabrics than in 2016, yet water and electricity use and greenhouse gas emission were down by 11.5 per cent, 7.9 per cent and 5.4 per cent. The company with 1,300 employees and 20 offices worldwide will open a state-of-the-art denim mill in Vietnam by the end of 2018. This facility will have Itema’s Isaver, which significantly reduces raw material waste, leading to tangible benefits in terms of machine efficiency, cost reduction and energy saving.

As per former Australian foreign minister Julie Bishop, China forced Australia to abandon a planned free trade agreement with Taiwan because it wanted to isolate the island’s pro-independence president Tsai Ing-wen, It was expected that Australia, after signing a FTA with China in 2015, would pursue a similar agreement with Taiwan. However, Australia decided to abandon the deal after president-elect Donald Trump assured Taiwan president Tsai ing of elevating relations with US, triggering the start of his diplomatic stand-off with China.

Since then Australian businesses have been losing export share in Taiwan to rivals from countries that have FTAs, and have started lobbying for the start of formal negotiations. There is particular concern that New Zealand firms, benefiting from low-tariff access to Taiwanese markets, have been able to undercut Australian export prices for dairy products.

A McKinsey report suggest, western mass-market brands may reduce sourcing from countries like Bangladesh for manufacturing readymade garments (RMG) in the coming years. The apparel marketing companies are likely to gain from sourcing Mexico or Turkey, in the neighborhood of the US and Europe respectively, instead of Bangladesh. The report emphasised the apparel companies' need to focus on near shoring, automation, and sustainability to meet customers’ needs.

According to McKinsey, a 5-percentage point increase in sell-through would make up for the higher labor costs encountered closer to home. The US firm called 'chasing cheap' products in Asia outmoded as low-cost has, in some cases, become synonymous with low-quality and low-compliance in a world where transparency and ethics are in high demand, too.

By 2025, 82 per cent of respondents in the McKinsey-Sourcing Journal survey expect to move more than 10 per cent of their total sourcing volume to near shoring locales. Such a scenario may affect the potential growth of Bangladesh's garments, a more than $36-billion industry with the highest concentration of laborers.

The government of Bangladesh says the Remediation Coordination Cell (RCC) – effectively an internal replacement for the Accord made up of internal factory inspectors and engineers – is now ready to take over Accord’s work. The handover of the work has been going on for some time. Bangladesh does not plan to extend the tenure of Accord beyond November 30 which could potentially endanger the lives of garment factory workers. The tenure of Accord was initially supposed to end in May but the government extended it by six months.

There have been international calls by MEPs and labour rights NGOs for this deadline to be extended, however, Mujibul Haque Chunnu, state minister for labour and employment, has now confirmed the timeline will be adhered to. More than 50 MEPs recently signed a letter by Dutch MEP Agnes Jongerius, urging EU Commissioner for Trade, Cecilia Malmström, to take action to avert premature closure of the Bangladesh Accord.

As per WGSN, a firm that provides advisory solutions, emerging attitudes around age, gender and disability is likely to shape the future of retail space. Designing for sustainability will be the key as consumers are becoming increasingly aware of the damage they are causing to the environment. Retailers will offer technology-led experience that will also meet increasingly high expectations around service, personalisation and convenience.

As per WGSN, a firm that provides advisory solutions, emerging attitudes around age, gender and disability is likely to shape the future of retail space. Designing for sustainability will be the key as consumers are becoming increasingly aware of the damage they are causing to the environment. Retailers will offer technology-led experience that will also meet increasingly high expectations around service, personalisation and convenience.

Shift to smaller format stores

As selling space is shrinking, more retailers are opting for smaller format stores. These stores allow greater experimentation with flexible merchandising and tightly-curated edits. IKEA for example, is experimenting with compact stores in Southeast Asia, opening a 28, 000 sq ft store in Phuket, Thailand. The retailer aims to make smaller investments so it can respond better to demand and be able to open stores in crowded city centres.

Since space on the sales floor is limited, fitting rooms are being stocked with behind-the-scenes operating system that pulls items from the stockroom. Similarly, strategies like interstitial fixtures in corridors, queue areas and corners are gaining importance, along with space-saving ideas such as clever ceiling or wall installations, or displays worked into niches and panels.

A wholesome shopping experience

Retailers are developing stores around changing consumer attitudes, with spaces and experiences that encourage a mental or physical reset. Lululemon is introducing meditation space at its new store near Rockefeller Centre in New York. The concept store features cushioned “Zen pods” where visitors can listen to one of 12 self-guided meditation recordings. The US brand has just opened a pop-up experiential space in New York called Life Coach, dedicated to self-improvement. Visitors can book in for free sessions with tarot card readers, astrologists and mystics, or play games and partake in activities that encourage self-expression.

Focus on sustainability

Gen Z and millennials want to preserve their items for long, and are willing to pay to keep them in good condition. This is driving new aftercare and product preservation strategies, such as specialist sneaker cleaning, bag and shoe repair services and in-store laundries. These services help brands to connect more meaningfully with customers beyond the initial transaction and encourage repeat store visits, as well as build sustainable credentials. Department store retailers are dedicating floor space to product care, with stores like Selfridges and Harvey Nichols incorporating bag repair clinics into their London flagship stores, while Saks Fifth Avenue hosts a space in its men’s department for footwear repair service, The Leather Spa.

Branded launderettes on the rise

Branded launderettes are on the rise, extending brand reach across all aspects of the product journey. Denim label Denham already offers in-store washing services, while fashion-focused boutique launderettes such as Celcious in Brooklyn, offer an energy-efficient and sustainable approach to washing clothes. Sportswear retailers and activewear brands are incorporating in-store sneaker washing services, as Nike has done at its Moscow flagship, or partner with bonafide sneaker care companies such as Crep Protect or Jason Markk, which in March 2018 opened a stand-alone store in London.

A shift towards deliberately simple and pared back store design has emerged, putting the focus purely on the product. Expect this trend to develop with a more extreme move towards completely unbranded spaces, in which retailers aim to reduce unnecessary noise, stripping stores of branding and marketing tools in order to create a soothing, clutter- free environment that puts the consumer in charge. This is changing the relationship that people have with product – with choice being driven by the product’s attributes rather than the branding around them.