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Indian entrepreneurs have begun to look at the domestic market. A few manufacturers have come up with new brands and marketing campaigns to woo local buyers. They are confident of creating over a dozen clothing brands that can rake in Rs 500 crores in revenue in the domestic market.
This is true especially in Tamil Nadu. Traditionally evolved as an export-oriented ecosystem, manufacturers of Tirupur or Coimbatore have had to decode currency undulations, rising labor costs and make do with a lighter incentive basket even as states such as Gujarat and Telengana gave periodic boosts to manufacturers. On top of that remains the heightened competition from Bangladesh, Vietnam and Cambodia, which enjoy duty-free access into the European market.
Exporters also want to have a share of the widening e-commerce market, as a hedge against the vagaries of the exports market that they have been faced with for the past few decades. The online fashion market in India is projected to grow nearly 3.5 times from the current size and entrepreneurs do not want to miss the wave.
Global apparel trade has been seeing sustained sluggish growth. In the absence of free trade agreements, or because of similar arrangements enjoyed by competing nations, Indian entrepreneurs have become conscious of the need to get deeper into the domestic market.
When global brands source from China or Bangladesh, some ethical issues are involved. Brands save money by making clothes in substandard conditions overseas instead of paying higher wages at home. Children make garments or stitch sequins. Sequins have been the focus of a number of investigations into child labor practices. While there are machines that can perform the delicate task of sewing sequins onto fabric, they are costly and, if the finished product is to be sold cheaply, rarely purchased by overseas manufacturers. Instead, the task is often given to women or to children, whose tiny fingers apparently mean they work faster than adults.
Fashion behemoths like H&M and Zara share the same manufacturing bases, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Ethiopia or Cambodia. But a lot of clothing companies won't include the place of manufacture on the collar tag. Multiple garments labeled as made in New Zealand, for instance, are manufactured in China or Bangladesh.
Global fast fashion giants have hollowed out artisanal manufacturing worldwide. Global luxury brands have retained their value by dictating where their products are made. Such practices are now being considered unethical and their products are no longer considered luxury or even desirable.
BIGTEX will be held in Bangladesh from May 10 to 12, 2018. This is a garment and textile machinery expo. Manufacturers, dealers, suppliers and importers will display garment and textile machinery, equipment, technology and accessories.
Among participating countries are: Bangladesh, China, England, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Sri Lanka and Turkey.The fair will encourage local manufacturers and producers to export their goods while foreign buyers will also visit to check new trends and quality garment and textile machineries, equipment, technology and accessories.
Bangladesh is the second largest apparel exporter in the world, top denim exporter to the European Union and the second largest knitwear exporter in the world. To continue this growth the industry needs proper machinery, raw materials, yarn, fabrics, dyes and chemicals.
The fair will be held in Chittagong, the major seaport of Bangladesh. Chittagong handles almost the entire import-export trade of the country. Chittagong is the second apparel hub after Dhaka.
The event will be held along with two other shows: Bangladesh International Fabrics and Yarn Expo and Bangladesh International Print, Pack and Signage Expo. The organizers are Well Group, Bangladesh Indenting Agents Association, Bangladesh Garments Accessories and Packaging Manufacturers and Exporters Association, and Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association.
Clothing retailers and brands are flocking to Bangladesh to source the best value-added denim. New technologies in washing and polishing as well as increasing use of finer fabrics and designs are allowing Bangladesh to add more value to denim products.
The export of value-added denim jeans is increasing from Bangladesh. Bangladesh exports denim goods worth more than $3 billion a year and has already overtaken China to become the top denim supplier to the EU. Globally, use of denim products is on the rise because of the change in fashion, especially in the western world. Denim trousers and shirts are worn at both formal and casual events.
Previously, Bangladesh used to produce denim trousers for $5 or $7 a piece, but now the price range has gone up to $10 or $11. In 2014, the size of the global denim market stood at $56.20 billion and it is projected to reach $64.10 billion by 2020. Bangladesh's share is forecasted to be seven billion dollars by 2021. The production capacity of the 31 denim mills in Bangladesh is more than 40 million yards a month against a demand for nearly 70 million yards. The rest of the demand is met through imports from countries like China, India, Pakistan, and Turkey.
"While e-commerce has been growing its expanse in India, yet it is sometimes quite challenging to live upto consumers’ expectations based on search keywords. To circumvent this problem, many e-commerce giants are slowly incorporating visual search to aid customers. Buyers have to submit the photo of the item they are searching, and the get almost precise results. While the technology is still under development, many customers who have used the feature are quite satisfied with it. For instance, Asos launched the visual search feature on their website. The visible search feature assists the customer in buying the exact thing without any issues."
While e-commerce has been growing its expanse in India, yet it is sometimes quite challenging to live upto consumers’ expectations based on search keywords. To circumvent this problem, many e-commerce giants are slowly incorporating visual search to aid customers. Buyers have to submit the photo of the item they are searching, and the get almost precise results. While the technology is still under development, many customers who have used the feature are quite satisfied with it. For instance, Asos launched the visual search feature on their website. The visible search feature assists the customer in buying the exact thing without any issues. The screenshot from an Instagram page, the look of passerby while crossing the road, can all be uploaded to the website and the search engine will return the result according to it.
Associated benefits
The customers will be able to search for a specific product more easily. The customers can use the camera
application of their phone to click the photo of the object they want to buy. Later, they can upload the picture on the retail website and get results accordingly. With the help of this technology, the e-commerce companies will be able to provide more customer-driven search results. Sometimes for individualised services, the visual tool might ask the customers to fill a questioner and upload their photos. According to data provided by the user, the e-commerce site can create a personalised fashion suggestion. Pinterest recently launched a tool, ‘Shop the Look’, which analyses the pinned products by the customers, wishes to buy and provides a search result according to it. The result might include products available with the major retailers.
Visual tool to the aid
E-commerce players like Mode.ai and Asos are the early entrants in visual search. Even Amazon has developed an optical search model where customers can take the photos of a specific product from the default camera application of their smartphone and use the image to search the catalog of the website. Another significant player in developing the visual search engine is Google. It is attempting to create products like Google Lens and Google Badges, which works to combine the optical search technology. The earlier product will be able to recognize objects and forward information associated with the object to the users. The following product will try to leverage the visual cues provided by the search engine to offer more user-centric results.
With the progress in technology, fashion is becoming more accessible to customers. Once visual search technology takes shape, the buyer will not have to depend on keywords to search for specific products. With the help of visual cues, the customer can quickly get hold of their desired product without any hassle. This futuristic technology can help the lower end vendors who create the merchandise at a cheaper rate for the customer. The high-end fashion houses can use the same technology for reaching a new customer.
During the first quarter of 2018, US apparel imports were up in both value and volume terms by 1.63 per cent and 1.71 per cent respectively. However, unit prices neither decreased nor increased, which helped the US keep the balance between imported apparels and the dollars spent on them.
China lost share by 2.34 per cent in the quarter. China is still the top supplier of apparels and textiles to the US. Vietnam too lost share in the US apparel market, registering a 14.86 per cent share in overall US apparel imports in the latest quarter as against a 15.26 per cent share in the previous year.
India plunged significantly both in value (0.79 per cent) and volume (2.53 per cent) terms. Indonesia’s exports dropped 5.78 per cent and 8.26 per cent in value and volume respectively. Other top apparel suppliers were: Cambodia, South Korea, Mexico, Canada, Bangladesh and Pakistan.
During January to April 2017 apparel exports from China, Vietnam and Bangladesh constituted around 59 per cent of total apparel imports by the US. China has been slashing unit prices to stay competitive in the US and thereby convincing buyers to purchase more quantities.
A Coimbatore court has said exotic forex derivatives sold by banks to garment exporters during the global financial crisis in 2008 were illegal. The Tirupur Forex Derivatives Consumer Forum, which was formed by 25 exporters from Tirupur, who lost more than Rs 400 crores in the issue, moved court in Coimbatore saying that as many as 19 banks were involved in the fraud by selling the product that was not authorised by the Reserve Bank of India.
The court observed that the products sold by the banks were against the country’s laws and public policy, and also against RBI rules and guidelines. Garment exporters incurred losses due to fluctuations in currency rates while getting payments from overseas buyers. Banks were involved in the fraud, which was responsible for at least Rs 38,750 crores moving out of the country.
Exporters are now upping the ante seeking a CBI probe into the issue. In 2007-08, the rupee appreciated sharply to 39 to the dollar from 46 in just 15 days. At Rs 25,000 crores, Tirupur accounted for 45 per cent of total exports of readymade garments from the country last year. Exports fell short of the targeted Rs 30,000 crores with Brexit and the subsequent fall in the pound value upsetting calculations of exporters.
American apparel component supplier, QST, has curated a collection of components to better serve the denim market. QST is present in more than 60 countries for sourcing, selling and manufacturing components for the apparel and denim markets, including pocketing, interlining, embroidery backings and more.
The collection is based on four traits of a fully-functional jean—comfort, flexibility, strength and reinforcement—and it includes time- and cost-efficient technologies made specifically for key jeans wear items.
Before launching the collection, the company did its homework to see where the industry was going and what trends were out there that could be improved, be it distressed denim, stretch denim, embroidery or coatings. The aim was to make sure these trends were complemented with components that enhanced the final product.
The denim industry is home to many legacy brands, but few endure decades—or centuries—without evolving their message and products. Innovations from the active wear category continue to influence and push denim brands to deliver more bang for the buck.
QST’s wick-tech pocketing is a non-absorbant pocketing that allows for a dry, comfortable wearing experience. Wick-tech ultrafuse for waistbands draws moisture away from the body. The high-tech polyester material allows moisture to easily evaporate.
The number of buyers at the 123rd China Import and Export Fair, widely known as the Canton Fair, increased by 5.3 per cent year-on-year, recording a five-year high. The Canton Fair, is the largest and most important trade fair in China held in Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong Province. It recorded a transaction volume of 189.2 billion yuan ($30.1 billion), up 3.1 percent year-on-year on May 3, 2018.
In spite of the escalation of trade disputes between China and the US, the number of US buyers increased 7.85 per cent year-on-year, to 11,929. Yet, some of them held a reluctant attitude toward making deals which resulted in a drop of transactions in sectors including home appliances, shoes and garments.
The Delhi High Court decreed last month that Mosanto Co cannot claim patent on its GM cotton seeds. The court concurred with Indian seed company Nuziveedu Seeds Ltd (NSL), which argued that India’s Patent Act does not allow Monsanto any patent cover for its genetically modified (GM) cotton seeds. Monsanto Co has appealed to the Indian Supreme Court against the ruling.
New Delhi had approved Monsanto’s GM cotton seed trait, the only lab-altered crop allowed in India, in 2003 and an upgraded variety in 2006, helping transform the country into the world’s top producer and second-largest exporter of the fibre. The technology went on to dominate 90 percent of India’s cotton acreage. Now the Delhi High Court’s decision has made biotechnology companies apprehensive about investing in their businesses because they apprehend that they will lose patents on their expensive technologies. The ruling could deem nearly 107 patents as void
