Vietnam’s textile and garments exports to China have exponentially increased in recent years. The average annual growth of the country’s exports remained more than 20 per cent for the past three years. The import value of textiles and garments from China accounted for over 42.7 per cent of the country’s total imports and rose over 12 per cent last year.

The value of Vietnam’s exports to China is nearly four times higher than that of the Republic of Korea and nearly five times higher than that of Taiwan - the two major import markets of Vietnam in recent years. Vietnam’s fiber exports to China benefit due to a zero per cent tariff under the ASEAN-China FTA, while products from other markets have to pay a three to five per cent duty.

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) between Asean and the countries of China, Republic of Korea, Japan, India, Australia and New Zealand is expected to boost Vietnam’s exports to China. By the end of 2017, China was among the top five consumers of Vietnam’s textile and garment products. Though Vietnam is the world’s leading textile and garment exporter Chinese products dominate the domestic market. Vietnam estimates it can export higher numbers to China from 2018.

Pakistan’s textile exports grew 7.17 per cent during July to February of the ongoing financial year. The growth enhanced the country’s overall exports during the period. These results have been achieved due to export-friendly policies and renewed efforts toward seeking better market access. The positive trend in the international demand and exchange rate correction are also expected to help sustain this rising trend in the coming months.

The main growth driver was the value-added textile sector. Exports of readymade garments went up 13.08 per cent. Exports of knitwear increased 13.3 per cent. Exports of bedwear went up 4.51 per cent in value terms. Exports of made-up articles, excluding towels, increased 7.32 per cent. Art, silk and synthetic textile exports grew by 80.08 per cent. Exports of cotton yarn witnessed an increase of 1.87 per cent and exports of cotton cloth recorded growth of 0.04 per cent.

However, exports of cotton carded tumbled by 97.87 per cent. Exports of tents, canvas and tarpaulin also declined 39.49 per cent. On the other hand, imports went up by 17.09 per cent during the first eight months of the current financial year as against the same period last year.

China will hold hosiery purchasing expo (CHPE) from March 26 to 28, 2018. Global fashion enterprises will attend the event, which has become one of the most distinctive and influential events in the region.

The core competitiveness of the fair lies in its capability to attract nearly 10,000 professional visitors from more than 50 countries and regions at home and abroad every year. Domestic and foreign industrial clusters, as well as international hosiery enterprises from Japan, Spain, Pakistan, South Korea, Egypt, Indonesia and Sri Lanka, will display their premium socks products on the same platform.

With booming of domestic consumption and growing economy, the strategy of high-end domestic trade has been introduced in the exhibition, which in turn will further enhance the competitiveness of the exhibition, thus helping China evolve from a large socks producer to an industrial power. The Fashion Accessories Expo (FAE) will be held concurrently. The strong alliance between CHPE and FAE will also combine two single product fairs in an industry exhibition covering multiple products. For this edition, the display area of FAE will be 30,000 sq. mt. with more than 600 foreign and domestic exhibitors and above 15,000 professional visitors from 60 countries and regions expected to attend the event.

The Indian arm of global automotive seating player, Adient India, recently formed a joint venture with Arvind to develop, manufacture and sell automotive fabrics in India. The joint venture Adient Arvind Automotive Fabrics will have its manufacturing base in Ahmedabad.

Adient will hold majority stake in the JV company with a 50.5 per cent share, and expects the joint venture to be included in its consolidated financial statements. Arvind and Adient will each have representation on the board of directors of Adient Arvind Automotive Fabrics. The joint venture company will provide Indian and global automakers unrivalled product quality and innovative solutions in fabrics, enabling them to deliver new levels of comfort, aesthetic variety and design versatility to end-users in India.

Punit Lalbhai, Executive Director, Arvind says that combining Adient’s global fabric design and technological resources with Arvind’s extensive manufacturing capabilities will enable us to accelerate the pace at which we bring innovative automotive fabrics products to market in India.

German sportswear brand Adidas has stated its earnings revenues were up 35 per cent in North America in 2017. In March, the company revealed it has made and sold more than one million pairs of shoes made from ocean plastic. These shoes use a yarn developed by Parley that turns the ocean plastic into a polymer that can used to construct knitted footwear.

Adidas US head Mark King stated currently Adidas has momentum after seeing success in the running category and others, citing breakout hits like the UltraBoost. The success is due to "investment in the right things" as Adidas has focused on its most important categories - vintage-inspired Originals, training apparel, running, basketball, and its "core" products - and has becomes more ingrained in US sports.

He further added running is still Adidas' biggest category and real momentum is in Training apparel, which he called Adidas' "biggest opportunity." Training is now the brand's number-two category. Year 2018 might see similar rapid growth numbers, and there could be a normalizing in the growth numbers Adidas posts next year. But this is all in the name of getting to a sustainable level of growth as Adidas pushes the envelope on market share warns King.

King estimates the brand now has about 10 per cent market share in the US, up from 3.5 per cent in few years.

Denoting a collaboration to break new ground in skills development for the apparel sector, Brandix Group and the Vocational Training Authority of Sri Lanka (VTA) have signed two Memoranda of Understanding (MoU). The first facilitates the creation of an NVQ Level 5 equivalent qualification for Garment Technicians the first of that level in the apparel industry – with Brandix assisting the VTA to develop the curriculum and providing training at the Brandix Academy.

The Brandix Academy is a new initiative to unleash technical and leadership potential of individuals through an unconventional and rigorous learning and development process to improve business outcomes with individual growth. This will be further cemented with technical support and guidance from the VTA.

The second, MoU enables Brandix to identify and employ school leavers who have received three-month training as Industrial Sewing Machine Operators at the VTA’s island-wide network of vocational training centres. Selected trainees will undergo a further three months of training at Brandix business units, after which they will be offered a certificate equivalent to NVQ Level 3 upon completion.

Ishan Dantanarayana, Chief People Officer of Brandix says elevating the standards of training and technical competency development is essential for the apparel industry to progress and advance up the value chain. The VTA will initially develop the curriculum for garment technician positions to be on par with NVQ Level 5 as a national level initiative in line with the signed agreement. Brandix will support the Authority with technical expertise and provide any other assistance required by the process.

VTA will provide necessary technical support and guidance to deliver the training programmes via the Brandix academy once the curriculum development is completed at the national level. The Authority will also ensure conformity with the academic standards and quality assurance requirements set out in the skills standard of the NVQ framework, conduct the examination process and issue certificates on par with the standards stipulated under the Tertiary and Vocational Education Commission (TVEC).

Post issues regarding the distribution of Bathukamma sarees during last Dasara, the State government has now decided to order Bathukamma sarees only from the Sircilla textile town. This move will ensure employment to weavers and various other allied sectors in the textile industry, for over six months.

The power loom weavers of Sircilla textile town in Rajanna-Sircilla district in the Indian state of Telangana are a happy lot as the State government has placed bulk orders for school uniforms, Bathukamma sarees and more.

Last year the State government had placed bulk orders for above mentioned sarees in May hence weavers could manufacture only 60 lakh sarees, however, this year orders are placed in time to ensure timely delivery.

The power loom weavers have completed working on school uniforms valued at Rs 55 crore under the Rajiv Vidya Mission. They had also delivered fabric valued at 10.22 lakh metres to the social welfare department and Ramzan gifts of 25 lakh metres for shirt material and 30 lakh metres for pyjamas. In all 85 lakh sarees valued at Rs 250 crore would be distributed among the BPL women for the Bathukamma festival this year.

The State government had already placed orders for the sarees and the weavers have also placed orders for the procurement of yarn to begin the production from the first week of April.

The State government’s bulk order would ensure salary valued at Rs16,000 per month when compared to the regular salary of around Rs 10,000 per month for weavers.

Assistant Director of Handloom and Textiles, Ashok Rao was reported to have disclosed that Bathukamma sarees would be weaved on 25,000 power looms and provide employment to 10,000 weavers and a further 10,000 weavers indirectly within the allied sectors of this industry.

Pakistan Readymade Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (PRGMEA) has demanded quick implementation of the revised PM package for exporters for 2017-18 as well as strategic marketing plans to speed up exports by leveraging the advantages of GSP Plus.

PRGMEAs Senior Vice Chairman Sheikh Luqman Amin asked the finance ministry to quickly release funds as over 30 per cent cash flow was blocked in sales tax refunds and Customs rebate which is affecting cash liquidity.

The Finance Ministry has not yet released the major part of the previous Rs180 billion PMs package post January 2017 Sheikh Luqman noted and said that the government should implement measures to remove all issues that are stifling textile exports.

Another area of concern is that textile value-added products cannot sell at a high value due to bad packaging. Sheikh was of the view that there is a felt need to set up a product and packaging centre to enhance packaging.

Sheikh disclosed that the association is looking at implementing a long-term strategy to nullify stiff competition in international markets from major players such as India and China.

PRGMEA chief was of the view that formulation of sector-wise policies is a way forward to stabilise exports. He said that following non availability of latest fabric domestically, the garment industry currently has a limited product line that can be manufactured for the export market as foreign buyers are demanding new garments on G3, G4 and technical fabric raw material.

Sheikh decried the fact that instead of involving associations, exporters have been told to directly submit their claims to banks which unfortunately do not have any competent technical staff to evaluate such claims. This is resulting in banks not following SBP directives of processing refund cases within 14 days.

This, he concludes, only goes to show that the Finance Ministry is not keen on implementing the PMs package despite the fact that the country is facing an all-time high trade deficit.

Celebrities from the worlds of music, film and reality television have the kind of media reach and marketing might that most fashion designers can only imagine. It’s no wonder that the recent boom in fashion lines bearing celebrity names have customers, retailers and investors transfixed. Owning a fashion or make-up brand is in vogue these days. Many celebs, including Rihanna, Kylie Jenner, Anushka Sharma, Lara Dutta, Kriti Sanon and Sonam Kapoor among others, have their own fashion brands.

However, the relevance of the product also plays an important role. Many young stars are coming up with their brands. Now, if their brands have fashionable stuff that reflects today’s styles and trends, and if they are reasonably priced, but if either of these things is missing, then a celebrity name can sustain them only for so long. The inspiration behind these launches, are international celebrities like singers Justin Timberlake and Jessica Simpson who own and operate large global portfolios of branded products. Additionally, online marketplaces like Amazon, Myntra and Flipkart have helped the brands to penetrate smaller towns and cities.

However, not everyone is convinced about celebrity-backed brands business. International celebs launch limited edition collections but a whole line of celebrity-owned products has seen limited success globally also. Fans respect the celebrities for their fields.

From biodegradable glitter to fabrics made from seaweed or orange fibers – these are the next generation innovators that will be supported by the Fashion for Good-Plug and Play Accelerator. Around 15 selected start-ups will follow a robust curriculum over the next 12 weeks, including mentorship from the Accelerator’s partners: adidas, C&A, Galeries Lafayette, Kering, Target and Zalando, with the aim to transform the fashion industry for good.

The Fashion for Good-Plug and Play Accelerator initiative works to find and accelerate innovative technologies and business models that have the greatest potential to reshape the industry. The Fashion for Good hub is in Amsterdam.

The 15 start-ups have been carefully selected out of hundreds of applicants and come from all over the world covering four continents and ten nationalities. They represent varied supply chain areas from alternative raw materials to new business models. For the next 12 weeks, the Accelerator’s partners and mentors will drive market validation of the innovators’ technologies, to prime them for implementation at scale. In addition, the start-ups are screened for potential funding to support development of their businesses.

Graduation of the start-ups will take place on June 14 at the Fashion for Good hub in Amsterdam, where they will showcase their innovations to an audience of industry leaders and investors.