Bestseller has intensified its long-term partnership with BSR's HERproject™, a collaborative initiative that strives to empower low-income women working in global supply chains. The new strategic partnership will help Bestseller accelerate towards its Fashion FWD goal of supporting 100,000 women in Tier 1 factories to achieve workplace empowerment and improved life skills.

In addition, Bestseller has become a Catalyst Member of HERproject™, making it possible to take a leading role in furthering the impact of HERproject™ by providing strategic advice and thought leadership to steer the direction of the program. BSR's HERproject™ is a collaborative initiative that strives to empower low-income women working in global supply chains. Through its HERhealth™ and HERfinance™ programs, women develop knowledge and skills on health issues and financial management topics. The HERrespect program focuses on addressing the root causes of violence and sexual harassment against women in the workplace.

To date, Bestseller’s work with HERproject™ has reached more than 37,000 women in Bestseller’s supply chain across Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Pakistan and Vietnam. Factoring in HERproject™ programmes supported by other brands, the total number of women in Bestseller’s supply chain is just over 50,000.

The Tiruppur Export Association (TEA) has welcomed the Budget allocation of Rs 1,224 crore to the development of handlooms and textiles businesses in Tamil Nadu. The association welcomed the expanding of benefits available under Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) and the Unemployed Youth Employment Generation Programme (UYEGP). The budget also enhanced the existing project size limit of Rs 10 lakh to Rs 15 lakh and eligible subsidy under the scheme to Rs 2.5 lakh. The provision for this scheme has been enhanced to Rs 33 crore in the Budget estimates 2020-21.

The budget also allocated Rs 500 crore for environmental clearance under the Athikadavu-Avinashi irrigation scheme. Interest subvention under the Technology Upgradation Scheme and the Credit Guarantee Fund Trust scheme has been increased from 3 per cent to 5 per cent. He appreciated enhancing of the maximum capital subsidy under the NEEDS scheme from Rs 30 lakh to Rs 50 lakh and the Rs 100 crore fund allocation for this scheme in the Budget estimates 2020-21. Reduction in stamp duty for rental agreements under the new Tenancy Act to 0.25 per cent from 1 per cent and registration charges on such agreements to 0.25 per cent from 1 per cent subject to a maximum of Rs 5,000 was also seen as a welcome move.

The 14th edition of Liberty Fairs trade show was held from February 4-6 at the Sands Expo Convention Center in Las Vegas. The recent show marked one of the only times that the contemporary dual-gender trade show ran solo as its sibling show, Agenda, was on hiatus. The February Liberty show also worked on a different schedule. It started a day before the MAGIC trade show, which ran February 5 to 7, 2020.

The show enjoyed a major surge of buyer traffic on February 6, the last day of the show. Its sprawling 2,500 sq. ft. section exhibited brands such as a resurgent Ed Hardy, which experienced a plummet in popularity shortly after the Great Recession. T&A exhibited a preview of the once wildly popular brand at Liberty in August 2019. For the most recent show, it exhibited a wider selection of the tattoo-inspired Ed Hardy along with a stable of other brands including Le Cruz, Oren Kash and Oublier Collective.

Brands exhibiting at the show ranged from suiting from the Pal Zillieri label and John Varvatos Signature Tailored, motorcycle jackets from Schott NYC, denim from Levi’s, Naked & Famous, Neuw Denim and Railcar Fine Goods, as well as streetwear from Billionaire Boys Club and Defend Brooklyn.

Vendors also produced big activations such as a coffee lounge put together by Calik Denim, a custom-T-shirt station produced by Jack & Jones and Re/Up screen-printing its sustainable T-shirts.The show also hosted a vintage cash-and-carry section.

K V Srinivasan, Chairman of the Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council (TEXPROCIL) has appreciated the government’s move to revise duty drawbacks rates from February 4, 2020. He feels, this will improve competitiveness of these products in the export markets.

The increase in the drawback rates is on account of various factors such as the changes in the duties, price (CIF) of imported inputs, FOB value of exports, import intensity etc. Srinivasan feels, the announcement comes as a huge relief to exporters who are already reeling under various types of pressures both internally and externally. Srinivasan further urged the government to reimburse all other taxes and duties that remain un-neutralised through the new scheme RODTEP (Remission of Duties or Taxes on Export Products), which should cover the entire value chain of Cotton textiles.

Sourcing at Magic was held in the US from February 4 to 7, 2020. Representing Madagasar’s female artisans, a group of first-time attendees exhibited ecologically sound goods that promoted fair wages and elevating the status of women in the region who are economically challenged. The brand, Kapuau’i, based in Hawai, which makes scarves and kimono tops, found potential partners in Vrijesh Natural Fiber and Fabrics and Kish from India to source fabrics from. The Purple Store is celebrating its 15th anniversary and sells only purple items. Yana, which makes soft, quality T-shirts, was searching for supply-chain partners. It wants to shift its US manufacturing to production in Mexico or with a South American partner. The Common Link offered options for brands of all sizes, whether they sought domestic manufacturing or production abroad.

The 2019 trade show focused on sustainability through technology and featured innovative VR experiences as well as the latest in production and design tech and sourcing tools. It explored both smart design and advanced manufacturing as well as ways of making the fashion industry more efficient and sustainable, displaying new devices presenting breakthroughs in 3D to 2D digital pattern rendering, virtual inventories, digital direct-to-garment printing and on-demand manufacturing.

The apparel industry in the US has had a tough start to 2020. Consumers are buying fewer and fewer items to stock their closets, and companies that typically sell tons of winter coats and sweaters faced cold January.

Receipts at clothing stores dropped 3.1 per cent last month, the most since March 2009. Women’s apparel was its weakest category during the holidays. Retailers are reworking some of their private label apparel brands in a bid to win back shoppers. Tops, dresses and pants are lying unsold in stores. Baby boomers are aging and buying less clothing than they used to. Millennials are not inclined to spend as much on their wardrobes. Instead, new options like Rent the Runway — where users can pay a monthly fee to rent items to wear to work, to the gym, on vacation and on the weekends — and Stitch Fix — where customers pay to have personalized boxes of clothes shipped to them — are gaining in popularity. The casualization of the workplace also means women and men aren’t buying expensive suits and skirts to wear around the office. Instead, many can get by with jeans and jogger pants. Second-hand apparel is also in style, as shoppers are increasingly thinking about how they can create less waste when they shop.

Women’s and girls’ jeans imports into the US have seen dramatic swings in 2019. Jeans imports from top supplier China fell 21.2 per cent while imports from Vietnam jumped 34.23 per cent. Bangladesh saw its imports inch up 0.9 per cent last year. Among the rest, increases were registered by Pakistan, Cambodia and Sri Lanka, while decreases were posted by Mexico, Egypt, Indonesia and Jordan. In dresses, imports from China decreased 7.98 per cent in 2019, with Vietnam’s shipments falling 1.79 per cent. Indonesia’s imports were flat for the year. In skirts, China’s shipments dipped 1.19 per cent for the year, as imports from Vietnam fell 3.71 per cent.

Retail apparel prices in the US rose a seasonally adjusted 0.7 per cent in January compared to December. The monthly increase was led by a 2.3 per cent hike in men’s wear, a 1.8 per cent rise in girls’ apparel and a gain of 1.2 per cent in infants’ and toddlers’ clothes, while women’s wear prices inched down 0.1 per cent and boys’ apparel sold for 5.8 per cent less.

Textile Opportunities in a changing Automotive Industry (TOAI) was held in the UK, February 5 to 6, 2020. The conference showcased the best innovations and collaborative action from automotive brand leaders and their supply chain to dramatically reduce material, production energy and process water waste. It illustrated the sheer diversity of end-use applications for textiles in the automotive industry that already exist, and the potential for further growth, both through car manufacturers seeking to lower weight to reduce CO2 emissions and the push to develop alternatives to the internal combustion engine.

Textiles and nonwovens are contributing to the new mobility era by providing, for example, textile interiors with high levels of comfort for the occupant while reducing the impact of manufacturing on the environment. New processes are offering waste-free recycled lightweight materials for interiors. With natural fibers and new materials come new benefits such as higher tensile strength, inherent heating/cooling, moisture wicking properties and anti- soiling solutions. In addition, the perception of luxury is changing, and sustainability is becoming an ever-more important factor in consumer-purchasing decisions.

New concepts and techniques were described, which sparked informative discussion during the forum sessions. There were ample networking opportunities for participants. TOAI offered valuable and interesting content and praised the high quality of the individual presentations in a well-structured program.

India’s merchandise exports fell for the sixth consecutive month in January 2020. Trade deficit has risen to a seven-month high. The increase in the January merchandise trade deficit has primarily been led by a sharp rise in crude oil imports, which will subside in February because of the correction in crude oil prices.

During the first 10 months of the current fiscal year, exports have contracted 1.9 per cent while imports have shrunk 8.1 per cent. Weakening external sector will put additional pressure on India’s fledgling economic growth, which is estimated to decelerate to an 11-year low of five per cent this year. Out of the 30 major items each in India’s export and import baskets, 21 export items and 17 imported goods witnessed contraction. While exports of readymade garments fell by five per cent, gems and jewelry dropped by 11.6 per cent and engineering goods lost four per cent during the month. However exports of pharmaceuticals, electronics goods, petroleum products and chemicals made a recovery. Among major imports, coal fell by 24.4 per cent, chemicals by 12 per cent, gold by 31.5 per cent and electronics goods shrank by 4.7 per cent. However, signaling a recovery in domestic industrial activity, imports of machinery and transport equipment rose.

Renowned tradeshow on garment textile machinery ‘Gartex Texprocess India’, held annually in New Delhi, will launch its March 2020 edition in Mumbai, owing to the demand generated by garment and textile manufacturing industry in Indian and overseas markets.

Exhibitors, who have signed up for the event, will present latest innovations, machines, plants, processes and services to various stakeholders in the industry, including manufacturers and suppliers. The show is scheduled to be held from March 19-21 2020 at the Bombay Exhibition and Convention Centre.

The highlights of the show include ‘Garmenting & Apparel Machinery’ that will provide insights on the technological developments in the garment & apparel manufacturing sector. Besides this, innovative products and technologies, defining latest trends in the industry, will be showcased to the visitors at the four concurrent shows – Denim Show, India Laundry Show, Fabrics & Trims Show and Digitex Show during the three-day event.

The event is also aimed at providing business opportunities to the international and national suppliers as well as trade visitors through networking sessions with industry experts and engaging in investment opportunities during the show.