Uncertainty due to the Russia-Ukraine may lead to a 25 per cent decline in garment exports from Tirupur and Noida in FY23. As per a Textile Today report, European brands have slashed garment offtake from Tiruppur by almost 25 per cent. The garment hub annually exports Rs 35,000 crore worth goods. Raja Shanmugam, President, Tirupur Exporters Association (TEA) says, export volumes from Tiruppur have declined as yarn prices have increased 110 per cent since 2020.

Most units in Tirrupur are MSMEs. With rise in yarn prices, delivering goods on time is becoming difficult. But foreign buyers rely on India because of stability in country. Meanwhile units in Noida have seen a 15 per cent drop in orders from Europe, says Lalit Thukral, President, Noida Apparel Export Cluster. Spanish fashion retailer Inditex that owns the Zara has closed 502 shops in Russia besides stopping online sales a fortnight ago. H&M has also halted operations in Russia while Spanish retailer Mango has temporarily closed 120 shops in the country.

Pakistan’s monthly textile exports reached its highest levels in April 2022 as they grew by 31 per cent Y-o-Y and 7 per cent M-o-M to $1.739 bn during April 2022, as per latest data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS). A report by MG Link informs, From July-April 2022, Pakistan’s textile exports grew 26 per cent Y-o-Y to $15.98billion compared to $12.69 billion recorded in 10MFY21.

Knitwear, readymade garments, bed-wear, and towels exports grew by 44 per cent, 44 per cent, 16 per cent, and 28 per cent, Y-o-Y to $488 mn, $351million, $279million and $108 million respectively during April 2022 compared to the same month last year. The momentum of textile exports growth is likely to remain strong in upcoming months due to continued rerouting of orders out of China. The surge in freight charges on shipments of unfinished products to competitors like Bangladesh will lead to brand routing orders to Pakistani exporters in order to arrest thinning margins, says Abdul Ghani Mianoor, Investment Analyst, Intermarket Securities

Demand for value-added products in the country is likely to remain intact, as orders have been booked for at least the next three months. Procurement of cotton at lower than prevailing rates will result in sustained strong margins for the remainder of FY22. However, the prolonging of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine issue may slowdown export growth, he adds.

After a two-year hiatus, Miami Fashion Week (MIAFW) will return with a physical edition in Miami, Florida from May 31, 2022 to June 5, 2022. As per a PR News Wire report, the 22nd edition of Miami Fashion Week® will feature acclaimed designers, including special guest brand Missoni.

The week-long events will combine fashion, culture, art, sustainability with a press conference at a LEED certified hotel with a focus on sustainable practices. The conference will be attended by designers, industry experts, celebrities and influencers.

Miami Fashion Week will also highlight the role of sustainability during global fashion weeks to ensure the growth and future of the industry. Designers Naeem Khan, Benito Santos, Angel Sanchez, Ágatha Ruiz de la Prada and Rene by RR, and more will debut their latest resort collections at the fashion week.

In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, MK Stalin, Chief Minister, Tamil Nadu has sought clarification on issues like import duty waiver on cotton till September 30, reduction in margin money demanded by bankers for cotton purchases and mandating cotton and yarn stock declaration by spinning mills. In order to rein in prices and disruptions in the textile value chain, Stalin has urged Modi to make stock declaration for cotton and yarn mandatory for all spinning mills to enable ginners and cotton traders to obtain actual data on cotton and yarn availability.

Import duty waiver on cotton for all contracts upto September 30, 2022 was another clarification sought by Stalin. He said the Union government has waived import duty on cotton till September 30. However, it takes more than three months for a consignment to reach Indian ports after the contract is entered, effectively import duty waiver will be available only up to June 30, 2022.

Burberry’s annual revenues rose 21 per cent on a reported basis to reach £2.826 billion. It surged 23 per cent at constant exchange rates compared to two 52-week periods (CER). As per a Fashion Network report, the brand’s comparable retail store sales grew 18 per cent Y-o-Y and 6 per cent against FY20. Meanwhile, retail full-price comparable sales rose 24 per cent Y-o-Y and 30 per cent against FY20.

The brand’s adjusted operating profit increased 32 per cent Y-o-Y to £523 million. The brand has witnessed strong growth momentum and excellent response to its first in-person runway show in two years. Its continued investments in outerwear and leather goods helped full-price sales in these categories to rise by 39 per cent and 28 per cent, respectively, for the year.

Burberry has been investing heavily in transforming its flagship stores into new-concept destinations. It has redesigned 47 stores and plans to redesign 65 more stores in FY23. The brand has also strengthened the integration between its offline and online channels, expanding its aftercare offer and enabling customers to access bespoke services through its website.

Garment exporters in Bangladesh have been able to reduce shipping times to 60 days from the earlier 120 days as international clothing retailers and brands now prefer to use local fabrics in apparel items. Sourcing local fabrics is helping retailers and brands speed up deliveries to the European and American markets. Local fabric use increased with easing of COVID-19 restrictions as companies rushed to deliver products on time and reduce shipping costs that had shot up more than 500 per cent.

Abdullah Al Mahmud Mahin, Managing Director, Hamid Fabrics says, his company has overbooked orders. They supply woven fabrics to well-known retailers and brands including Hugo Boss, Abercrombie & Fitch, Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein, JC Penney, H&M, Esprit, M&S, s.Oliver, and Colors of Benetton. Hamid Fabrics expanded production capacity to one lakh yards of woven fabrics per day from 75,000 yards just before the pandemic.

Garment exporter, Urmi Group makes 35 tons of fabrics per day and supplies the entire produce to garment segment to manufacture products. The company had to increase production capacity as buyers started demanding more local fabrics, says Asif Ashraf, Managing Director. Urmi Group expects exports to rise 20 per cent to $200 million this year.

Md Shahidullah Azim, Senior Vice-President BGMEA says, using local fabrics help exporters save up to 60 days in apparel shipments. Mohammad Ali Khokon, President, BTMA rues, textile mills in Bangladesh are flooded with new orders. However, inadequate gas supply is a major bottleneck, leading to local millers lagging behind China in offering competitive prices and fabric designs.

EU’s trade deficit increased in 2021 as textile and clothing exports increased 10.6 per cent while imports declined -7.5 per cent. As per the Spring report by Euratex, import prices of EU clothing and textile declined during the year due to a drop in import prices of Chinese face masks and protective medical clothing. Increased EU textile and clothing exports during the year could be attributed to a strong performance in Swiss, Chinese and US markets. On the other hand, sales in the United Kingdom declined 23 per cent, due to new Brexit rules, customs clearance delays and labor shortage. EU reduced its imports from China by 28 per cent to €13 billion during the year. It also reduced textile and clothing imports from the United Kingdom by 48 per cent to €-3 billion. Dirk Vantyghem, Director General, Euratex says, the EU aims to be world leader in sustainable textiles despite rising energy prices.

Embed international trade in growth strategy

To achieve this, the European Union needs to embed international trade in its Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles. It needs to ensure all products introduced in the market are durable, free of hazardous substances, produced respecting social standards. It also needs to upscale market surveillance without disrupting the supply chains. Condemning Russian aggression in Ukraine, Vantyghem says, Ukraine offers valuable sourcing opportunities for European textile and apparel brands besides supporting its nearshoring trend.

A pillar of local economy

With around 154,000 companies employing 1.47 million workers, the textile and clothing industry is an essential pillar of local economy in the EU. The industry has completed several high added value projects in growing markets around the world. These projects were completed in collaboration with the Euratex, the voice of the textile and clothing industry in the region, which focuses on effective research, innovation and skills development, free and fair trade, and sustainable supply chains.

Subsidiary of eyewear manufacturer Lenskart, Neso Brands has raised $100 million in a seed funding round, to create a house of brands catering to the global market.

Neso Brands will utilize e-commerce and technologies such as AR and AI for eyewear brands as a strategy to capture global market share. It will facilitate global rollout of brands by giving them an access to shared resources – particularly technology, supply chain, distribution, capital and best practices.

Founded in 2022, Neso Brands is an eyewear manufacturer and retailer that leverages analytics, tech, and its own supply chain and distribution, to create a large network of co-owned direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands.

Based out of Singapore, Neso Brands plans to sell its eyewear products to a global market by partnering up with the top entrepreneurs in the industry. It plans to invest in consumer eyewear brands around the world and grow these brands by leveraging synergies across the Lenskart group to accelerate international expansion.

India plans to set up a cotton council under the leadership of industry captain Suresh Kotak to holistically look at ways to improve the fibre’s productivity that has declined over the years. The council would have government officials from the departments of agriculture, commerce and textiles along with private sector representatives.

The decision was taken at a meeting between PiyushGoyal, Textile Minister and stakeholders including cotton farmers, spinners and traders wherein issues such as flexibility in the imports of cotton, export incentives and allocating more yarn for the domestic prices, were discussed.

The meeting also discussed about restricting export incentives and also imposing export duty on yarn to curtail yarn and cotton exports. Garment exporters sought for a short-term ban on export of cotton and cotton yarn.

As per another industry representative, a proposal to release 75 per cent cotton yarn in the domestic market was also taken up.

British luxury brand Burberry reported a 23 per cent rise in revenue to £2.83 billion ($3.52 billion) in FY’22 and a 38 per cent rise in adjusted operating profit to £523 million, with comparable store sales in its final quarter growing 7 per cent after lockdowns in mainland China weighed on its performance in March.

The brand said its outlook for the year ahead depended on how quickly China, its biggest market, recovered from COVID-19 lockdowns, after meeting expectations for sales and operating profit for its 2022 financial year.

Burberry, known for its camel, red and black check and TB monogram, lost its chief executive Marco Gobbetti to Ferragamo in January. His replacement, Jonathan Akeroyd, joined in March, a couple of weeks before the end of its financial year.

Gobbetti sought to elevate Burberry's brand into the luxury space under a multi-year transformation plan for the 166-year-old group.

Akeroyd said he would set out his plans to build on Gobbetti's foundations and accelerate growth at the interim results in November.

Burberry said it maintained its medium-term guidance of high single-digit revenue growth and meaningful margin accretion at constant exchange rates.