Sanjay Garg, President, NITMA has approved the Union Budget 2022-23 saying the Finance Minister has taken some prudent initiatives for MSMEs and India Inc for start-ups. The tax concession period has been extended by one more year, which is a positive move. Likewise, a 15 per cent tax has been decided for the newly incorporated manufacturing unit. The period of incorporation has been increased by one more year to 31-3-2024. This will further boost manufacturing activities. He was of the view that the PLI in 14 Sectors to create 50 lakh new jobs and additional production of Rs 30 lakh Cr.

Garg stated that the proposal to reduce surcharge on cooperative societies to 7 per cent from 12 per cent for income between Rs.1 cr to Rs.10 cr is a welcome step. He reiterated that incentives for startups period of incorporation extended by a year to 2023 to avail of tax benefits and for corporate extension also granted for new companies to set up manufacturing facilities to 2024 from earlier 2023 will help the new start ups on the way. Besides Section 115BAB the date of setting up business increased by one year to 2024 is indeed help to the industry.

Garg also appreciated that PM Gatishakti driven by 7 engines as proposed by Finance Minister will give boost to the infrastructural development and will pull forward the economy and will lead to more jobs and opportunities for the youth. He also thanked the Government for taking several steps to ease the compliance burden on honest taxpayers.

MAS Holdings has reaffirmed its status as a leader in innovation in apparel and one of the region’s most innovative companies by securing the prestigious Clarivate South and Southeast Asia Innovation Award 2021, in the ‘Corporations’ category.

MAS is the only apparel company in the region and the only Sri Lankan organization to be recognized at the awards ceremony in 2021. This marks the second consecutive victory for the company at the Clarivate awards.

Every year, Clarivaterecognises the most innovative companies in the region. The evaluation, performed using proprietary Clarivate data and tools, is strictly driven by metrics for both patent volume (number of patents published) and patent quality (grant success rate, extent of globalisation and citations). The criteria used to select the top innovators in the region closely mirrors that of the annual Top 100 Global Innovators™, which identifies organisations at the pinnacle of the global innovation landscape.

MAS, through its innovation arm, Twinery, has achieved substantial progress in cutting-edge innovation and research in the recent past. The company was among the pioneers in the apparel industry to revolutionise wearable technology by significantly improving the user experience of wearing clothing infused with such technology. The company has also developed highly advanced ‘FemTech’ products, which focus on female health and hygiene, providing proprietary tech solutions for pain points women face during all key biological phases of their lives.

World’s leading industrial thread company, Coats, is calling for industry brands, manufacturers and recyclers to collaborate with it on a new circularity concept that makes end of life garment recycling easier and cost effective.

Coats is launching EcoCycle, a range of water dissolvable threads to facilitate the disassembly of garments. Coats is now looking to scale up its circular solution through collaboration at the garment design stage. As more industry players take responsibility for the whole of the life cycle of their products it is vital they build in the right threads and applications from the very start of the creative process.

Following centuries of designing and manufacturing threads to hold garments together, Coats has revolutionised an element of its core product offering with the development of EcoCycle. The new thread retains its durability during the life of the garment but when washed in an industrial machine at 95 degrees Celsius, seams sewn with EcoCycle dissolve. This enables the garment to be easily and quickly disassembled by simply pulling it apart so the non-textile and textile components can be sorted for recycling.

The 90th edition of PittiFilati at the Marchi&Fildi and Filidea booths will showcase original garments developed by 2nd-year students of the course for Higher Technician for Design and Development of Knitwear Products at the ITS TAM (Higher Institute for Textiles, Clothing and Fashion) in Biella.

The project’s primary garment is the waistcoat, offering visitors to the booths garments capable of interpreting the yarns in a contemporary way and embodying the key values of the brands Marchi&Fildi, ECOTEC® and Filidea.

Rediscovered by fashion in recent collections, the waistcoat is a unisex, seasonless garment, and constitutes an “easy”, basic garment for all types of interpretation; a creative representation of the values of modern fashion research:

With the supervision of FaustoCaletti, the stylist that has been developing the yarns collection of Marchi&Fildi andFilidea, and the ITS TAM professors, students have created the waistcoats in knitwear using yarns from the Spring/Summer 2023 collections in the colours included in the overview cards.

During their creative work, the students measured themselves not only in terms of the ideation of the finished garments, but also the total number of the steps for their execution within the framework of the project.

Every waistcoat on show will be numbered and identified with the name of the student who created it. Coming into the booth, it will be possible to admire all of them.

Narender Goenka, Chairman, APEC says, the extension of the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) and increasing coverage by Rs 50,000 crore, will bring some relief to apparel exporters which fall under the MSME category. Goenka also calls the Union Budget growth oriented and says it will create opportunities for investments, exports and employment while simplifying the procedures. He appreciated the government for announcing 35 per cent increase in capital expenditure to Rs 7.5 lakh crore for FY23 saying that it will accelerate overall growth of the economy through investments amid disruptions due to intermittent lockdowns.

The extension of benefit of 15 per cent tax for the newly incorporated manufacturing units by one more year to March 2024 will bring in fresh investments, adds Goenka. It would specifically help in bringing in new investment in the new units under Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for MMF garments, MMF fabrics and technical textiles, he states.

UK e-commerce businesses need to work harder to prevent consumers switching brands, says a new research from Fresh Relevance suggests. Around 35 per cent among the 2,000 respondents say, they frequently try new brands and have no problem switching from a brand they have used previously. Meanwhile, 42 per cent say they prefer shopping with brands they have previously shopped with but would switch to a different brand depending on the circumstances.

Around 40 per cent respondents say, they have switched brands in the past because a different brand offered a better price. In addition to price, convenience is a key factor when it comes to loyalty, with 27 per cent staying loyal to brands that make it easy to buy again. Delivering great customer service is also a key factor in retaining loyal customers.

Around 23 per cent respondents say, they have switched more frequently since the pandemic began. Another 23 per cent say, tried a new brand during Black Friday or Christmas 2021. This was particularly the case for younger consumers, with 38 per cent of respondents aged 16-34 saying they purchased from a brand for the first time during this period.

Mike Austin, CEO & Co –Founder, says, brands can improve customer loyalty and deter consumers from switching brands by optimising out-of-stock pages, implementing a referral program, segmenting returning customers to target them with loyalty perks, and setting up triggered emails, such as replenishment messages, to improve customer service.

Several traders in Surat have supported Trachand Kasat, Former President, Federation of Surat Textile Traders Association (FOSTTA)’s demands for elections to the parent body.

Kasat and a few FOSTTA members are planning to topple current president Manoj Agrawal and other members of the body. Kasat recently began a movement seeking support from the presidents of different textile trading bodies and traders demanding elections to FOSTTA. Since the past 10 years, Manoj Agrawal, President, Champalal Bothra, Secretary and Rangnath Sharda, spokesperson have not organized elections, which should be done every two years, as mentioned in (FOSTTA) rule book. They are misusing the powers of FOSTTA for their personal gains, said Kasat.

In a letter signed by RK Singh, Secretary, Japan Market Co-operative Service Society said, the Japan market will not follow any orders and instructions of FOSTTA until elections are conducted and a new body is elected.

World’s foremost leader for size standards for the fashion industry Alvanon has launched its latest Fit Studio in Milan. As per an IAF report, launched in partnership with Italian fashion school Istituto Secoli, the Fit Studio will enable designers, fashion brands and retailers to try their garments on full form physical mannequins in a safe and private space, ensuring their collections achieve the best possible fit for their target demographic.

Offering dedicated design and fit space at Istituto Secoli offices, the Fit Studio will feature a full line-up of the Alvanon standard series, the European Standard fit forms available in men’s and women’s. The studio can either be rented out by brands looking to test out their fit standards or used by designers practicing their skills on a form that represents realistic body shapes.

Alvanon has previously launched Fit Studios in Amsterdam, Hong Kong, London, New York and Shanghai. The company teamed up with Istituto Secoli for their Milan location. to help foster young talent, Alvanon and Istituto Secoli agreed to use 100 per cent of the money earned from the Fit Studio for scholarships.

Global leader in specialty chemicals towards sustainable solutions, Archroma has launched a new softening system for textile and fashion applications known as Earth Soft. Based on Archroma's latest innovation, a vegan silicone softener, Siligen® EH1 has 35 per cent plant-based active content. The range has been developed in line with the principles of ‘The Archroma Way to a sustainable world: safe, efficient, enhanced, it’s our nature.’ The product features ultralow cyclic siloxanes (D4, D5, D6) which are classified by the European Chemicals Agency as ‘substances of very high concern’ due to their very persistent and bioaccumulative properties.

Siligen® EH1 is ideally suited for shirts, underwear, sportswear, towels, bed sheets, etc. as it provides an excellent wearing comfort by supporting a good moisture transportation and delivering a smooth and soft touch.

The new softener, and the Earth Soft system which also includes a Hydroperm® wicking agent to boost hydrophilic properties on synthetic and blended fibers, can be applied on all natural and synthetic textile fibers.

Siligen® EH1 is suitable for both woven and knitted articles. It can be applied by padding process, as well as by exhaust process as it shows a very good shear stability and a low foaming profile. It can be used on white articles and those treated with optical brighteners, as it doesn’t cause thermomigration nor phenolic yellowing.

Italian luxury menswear group Ermengildo Zegna has decided to ban the use of real fur in its collections henceforth. In 2021, the brand’s sales grew 27 per cent while turnover reached €1.29 billion. The brand is fast approaching its pre-pandemic level, registering a decline of only 2 per cent compared to 2019.

Ermengildo Zegna’s 2022 collections will be the last ones to use fur, says Gildo Zegna, CEO. The group owns two brands, namely: Zegna and Thom Browne. Zegna accounts for nearly 66 per cent of the total revenues of the Piedmont-born group, Thom Browne accounts for 20 per cent, while the rest of the revenues come from the group's textile activities. Last year, Zegna’s sales surged 33 per cent to €847.3 million, though they remained below its 2019 level.

Thom Browne’s sales surged 64 per cent compared to 2019 and 47 per cent over last year to €263.3 million. Direct sales more than doubled compared to 2019 and surged 63 per cent over 2020. The group's textile revenues also increased 17 per cent to €102.2 million.

Ermenegildo Zegna Group’s sales increased across all regions except Japan, where they fell by 10 per cent due to the country’s drop in tourism and ongoing COVID-19 restrictions. Sales in North America jumped 46 per cent to €191.2 million, due in large part to a strong financial performance in the United States, where revenues rose 53 per cent year-over-year.