At its recent meeting, Cotton Association of India (CAI) increased its cotton production estimates for the 2019-20 season by 19 lakh (1.9 million) bales to 354.50 lakh (35.45 million) bales of 170 kg each. The committee increased its production estimate for the North zone by 3 lakh (0.3 million) bales, Central zone by 13 lakh (1.3 million) bales and Southern zone by 3.25 lakh (0.325 million) bales. This increase in production estimate is a result of higher pressing of cotton bales due to aggressive buying by CCI that induced farmers to bring their kapas to the market.

However, CAI predicts a decline in cotton consumption during the current year by 30 lakh bales (3.0 million) to 250 lakh (25 million) bales as against previous estimates of 280 lakh (28 million) bales. This reduction in consumption is estimated due to the disruptions caused on account of lockdown and shortage of labor. Upto July 31, cotton consumption in India is estimated to have been around 206 lakh bales (20.6 million) of 170 kg each.

Exports to rise by 8 lakh bales

CAI has also increased estimates for cotton exports from India by 3 lakh (0.3 million) bales. Compared to previous estimates of 47 lakh (4.7 million) bales, the association now expects India to export 5 lakh (5.0 million) bales during the current year. This estimate is higher by 8 lakh (0.8 million) bales compared to estimates for 2018-19 crop year. The association expects upto 43 lakh (4.3 million) bales to have been shipped upto July 31 and the remaining 7 lakh (0.7 million) bales are expected to be shipped during the months of August and September 2020.

Imports estimates falls by 50 per cent

CAI has also increased its estimate for cotton imports during the year by 1 lakh (0.1 million) bale to 16 lakh (1.6 million) bales compared to its previous imports estimate of 15 lakh (1.5 million) bales. However, this estimate is half of the previous year’s import estimate of 32 lakh (3.2 million) bales as cotton is now easily available in the domestic market at cheaper rates. India is estimated to have imported around 15 lakh(1.5 million) cotton bales upto July 31 and remaining 1 lakh(0.1 million) bales are expected to arrive in August and September 2020.

India to add 2 mn bales to cotton stock

Upto July 31, Indian spinning mills held upto 15 million (1.5 million) bales of cotton stock of 170 kg each This is an approximately 25 days’ consumption by mills at their current pace of cotton consumption this season. On the other hand, stock with CCI/Maharashtra Federation, MCX, MNCs, Ginners, etc. upto July 31, 2020 is estimated to be around 128.40 lakh(12.84 million) bales which is equivalent to about 136 lakh(13.6 million) running bales of 160 kg each totaling to 143.40 lakh(14.34 million) bales of 170 kg each.

The CAI;’s crop committee estimates total cotton stocks upto September 30, 2020 to reach 402.50 lakh (40.25 million) bales of 170 kg each as against 382.50 lakh(38.25 million) bales estimated in the previous month. This total stock includes opening stock of 32 lakh (3.2 million) bales on October 01, 2019, production estimated now at 354.50 lakh (35.45 million) bales and imports estimated at 16 lakh (1.6 million).

This is equivalent to about 109 lakh (10.9 million) running bales of 160 kg each. All the members of the Crop Committee from across the country will closely monitor cotton arrivals, consumption, imports, exports, etc before meeting again in September to estimate the final crop numbers and the cotton balance sheet as at the close of the 2019-20 crop year.

Jennifer Johnson has been promoted to be fashion director at Macy’s. She will be responsible for all areas of women’s apparel within the fashion office, which serves as a resource for determining the latest fashion trends and insights, and curates product from national and private brands.

Johnson, who has more than 20 years of fashion expertise in trend forecasting and marketing, joined Macy’s in 2006 as a head fashion stylist and has held various marketing roles. She was most recently director of creative marketing integration and production, where she focused on bringing fashion campaigns to life through multimedia.

Johnson reports directly to Durand Guion, vice president of Macy’s fashion office. She replaces Suzanne K. Anderson who was vice president and women’s Ready to Wear fashion director since January 2019 and is currently leading private brands design.

Johnson’s role is a critical one for the department store, considering the new challenges and changing consumer buying patterns due to the coronavirus pandemic. Furthermore, women’s sportswear has been among the softer categories at Macy’s, and Macy’s needs to present a fashion image and assortment that attracts a greater market share of younger generations.

Spinnova recently on boarded two niche textile experts to help commercialize its sustainable wood-based fibre. The company appointed Shahriare Mahmood as its new Sustainability Director. Mahmood joined Spinnova from the renown Finnish children’s wear brand Reima. He has both an academic and a technical textile industry background. Graduated as a chemical engineer in Bangladesh and Master of Engineering in Finland, Mahmood has also worked in textile mills in Asia and Europe.

In the course of his extensive career, he has specialized in e.g. circularity, material R&D as well as quality and supply chain management. He has also recently earned a PhD in sustainability management. With Spinnova, Mahmood focuses on supporting sustainability efforts of partnering brands and related pre-commercial and commercial phase supply chains.

Spinnova’s other textile expert appointment is Eun (Enja) Young Kim, who started as Senior Fibre Application Specialist in Spinnova’s R&D team. Engineer by background, Kim previously worked for fibre technology company Lenzing in Austria, where she worked in technical customer service of technical applications. She will be focusing on developing the Spinnova fibre’s quality and finishings.

French sporting goods retail giant Decathlon opened a new store at Select Citywalk, Saket. The store is equipped with all the safety precautions in order to offer a relaxed shopping experience to its customers.

The zero contact check-out called the ‘Scan & Pay’ uses the app feature to eliminate cashier contact while making the shopping experience easy and fast. It also has a zero contact drive-through for the shoppers on-the-go.

The store also offers the option of ‘Reserve & Collect’ where the order placed on the app can be picked up at the store within a 2 hour pick-up window.

Yogeshwar Sharma, Executive Director & CEO, Select Citywalk says, the mall has always brought customers the chance to experience world class brands across various categories. With the growing focus on sports and fitness, Decathlon would bring all its customers together in their passion for sports.

OFashion, a new online DTC marketplace believes these brands offer immense brand value when sold together and is taking on the marketing efforts to give these smaller companies a chance to thrive at DTC.

OFashion will focus on web traffic, user experience, marketing, and the curation of products. It will also centralize shipping and customer service to make it easier for brands and customers alike. This way unlike other multi-brand fashion marketplaces, processing times will be consistent (next day) and customers will receive their shipment in one box. The marketplace will also provide full customer support, saving customers the possible headache of dealing with multiple vendors for an issue. Orders have a 2 to 3-day shipping time with Free Shipping after $75.

The site also offers Free Returns. Looks on the site will focus on trendy contemporary and fast-fashion styles.

Bangladesh recently lost its coveted position of the second-largest garment exporter globally to Vietnam, in face of reversals in the export front, lately. Nevertheless, increased sale of apparel items in the West ahead of Christmas following a hike in demand in run up to the festival season is going to give a fillip to garment exports from Bangladesh, opine garment makers of the country.

They also hope to increase the market share in the USA consequent to the so-called trade war between the USA and the China, which they felt would give a further impetus to apparel exports from the country.

Anwarul Alam Chowdhury, President, BGMEA, said Bangladesh stands a very good chance to gain from the trade war between USA and China, towards increasing its share in the US market.

Meanwhile, as per Mohammed Hatem, Vice-President, BKMEA, temporary factory closure on account of coronavirus breakout in Bangladesh, in April, and reopening to operate only on a limited scale in May and June, are amongst the major reasons why Vietnam had been able to surpass Bangladesh.

Luxury fashion brand Valentino has banned alpaca wool from future fashion collections, after PETA’s undercover investigation of the world's largest privately owned alpaca farm in Peru, Mallkini, at which these animals are roughly shorn and left with deep wounds. PETA’s exposé highlighting gross misconduct at the site of Mallkini, the largest farm of its kind globally is ringing alarm bells for apparel brands that are just now becoming aware of the implications of their animal product sourcing strategies.

At the site in Peru, alpaca were found crying and vomiting as they’re roughly shorn with clippers leaving them in a bloodied state. In some cases, these animals were shown to be slammed onto tables, with their limbs clamped to stretching machines that almost dislocated their legs.

Marks & Spencer was the first to respond to the investigation’s findings as it highlighted concerns around the welfare of animals that are farmed to produce alpaca wool. A week later, Fast Retailing brand Uniqlo similarly pledged to ban the material from its products.

Turkey plans to hold the ITM 2021 Exhibition from June 22-26, 2021. The exhibition will direct the textile machinery sector to the latest technologies, new investment decisions, and strong collaborations. The exhibition will be attended by domestic and international textile machinery manufacturers. It will enable these company officials to integrate the latest developments in textile machinery into their production and direct their investments.

ITM 2021 will also enable these manufacturers to prove themselves in the domestic and international markets. The Turkish textile industry has made a righteous name for itself all over the world by coming to the fore in the field of production of masks and protective textiles during the COVID-19 crisis. These companies revitalized Turkey’s economy by providing confidence to the supply chain, taking rapid actions in changing conditions, strong infrastructure, and dynamic and skilled labor force.

These companies engaged in the production of high-quality masks and protective textiles in hygienic conditions, by using the advantages of early delivery due to Turkey’s geographical position. They also become the first choice of the European countries, which turned their route to nearby producers for supply.

UK’s Textiles Recycling Association (TRA), the Bureau of International Recycling and other organizations have welcomed a new protocol that provides information on what Kenya considers to be best practice on the importation and sale of used textiles and shoes and how supply chain operators should conduct their operations whilst ensuring the health and safety of the sellers, importers, wholesalers and buyers.

In its July/August issue of the Recycing International, Alan Wheeler, Director, TRA, appreciated Mitumba Association of Kenya for making excellent representations to their Government to help develop their industry and give it the recognition and credibility it deserves. He believes the formation of the new association in the country demonstrates how the voice of traders can be made stronger and more persuasive through the formation of recognized trade associations. Wheeler also advised Kenya to open its markets again.

The two leading tradeshow organizers Messe Frankfurt and Premium Group are joining forces to launch Frankfurt Fashion Week in summer 2021. The event will increase Frankfurt’s appeal as an international fashion hotspot. It has been purposely aimed at a forward-looking, digital-savvy fashion and lifestyle community. It will make innovative and sustainable products, collections and business models accessible to the wider market. It will also promote the future-oriented interconnection of fashion and technology as part of the real-digital reality. With leading international fairs like Techtextil, Texprocess and Texworld – and over 50 textile fairs worldwide – the Texpertise Network of Messe Frankfurt will open up further synergies.

The core components of Frankfurt Fashion Week will be Premium, Europe’s most relevant business platform for advanced women’s and menswear; Seek, one of the most progressive tradeshows for contemporary fashion, and Neonyt, the leading hub for sustainable fashion.