Footwear brand Neeman’s has raised $1 million (Rs 7 crore) in pre-series A funding led by Anicut Angel Fund and other angel investors. The brand will use the funds for expanding its business, product portfolio, and marketing. This investment will support the brand’s journey, as it scales up in a growing footwear market in India while targeting aware, responsible, comfort-seeking and fashion-conscious customers.

Neeman’s was founded in 2017 by Taran Chhabra and Amar Preet Singh and projects itself as an all-day wear brand claiming that it makes use of recyclable and chemical-free materials for its products. The brand recently launched its eco-friendly merino shoe brand in collaboration with The Woolmark Company on its e-commerce site. The collection includes classic sneakers, jogging shoes, and loafers in a range of colors.

Italian textile producer and luxury men’s wear label Ermenegildo Zegna and US casual wear brand, Fear of God have entered into a partnership. Over 95 per cent of the fabrics in the collection of suits and double-breasted leather blazers come from Zegna’s mills. Fear of God provided the denim and a light-but-dense cotton seen in roll-neck tops. Silhouettes are looser. Details are deft, especially at the neckline in this tieless collection – like marvelous silk tops, cuffed and finished with clever zippered funnel-necks. There are excellent checked Chesterfields, dashing suede shirt-jackets and plush lambskin jerkins. Any lapel is dropped or lazy. Lots of pants are finished with cummerbunds or wide waist-belts; jackets come with Henleys and soft collar tops. The tailoring is easily digestible since a too tailored look is anathema for this generation.

The range is titled Fear of God exclusively for Ermenegildo Zegna XXX, from the triple-X couture division of the Italian label. In total, there are 39 looks, accessorized with some natty gray suede moccasins and smart boots. Plans are to retail the collection in over 30 Zegna flagships, major department stores and e-tailers. The collection is aimed at a new clientele.

In the first nine months of 2019, Vietnam’s exports to the US jumped by 34.8 per cent. >But the US no longer considers Vietnam a developing country. This means Vietnam will stop receiving some preferential treatment. Vietnam’s developing country status with the WTO remains unchanged and it still enjoys the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP). Vietnam, however, will have to be even more careful to deal with origin fraud and transshipment as this has been the source of US tariffs on Vietnam in the past. The tariffs were imposed to prevent steel products that originated from China attempting to bypass anti-dumping rules. Overall, Vietnam-US trade will likely to continue to increase. However, Vietnam will need to be more careful particularly for industries such as steel, footwear and agricultural products exports to the US, which have been growing. If it does not, the US is likely to impose countervailing duties on products that it deems to harm its domestic industries.

The US has recently slimmed down its list of developing and least developed countries. So the move is not directed specifically at Vietnam but includes several other countries. The move will allow the US a reduced threshold for starting an investigation into which countries are harming US industries with subsidized exports.

The global T-shirt market is growing at six per cent and is expected to register significant growth with rising disposable incomes and a rapidly shifting trend toward customized T-shirts. In addition, advances in technology have led to the introduction of advanced inkjet heads that are compatible with a variety of inks from different suppliers. In addition, fine embroideries with a faster output rate have also been developed significantly. The industry has been aligning its research and development activities taking into account the dynamic nature of fashion trends demanding shorter production cycles and high-quality prints.

Cotton is the most common and preferred fabric for T-shirts. However, other materials such as linen, Lycra, polyester, rayon, and blends of two or three materials are also used for manufacturing T-shirts. T-shirts made from Lycra and polyester are generally used for athletic apparels, while cotton and linen T-shirts are preferred for daily casual wear.

Based on ink type, the T-shirts market is classified into dyes ink, sublimation ink, pigment ink and others. The emergence of advanced alternative techniques such as sublimation printing is a major driving factor for custom T-shirt printing and the dyes and inks involved in printing the T-shirts. Printing technology and advanced machines capable of creating flawless embroidery have also helped the overall T-shirt industry to flourish.

Sustainable strides are being made in the denim world at large. But the apparel industry as a whole is overusing the word sustainability, and taking steps toward a more environmentally friendly output is not enough to truly change consumers’ attitudes about why they should buy higher priced, better-for-the-world products. The barrier to scaling sustainable solutions and increasing positive impact is cost. Consumers are price conscious and would be unwilling to take on a sustainability tax. In order for mainstream customers to widely adopt sustainable solutions in apparel, not just luxury consumers, it should be cost neutral.

While there is no shortage of innovative ideas cropping up across the industry, it now falls on brands and their partners to commit to the widespread adoption of proven sustainable techniques. Shoppers are gunning for a more environmentally stable future and pushing brands to show their work instead of just delivering answers and demanding trust. As the resources used to produce apparel—like fibers, water and electricity—become more expensive, mills and factories must innovate to cut down on waste and maintain unit cost. Apparel using post-consumer recycled materials—a widely available feedstock—would reduce the costs and resources used to grow and produce virgin materials, and also reduce landfill waste. But, again, a cost-conscious consumer will only buy-in if it is cost neutral.

New Zealand’s trade and export growth minister David Parker says, the country plans to push for a bilateral trade agreement with India if New Delhi does not join the China-backed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

India in November decided not to join RCEP as negotiations failed to satisfactorily address New Delhi's ‘outstanding issues and concerns’. However, the possibility of India joining the trade pact is still open provided its concerns are addressed by the member nations.

Noting that New Zealand was disappointed with India’s decision on RCEP, Parker said the disappointment was not only for lost bilateral opportunities but also because the nation believes there is a strategic benefit for India of being on the table when the regional trade rules are made.

The RCEP negotiations were launched by leaders from 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian nations and six other countries -- India, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand during the 21st ASEAN Summit in Phnom Penh in November 2012.

A new sustainability initiative ‘Accelerating Circularity’ is working with major apparel companies to chart ways to eliminate textile-industry waste and recycle it into new fibers and materials.

Accelerating Circularity’s mission will be to research and identify opportunities in apparel supply chains in order to make them circular, which mean taking returned goods and items defined as waste materials and turning them into new textiles. The initiative’s first projects will include research into mechanical and chemical recycling of cotton, viscose and polyester textile waste. These three fibers comprise more than 80 per cent of all textile fiber production.

Less than one per cent of textile waste gets recycled into new textiles. Some 16.9 million tons of textile waste are dumped annually. There need to be new maps for the supply chain that don’t exist today. There is a need to create the knowledge of where the textile waste is, how it should be collected and where it has to be fed to the appropriate recyclers. Some of the biggest names in fashion are joining forces to create a thriving industry based on the principles of a circular economy and are addressing issues that have seen the fashion industry become one of the most polluting and wasteful operating today.

Philippine’s garment exports are expected to register flat growth this year as firms struggle to find alternative sources of raw materials outside China. Nearly all of the country’s apparel production has stopped due to the unavailability of the raw materials.

The crisis triggered by the virus outbreak has forced many factories in the Philippines to shut down. The country needs to find alternative sources for fabric, textile and accessories as there is no trusted domestic manufacturer of these raw materials.

This is the reason why the garment industry is tempering growth forecast this year, expecting export receipts to stay the same or rise by a mere 1 per cent.

The industry is anticipating new players to come in when the Corporate Income Tax and Incentives Rationalization Act (CITIRA) bill becomes law, as it will reduce corporate income tax to 20 per cent by 2029 from 30 per cent now, the highest rate in Southeast Asia.

In terms of market, the United States will keep its status as the country’s largest buyer of clothing products this year and can further strengthen this position if it expands the generalised system of preferences (GSP) of the Philippines to garments and footwear.

Lenzing has resumed production in Nanjing, China, after experiencing complications due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, the Austrian company had temporarily halted production in China due to a shortage of supplies of raw materials, as a result of intense transport controls in relation to the outbreak of the coronavirus in the country.

The Austrian company has appointed Stephan Sielaff and Christian Skilich as chief technology officer and administrator of pulp and wood raw materials, respectively. These two appointments have meant increasing the company’s board of directors from four to five.

Stephan Sielaff will be Lenzing’s new chief technology officer effective March 1, 2020, succeeding Heiko Arnold, who left the company last November. Sielaff is an engineer with experience in the chemical industry since 1993, holding positions at Unilever and Symrise.

On the other hand, Christian Skilich will assume the position of member of the board of administration of pulp and wood raw materials from June 1, 2020. Skilich recently served as director of operations on the board of directors of Mondi, overseeing projects in States United and Europe.

Currently, Lenzing is led by Stefan Doboczky, the chairman of the company. It ended 2018 with sales of 2.2 billion euros (2.4 billion dollars), 3.7 percent less than the previous year. The net result stood at 148.2 million euros (163.4 million dollars), compared to 281.7 million (310.6 million dollars) in 2017, down by 47.3 per cent.

Indonesia launches Asia Pacific Rayon (APR) factory in Pelalawan, Riau. The new plant is a step forward for Indonesia's Fourth Industrial Revolution, also known as Industry 4.0. It has the technology to turn wood into fabrics and garments.

The factory is an affiliate of pulp and paper producer Asia Pacific Resources International Holdings, and both entities are subsidiaries of the Singapore-based Royal Golden Eagle. It claims to be the first fiber plant to have the capacity of planting and harvesting trees for sustainable sourcing and manufacturing. According to its sustainable policy, APR is committed to only sourcing wood fiber from sustainably managed plantations

With this new APR plant, Indonesia attempts to monitor the entire supply chain for viscose to brand itself as a market for ‘sustainable fashion.’

In Pelalawan, where the APR plant is set up, the forests were destroyed by recurring fires, a problem accelerated by the expanding palm plantations. Big corporations were accused of clearing vegetation for palm oil, pulp and paper plantations with a slash-and-burn technique to yield extra land. Indonesia saw 328,724 hectares of land burnt in 2019 alone, most of which were rainforests. Those that have already been developed into economic plantations, however, stayed untouched from the fires.