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.

Première Vision was held in Paris from February 11 to 13, 2020. Some exhibiting denim manufacturers offered new materials and low-impact fabrics. Among them, Prosperity presented an enlarged selection of its Stella Blu line, which offers indigo fabrics characterized by new textures, weights and end-uses. Evlox focused on Redenim, its overall offer of eco-friendly denim. Kipas Denim presented eco-friendly denim made by using organic cotton, preconsumer and postconsumer recycled denim, and eco-friendly fibers such as hemp and other sustainable resources. Bossa presented a selection of indigo corduroys and bright earthy hue fabrics.

Advance Denim showed a new series of denims available in a vast selection of blue hues produced according to a less resource consuming and an eco-friendly dyeing system. While conventional dyeing techniques use 15 to 17 different steps, out of which about ten are dyeing dipping steps, Advance Denim’s system uses four steps for its dyeing process and a single dyeing bath. This way water, electricity, chemical can be reduced as well as gas and wastewater production. Albini, a shirting fabric specialist, and Iluna, a high-end lace manufacturer, presented their products dyed with vegetal natural dyes. Limonta offered a selection of fabrics made with recycled nylon fibers, while Marzotto hawked a line of fabrics made with Tencel and wool, and Tencel and linen delivering great silky aspects, wrinkle-free and easy-care characteristics.

The free trade agreement with the EU is likely to have a marginal impact on Vietnam’s textile industry in the short term. This is despite the fact that the textile and garment industry is expected to benefit the most from the agreement. The average tariff applied by Europe on these products is at nine per cent which will be eliminated within three years or right after the FTA comes into force for less sensitive products. Under the tariff reduction roadmap, tariffs on most yarn and fabric products will be immediately exempted while tariffs on garments will gradually decrease to zero in the next six to eight years.

But the agreement only opens up opportunities for businesses with material autonomy as well as those with large EU groups of customers. The lack of local suppliers for input materials is proving to be a major challenge for Vietnam’s textile and garment industry to enjoy preferential treatment from the agreement as it fails to comply with the rules of origin. At present, nearly 90 per cent of the inputs for the industry is currently being imported from countries which are not members of the EU or those which the bloc has signed trade deals with.