Cotton produced the world over in accordance with voluntary sustainability standards (vss) saw a 39 per cent to 40 per cent compound annual growth rate between 2008 and 2019.

In 2019, about 92 per cent of vss-compliant cotton came from Asia, led by India, China, and Turkey. Cotton compliant with vss accounted for at least 14 per cent of total cotton production in 2016. Consumers and companies across the planet are increasingly choosing cotton produced in accordance with vss, such as Better Cotton or Cotton made in Africa.

Top cotton brands and companies reported that 85 per cent, or 7,20,000 tons, of their cotton was more sustainably sourced in 2020 compared to 2017.Farmers can receive up to 50 per cent higher prices and 20 per cent higher crop incomes for vss-compliant cotton compared to those selling conventional cotton, due to the increased quality and cost-efficient practices associated with compliance.

Sustainable cotton is in high demand as customers look to make responsible purchasing decisions and brands use sustainability to differentiate their products in the market. Most of the demand is coming from Europe and North America. But awareness is rising in big developing and emerging markets that suggests the growth will continue.

Redress, based in Hong Kong, educates and empowers emerging fashion designers about circular fashion, against the background that 80 per cent of a product’s environmental impact is laid down at the design stage.

Redress is galvanising the emerging designer sustainable design movement, creating change at the drawing board. Redress has a vision to build a world in which fashion is circular. Together with emerging designers, academia, business, and government, Redress is accelerating a circular fashion industry globally.

Based in Hong Kong, the heart of Asia and the gateway to the Mainland of China, Redress is in a prime position to address the issue of waste within the fashion industry.While the fashion industry has grappled with many challenging Covid-related supply chain impacts and a challenging economy, fashion’s environmental and waste crisis is worsening.

The equivalent of one rubbish truck of textiles is landfilled or burned every second, global textile waste estimated to increase by 63 per cent by 2030, and the fashion industry is responsible for ten per cent of global carbon emissions — more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined.

Asia is the global fashion industry’s engine of production and, increasingly, consumption. Asia accounts for around 60 per cent of global exports of garments, textiles, and footwear, and China is the world’s biggest fashion consumer market.

Mango has published a full list of its Tier III suppliers. The aim of using visibility is to push its sustainability goals. The list follows the publication of its Tier I and II suppliers, all released as part of its sustainability initiatives.

The fashion brand has been the first in its home country of Spain to publish each of the tier lists. Across all three tiers, Mango has about 2,400 factories it works with, each of them named in its spreadsheet along with the city and country they are based in. Of those, nearly 1,300 are purely Tier III suppliers. Additional Tier III suppliers work across multiple tiers. The highest share of factories producing for Mango are in Turkey (663), followed by China (651), India (214), Spain (169) and Italy (150).

The company’s goal is to move towards the full traceability and transparency of its value chain, in order to continue with the process of auditing its suppliers and ensuring that appropriate working conditions are being fulfilled for the workers in the factories the company works with around the world. That level of transparency is, for now, somewhat radical in the fashion industry, which navigates complicated supply chains and, for decades, has been trailed by a long list of concerns around its environmental and social footprint.

The European Fashion Alliance (EFA) is pushing for a greener, more innovative future.

For one it is supporting designers who have a commitment to sustainability. Since craftsmanship delivers two important things, high quality and durability, EFA is advocating for it, promoting it, developing it further and explaining how it adds value, not just in terms of price, but in terms of culture as well.

The first transnational alliance of European fashion councils and institutions, the EFA has 29 member organisations including the Council of Irish Fashion Designers, the Federation de la Haute Couture et de la Mode and the Camera Nazionale Della Moda Italiana.

EFA’s four main objectives between now and 2027 include an ethical, social and sustainable code of conduct for members and, by extension, the fashion industry as a whole.The European Fashion Alliance wants a new green deal for fashion at the European level, to encourage fashion culture and businesses founded on a circular and social fashion ecosystem.The EFA wants to introduce sustainable and technological training and is putting a strong focus on the empowerment of Generation Z and the new generations as leading forces of value in digital, circular and social transition of the fashion industry.

Pakistan’s exports of textile goods decreased by 17 per cent year on year in December 2022.

Lower demand in the world market and import restrictions in Pakistan have been blamed for the slack performance of the textile industry, which has around a 50 per cent share in Pakistan’s exports every year. On a month on month basis, textile exports slipped by six per cent in December 2022 as compared to November 2022. Overall, in the first half of the financial year 2022-23, exports of the textile industry dipped by seven per cent year on year.

A delay in export proceeds due to the uncertainty about the exchange rate also played a role in reining in exports. Textile exports went down primarily due to the curbs on opening letters of credit for raw material imports, a gas shortage and a slowdown in import orders from European countries amid an inventory pile-up.

Pakistan expects textile exports to remain muted in the coming months. A higher working capital requirement will continue to pile pressure on textile players while the clearance of raw material at ports is still awaited owing to the unavailability of foreign exchange.A large number of containers having imported polyester yarn have been help up at ports and the delay in their clearance has caused huge losses to importers.

Australian fashion brand Outland Denim has claimed a revised B Corporation score of 160.2.

This is a jump of 43 per cent from its maiden score of 111.5 in 2018, following a rigorous recertification process that takes place every three years.

B Corp certification is assessed across five categories – governance, workers, community, the environment, and customers. Organisations are required to meet high standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability to achieve certification, and must meet or exceed a score of 80.

There are currently 5,000 certified B Corps across 79 countries, 154 industries, and over 400,000 workers. Overall, around 200,000 businesses globally have taken the assessment, with an average score of 50.9. The average Australian business scores 83.2. Outland Denim became the first Australian denim label to become B Corp certified in 2018, and the second denim brand globally to be certified.

Each Outland Denim garment is made in the brand’s vertically integrated production and finishing facility in Cambodia, which was founded to offer holistic support, training and employment to young women who have experienced exploitation. The company utilises water and energy saving technologies, sustainable, vegan-friendly raw materials, and biodegradable packaging. Last year, it launched a batch of clay-dyed denim.

Cambodia’s products are likely to see a drop in purchase orders early in 2023.

Export of garment products, bags and footwear in 2022 increased moderately compared to 2021. At the beginning of 2022, the situation of orders was good, but by the end of 2022 and at the beginning of 2023, orders for shoes and bags decreased by about 30 per cent to 40 percent mainly due to the Russian-Ukrainian war. Footwear exports increased from August 2022 to December 2022 but then have decreased significantly.

Overseas buyers cut back on orders, causing some factories to reduce staff, reducing overtime for production lines and closing some factories. Cambodia’s exports of garment, footwear and travel goods rose by 14 per cent in 2022. Garments, footwear and travel goods products account for 56 percent of Cambodia’s total exports. The garment, footwear and travel goods industry is the largest foreign exchange earner for Cambodia.

The sector consists of roughly 1,100 factories and branches, employing about 7,50,000 workers, mostly female.Cambodia’s biggest markets for travel bags and footwear are the United States and the European Union. But Cambodia also exports to Canada and Asean countries. In 2022 Cambodia’s exports of garment products, footwear and travel goods rose by 12 percent, 24 percent, and 17 percent.

Year 2022 was all about positivity and hope for the fashion industry with much hype about the return of consumers after two years of lockdown and uncertainty. Many brands went on to invest in more “on trend” collections that addressed sustainability and eco-consciousness. Fast fashion was pulled up for its wasteful and environment-damaging ways and brands jumped on the socially-conscious bandwagon. Now, that we are in 2023 and the celebratory confetti of 2022 have settled down on the ground, the sector’s emerging picture looks a little different as quite a few negative trends come to the fore affecting businesses worldwide.

Economic downturn is for real

It can no longer be denied that inflation is on record high and energy costs have soared to the point that consumers are hurting. As per a KMPG report, 2023 is going to be a big year of falling consumer confidence and 66 per cent of consumers, especially in major economies of North America and Europe which are going to drastically cut back on non-essentials. Empirical data shows during economic crisis, the biggest cut back is on fashion, particularly across the West.

A McKinsey report states 72 per cent of fashion brands will be forced to increase prices to protect bottom lines in the face of increased cost of raw material and production that affects their lines. As consumers choose to cut their fashion expenses, these brands face the risk of out-pricing themselves and losing loyal customer bases.

Cost-cutting affects jobs

Fashion brands are leaving no stone unturned in the face of economic adversity. Pressurised by shareholders to curtail costs as much as possible, many brands are letting go of their retail outlets and the associated staff unless they register high performance. Macy’s has already downed its shutters on four of its full-line stores across the US. Additionally, fashion brands are embracing leaner corporate structures with the result that many corporate jobs have been axed. H&M CEO Helena Helmersson recently told a global news service the cost and efficiency programme initiated by the organisation is reviewing the structure and being mindful that it will affect the lives of employees. H&M is about to let go of 1,500 employees worldwide. This move will help H&M save close to $93 million annually. The current economic condition has also tabled the question of the success of the DTC business model. For example, Everlane has been laying off employees since the pandemic started, making itself leaner on average of ten to fifteen per cent of its staff annually since then. In November 2022, UK’s famous online market place Lyst let go 25 per cent of its staff.

Supplier challenge has become an issue

First of all, the US sanctions on Xianjiang-sourced cotton has become a huge issue as brands are being scrutinized for the products. With the monitoring system still in its inchoate stage, brands are struggling trying to keep Xianjiang-sourced cotton off their products. They can’t seem to control the cotton-trading hubs where this banned cotton is entering the legit market through mixing with cotton from other locations.

Similarly, brands are trying hard to cope with sustainability labels as research & development continues trying to bridge the gap between sustainability, wearability and cost efficiency. The other key challenge is trying to find the supplier fit as trends are changing so quickly that established brands can’t project collections for a well-planned production and distribution. As Achim Berg, Senior Partner and Lead on the BoF-McKinsey State of Fashion Report pointed out, the supplier side has a practical problem of delivering what is expected. But they’re also facing the issue of forecasting in a proper way because we don’t know exactly how the consumption patterns will develop.

International Institute of Sustainable Development (IISD) published a report recently on the growth of sustainable cotton practices and their pricing, as a part of their Global Market Report on agricultural products. Since 2008, IISD has been tracking the growth of voluntary sustainability standards (VSS)-compliant cotton production and states that this genre of cotton doubles its output every 2.5 years. Vivek Voora, Senior Associate at IISD said in the report “Sustainable cotton is in high demand as customers look to make responsible purchasing decisions and brands use sustainability to differentiate their products in the market.” He goes on to say, most of the demand is coming from Europe and North America. But awareness is rising in big developing and emerging markets that suggests the growth will continue.

This is the news that the industry has received gladly as growth of sustainable cotton translates to addressing issues of water scarcity, soil and water contamination from pesticide effluence and also, poor working conditions. Consumption of VSS-compliant cotton remains concentrated in Europe and North America driven by regulations, consumer preferences, and corporate sustainability commitments.

VSS cotton contributes 26 per cent of total production

The report which tracked the growth of VSS-compliant cotton growing practices worldwide states 92 per cent of this was contributed by key cotton producers in Asia: India, China and Turkey. Africa contributed 4 per cent, mainly from Tanzania, Uganda and Benin. The report states, by 2019, VSS-compliant cotton contributed a 26 per cent of all cotton production worldwide.

However, VSS-compliant production grew at a CAGR of 39 to 40 per cent between 2008 and 2019 but slowed to between 28 and 29 per cent from 2014 to 2019. More than 2.5 million farmers produced 6.24 Mt to 6.46 Mt of VSS-compliant cotton with a farm-gate value of $3 billion to $5 billion. The growth is not only being stimulated by the socially-conscious consumers or Gen Z and millennials but also by commitments of major international brands that offer cotton-based products. H&M, Inditex and IKEA have proven to be the most successful based on their 2020 commitment, whilst the C&A Group, Nike, Marks & Spencer, the Otto Group and Tchibo are also doing well in keeping their promises.

Top cotton brands and companies reported 85 or 720,000 tons, of their cotton was more sustainably sourced (VSS-compliant, in transition, or recycled) in 2020, up 300,000 tonnes from 2017. As per the report, in 2019, the top standards for sustainable cotton were set by Better Cotton, Fairtrade and Cotton Made in Africa.

Sustainable cotton can get 50 per cent higher price

A welcome revelation for the sustainable cotton sector was that the report indicated farmers can fetch up to 50 per cent higher prices for their produce and see a 20 per cent increase in their production compared to conventional cotton farming. Steffany Bermudez, Policy Analyst, IISD explains, “Prices and incomes are important because many smallholder cotton farmers live below the poverty line in developing countries. Now, the pandemic and Russia-Ukraine conflict have forced these struggling farmers to cope with rising input costs, reduced yields, and unpredictable price swings.”

Experts believe VSS price mechanisms in the cotton sector, such as those implemented by Fairtrade, contribute to more transparency in the sector and a better understanding of pricing calculations. However, there are concerns that VSS-compliant cotton still has a limited market and lacks a formalized system to calculate VSS-compliant cotton prices which makes tracking them difficult and can result in a lack of transparency in sales transactions that does not benefit the farmer in the end. It must be noted that government subsidy for cotton growers is a common practice in most cotton-growing nations.

Government subsidies to the cotton sector amounted to $8 billion in 2019-20, of which 84 per cent were from China and the US. In 2019 and 2020, an average 69 per cent of world cotton production was under government assistance or subsidies states IISD Report of 2020.

Pure London will feature a series of trend sessions by Promostyl. Retailers will be offered a unique opportunity to uncover the colours and styles their customers will want. Visitors can also visit the Promostyl stand throughout the show for trend advice and trend forecasting and enter to win free digital training by a Promostyl trend forecaster.

Since 1966, Promostyl based in France has advised global businesses and brands with trend book fashion, brand strategy, and collection development, using societal, cultural, economic, artistic, and technological evolutions and key markers to determine market and consumer trends and translate data into style concepts and trend reports.

The trend presentations at Pure London in February will offer visitors the opportunity to meet trend forecasting experts one to one for invaluable trend advice. Promostyl builds its forecast working with sociologists and designers and observing consumer behaviour and how their needs evolve with time. Its forecasts over the years have proven to be accurate. This expertise has also allowed different private clients to create collections and designs that successfully target their consumer. It is that same expertise that Promostyl hopes to provide during the upcoming Pure London show.

Trade fashion buying event Pure London will be held in the UK, February 12 to 14, 2023.