The Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) has stiffer regulations for transparent and traceable processing of organic textiles.

GOTS is introducing a compulsory farm-gin registry for all farms and farm groups whose certified raw material enters the GOTS system, including information on farm yields. The registry will be implemented progressively, starting in India.

The credibility of inspection agencies in India for organic cotton has come under doubt. Raw cotton is not allowed to travel more than 500 km from the farm to the certified gin. The shorter trade chain is meant to protect vulnerable points and optimizes the process for buyers.

GOTS will increase the number of unannounced audits at gins where there is a high perception of risk. GOTS also stipulates that the Farm TC number appears on the first GOTS TC at the ginning plant, which is the first step for cotton in the GOTS supply chain. The TC must state the origin for raw material, including region, state and province. This effectively traces material back to the field and adds another layer of accountability to GOTS-certified fiber.

GOTS is the world’s leading standard for processing of organic textiles. It mandates use of minimum 70 per cent organic fibres and includes both environmental and social criteria.

Global Fashion Agenda (GFA) and BBC are collaborating on a film series on social and environmental sustainability in the fashion industry.

The series will educate consumers as to the scale of the issue and the promise of solutions, while galvanising leaders in the sector to follow the blueprint of those that have been successful. The series will be hosted on a dedicated BBC.com microsite, providing an immersive experience for browsers and an opportunity for in-depth coverage spanning films, articles, infographics and animations. A multi-platform campaign will reach relevant audience groups from among BBC.com’s 144 million monthly browsers, as well as the global fashion sector through the GFA and its network.

Global Fashion Agenda is a non-profit organisation that fosters industry collaboration on sustainability in fashion to accelerate impact. With the vision of a net positive fashion industry, it drives action by mobilising, inspiring, influencing and educating all stakeholders. The organisation has been leading the movement since 2009 and is behind the renowned international forum on sustainability in fashion, Global Fashion Summit. Global Fashion Agenda spearheads the fashion industry’s journey to a more sustainable future. Through its work, Global Fashion Agenda reaches thousands of stakeholders including brands, innovators, NGOs, policy makers, manufacturers, investors and more.

Nico Reiner is the new chief financial officer of Lenzing. He has held several positions in his professional career to date. He has a degree in business administration. He is a proven financial expert with substantial international experience.

Lenzing is a provider of sustainably produced specialty fibers for the textile and nonwoven industries. Lenzing stands for ecologically responsible production of specialty fibers made from the renewable raw material wood. Lenzing is a partner of global textile and nonwoven manufacturers and drives many new technological developments. Lenzing’s fibers form the basis for a variety of textile applications ranging from elegant clothing to versatile denims and high-performance sports clothing. Due to their consistent high quality, biodegradability and compostability Lenzing fibers are also highly suitable for hygiene products and agricultural applications.

The business model of Lenzing goes far beyond that of a traditional fiber producer. Together with its customers and partners, Lenzing develops innovative products along the value chain, creating added value for consumers. Lenzing strives for the efficient utilization and processing of all raw materials and offers solutions to help redirect the textile sector towards a closed-loop economy.In order to reduce the speed of global warming, Lenzing has a clear vision: namely to make a zero-carbon future come true.

Pakistan will not find it easy to obtain GSP Plus benefits from the European Union.

While Pakistan is struggling to comply with existing 27 EU conventions of GSP Plus, the EU plans to introduce some more conventions. These relate mainly to environment and social standards.

The GSP Plus status holds significant importance for Pakistan’s economy as it has played a key role in the expansion of multilateral trade.EU-Pakistan relations have a strategic engagement that covers all areas including counter-terrorism, trade, climate change, GSP Plus status and various others. Continuity of GSP Plus is subject to ratification of more than five to six new conventions related to environment and social standards including the remaining 27.

The existing GSP plus scheme is confined to the textile sector. The EU is the biggest market for Pakistan’s goods and accounts for about one-third of all exports from the country.GSP Plus has increased EU-Pakistan trade, which increased by 78 per cent in 2021 as compared to the year earlier. So GSP Plus has been very beneficial for Pakistan’s economy. It provides duty-free access to the huge EU market for textile and apparel and also provides an incentive structure to undertake reforms in the industry and country.

Every cloud has a silver lining and the rise of online shopping during the pandemic has proved just that. Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) companies are currently raking in profits like never before as a large number of customers used to the ease of online shopping, still prefer it over visiting physical stores. D2C companies specialize in selling products directly to the end consumer by cutting out middleman and this has completely transformed the online fashion industry in India.

Easy internet accessibility improves sales

With a consistent increase in internet accessibility with providers like Jio with their exceptional infrastructure and reasonable pricing, even rural customers have smart phones. With increased aspirations for a better lifestyle, over 42 per cent global consumers are spending notably more time browsing social media than before Covid times.

D2C brands are keeping authentic in-stock garments along with easy and quick home delivery courier service. These brands can deliver in remote locations as well as Tier II, III cities. This growth has also led to the establishment of various companies offering integrated services like delivery, logistics, and warehousing. These brands are able to easily gather valuable consumer data, which can be used in a faster feedback cycle and an in-depth understanding of customer preferences that can improve overall product and service development.

Smaller D2C fashion brands have an advantage over bigger ones as they can have a personalized product portfolio that has unique collections for different festivals, seasons, and geographical locations across India. For small independent brands, the online potential consumer is a huge unlimited market that can be lured to buy at little to no cost, unlike the reach of a physical store.

Focus on customized fits and improved mobile shopping

With focussed consumer targeting and intensive digital marketing, some D2C brands are crossing the $100 million a year revenue threshold which is a far cry from the $20 million/per year before Covid. However, the road to success is not of gilded gold as they need to overcome some of the biggest industry challenges, which include managing product content across various sales channels, sustainability issues, sophisticated customer relationship programs, and re-creating the in-store experience with online product videos, editorial images, and 360-degree product views. These include: hi-tech solutions for a personalized fashion experience with customized tailoring, bespoke fits, and more options to choose from in length and sleeves and catering to more customers with specific preferences.

As per a recent KPMG report, Fable Street, G.O.A.T. Brand Labs, Twenty Dresses, Bombay Shirt Company and Bombay Trooper are just a few of the over 800 D2C brands in India. This report has valued the segment at $44.6B in 2021 and projected to reach $100B by 2025. The way forward will require the brands to use more high-tech video commerce with the virtual world coming to the forefront while 5G and mobile shopping play a big role in facilitating live online purchases.

As competition gets more intense, DTC companies will also need to focus on keeping their prices at par and improving their quality and customer care to stand out from the regular brands sold at physical stores. Wellness and fitness apparel will be another important segment with a focus on sustainable packaging and recycled and environmentally friendly products. With customer retention and brand loyalty being the biggest challenge, DTC brands must concentrate on making their online shopping experience bigger and the best than many of their rivals in the actual world.

Fashion brand Zara has decided to venture into the business of pre-owned clothing.

The company will start to offer repair, resale and donations services in the UK. This move into a more sustainable approach is a departure from its fast fashion image. As part of the new offering, customers will have the option to repair their Zara clothing from any season which includes replacing buttons, zips and seams both online or in a physical Zara store.Customers can also resell and purchase worn Zara garments utilising a new secure platform and make a clothing donation of any brand to charity.

This initiative starts in November. Clothing items can be donated through home collection and they will be sent to the Red Cross, an organization which reuses or recycles them.

Launching of resale platforms for fashion brands have become more common in this day and age. Fast fashion brands look to come across more sustainable given the textile industry contributes around ten per cent of global carbon emission. The growing issue of ethical fashion has thrown a spotlight on the sustainability of fast fashion and in turn guided the fashion industry down a road toward a more sustainable fiber use.

Tunisia’s revenue from textile and clothing exports increased by 11 per cent from January 2022 to September 2022. However, the quantities of goods exported by the country fell by 27 per cent.

Knitwear exports grew by 24 per cent in tons and 34 per cent in dinars. Exports of clothing in warp and weft jumped 12 per cent in tons and 18 per cent in dinars.

There was development in value and weight for clothing exports in warp and weft concerning the main markets — Germany (28 per cent in weight and 34 per cent in dinars), Italy (ten per cent in weight and 21 per cent in dinars) and France (four per cent in weight and 12 per cent in dinars).

Exports of Tunisia’s textile sector dropped 50 per cent in tons and 34 per cent in dinars. While the African nation’s textile exports to France dropped by 52 per cent, exports to Italy rose by 13 per cent.Textile and clothing imports grew by 29 per cent by the end of September 2022 in comparison to the corresponding period of 2021. However, quantities of imports dropped by 16 per cent.

Textiles are a pillar of the Tunisian economy and contribute more than 20 per cent to the GDP.

Pakistan’s textile sector is facing serious difficulties after a portion of the cotton crop was washed away by floods.

Pakistan imported three million cotton bales last year and needs to import at least five million bales during the current fiscal year due to damage to the crop by recent floods.Current estimates of losses to the cotton crop due to floods are 3.5 million bales, accounting for 36 percent of the expected yield this year.

Pakistan decided to reverse the competitive power rates for industries. In protest, textile millers have decided to shut down all textile industries in the country. More than 1000 textile mills have already been closed down. Almost 50 to 75 processing mills are closed and almost ten printing mills are closed in Faisalabad region. Similarly 50,000 looms mills closed due to the high price of electricity. Factories received bills at rates per unit which were too high. Almost 300 to 350 embroidery machines have been closed till date. The closure of the textile industry will cause a huge loss to domestic exports.

Five million employees will lose their jobs and 30 million people will be affected due to the closure of textile industries. The industry wants electricity and gas to be provided at competitive rates and without interruptions.

India has decided not to levy an anti-dumping duty on Monoethylene Glycol (MEG).

MEG is a major raw material used for the manufacture of polyester staple fiber. The Southern India Mills Association (SIMA) has welcomed the decision since adequate availability of polyester staple fiber at an internationally competitive rate would fuel the growth of technical textiles. This, SIMA says, is necessary as with the cotton shortage, several hundreds of spinning mills, weaving mills, knitting and garment capacities in India are switching over to polyester textile clothing manufacturing. So the decision sustains the financial viability of these segments apart from protecting the jobs of several lakhs of people.

The Production Linked Incentive Scheme encourages large scale investment in the manmade fiber segment.Globally, the ratio of consumption of manmade textile fiber and cotton is 65:35. In India it is the opposite. India’s major growth of textiles is expected to come from manmade fiber industry. Once a stage is reached where the entire demand is fulfilled by domestic supply, raw material can be made available to lakhs of weavers involved in the polyester value chain, thereby leading to enhanced production of finished goods, enabling realization of the export targets. Expansion of production capacity of key raw materials for manufacturing of polyester viz Purified Terephthalic Acid and Monoethylene Glycol is essential for increased production of the downstream industry.

White Milano will be held in Italy, February 24 to 27, 2023. The decision was taken after the successful edition of September 2022 when the event registered the presence of 16,000 visitors, 23 per cent more than those registered in September 2021, and 18 per cent more international buyers, when compared with the corresponding edition of last year when the show took place in five different locations, hosted 400 brands and presented 65 side initiatives including special projects e-events.

The decision of postponing the event by one day aims to respond to the strategic need of facilitating fashion operators with their schedules, yet still aligned with the dates of international fashion weeks. The organizers came to this decision after carefully analysing the needs of customers, the flow of buyers and international press, the schedules of buyers and the international media. The change is meant to facilitate the operations of professionals and appointments planning. All the show locations expect to host a higher number of trendy international brands, established labels, new generation designers, innovative formats and a rich schedule of events linked to the world of sustainability.

The organisers feel the change will facilitate the work and appointments planning of the entire professional involved.