At Rs 1 lakh for a single candy, cotton yarn prices are making a bigger hole in yarn spinner’s pocket than they did 18 months ago. The rise in prices is incapacitating small and medium-scale garment exporters, who now have to pay Rs 30 to Rs 50 more for a kg of yarn, says Krish, Managing Director, Victorian Clothings. Accounting for 45 per cent of a garment’s costs, yarn prices are generally absorbed by buyers during production. However, since prices have more than doubled, spinners have refused to absorb this rise, explains Ramu Raju, Partner, Fashion Knits, a Rs 75-crore manufacturer of jackets for brands like Esprit.

Spinners’ margins reduce

K Venkatachalam, Chief Advisor, Tamilnadu Spinning Mills Association (TASMA), says, yarn price rise has reduced the average spinner’s margins from 8 to 5 per cent as they have been unable to pass on the entire hike to garment manufacturers.

To control this rise, government has withdrawn the 10 per cent import duty on cotton from April 14 to September 30, 2022, to boost supply from Australia, the US and Africa. However, duty-waiver pacts by Bangladesh and Vietnam enable these countries to offer 10 per cent duty benefit to spinners. Bangladesh is also significantly more price competitive that encourages American and European buyers to place orders with Bangladesh exporters. Every year, business of 100,000-200,000 pieces per style goes away to Bangladesh, avers Krish.

FTAs help competitors surge ahead in garment exports

Over the last five years, India’s garment exports have stagnated between $16 and $17 billion. Both Bangladesh and Vietnam have surged past India thanks to their duty-free exports to Europe, points out Sakthivel, President, Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) and Ex-Chairman, Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC).

China is also marching ahead by increasing its share of man-made fiber garments in swimwear, winter items and long dresses worn by women, points out Raju. Competitors’ are offering clothing items, that are 85 per cent made from polyester fibers, adds Sakthivel. Spinners should aim for a 50:50 balance between MMF and cotton, he opines.

Lack of technical know-how in MMF production

Around 60 per cent of global trade is in MMF, says Thirukkumaran. However, India does not have the technical knowledge to make these garments at competitive rates. The performance-linked incentive (PLI) scheme will facilitate new joint ventures, collaborations and technology transfer agreements with South Korea and Taiwan and India may start making synthetic fabrics in a year’s time, opines Sakthivel.

India’s recent free-trade agreements (FTAs) with Australia and the UAE will facilitate duty-free garments exports to these country and duty-free cotton imports from them. Indian exports also plan to sign similar pacts with the UK and EU. Exporters are perennially troubled by labor scarcity in India. The country suffers from a 10 per cent shortage of skilled labors.

India also lacks required infrastructural support to scale up MMF production, says Raju. On the other hand, sound infrastructure enables China to hold 40 per cent of the export market share despite not having any FTA with importing nations, he adds.

To tackle the labor problem, The Tamilnadu Exporters and Manufacturers Association (TEAMA) is setting up a garment manufacturing park in Vedharanyam. However, this model is not likely work for high-fashion garments with embroidery and embellishments as it involves a lot of back and forth between various departments, rues Krish. Labor problem also threatens to take away India’s independence in garment industry and turn it into a garment importer in the next 20 years, he warns.

The latest data from the CCF Group shows, the value of US textile and apparel imports in March 2022 increased by 34.3 per cent Y-o-Y to $12.18 billion. The imports volume reached increased by 38.6 per cent Y-o-Y to 9.35 billion sq m. The value of US apparel imports rose by 43.1 per cent Y-o-Y to $9.29 billion and the imports volume reached 3.11 billion sq m, increasing by 24.6 per cent year-on-year.

The US textile and apparel imports volume from China in March 2022 declined by 1.1 per cent Y-o-Y to 2.84billion sq m. The imports value increased by 24.5 per cent Y-o-Y to $2.66billion. US apparel imports value from China in March 2022 declined by 5.1 pe cent Y-o-Y to $0.9 billion while the imports volume increased by 39.6 per cent Y-o-Y to reach 1.73 billion sq m

Leading provider of advanced weavingsolutions including weaving machines, spare parts and integrated services, Itema has formed a new company in Turkey. The Turkish subsidiary, that operates under the name İtemaTekstilMakineleriServisSanayiveTicaret Limited Şirketi, began its operations in Istanbul and Bursa in April 13.

The operation aimsto enhance the local presence and increase efficiency when serving the company’s significantly growing Turkish customer base. The new organization in Turkey relies on the know-how and experience of BilolTekstil, historic Itema partner in the country, and will count on the cooperation with A. Modiano, with whom Itema carries on a long-standing partnership in the market.

With production sites in Italy, China and Switzerland, Itema adds the new branch in Turkey to the existing commercial and service subsidiaries in India, the US, Japan, Dubai and Hong Kong.

The Transformers Foundation will collaborate with Bluezone, the international denim trade show, to participate in the Bluezone seminar series on August 30 and 31.

To be held in the main lecture center at Keyhouse, the seminar series will present two information sessions on sustainability in the denim industry.

Presentations and discussions on August 30 will revolve around the topic of energy and about decarbonizing the industry, with the aim to encourage the jeanswear and fashion industry to reduce their impact while providing networking opportunities for strategic partnerships.

The theme of day two, August 31, will be innovation, focusing on a round-up about some real innovations on the market while offering a chance to meet the people behind them.

Transformers Foundation is a platform gathering different players of the jeans anddenim supply chain. The organization was founded, along with various denim insiders, by Andrew Olah, also founder of the Kingpins Shows. The aim of the organization is to give voice, raise awareness, actively support ideas for positive change, and create an opportunity for consumers, brands, NGOs, and media who want to learn more about ethics and sustainable innovation in the industry.

The Indian Chamber of Commerce, Cambodia has signed anMoU with the Cambodian Women’s Entrepreneurs Association.

The two MoUs were signed during the Mega Silk Exhibition & Buyer Seller Meet (BSM) cum Display of Make India products. The MoUs aim at close cooperation and sharing of information regarding investment, trade, maintaining quality standards, technology transfer, sharing of market intelligence, economic cooperation and participation of members of either side in fairs and exhibitions, especially in the Indian International Silk Fairs cum Reverse Buyer Seller Meets.

The exhibition was inaugurated by the Indian Ambassador to Cambodia DevyaniKhobragade. A vast collection of silk and other allied silk products including silk carpet miniatures and jewelled silk carpets were on display at the exhibition.

Over thirty Indian silk exporters held discussions with more than two hundred potential buyers from Cambodia during the BSM event. Various items of silk, including silk fabrics and yarns, sarees, high fashion accessories, home furnishing products, miniature silk carpets, silk jewelled carpets, wall hangings, madhubani silk paintings (on silk with golden thread), silk-blend products of jute and wool, tribal weaves from the Northeastern states of India and GI products from Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Bihar and Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir were on display.

Top officials of various organisations, including the Indian Chamber of Commerce, Cambodia, Cambodia Women Entrepreneurs Association, trade associations, heads of garment factories and local apparel producers and buyers, visited the exhibition.

Sturdy shopping from downstream industries is benefitting recycled fiber and yarn producers with their prices increasing by Rs10 consistent with kg today, even as polyester-cotton (PC) yarn costs had been stable.

Ashok Singhal, a dealer from Ludhiana, says, his enterprise is seeking out inexpensive exchange as cotton yarn and PC yarn have become unviable after steep rise in costs. The rate of 20 per counted number PC (recycled-O/E) PSF yarn (40/60) extended via way of means of Rs 5 consistent with kg on sturdy call for.

As the costs of cotton and PC yarn have extended, garment producers are finding it difficult to retain production. On the other hand, acrylic yarn misplaced Rs10 consistent with kg as call for slowed down. Traders stated that acrylic yarn is on the whole utilized in wintry weather put on that’s presently now no longer in call for because of the continued summer time season season.

In Ludhiana marketplace, 30 be counted number PC combed yarn (48/52) became offered at Rs285-305 consistent with kg (GST inclusive), in step with Fibre2Fashion`s marketplace perception device TexPro. 30 be counted number PC carded yarn (65/35) became priced at Rs265-270 consistent with kg. 20 be counted number PC (recycled-O/E) PSF yarn (40/60) became traded at Rs210-215 consistent with kg. 30 be counted number poly spun yarn became offered at Rs190-2 hundred and recycled 30 be counted number poly spun yarn at Rs175-185 consistent with kg. Acrylic NM (2/48) became priced at Rs320-330 consistent with kg, even as acrylic NM (2/32) became at Rs275-285 consistent with kg. The rate of PSF remained unchanged at Rs123 consistent with kg.

An initiative of the International Apparel Federation (IAF) and the International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF), the Standard Convergence Initiative (SCI) aims to combat growing audit fatigue by aligning third party and brands/retailers’ proprietary standards across four key areas. Multi-stakeholder initiatives such as the Social & Labor Convergence Program are already tackling the issue of audit fatigue. To complement these efforts, retailers plan to adopt streamlined third-party standards in place of proprietary standards.

The SCI has just released preliminary results of assessing the degree to which standards are prepared to converge across four key areas. The preliminary results assess six prominent standards operating in the textile and footwear sector, specifically: amfori BSCI, Fair Labor Association (FLA), Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS), Made in Green by Oeko-Tex, SA8000 and WRAP.

The SCI website will promote standards that initially show a high preparedness for convergence and, subsequently, work toward increased convergence. Once standard bodies understand their position on the spectrum of convergence, they will be encouraged to work toward a common goal of increased alignment across certain standard requirements, quality assurance processes and oversight methodologies.

Nike and Adidas will release their highly anticipated high-fashion collaborations next month, with Jacquemius and Gucci respectively. Brand Ellesse launched an Emily Ratajkowski-fronted collaboration with Michael Kors this month alongwith New Balance which launched its collaboration with cult fashion brand Aries in March. Meanwhile Fila is expected to launch a collaboration with London-based Serbian designer Roksanda Illncic in August.

Earlier, sports brands would launch collaborations around trainer launches and sports star sponsorship deals but nowadays, it is proving hard for brands to ensure player exclusivity, says Julie Pont, Creative Director, Heuritech, a French fashion insights agency. While sports-fashion tie-ups are nothing new, these fashion brands are far removed from the sportswear industry, adds Pont.

Roksanda describes its forthcoming collaboration with Fila – which features billowing dresses and duvet coats – as an encounter between two very different identities to create a new one, at once unexpected and authentic.

The logic behind these partnerships is about raising sports brands’ fashionability, while also easing the entry points into fashion for younger customers. Though practical, these fashion pieces are not always designed for activity, says Emily Gordon-Smith, Head-Fashion, Stylus.

The collabs make some notable pieces, she adds, predicting the accessories – for example, the Gucci bucket hat and Gazelle trainers, the Roksanda moon boots and 1980s-style barrel bag, the Jacquemus X Nike Humara trainers – will sell out first. Collabs is expected to influence the fashion landscape and elevate the aesthetics of athleisure.

According to Gordon-Smith, this new wave of collabs will have a significant impact on the high street with elevated sports looks to sell in shops like Zara from June.

Decision to sell clothes for women of all body types has created two big problems Old Navy, says a Wall Street Journal report. It has left the brand’s customers irritated as they have not been able to size their desired size, and it has made it impossible for the brand to find stocks it needs to discount to sell. The GAP-owned retailer accounts for far more of the company's sales and profits than the GAP and Banana Republic chains.

As per a Business Insider report, Old Navy developed its inclusive sizing as well as research on the basis of data provided by the National Center of Health Statistics The Center found women aged 20 and over weighed an average of 170.8 pounds as of 2016. The company scanned almost 400 women's bodies to create digital avatars and build new fit blocks for sizes 20 to 28.

Clothing brands like Good American, Veronica Beard or Universal Standard have long tried to provide sizes to all body sizes. Other big brands like Victoria’s Secret have also embraced size inclusivity by adding more ranges. Fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg says, brands should not penalize the small people by making them pay more for smaller sizes.