Fashion laws across West Europe and the US have been transforming for the last five years. The new labeling laws and marketing regulations in the US warn buyers to be aware of the quality and sustainability of purchases. They also direct brands to be transparent about the fiber content in their garments and source destination.

Earlier, fashion laws in the US addressed only specific issues. They did not address issues related to the environment or social justice. For instance, no protection was offered against environmental and labor violations committed by brands in production facilities located overseas. This encouraged brands to send textiles or unfinished goods to different countries to avoid unfavorable quotas and tariffs. Even within the US, brands often subcontracted cut and sew work to companies that exploited unregistered immigrant laborers.

Young consumers accelerate demand for transparency

However, as per a Fashion Law report, a new young consumer group, making up approximately 20 per cent of the population, is rising in the US since the last five years. These consumers are not only well-educated but also aware of all environmental and social issues. They use digital platforms to urge brands and governments across the US and the world to be environmentally and socially responsible, and ensure transparency in operations.

Governments across Europe and the US are introducing new initiatives to reform fashion laws in their respective countries. For instance, established in 2013, the Accord agreement helped Bangladesh bring about a certain level of transparency in the operations of Western fashion brands’ in the country. The Accord was extended last week and is seen as one of fashion’s most successful efforts to protect garment workers, at risk.

Eyeing long-term environmental goals

The EU plans to implement new reporting and corporate governance laws in continuation with the Sustainable Corporate Governance Initiative. The laws would require brands operating in the EU to shift their goals from short-term financial gains to long-term benefits including environment, human rights, and social impacts along their supply chains. Adopted by the European Parliament in March 2021, the laws also expand the definition of stakeholders to include employers, environmental organizations, and organizations along the company’s supply chain.

The French government has also passed a law that directs brands to include a ‘carbon label’ on their garments and textile informing consumers about the environmental impact of their purchases. Meanwhile, Germany passed the ‘green button’ label law in June that requires companies to meet a minimum of 26 social and environmental standards – including supply chain reporting and responsibility points – in order to use the label.

On the other hand, the US is in the process of passing the California Garment Worker’s Act, commonly known as SB62 to eliminate the long-employed piece-rate wage system that provides easy avenues for wage theft. The Act is being supported by fashion brands including Reformation, Saitex, Eileen Fisher, and Mara Hoffman, etc.

Rise of B corps in the US

The United Nation’s latest climate change report urges brands to accelerate their sustainability initiatives. The report calls for a new set of regulations to address these issues on long-term basis. Compliance to these regulations would be possible with the rise of new B corporations that exist in 37 states in the US. Though the fashion industry has time and again met consumers’ innovation and creativity needs, it thrives on constant change and newness. The emerging new set of consumers seeks nothing less than the best from the industry.

A focus of the initiatives sponsored by the International Monetary Fund, USAID and a joint project unveiled by the Burberry Foundation and Oxfam in 2018, Afghanistan’s budding cashmere industry is in a state of limbo following the Taliban’s takeover. As per a Business of Fashion report, with chaotic evacuations currently underway and Taliban directing working women to stay at home, the future of the cashmere industry seems uncertain.

The silk sector also seems to be at risk as a EU-funded project launched by the International Trade Centre’s Ethical Fashion Initiative (EFI) to promote silk cultivation, has been suspended. Afghans fear the US withdrawal will spark a wave of terror that effectively erodes the civil liberties gained during the period that the hardline Islamist group was not in power.

Despite the Taliban’s claims it has changed, a senior United Nations’ human rights official has said there is credible evidence that executions are being carried out by the group against civilians and Afghan security forces. The Kabul airport is now closed to Afghan nationals, and there are reports that would-be refugees desperate to leave the country are now being turned back.

PG Denim has launched its new Booming Fall/Winter 22/23 collection as a hymn to rebirth, an explosion of colors, 3D effects, flock, foils, digital prints, metallic effects, anti-bacterial finishes where performance does not cover the uniqueness of an authentic denim fabric.

The collection offers five ranges. The first, Studio 54 range explores contaminations between cotton and vinyl. The second, Velvet Denim is produced using viscose flock, resulting in unique garments which achieve different effects depending on the washing processes. The third, Garage Denim range is inspired by the metallized colors of cars and Harley in the 1950s and ‘60s, with colors pastes glittering against very dark fabric backgrounds, creating an imperceptible painted effect. The Home Sweet Home collection is designed and developed to face this lock down period with super comfortable clothing but that allows us to always feel cool and fashionable. The fifth, Tatoo Denim range makes denims as a second visual skin that reproduce on the garments consumers’ love for tattoos. PG Denim strictly follows the international standards Dtox, Reach and Gots in all its processing phases; moreover it uses BCI and Organic Cotton Standards for raw materials.

Piyush Goyal, Union Textile Minister, has signed the proposal finalizing Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for Indian textile sector. The scheme would soon be sent to the Union Cabinet for approval. Expected to provide incentives of around Rs 7,000 crore for man-made fibre (MMF) apparel, and around Rs 4,000 crore for technical textiles, the scheme aims to revive labor-intensive Indian textile sector.

In Budget 2021-22, the government has announced an outlay of Rs 1.97 lakh crore for PLI scheme for 13 sectors. The scheme aims to boost Indian textile manufacturing and increase exports. It is expected to cover around 40 MMF apparel product categories and around 10 in the technical textile category. An incentive of 3 to 11 per cent of the incremental revenues' year-on-year for five years may be provided to existing as well as proposed investments in the sector.

Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturers and Exporters (PHMA) has urged the federal government to allow a duty-free import of cotton and its yarn from India, Uzbekistan and Turkey through land routes since local market has run out of the input commodities. Muhammad Javed Bilwani, Chief Coordinator, PHMA says, cotton yarn prices have been increased 40 to 70 per cent in Pakistan and the available cotton yarn is of a substandard quality that has forced exporters to hold up signing fresh deals for global markets

The situation has also compelled the exporters to defer new orders that are likely to be diverted to other regional countries, he adds as per a Business Recorder report. Sea freight charges have also soared approximately 700 per cent with shortages of cargo containers and vessels extending delivery time from 45 days to 90 days. The government needs to support and facilitate the value-added garment and home textile exporters on war footing basis, Bilwani adds in a letter to Abdul Razzak Dawood, Advisor to the Prime Minister.

The letter suggests an effective way to deal with the crisis is to import the input commodity through the shortest possible land routes from India, Uzbekistan and Turkey. Similarly, a duty free import of cotton and its yarn should also be allowed and facilitated from Uzbekistan and Turkey through land routes, the letter adds.

The Union minister for industry and commerce has accepted yarn manufacturers’ demand to impose anti-dumping duty (ADD) on the import of PSY from China, Indonesia and Vietnam. The demand was made by multiple bodies of yarn manufacturers including Northern India Textile Mills’ Association (NITMA), which claimed that the uncontrolled imports of PSY had eaten up a significant share of domestic markets and was hurting the local industry.

Sanjay Garg, President, NITMA said, there has been a huge surge in yarn imports post-GST, as with the removal of excise and other duties the polyester yarn is being cleared at zero duty. Imports of virgin PSY increased 943 per cent in five years and in a shocking trend, imports from Vietnam alone increased 88 times.

Aman Gupta, Vice President, NITMA, added due to increase in the imports of PSY, synthetic yarn segment of India’s textile sector was devastated, as a result most of the units had become NPAs and the rest were on the verge of it. Only a handful of PSY manufacturers in India are doing well and majority are in dire straits. The recommendation by the Union minister has come as a big relief for yarn manufacturers. Garg also urged the minister for finance to notify ADD at the earliest, as any delay will push the domestic industry backwards, jeopardizing jobs of many.

Belgian spinning mill, European Spinning Group has launched a new ‘Green Collection’ of upcyled yarn from discarded jeans or recycled polyester, mixed with fibers such as such as Tencel®, rPET, raw white and dope dyed fibers. As per an Euratex report, the recycled yarn can be used for various high-end textile applications such as furnishing fabrics, fashion garments or technical textiles.

European Spinning Group has been continuously investing in modern machinery, besides producing in an ecological, energy-efficient way with integrated waste management systems. The Group also offers a wide range of high-quality ecological solutions. The group also launched the #hackyourjeans project as an online and offline platform. The platform focuses on stimulating circular product development and co-creation, increasing awareness and social impact by providing full transparency about the production process and visualizing products with online and offline presence.

The #hackyourjeans project offers a new and unique way of industrial collaboration, where knowledge on the production side and feedback from the end consumer is continuously shared, in a very open way. This facilitates product development and accelerates market development.

European Spinning Group also works with an impartial company, REMOkey to calculate the environmental savings of different yarns and communicate them transparently throughout the supply chain.

Elevate Textiles, owned denim mill, Cone Denim has hired Amie Borges as new Senior Vice President, commercial strategy. As per a Sourcing Journal report, Borges will lead the company’s global sales team and work closely with the product, operations and manufacturing teams to drive its key strategic objectives Borges will replace Tom Leonard who retired from as senior vice president of sales and product in July after 28 years service.

Borges is well-acquainted with the regions where Cone Denim manufacturers: China and Mexico. Prior to joining Cone Denim, She served in several leadership roles across luxury apparel brands, most recently as 7 for all Mankind’s’s Vice President-Sales for North America and Asia. Throughout her diverse roles, she successfully led brand transformations and revenue growth, while overseeing all aspects of product life cycles across North America, South America and Asia.

Borges holds a Bachelor’s degree in Fashion Merchandising Management from the Fashion Institute of Technology. She will be based out of Cone’s New York office and will begin connecting with customers over the coming weeks.

A new report by non-profit organization Stand.earth lists Primark, Uniqlo and Marks & Spencers as laggards in removing fossil fuels from their supply chains and products. As per Edie news, the report titled ‘Fossil-Fuel Fashion Scorecard’, compares each brand’s commitments to decarboniszation with the actions it is already taking to transition away from fossil fuels in operations, the supply chains and in products.

Stand.earth gives each brand a grade for their efforts in climate advocacy, low-carbon logistics, low-carbon materials and low-carbon manufacturing. This last category takes into account energy efficiency and renewable energy procurement. An overall grade is also provided for each brand. Across the board, no brands score an ‘A’ grade. The highest grade, a 'B-', goes to Swiss outdoor wear brand Mammut, while 20 brands receive the lowest possible grade, 'F'. The F-graded brands include American Eagle, Giorgio Armani, Booho, Capri Holdings, Espirit, Everlane, Hugo Boss, Kering, LVMH, Marks & Spencer, MEC, On Running, Pentland, Prada, Primark, Salvatore Ferragamo, SKFK, Under Armour and Uniqlo.

Many of the brands that have received an F grade are signatories of one of the several industry coalitions working towards net-zero. Such initiatives include the UN Fashion Charter, WRAP’s Textile 2030 Scheme and The Fashion Pact.

Aditya Birla Group firm Grasim aims to increase the share of VSF and chlorine value-added products in its business to 40 per cent by 2025. The firm has earmarked over Rs 2,600 crore as capital expenditure for financial year 2022 in the Viscose Staple Fiber (VSF) business. The Aditya Birla Group is also investing in renewable energy businesses. It has tripled its renewable energy capacity in the past two years, aided by the Group’s focus on increasing the share of the renewable power mix in each of its large ABG businesses. The cumulative installed capacity is expected to rise to 845 MW by FY23 based on the current pipeline.

The group has started the trial production at its new brownfield vilayat project that is set to become one of the largest single-location VSF facilities in the world with state-of-the-art technology delivering world-class fiber to Indian spinners. The vilayat expansion project entailed an investment of over Rs 3,500 crore and the capacity utilization of the business recouped from single digit utilization levels to full utilization levels towards the end of the year

Earlier Birla had also announced a capex of up to $3 billion in the next five years by Hindalco to increase its capacity in India and overseas. Part of the capex will be deployed by Hindalco subsidiary, Novelis Inc for its auto-finishing lines in the US and China as well as for rolling and recycling capacity expansion in Brazil.