Cotton Ranking 2020 states, though sustainable cotton accounts for 21 per cent of global production, only 95 per cent of it is sold as conventional cotton because of low demand from major brands. The fourth survey on the issue published by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Solidaridad and the Pesticide Action Network (PAN) UK – analysed the largest cotton users among retailers and apparel brands. They were measure on sustainable cotton objectives and policies as well as the share of sustainable cotton they use and the transparency in their supply chains.

Ikea scored 79 out of 100 points, up from 76.7 in 2017, and is the second best performing company overall, after Adidas, in leading the way toward cotton sustainability. In 2018, Ikea increased its sourcing of sustainable cotton to 95 per cent from 87.3 per cent in 2017. The remaining 5 per cent is sourced as “Towards Better Cotton” considered by Ikea to be sustainable.

The global retailer also leads in disclosing information about the traceability of its cotton, according to the study. In 2018, Ikea sourced 155,000 metric tonne of cotton. It also publishes country of origin for 95% of its cotton use.

The Bangladesh government has stated that garments made with cotton produced from the US should be provided with a duty-free access to the American market. The US already provides this facility through agreements with sub-Saharan African and Caribbean countries under an African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) and Caribbean Initiative. On an average, the US charges 15.6 per cent import duty on Bangladeshi products, which tend to be largely garment.

The US is the single biggest export destination for Bangladeshi products. The country recorded earnings of $6.9 billion from exports to America in fiscal 2018-19. Bangladesh's apparel shipments to the US edged up in 2019 -- a heartening development given the inclement condition on the export front.

According to Export Promotion Bureau figures, Bangladesh apparel shipments declined by 6.21 per cent to $16.02 billion between July and December 2019. However, the country’s export revenues increased by 9.47 per cent to $5.69 billion.

"Finally in 2019, the global business community, politicians and consumers awakened to the importance of sustainability that is affecting everyone to a great or less degree. Driven by consumer’s demand for carbon neutrality, the textile industry is slowly adapting its manufacturing processes to fully reverse the damage done in the past."

Finally in 2019, the global business community, politicians and consumers awakened to the importance of sustainability that is affecting everyone to a great or less degree. Driven by consumer’s demand for carbon neutrality, the textile industry is slowly adapting its manufacturing processes to fully reverse the damage done in the past.

Numerous new technologies are emerging pushed by inscrutable marketers, there is a lot of green washing in the media. Industry leaders are investing billions into sustainable alternatives for example Gap and Arvind recently fulfilled their pledge to build a joint bioreactor project to save over 2.5 billion litres of water annually. This new water treatment facility will eliminate the use of freshwater at Arvind’s denim manufacturing facility in Ahmedabad. This marks a significant milestone in the ongoing efforts of both companies to reduce the amount of water used in the apparel production pipeline.

The apparel industry is one of the most intensive users of water in the world and, in India, 54 per cent of the population faces a high to extremely high water risk. Arvind’s denim manufacturing facility in Ahmedabad, the first mill in India to manufacture denim, will now operate entirely with reclaimed water using a membrane bioreactor technology, which will treat domestic water drawn from the surrounding community without chemicals in the process.

Increase in availability of sustainable fibers

In the last one year, huge strides have been made in technical production and availability of sustainable fibres. Currently, approximately 31 manufacturers across the world manufacture wood pulp fibre with Lenzing being the leader in this field. Responsible sourcing and sustainability are the key elements of the company’s corporate strategy as these help preserve global forests and prevent deforestation

Arcelik, the parent company of 12 leading home appliance brands recently announced its commitment to make its micro-fibre filtering technologies available to competitors in the home appliance industry. The company has developed the world’s first washing machine with a built-in synthetic micro-fibre filtration system, which will be available for purchase in 2020. It flushes down over 1 million micro-fibres per wash cycle to end up in our oceans and are proven to be contaminating the food chain. It is ready to share the new cutting edge technology for the greater good.

Circularity to help preserve resources

Already a big business, circularity is likely to grow. A circular economy can help us save precious resources by changing the fundamental principles of product design and utilising recycled fabrics and fibres wherever possible.

To meet the growing demand, new recycling technologies are being developed. For instance, Poseidon Plastics has developed a unique monomer recycling technology that converts polyester waste to recycled raw materials (BHET) to produce RPET has signed an MOU contract with Dupont, and Teijin Films to assist and develop a pathway to constructing an initial 1,000 tonne per year with a further increase to 10,000 tonne per plant per year achievable.

However, we need to understand the recycling process first if we wish to correctly define it for end-users. The consumer needs clarification, and the manufacturer needs certification to ensure that the carbon footprint, and environmental impact of the recycled fabrics we choose, is less than the original version. Thus, the textile workbook has changed forever. Now, an active collaboration between brands and consumers can help the industry to take that huge step towards sustainability.

The virus outbreak could augur well for the Indian subcontinent, especially India with orders being diverted and demand for Indian cotton, leather increasing in the international market.

The Coronavirus outbreak has caused huge concerns in the worldwide financial markets. Shares of Chinese brands declined 9 per cent, while Italian brands are expected to fall by 1.8 per cent in the first half of 2020. Several high-end Italian brands have shut their Chinese stores, stoking concerns about the industry losing significant amount of sales if the virus is not contained quickly. Carlo Capasa, Head of the Italian national fashion chamber CNMI, fears the virus outbreak could result in a loss of 1.8 per cent to the industry’s turnover during the first six months of the year. As a preventive measure Italian brand Ralph Lauren Corp shut about half its 110 stores in China, while Tiffany & Co, closed 70 of its 240 shops on government orders. 

Adverse impact on Australian wool auctions

Coronavirus has also adversely affected Australian wool auctions. The Australian Wool Exchange (AWEX) Eastern Market Indicator (EMI) lost 28ac or 1.8 per cent last week to close at 1548ac clean/kg. The EMI in US dollars (USD) was pushed even lower by a substantially weaker Australian dollar (AUD). Once again, overseas manufacturers using USD to buy wool were recipients of a much cheaper buy price. 

Turkey emerges most preferable and profitable market 

The virus outbreak has halted apparel production in several provinces across China as people are no longer able to leave their homes.  This is pushing them to find alternative markets for manufacturing apparels. One emerging market is Turkey known to be one of the most preferable and profitable markets due to its impeccable quality and fast production at affordable prices. Most brands and chain stores are expected to switch their operations to Turkey soon. 

Orders diverted from China to aid Bangladesh industry 

The Indian subcontinent including countries like Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Indonesia are likely to enjoy rapid growth momentum due to increased demand for raw materials. In particular, Bangladesh is likely to gain as immediate orders from China are likely to shift to the country. However, the country needs to quickly back up its alternative resources forecasting potential demand. Some upcoming exhibitions may also be shifted to Bangladesh in order to attract foreign visitors to the country. This may open future business opportunities for the country.

A boon for the Indian industry 

On a positive note, the virus is proving to be a boon for Indian industry, as it would enable Indian exporters to target markets that were earlier dominated by Chinese exporters. If China is not able to pick up production in 30 days, its main clients in Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, South Korea and the European Union could turn to India for buying finished goods, clothing and fabrics. As the fourth annual state of fashion report by The Business of Fashion and McKinsey & Company, the Indian clothing market is expected to be worth $53.7 billion in 2020, making it the sixth-largest globally. 

This surge would also make the Indian textile industry more buoyant. Cotton stocks in the country are expected rise to 16 per cent of the total global inventory this season. Last year, India exported 800,000-900,000 bales of cotton to China. During the first four months of the cotton year (October-January), 600,000-700,000 bales were shipped to China while an additional 300,000 bales are expected to be exported soon. 

Currently, India exports $223 million of leather tanning and dyeing extracts to the global market. If China’s exports of these goods are affected, the Indian industry may fill this gap and look profitable. However, it will take some time for India to match its Chinese counter parts as Indian traders do not have the same type of self-discipline, mobility, scale and scope offered by China. 

The Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI), the National apex body for the textiles & clothing industry across the nation, organised an interactive meeting with Ravi Capoor, Secretary, Ministry of Textiles, Government of India with the office-bearers of 48 textile Associations in South India representing the entire textile value chain. The office-bearers / representatives of other National apex bodies such as AEPC, TEXPROCIL, PDEXCIL, SRTEPC, AMFII also participated in the interactive meeting.

Around 200 industrialists representing the entire textile value chain from South India and members of National Committee for Textiles & Clothing (NCTC) attended the meeting. All these associations thanked the Prime Minister and the Union Minister for Textiles and Secretary (Textiles) for removing the anti-dumping duty levied on PTA. According to them, this initiative enables indigenous fiber and filament manufacturers to reduce the price considerably.

The Textile Secretary advised the textile industry to grab the opportunities by diversifying into polyester segment to boost exports. He appreciated the initiatives taken by Tirupur and Coimbatore to implementzero liquid discharge to protect the environment, predominantly using non-conventional energy to avoid carbon food print, apart from complying various labour and other social statutes. He advised Tirupur Knitwear Cluster to brand its garments and products under sustainable programme that might fetch much larger margin globally and Government would extend all necessary support to promote the brand.

The Textile Secretary also indicated that the government would address all the structural issues in its new National Textile Policy that is likely to be announced in a couple of months. The policy will encourage development of 10 mega textile parks on over 1,000 acre of land closer to the ports, giving plug and play facilities including the necessary safeguard measures in the labour laws. Capoor also indicated addressing the power cost, credit cost and its availability; the government would also make efforts to expedite conclusion of FTAs with EU, UK and other countries to boost the exports.

T. Rajkumar stated that the Government has identified the textile industry as the thrust area and in real terms “Make in India” facilities without any imports right from fibre to finished goods, ensures inclusive growth by providing jobs to all skill levels especially the rural masses and women folks. He further stated that the Government would also announce a scheme to set up dedicated textile parks for technical textiles, textile machinery manufacturing with the state-of-the-art technology spares, accessories, parts to promote import substitution thereby reducing the capital cost substantially as India is currently depending on imported technology barring spinning sector. The government is also exploring the possibilities of setting up R & D centres with the state-of-the-art facilities for each segment of the textile industry.

A 25-year old company, Colorjet is involved in manufacturing digital printing machines. The company makes signage and textile printers. “Our machines minimise environment pressure by running on a reactive ink and consuming 25 per cent less water. Also, they need less air-conditioning which lowers carbo emissions and footprint,” says Jitender Pal Singh, Business Head-Textile Division, Colorjet.

Having a 70 percent share in the sale of textile printing products in India, Colorjet serves global customers. “We not only build our own machines but also design and develop them. Their production speed is 3,000 meters a day,” notes Singh. “Our customers cater to both domestic and export markets. Most of them are plain service providers who do job work for printing. A few customers have their in house brands,” he adds.

Colorjet has dealers and distributors in key countries. “We have teams in India and Dubai. Our production facilities are spread across the country. In the west, we are located in Surat and Mumbai; while in the north we are available in Delhi NCR and Punjab. We also operate in the South and East and all other major digital textile printing areas,” elaborates Singh.

Internationally, Colorjet operates in countries such as Greece, Dubai, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, China, Spain. “We now plan to expand to Turkey, Indonesia, Thailand, Brazil,” he adds. Elaborating on the digital printing scenario in India, Singh says, “Almost 90 percent of the digital printing in India is done for apparel. The remaining ten percent is for home furnishing. Globally it is the same ratio, 85 to 15,” states Singh.

Besides offering direct to fabric and sublimation machines for the apparel industry, Colorjet also offer machines for reactive ring, dispersing. “Usually digital printing is done on 1.8 meters and 3.2 meters. We offer machines for both segments,” adds Singh.

Singh reveals that digital textile printing comprises less than five percent of total textile printing. Despite this, the company’s business is growing as customers are shifting from conventional printing technology to digital printing technology. “This technology has low operating costs and is low maintenance. It also shortens job runs,” adds Singh Increasing strain on spinning, weaving and big process houses is driving people to digital printing as they look for pigment solutions. And Colorjet offers them good pigment solutions for a water crisis.

The 5th edition of Resilient Tirupur, held on February 8, 2020, brought together all stakeholders of the apparel industry who renewed their commitment to achieving business growth and wellbeing of millions of people associated with this industry. The event was attended by over 1,000 participants including factory owners, supply chain partners, senior professionals and students from textile/fashion institutes.

Surinder Jain, Business Director of Wazir Advisors emphasised on the need to increase India’s share of exports to the US and EU. He said, Chinese exporters have an advantage over India due to lower interest costs, lower overheads due to economies of scale and high efficiencies. He spoke of a Virtual Integration model practised by Chinese groups. He cited the example of GTT group where a core group of companies does all customer facing functions like marketing, merchandising, design - product development and approvals whereas the order execution functions like fabric trims and garment production are conducted by other factories located nearby and profits get shared by the entire group. The group has a $4 billion turnover. Due to these reasons, China is competitive in spite of higher labour cost compared to India.

Raja Shanmugham, President, Tirupur Exporters Association, explained how business in Tirupur has grown three fold in last six years with the hard work of entrepreneurs and stakeholders. He expressed delight over the positive business developments in Tirupur. Though workers in Tirupur are superior, the overall control of raw material sourcing and coordination between the supply chain partners in Tirupur is low. In Bangladesh, leading factories ensure that all inputs are in the factory before starting production and this helps in achieving high productivity.

The event was organised by Tirupur Exporters Association and NIFT TEA Institute in association with Sripuram Trust and TTPK and sponsored by Reliance and Birla Cellulose.

Shortly after the announcement to postpone the premiere of denim fabrics trade show Denimsandjeans Japan to be held in Tokyo March 4-5 due to the outbreak of Coronavirus, the organisers released a new date for the show’s debut. It will now being held from September 29-30, 2020. The initial location at Sunshine City Convention Center in Tokyo as well as the timing will remain the same.

The Japan show has been planned in view of the importance of Japan being a very important part of denim innovation globally as well as it has a long history in Indigo and denim and has been able to teach a few lessons to the global community in terms of technological and fashion directions that the industry takes. The uniqueness and ethos of Japanese Fashion have always inspired the global denim community and designers look for Japanese Trends as an inspiration. It is a pole of attraction for designers from brands around the world who go there is a search of inspirations from the perfectionist fashion creations of the Japanese designers. So far as the volume is concerned, over 180 million pieces of denim coming to Japan every year.

Denimsandjeans runs additional denim events this year in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam and Bengaluru.

Contemporary womenswear trade show Coterie has announced Colleen Sherin as its new president. In her previous position Sherin was vice president of wholesale at Alexander McQueen. Before that, she worked for over 15 years for Saks Fifth Avenue.

As a collaborative leader and with her innate and organic ability to strategically partner with brands, retailers, and media, Colleen will drive impactful partnerships that will elevate the COTERIE brand and strengthen connections for the womenswear community.

Coterie is held biannually in New York City and focuses on contemporary womenswear fashion, footwear and accessories brands.

H&M’s upcoming Conscious Exclusive collection will be the first ever collection to feature newly patented material Circulose. It means it’s the first time chemically recycled fibres are being used in garments sold at scale. The material is produced by re:newcell. It uses discarded textiles and is able to “replace forest raw material, in commercial quantities, without compromising on the quality”.

And the whole process that recycles the cotton and viscose fibres adds further to the circularity of Circulose because it uses a closed loop system for water and chemicals powered by renewable energy. H&M’s Investment Manager for Sustainable Fashion at the group’s investment arm CO:LAB, Erik Karlsson, said re:newcell’s work "perfectly aligns with our vision to become fully circular”.

Although this is its first use at scale, it’s still fairly limited in that it’s found in a single dress in a single collection. That dress is made of a mix of 50% Circulose from recycled jeans and 50 per cent viscose from FSC-certified wood, and will go on sale globally in the spring. But even a single garment can have a big impact when it’s produced by a company of the size of H&M and the fact that it’s to be available worldwide also adds to that impact.