Global leader in branded lifestyle apparel, footwear, and accessories, VF Corporation has appointed Kevin Bailey to the position of Global Brand President, Vans®. Bailey will continue reporting to VF’s Chairman, President and CEO, Steve Rendle and serving on the company’s Executive Leadership Team.

This appointment marks Bailey’s return to the Vans® brand after holding severa l enterprise leadership roles at VF. Bailey was Vice President of Retail for Vans® when the brand was acquired by VF in 2004. He was later appointed as President of Vans®, a role he held from 2009 to 2016. Under Bailey’s leadership, revenue for the brand more than doubled to $2.2 billion.

Bailey has held a series of roles with increasing responsibility during his 17 years at VF. He most recently served as VF’s President, Asia-Pacific Region and Emerging Brands. In this role, he was responsible for VF’s Asia-Pacific regional platform as well as VF’s Emerging Brands platform, with responsibility for the Altra®, JanSport® and Smartwool® brands on a global basis. Previously, Bailey served as President of VF’s Action Sports Coalition, and the company’s Canada, Mexico, and Central/South America businesses.

Founded in 1899, VF Corporation is one of the world’s largest apparel, footwear and accessories companies connecting people to the lifestyles, activities and experiences they cherish most through a family of iconic outdoor, active and workwear brands including Vans®, The North Face®, Timberland® and Dickies®.

Asia Pacific Rayon India Ltd (APRIL) plans to increase its production capacity of up to 600,000 tonne to meet the strong growth potential of viscose staple fiber (VSF) and strengthen its market position in Indonesia and export markets across the region.

As per Sachin Malik, Head, Global Sales, the additional capacity will be achieved through improved optimization and efficiencies, and by constructing a 300,000-tonne viscose production facility in Pangkalan Kerinci, where APR is co-located with its sister company and fiber supplier, APRIL Group.

The expansion will utilize APRIL’s current rayon grade AE pulp capacity from existing pulp production lines, with fiber supplied from APRIL’s responsibly managed renewable fiber plantations in compliance with internationally recognized forest certification standards and its sustainability policy and in keeping with the recently announced APR2030 commitments and targets.

Construction of APRIL’s additional production lines is scheduled to commence in the second half of 2021 and will include features such as a chemical recovery process upgrade, slush-pulp processing installation and other investments aimed at reducing APR’s energy use and environmental footprint. Upon completion of the additional production lines in 2023,

Asia Pacific Rayon (APR) is one of the world’s key producers of viscose rayon. APR has penetrated Bangladesh within a few years after first being introduced to this important market that has been traditionally dominated by cotton.

With the US placing more orders to the region, Latin America’s textile exports are likely to surge exponentially this year. A study by Women’s Wear Daily shows, robust sales of knitwear, T-shirts, polo shirts, lingerie, underwear, and socks will boost Mexico’s shipments to $7 billion this year. Exports of denim and denim items may also increase, benefiting firms in the La Laguna industrial region, which houses Levi’s and Wrangler facilities, according to Garcia.

However, basic materials shortage might jeopardize these advances, says a Textile Focus report. Raul Garcia, Industry Specialist, opines, garment sales might rise by 10 per cent with US customers continuing to engage in close sourcing and seeking more competitive locations like Mexico.

The industry is pushing for additional flexibility in the USCMA agreement’s rules of origin, citing a scarcity of fabric, particularly synthetic yarn and thread, as making it difficult for suppliers to satisfy demands. According to Juan Sánchez, Owner, Texsun, Central American exports to the United States might increase by 10 per cent. However, scarcity of raw materials might jeopardize supplies.

Spanish clothing giant Mango’s profit for the year to 31 December 2021 trebled to €67 million from €21 million in 2019.

As per an Apparel Resources report, the Spanish retailer’s turnover also increased by 21.3 per cent to post €2.3 billion in the said period, when compared to 2020.

The turnover numbers are closer to 2019 numbers when Mango attained a record turnover of €2.4 billion.

Notably, the online sales rose by a good 23 per cent to €942 million, maintaining its proportion of total turnover at 42 per cent.

The retailer said that the year saw demand for kidswear grow by 60 percent over 2019, with menswear, homewear and kidswear accounting for 18 per cent of turnover.

Here it is important to mention that womenswear was Mango’s best segment with a whopping share of 82 per cent.

Mango has temporarily halted its operations in Russia and is presently analysing the impact the move could have on its business in 2022.

The retailer is majorly known for its menswear, womenswear and kidswear and has over 16,000 stores across the globe.

Pakistan aims to launch the Better Work Program (BWP to enable it to achieve decent work standards, especially in the export-oriented textiles and apparel sector, as per a report by the Ministry of Commerce (MoC).

Titled, “GSP+ Insights Pakistan”, the report further revealed that the country is co-funding ILO BWP through Export Development Fund, with support from European Commission.

According to the statistics mentioned in a report, Pakistan’s exports to the EU have increased from €3.56 billion in 2013 to €6.64 billion in 2021, registering an increase of 86 per cent.

While Pakistan’s imports from the EU member states have also increased from €3.31 billion in 2013 to €5.59 billion in 2021, which represents an increase of 69 per cent.

Since 2013, EU’s exports to Pakistanhave increased substantially in many sectors including machinery (49 per per cent) Iron & Steel (114 per cent) Pharmaceuticals (143 per cent) Plastics (79 per cent ) and medical measuring instruments (45 per cent).

Exports to 12 EU member states that have increased by more than 100 per cent include Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Denmark, Ireland, Cyprus, Spain, Netherlands, etc.

In an emerging industry trend, home décor is helping fashion brands offset pandemic woes and attract new customers. Many fashion brands are launching home décor products to widen their portfolio and tap the growing ‘work from home’ customer base. Though the target audience for home décor and fashion is completely different, fashion brands have been easily making a transition to home décor products, says a Glossy report.

For instance, brandless fashion retailer Quince launched a home category at the end of 2020, reveals Sid Gupta, Co-Founder. The e-commerce company began by selling bedding, priced similarly or a bit below DTC brands like Brookline before it expanded to table linen, pillows, bath mats and rugs. From being a miniscule percentage of Quince’s business in 2020, home décor has grown to account for over 35 per cent of sales till 2021. The e-tailer also sells accessories, leather goods and bags. Its home business has resonated well with customers who have been able to make the transition easily, explains Gupta.

Higher profit margins triggers transition to home decor

Leading global technology research and advisory company Technavio estimates, home décor sales may grow over $340 billion from 2022 and 2025. Throughout the pandemic, home categories of brands like Target and Macy’s made up larger part of their business. Target’s home décor sales grew 30 per cent year-over-year in 2021.

The home décor category also offers higher profit margins than the fashion segment. Profit margins for the category exceed 40 per cent while fashion category is less than 20 per cent. This makes the move from fashion to home décor a more natural one, says Kristin Dorsey, Vice President, Linc,

Nowadays, people are spending more time at home. This is enabling them to spend more disposable income on dressing up their surroundings. The home décor sales of Matchesfashion doubled last year with fashion brands like Simon Miller, Bernadette and Aquazzura launching home goods on their platform. Common values between home and fashion The marketing strategies of fashion brands foraying into home décor are similar to strategies they adopt for the fashion industry. For instance Aquazzura launched its home collection at Milan Design Week just like it launches fashion collections at the event. Brands like Simon Miller have launched similar campaigns for their home and fashion categories.

Though home décor and fashion products are completely different in terms of their presentation, they are similar in terms of values they adhere to. Both segments focus on brand ethics, sustainability, environmental impact, diversity and equity, adds Ali Hanvaloglu, Senior Director-Product Marketing, Akeneo, a product information management company.

The next edition of Techtextil North America will take place in Atlanta from May 17 to 19. in Atlanta. ACIMIT, the Association of Italian Textile Machinery Manufacturers, and Italian Trade Agency organize an Italian Pavilion, where 17 Italian machinery manufacturers involved in the production of machines for technical textiles will show their innovative solutions.

ACIMIT members exhibiting in the Italian Pavilion are: 4M Plants, Aeris, Arioli, Computer House, Fadis, Flainox, Guarneri Technology, Ima, Kairos Engineering, Mcs, Ramina, Siltex, Stalam, Testa, Willy.

The US textile industry is one of the top in US manufacturing sector, with a sales volume of exceeding US$ 64 billion in 2020, with approximately 300,000 workers and about 15,000 companies. The industry's strength lies in cotton, man-made fibers, and a wide variety of yarns and fabrics, including those for apparel and industrial uses. In 2021, the US represented the third market for Italian textile machinery exports, behind China and Turkey. In 2021 January-September period the value of Italian sales to US market was €93 million, an increase of 74per cent compared to the same period of the previous year.

An all-new body positivity and size inclusivity fashion portfolio that includes clothes that suit a diverse range of body types is the latest buzzword among brand and retailers these days. There is currently a strong focus on launching a more versatile plus-size portfolio in response to increased demand for this segment.

Although the pandemic affected the sales of plus-size clothing due to inherent manufacturing concerns such as fabric and labour shortages, order cancellations, lower exports as well as tight purse strings on non-essential items, the demand for this segment is now back with a vengeance. Customers are also now more willing to spend on trendy garments that are easily available in larger sizes and it’s not just about comfort anymore. Industry leaders are of the opinion that the plus-size clothing market currently valued at US$ 601.7 billion in 2022 is projected to reach US$ 1,044.3 billion by 2032.

Premium brands foray into plus-size clothing

However, it’s no cakewalk to success as perfecting fits in the plus-size portfolio is far more of a challenge in design and in cost that the straight-size garments. Brands are often unwilling to invest beyond easy-fitting comfort styles, which often makes the larger-sized portfolio lacking in trend and style.

Also, plus-size clothing raises production costs as more material is used with more detailing and layering, so smaller manufacturers avoid producing such garments. Reduced profit margins, as a result of not being able to gauge customer preferences unlike straight garments of the normal size range is another factor. Premium and mid-range brands do well in this segment as they launch a dedicated collection instead of just adding bigger sizes to their existing portfolio.

Strong focus needed for versatility in style trends

In the straight-size collections, tops and dresses are the main categories available although curve products are more inclined towards T-shirts, wrap, and smock-style dresses. Other categories that need a more lasered focus on fits, such as bottoms and top product sets, make up a smaller proportion of the plus assortment. In the bottom wear segment, leggings equal a more significant percentage of plus ranges versus straight sizes. In the denim jeans segment, skinny silhouettes make up 44% of plus-size versus 26% of straight-size ranges, which are geared towards the straight-leg style that is currently in fashion now.

In skirts and dresses, mid-length has always taken precedence over mini-skirts which rank at just 7% in plus-size as compared to 19% in straight sizes. Even color is an important factor with less emphasis on bright and bold shades with black being far more of the dedicated mix than for straight sizes. Adding a color range to an existing best-seller style in stores and online is often a risk-free approach than launching new trend-led products of straight sizes in size-inclusive ranges.

Instead of body shaming, a positive public opinion of plus-size people, aided by celebrity endorsements and strong fashion marketing and promotional activities, is currently making more fashion sense for most brands in a trend that is likely to continue for quite some time yet.

Texo AB, a member of TMAS, the Swedish textile machinery association, is currently seeing a surge in demand for its Compfelt weaving looms for press felt base fabrics.

Anders Svensson, President, Texo says, off-the-shelf industrial weaving machines generally range in their working widths from 1.9 to 3.2 metre, with those purpose-built for technical applications such as geotextiles extending to wider widths of six metres and beyond. Meanwhile, one of the machines we have recently successfully delivered and commissioned has a working width of 23 metres and is not even the widest of the many such machines the company has engineered and delivered worldwide since its formation.”

A second recently-delivered line has a more modest working width – in relative terms – of 13 meters. The demand for such machines comes from the suppliers of paper machine clothing (PMC) to paper mills, who in turn operate colossal machines for paper manufacturing.

The largest paper making machine is currently believed to be located on Hainan Island off the southern coast of China and is 428 meters long – roughly the length of four football pitches.

Naturally, such machines require equally large-scale components, which is where TEXO comes in.

All paper machines require a regular supply of PMC fabrics which are employed in three separate areas of the paper machine – the forming section, the press section and the drying section.

Texo Compfelt weaving machines are specifically employed for the production of endless (tubular) woven base fabrics for the press section of paper machines, where water is mechanically removed from the newly formed sheet of fibres. In the simplest press, the sheet is carried by the PMC fabric between two rolls, where water is squeezed out by the application of load and pressure. This can also be assisted by the use of vacuum and heat. The PMC fabrics here need to be replaced regularly, with a maximum lifespan of six months.

For its 2021 Green Collection, the Italian luxury hosiery brand Sarah Borghi presents a broadened product offer in terms of colors and categories, meeting the needs of a stylish, yet sustainable consumer. By mixing fashion, quality, innovation and research, the tights and stockings powerhouse continues its development in the journey towards a conscious future.

Over the years Sarah Borghi has established itself as a leader in its market, thanks to a heritage of over 40 years in the selection of the finest yarns and in the application of cutting-edge process skills. The evolution of the Green Collection the sustainable hosiery collection first launched in 2020, confirms the efforts of the brand in promoting a new generation of attractive fashion and design which actively encourages and supports a responsible change in culture and smart products offer.

The collection presents a range of versatile, colorful products combined with extra-luxury comfort and designed for every type of woman: from seductive tights to everyday socks, together with knee- highs, up to athleisure with leggings.