China has maintained its dominance in global sourcing, says Asia Inspection. But other than China, India and Bangladesh are increasingly given preference for textile sourcing, being lower-cost destinations. India is also a popular sourcing destination for homeware and promotional products. Due to major investments, Bangladesh has the potential to become one of the world’s largest economies in the years to come. This has come as a great boon to the country, which has benefited from this participation in the international business community.

In the coming year, businesses expect to worry more about managing product quality than they did in 2018, while regulatory compliance is expected to be less of a challenge. Cost of manufacturing and raw materials comes first among the top sourcing challenges in 2019 and the near future and a trend expected to continue into 2020. Politics is expected to have a more immediate impact than technology.

The average rate of supplier turnover is around 27 per cent but the largest companies shop around much more, replacing up to 42 per cent of their suppliers in a typical year. Businesses anticipate to be affected by tariffs, quotas, protectionism and embargos rather than automation and 3D printing.

Bluezone will be held in Germany, September 3 to 5, 2019. This specialised denim trade show will host more than 100 international exhibitors presenting their newest developments for fall /winter 2020-21 while increasingly focusing on transparency, environmentally friendly production and conscious consumption. More than 20 Bluezone exhibitors will join forces with designers to create an innovative vision of denim.

India’s Naveena Denim will present Zevolution, a denim made of environmentally friendly fibers instead of cotton, and Retrotech, a modern vintage cotton with a stretch mixture. Bossa will launch its new Eversoft fabric selection with new finishing technologies that deliver extreme comfort and supersoft touch. Tejidos Royo will present its foam indigo dyeing technology that cuts water consumption by 100 per cent, chemical use by 89 per cent and energy consumption by 65 per cent. The Carved in Blue project, a part of Tencel Denim, will present a new series of videos presenting experts’ vision about the market’s next challenges and focused on topics such as collaborations, cotton, alternative fibers and circularity.

New communication channels, transparent production chains and changing consumer behavior present the denim industry with fundamental challenges, but at the same time also offer great opportunities for a future-oriented blue industry.

Clean Clothes Campaign has welcomed the G7 Fashion Deal for sustainably produced textiles. The deal was launched by a coalition of 32 large companies pledging to protect the environment. However, Clean Clothes Campaign has stressed the time of on-committal promises is over and steps forward should be embedded in legally binding legislation and agreements as well as existing international frameworks.

For Clean Clothes Campaign it is clear that the past decades of voluntary certification, labeling, and brand level commitments have not brought genuine or lasting change to global garment supply chains. Therefore, the organisation believes instead of being an isolated or one-off initiative, the G7 Fashion Deal should contribute to the implementation of the UN Guiding Principles by setting up a framework of transparency, monitoring, and accountability of the sustainability of fashion.

The Fashion Deal must define clear and ambitious entry conditions for companies. This would mean companies may have access to the deal only if they can prove that they:

• Take ambitious and appropriate measures to avoid all sector risks in accordance with the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Guidelines for environmental and human rights due diligence in global textile supply chains. These include measures to implement the International Labour Organisation (ILO) core labour standards, preventive measures against gender-specific violence and measures that lead to wage increases aiming to reach living wages.

• Review and modify their business models, supply chain, and purchasing policies to ensure proper human rights and environmental due diligence in line with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and, at a minimum, ensure that prices paid to suppliers allow payment of living wages

AEPC in collaboration with ILO will hold a seminar on Enabling Competitiveness in the Apparel Sector on August 30, 2019. The seminar, to be held in Chankyapuri, New Delhi, will be inaugurated by the APEC Chairman. It will include the launch of the Compendium on Good Management Practices for the Apparel Sector.

The compendium has been developed with a focus on issues such as Workplace Co-operation, Quality, Productivity, Clean Production, Workforce Management, & Occupational Safety and Health (OSH). The project aims to benchmark apparel industry production, management practices and profitability to global standards. It will help the participating units to save the time and costs of their project. The session will include observations by Ajay Shankar, Former Secreatry, DIPP and a special address by Ravi Capoor, Secretary, Ministry of Textiles. It will conclude with a vote of Thanks by Balram Kumar, Secretary General, AEPC.

The first session of the seminar will discuss the strategies for developing enabling policy framework for promoting long term competitiveness. It will be moderated by Sudhir Kumar, Advisor, NITI Aayog.

The second session, to be moderated by Sudhir Garg, Jt Secy, Dept of MSME will highlight the various learnings from the industry initiatives and experiences.

The third and the final session will include a panel discussion with the BEWG representatives on brand perspectives. It will be moderated by Gautam Nair, Managing Director & CEO, Matrix Clothing. This session will include a presentation on the Good Practice Manual by Sudipta Bhadra, Director ILO & Kelvin Sergeant, Specialist Enterprise, ILO Decent Work Team for South Asia and Country Office for India. It will also include an interactive session with the representatives of BEWG on the Compendium.

The seminar will conclude with discussions on the way forward for the industry in the India

The SDC International, ISFT College and KDCL have collaborated to organise four seminars and a grand fashion show at the ITMACH 2019, to be held from December 5 to 8, 2019 in Ahmedabad. The event will be the largest confluence of textile technology, textile professionals and policy makers in the country.

The event will highlight challenges faced by textile professionals in color communication, coloration and compliance; encourage collaborations between fashion and textile coloration and provide a platform for innovators, users and compliance organisations to engage in and collaborate for a ‘greener’ coloration industry.

"A new luxury or premium look is giving the traditional five-pocket denim a life beyond basics. New denim makers are responding to the changing mindset of consumers who now prefer brands that offer comfortable styles and designs besides using sustainable fabrics and adopting responsible manufacturing practices."

A new luxury or premium look is giving the traditional five-pocket denim a life beyond basics. New denim makers are responding to the changing mindset of consumers who now prefer brands that offer comfortable styles and designs besides using sustainable fabrics and adopting responsible manufacturing practices.

Increased focus on consumer experience

Though athleisure products such as leggings and track pants briefly diverted the consumer’s attention from denim, jeans have still retained their counter-culture connotation, making them relevant for the moment. And Sharon Graubard, Creative Director of MintModa points out athleisure items don’t have the classic appeal of jeans as jeans are sexy and modest, casual and elegant, and be paired with anything from a simple T-shirt to the most extravagant brocade jacket. In addition, customers can also personalise their denims by modifying their designs and styles.

Susan Lee, Designer and Fabric Merchandiser at Twin Dragon feels luxury has evolved from being driven by brands and a price range to the kind of experience it offers to customers. It now focuses on the end-product and the benefits it offers to consumers. As per Tricia Carey, Director of Global Business Development for Denim at Lenzing Fibersb the ‘street to runway’ trend has resulted in brands including Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Michael Kors transforming the use of the indigo base cloth in a unique way.

This is evident from the works of Lenzing, which uses Tencel in its denim to give them a more fashionable look. Tencel offers denims a sheen or luster that is more reminiscent of higher-end or dressier styling. It also offers longevity to these denims as such jeans are worn often, washed infrequently, can be repaired and last a long time.

New fabrics, fittings add to comfort

Many luxury makers are primarily using cotton with small amounts of modal, polyester or elastane in their denims. They are also adopting certain blends with other natural fibers like linen, flax and even wool. Brands like Off-White, 6397, ReDone, Chloe, Brock Collection, R13, Frame, Mother, The Great specialise in denim though they also offer collections that include denim in the mix.

MM6 offers subtly innovative silhouettes and washes and treatments. Barneys also has an excellent jeans department. Similarly, boutiques in downtown Manhattan like 3×1 in SoHo and Self-Edge on Orchard Street celebrates the craft of denim, which fits into the current passion for all things artisanal.”

Self-Edge offers an innovative denim range ‘Strike Gold,’ which uses indigo-dyed thread for the warp and a beige dyed thread for the weft in a 17-ounce fabric. The 634S by Iron Heart is the flagship model that brings the brand’s signature 21-ounce selvage denim to a straight-cut jean made with hand-picked U.S. cotton that offers a “super soft hand” in an “ultra sheen” finish.

Move towards sustainable denims

Sustainability, which has become the primary criterion for most denim consumers, is being increasingly adopted by new age brands who are also discussing about the impact that their choice of fabrics has on the environment. A case in point, the brand Twin Dragon, which uses powdered indigo in place of liquid indigo for saving water. It also uses laser techniques instead of traditional washing and also turned to recycled and sustainable fibers for its denims.

The GOTS Bangladesh Seminar 2019 is scheduled for September 8, 2019 at the International Convention City Bashundhara (ICCB) in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The theme for the seminar will be ‘Connecting for Success and it is expected to be attended by 250-300 industry leaders from up to 150 different organisations and businesses.

The one-day seminar will address key issues relevant to the organic textile industry. Delegates will learn about best practices and know how related to the biggest opportunities – and challenges – to help transform their supply chains. The seminar will consist of four sessions including: Sustainable retail: Recent trends, priorities, and experience of conscious buyers; GOTS technical criteria and its implementation: Latest criteria and experiences from implementation partners for technical aspects of the standard; Connecting on the job - workers and management: Exploring working conditions at garment (and other) factories in Bangladesh, connecting workers and factory owners to discuss relevant social compliance issues; Connecting supply chain partners: Connecting key supply chain partners including garmenting, wet processing, testing, certifiers, and chemical suppliers.

As per Pulse of the Fashion Industry 2019, by 2030 global apparel and footwear industry will grow by 81 per cent, exerting an unprecedented strain on planetary resources. If the pace of progress in sustainability does not increase, the harmful consequences of fashion will become even more challenging to overcome.

To deal with this issue, Global Fashion Agenda (GFA), the world's foremost leadership forum for sustainability in fashion, has unveiled a new campaign that brings together leading voices from across the fashion industry to drive awareness and inspire action on sustainability.

The campaign includes prominent leaders such as Arizona Muse, model, ambassador and consultant; Katharine Hamnett, CBE, designer and activist; Marie-Claire Daveu, Chief Sustainability Officer and Head of International Institutional Affairs, Kering; Anna Gedda, Head of Sustainability, H&M Group; Samuel Ross, founder and designer, A-Cold-Wall*; Julia Ormond, actress and founder, ASSET; Connie Nielsen, actor and activist; Tim Blanks, Editor-at-Large, The Business of Fashion; Wilson Oryema, artist, writer, activist and model, etc.

Munich Fabric Start will organise Bluezone- the world’s most important denim fair on September 03-04, 2019 in Munich. The fair will present the latest developments in denim, finishes, washes and ready-made solutions under the All-related collab Project zone in Halls 6 and 7, supplemented by vintage and timeless segments.

The All-related Collab Project zone will also define future collaborations. It will combine creativity, cooperation, transparency and responsibility. International designers, fabric suppliers, additional manufacturers and producers have split up into eight teams for this event in order to realise their vision of a sustainable denim silhouette.

Australia has partnered International Labor Organisation to improve working conditions, empower women and boost the competitiveness of Bangladesh’s readymade garment industry. The partnership has been strengthened by the re-commitment of funds for Better Work Bangladesh as part of Australia’s ongoing partnership with ILO. Australia has been supporting BWB since 2016 and today the program reaches 485,708 workers in 210 factories who work with 22 international brands.

Australia is committed to fund this program until June 2020 as a demonstration of support for industrial safety, labor law governance and women’s economic empowerment in Bangladesh. Australia’s ongoing support for the Better Work Bangladesh program drives important changes in workplace safety in the garment industry. Better Work has made measurable impacts on the lives of millions of workers and their families. It aims to unite multiple stakeholders; promoting decent work for all and helping the garment industry in Bangladesh thrive.