Forever New’s sales rose 11 per cent in 2018. After a brand refresh late last year, when Forever New launched a new e-commerce platform, loyalty program and new store design, sales are growing between five per cent and eight per cent.

Australia-based Forever New, is a fast fashion brand with 200 stores overseas and 86 in Australia. It has a unique product offering, distinctive feminine aesthetic and a focus on quality at affordable price points, it offers a point of difference and value. Forever New opened 13 years ago. The first overseas store opened in 2009. Sales from brick and mortar stores in countries such as Canada, Singapore, China, India, South Africa and New Zealand, concessions in Singapore and the Middle East, and revenues from dedicated online stores and marketplaces now account for 40 per cent of total sales.

This retailer is not fully vertically integrated but sources from several suppliers in China and south-east Asia, designing separate ranges for the southern and northern hemispheres to overcome reverse seasonality challenges and emulating global retailers by dropping new stock into stores every week. It uses different suppliers around the globe. Right now the focus is on growing business. Since it is privately owned, it can focus on investing and growing the business for the long term.

The fashion industry, a sector that has barely evolved in thousands of years, now faces a profound transformation. New consumption habits, the new socio-economic and geopolitical scenario, demographic changes and the eruption of technology in all daily tasks also have had an impact on the value chain of the sector.
Robots that sew, stamping printers and self-managed factories are not science fiction but are the new fashion industry. Add to this processes that do not consume water, hardly any energy, or even chemicals and technology capable of recycling, regenerating and reintroducing. The new machines that the industry incorporates have completely transformed its image.

The textile industry is facing a new stage based on efficiency and savings with the introduction of new technologies. The first automated cutting and sewing systems have begun to appear. Digital printing is one of the new revolutions in the textile value chain. This technology replaces tinting, reduces labor and decreases the use of chemicals. Another technology is 3D printing. At the moment, these printers have begun to be used in specific areas, from the construction of pieces for the machinery of the industry to the construction of soles of sports shoes or glasses. Soon, 3D printing will also be introduced in the manufacture of clothing and accessories.

Indian cotton imports may fall 10 to 15 per cent in the current year. Domestic cotton prices have fallen, encouraging mills to procure their raw materials locally. Imports are not likely to gain pace again as new shipments will reach Indian shores only by October or November, when local harvesting would have already commenced. So far, India has signed import deals for around 2.5 million bales in the current year. Of this, 1.1 million bales have already arrived, and the remaining is being shipped for July-September deliveries.

Imports may gain pace again only if the monsoon’s progress in India remains significantly weak in July as well, as it could threaten the kharif crop, which largely depends on monsoon rainfall. Steadily falling global prices along with weak demand for cotton yarn may drag domestic prices lower in the months ahead. Output is seen taking a hit as high summer temperatures, delayed onset of monsoons and water shortage especially in key cotton growing states of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra have affected cotton yield, which has driven prices higher. Domestic spinning mills are inclined to import and save costs. However, it is hard for small and medium enterprises to import, as they may not have the financial muscle to buy and store.

China’s Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange plans to allow qualified overseas traders in trading of cotton futures. Currently, overseas traders participate in the trading of crude oil, iron ores and PTA futures. China listed cotton futures on the exchange in June 2004, and since then a daily average of 144,000 lots (5 tonnes per lot) have been traded.

In a recently issued white paper on cotton futures, the exchange said it seeks to further open up to increase its international influence, study international regulations and rules on cotton futures, and seek to involve overseas traders, according to Chinese media reports. Last year, China produced more than six million tonne of cotton. Incidentally, China is the world’s largest producer, consumer and exporter of textiles.

Turnover of British retailers fell by 4.5 per cent in May, ballasted by low temperatures. This is the biggest drop of clothing sales within the country since July 2015.

Retail sales fell 0.5 per cent in relation to the fall of 0.1 per cent in April. On the other hand, sales in British department stores between March and May suffered a drop of 0.9 per cent. The political and economic uncertainty the country is immersed in as a result of Brexit is affecting the confidence of consumers and companies.

There are concerns over the sustainability of the UK fashion industry and the vast amount of associated waste that is channeled to landfills. In the UK some 235 million items of clothing are sent to landfills a year and 1.3 billion tons of carbon emissions are produced by the global fashion industry. As consumer awareness starts to increase, and this year has seen an unprecedented war on single-use plastic with most companies ditching plastic straws and plans announced by many to reduce waste, the fashion industry might have to change its tune of denial. Rock-bottom prices by UK fast fashion retailers are leading to a throwaway culture. Fast fashion retailer Primark is planning on launching a take-back scheme next year, where clothes can be returned once they are no longer wanted and used by overseas charities.

"Taiwanese textile companies Pai Lung, Logic Art, AK Dyeing, ACME, CCI Tech, Tai Ho Shing and Taiwan Giu Chun exhibited their intelligent/smart machinery and innovative solutions for the textile industry at ITMA 2019. With the support of TAITRA, these companies showcased Taiwanese cutting-edge technological advancements."

Taiwanese textile companies Pai Lung, Logic Art, AK Dyeing, ACME, CCI Tech, Tai Ho Shing and Taiwan Giu Chun exhibited their intelligent/smart machinery and innovative solutions for the textile industry at ITMA 2019. With the support of TAITRA, these companies showcased Taiwanese cutting-edge technological advancements.

These technological advancements aimed to redefine all the different processes of the textile manufacturing industry. Systems to digitalise and standardise all the knitting process, color eye for observing the wasted water when dyeing all kinds of fabric, fully automated dye stuff weighing systems, or an intelligent automatic Servo Loom are some of the awe-inspiring state-of-the-art‘smart’ machinery that will be showcased in ITMA 2019.

The Taiwan path towards the‘smart’ machinery

The Taiwanese textile industry has gone from a low-cost fabrics manufacturer to a global reference in textile production. Strategic trade agreements, the support of government institutions and, above all, the empowerment of smart machinery are the cause of this remarkable growth. Since 2016, Taiwan launched the "Industrial Innovation Plan 5 + 2", which aims to develop applications and manufacturing solutions based on AI, encouraging players in the manufacturing industry to adopt them in order to make a transition to a "smart industry".

Companies such as Pai Lung, Logic Art, AK Dyeing, ACME, CCI Tech, Tai Ho Shing and Taiwan Giu Chun, as well as representatives of TAITRA, presented their cutting-edge innovations related to the textile machinery industry.

"Mayer & Cie. (MCT) is exhibiting weft knitting machine study at this year’s ITMA exhibition. The study will demonstrate a new technique of manufacturing textile fabrics. The long-established German firm is taking a fresh look at a proven procedure, weft knitting, and combining it with circular knitting. Especially in view of the bearded needle technology used the new procedure offers benefits in terms of needle service life and gentle yarn processing."

Mayer & Cie. (MCT) is exhibiting weft knitting machine study at this year’s ITMA exhibition. The study will demonstrate a new technique of manufacturing textile fabrics. The long-established German firm is taking a fresh look at a proven procedure, weft knitting, and combining it with circular knitting. Especially in view of the bearded needle technology used the new procedure offers benefits in terms of needle service life and gentle yarn processing. The company sees further potential in the higher working speed that bearded needle technology makes possible.

The most striking difference between a conventional circular knitting machine and the Weftnit 3.2 is the needles it uses. In the past, all Mayer circular knitting machines have used latch needles; the Weftnit 3.2 relies on bearded needles. That has several advantages for the user. As the head of a bearded needle is thinner than that of a latch needle, stitch formation is especially gentle. This effect is enhanced if the stitch forming is based on the weft knitting principle using only two steps and requiring a lower yarn tension than circular knitting does. Bearded needles can be expected to have a longer service life – an effect that will be reflected in production costs. The same is true of the fact that a machine with bearded needles is easier to use overall. With a conventional circular knitting machine the operator must open the needle latches after sack removal and before knitting on again, which calls for some experience. With the Weftnit 3.2 that is no longer required.

Another key feature of the Weftnit 3.2 is its product. Single jersey fabric manufactured on this machine differs in look and feel from fabric produced on a circular knitting machine: “The knitted fabric is a little firmer overall than what we are used to; you can feel and see that,” says Marcus Mayer.In addition, the Weftnit 3.2, working with four needle tracks, produces all of the popular single jersey structures, such as piqué and double piqué, terry cloth, two-thread fleece and single jersey plated. Due to its distinctively gentle stitch formation the Weftnit 3.2 also scores points for processing critical yarns, as extensive tests by the circular knitting technology leader have shown.

Fong’s has developed a new central control system called SmartCentre which can organise all the tasks within a dyeing factory and generates necessary reports upon request. It receives order information from the ERP system and arranges production schedules on the dyeing machines automatically. It directs the auto dispensing system to output appropriate amount of chemicals to corresponding dyeing machine according to specific batch order. It drives the AGVs in the workshop to deliver fabrics or necessities among machines and facilities inside the factory.

For package dyeing factories, Fong has developed the Lobowin, an innovative automatic package loading machine. The machine reduces loading time by minimising the travelling distance between picking and dropping packages. The loading process is continuous which gives no pause between packages or spindles.

For piece dyeing factories, Fong has enhanced the automatic experience in stenter operation. Starting from the feeding entrance of the stenter, the automatic loading clamper can replaces human worker for bringing fabric rolls and sew it to connect to the fabric tail at upstream. The loading clamper can determine and rectify the direction of the fabric roll.

This can make sure every time when the fabric roll rotates, the fabric end opening can be fed into a suitable position and the robot clamper can pick it up for loading and sewing to connect to the upstream fabric tail. The core of the fabric roll will be collected into a box which will be collected by AGV when the containing level triggers an order to the central control system.

Fong's delivers comprehensive central dispensing system for dyeing chemicals. This ALC automatic liquid chemical measuring and dispensing system measures accurately the required amount with a unique mass flow meter. The SPD and APD automatic powder dyestuff weighting, dissolving and dispensing system replace human operation and eliminate mistakes made by workers. The APC automatic powder chemical measuring and dispensing system created a whole new delivery method for powder chemicals.

Datacolor®, a global leader in color management technology has collaborated with Adobe to launch a set of innovative tools to help streamline the process of digitally designing prints for fabrics. The collaboration pairs Datacolor’s professional color lookup tool, ColorReaderPRO, with Adobe’s newest plugin for Adobe Photoshop: Adobe Textile Designer. The integration of ColorReaderPRO with Adobe Textile Designer software allows designers to measure color inspiration in the real world and transfer the data to Photoshop automatically via Bluetooth connection. The Adobe Textile Designer solution and ColorReaderPRO will debut at ITMA in Barcelona from June 20-26.

Many designers use Photoshop when starting fabric designs, but with the introduction of AdobeTextile Designer, users can now build and preview repeating patterns, define separations, work with colorways and keep every element editable in Photoshop until a design is print ready. With this Adobe plugin, designers can use Datacolor ColorReaderPRO to measure any source of color inspiration and translate the color data directly to Photoshop.

The ColorReaderPRO works seamlessly with third-party color standard libraries, including Color Solutions International’s (CSI) ColorWall™, and brands’ color libraries. This integration offers tremendous time and cost savings in the textile design process by eliminating the need to manually search and match textile color samples with swatches or color codes.

"HGH India 2019, India’s largest trade-show in the home textiles, home décor, houseware and gifts category recently launched ‘Beyond Shapes’ - the latest trends forecast in home fashion and lifestyle at a press conference in Mumbai. The book designed exclusively for trade visitors and professionals showcases the latest trends and insights which will help the industry to cater to the needs of the consumer. The trends are forecasted by an experienced European design team based on their intenseresearch and expertise in the India market."

HGH India 2019, India’s largest trade-show in the home textiles, home décor, houseware and gifts category recently launched ‘Beyond Shapes’ - the latest trends forecast in home fashion and lifestyle at a press conference in Mumbai. The book designed exclusively for trade visitors and professionals showcases the latest trends and insights which will help the industry to cater to the needs of the consumer. The trends are forecasted by an experienced European design team based on their intenseresearch and expertise in the India market.

The Trends Book was unveiled by Arun Roongta, Managing Director, HGH India, Dr Geert Bottger, Director, HGH India and Dr Alokendr a Banerjee, Chief Executive Officer - Retail, The Bombay Dyeing & Manufacturing.

The Trends will also be showcased at HGH India 2019 to be held from July 02-04, 2019 at the Bombay Exhibition Center. Beyond Shapes - Universal Future captures the essence of future in the Home products industry. The inspiration comes from the necessity to find our individual place in this world.

In the future, a ludic and free commitment is expected; fashion and lifestyle will be bright and colourful. The Trends will showcase courageous individualism, new handling of resources, new materials, slow food & slow fashion.The overarching theme for this year’s trends is “Beyond Shapes – Universal Future”.

These trends are an assimilation of in-depth research of strongly emerging colours, designs and materials for the year 2019-20. It depicts comprehensive design directions to create or source new collection. With one of the youngest populations in the world, Indian market is bound to be largely influenced by the lifestyle, taste and preferences of its consumers. These educated, extrovert, technology savvy, financially affluent and influenced by high international and social media exposure, want a blend of modern and traditional ethnic products in their home.