Levi Strauss has cut its full-year profit forecast. Reasons include softening demand, a strengthening dollar and higher costs. The rapidly strengthening dollar and higher product costs also caused Levi's to post adjusted gross margin of 56 per cent, down 60 basis points, compared with a year earlier.

The jeans maker, who has been battling supply chain disruptions since the pandemic began, now further strained due to the Russia-Ukraine war, has been raising prices of its denims to battle rising costs.The company now expects full-year reported net revenue growth of 6.7 per cent to seven per cent, representing 11.5 per cent to 12 per cent net revenue growth on a constant-currency basis.Earlier, the company forecast a net revenue growth of 11 per cent to 13 per cent.The company owns brands like Dockers and Denizen.

Consumers in the US are shifting their focus away from higher-priced products and clothes to essentials due to decades-high inflation, affecting Levi’s and other apparel makers. People are getting concerned about where their dollars are going. The company is more cautious about its business in Europe as the consumer in the region is impacted by much higher inflation as well as steeper energy costs.

Laos’ garment industry suffered considerably during the pandemic. Many factories were closed and a shortage of workers also resulted in delay in the delivery of products. The garment industry has encouraged every village to have at least one shop stocked with clothes produced locally, aiming to reduce the import of the products and controlling the inflation rate of the country.

The industry says Lao people should use Lao products and replace imports. Curbing expenditure in foreign currencies is also seen as important to prevent imported goods from being brought into the country illicitly and priced higher than necessary. All garment factories in the country, regardless of their size, have been requested to closely cooperate, coordinate, and together tackle the problems.

Laos exports 80 per cent of its goods to Europe, nine per cent to Japan, four per cent to the US, and two per cent to Canada. There are some 77 garment factories in the country, 50 of which make goods for export and the other 27 produce garments for local consumption. About 25,000 people are employed by the factories, 90 per cent of them women. These factories produce a variety of clothes, including uniforms, shirts, T-shirts, polo shirts, office wear, coats, jeans, blankets, shoes, and other items.

Pakistan imported three million cotton bales last year and needs to import at least five million bales during the current fiscal year due to damage to the crop by recent floods.

Current estimates of losses to the cotton crop due to floods are 3.5 million bales, accounting for 36 percent of the expected yield this year.Pakistan decided to reverse the competitive power rates for industries. In protest, textile millers have decided to shut down all textile industries in the country. More than 1000 textile mills have already been closed down. Almost 50 to 75 processing mills are closed and almost ten printing mills are closed in Faisalabad region. Similarly 50,000 looms mills closed due to the high price of electricity. Factories received bills at rates per unit which were too high. Almost 300 to 350 embroidery machines have been closed till date.

The closure of the textile industry will cause a huge loss to domestic exports. Five million employees will lose their jobs and 30 million people will be affected due to the closure of textile industries. The industry wants electricity and gas to be provided at competitive rates and without interruptions.

For the first two months of the fiscal 2022-2023, the value of textile and garment exports from Pakistan increased by four per cent.

California has banned the use of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in clothing, several textiles and other products like coatings and floor finishes.

Personal protective equipment for workers is exempted from the bill. Because of the size of California’s economy, the law’s influence will be felt not only in California, but well beyond, from the places where textiles are produced to the places where they are disposed of or discarded. It is also likely to affect the presence of PFAS in textiles in other US markets outside California.

Chemical companies sell PFAS for application to products like paper and textiles as stain-resistant, water-repellent and grease-proofing treatments. PFAS have been linked to serious health problems, such as cancer, immune system suppression, increased cholesterol levels, pregnancy-induced hypertension, liver damage, reduced fertility and increased risk of thyroid disease.

PFAS are widely used, long lasting chemicals, components of which break down very slowly over time.There are thousands of PFAS chemicals. Because of their widespread use and their persistence in the environment, many PFAS are found in the blood of people and animals all over the world and are present at low levels in a variety of food products and in the environment.PFAS are found in water, air, fish, and soil.

Lower cotton prices may not help Bangladesh in getting increased work orders from global brands and retailers.

For one global retailers and brands can put pressure on garment manufacturers and exporters to reduce prices. Similarly, spinners, millers and cotton importers may not have reason to cheer for the fall in cotton prices because they already have unsold stockpiles of yarn.

Spinners currently have a lot of unsold yarn in their mills because of lower demand from garment manufacturers.So the spinners might not be benefited from the price fall of cotton in international markets. Higher inflation and lower demand have put them in a tight corner.Moreover, spinners cannot spin cotton adequately because of the low gas pressure that has restricted production by almost 50 per cent.In addition, importers do not feel encouraged to import more cotton because of the higher price of the dollar. As such Bangladesh cannot take the opportunity of lower cotton prices now. Bangladesh imports 9.5 million tons of cotton a year.

Global cotton production is up 1.4 million bales at 118.4 million, and stocks are projected higher this month and unchanged from the previous year. Consumption is down slightly at 118.6 million bales with lower projected use in Pakistan and Vietnam.

The Italian textile and garment industry is looking forward to ITMA.

The industry hopes to leverage this global textile and garment technology exhibition to launch its latest innovations, especially those that will help the industry to digitalise and be more productive as well as those that help in building a more sustainable and circular economy. ITMA will be held in Italy, June 8 to 14, 2023.

However, the structure of the textile and clothing industry in Italy will have to undergo a profound transformation in the coming five years.There is a need for Italy’s textile industry to address two crucial issues: the evolution towards a production system that is more environmentally sustainable, and digitisation of the supply chain, which must include small and medium players. The Association of Italian Textile Machinery Manufacturers has accelerated its Digital Ready project for certifying Italian textile machines that adopt a common set of data, in order to more easily integrate with the operating systems of their client businesses.

Despite 2020 being a particularly difficult year for the textile and clothing industry, the textile machinery sector remained resilient, particularly in exports. Italy is the fourth country in the world for textile machinery exports, with a ten per cent share.

Bangladesh’s apparel exports from July 2022 to September 2022 grew by 13 per cent.

Knitwear exports were up nine per cent. Woven garment exports were up by 18 per cent. Home textile export earnings were up 26 per cent. Specialized textile export earnings rose by 55 per cent. Earnings from special woven fabric exports sustained a 17 per cent growth. Cotton and cotton product (yarn, waste, fabrics etc.) export earnings rose by 74 per cent. Earnings from jute and jute goods exports rose by 15 per cent.

There were early indications of growth slowdown from September onwards. Readymade garment export earnings have slid into the adverse ground after witnessing 13 months of continued robust growth – mainly due to a drop in sales in the main export destinations. From September 2021 to August 2022, garment exports sustained a 30 per cent year-on-year growth. The global retail market is disrupted by many challenges starting from the post Covid container freight and supply chain crisis, raw materials price hike, and the anticipated recession in the global economy which is halting retail sales and the demand for clothing.

So Bangladesh exporters find it difficult to foresee something bright for the final quarter of the year 2022.

US activewear brand Vuori has launched into new markets. These are Singapore, Hong Kong, the Middle East, Mexico and China. The brand is already in the UK, France, Germany, Ireland and Australia, among others. The focus is to continue to grow in those countries through e-commerce, wholesale and retail channels. In 2023, the brand intends to launch in Japan and Korea as well.

Vuori founded in 2014 offers apparel for men and women like shorts, pants, tops, graphic T-shirts, gift cards, hats, and clothing for yoga instructors, surfers, cross-fit instructors, personal trainers, and individuals.Known for making premium performance apparels, Vuori today has ten stores of its own as well as an e-commerce site.

Vuori makes premium performance apparel inspired by the active coastal California lifestyle, an integration of fitness, surf, sport, and art. Breaking down the boundaries of traditional activewear, it offers a new perspective on performance apparel.

Vuori is committed to a safe and healthy work environment. All vendors in the supply chain are required to abide by the Vendor Code of Conduct, which is based on International Labor Organization (ILO) core labor standards and requires compliance with all laws in each of the countries in which the brand’s factories operate and ensures programs are in place for continuous monitoring and improvement.

Telangana, a state in Indi aknown for its unique textile crafts has been listed by Unesco.

These include Siddipet Gollabhama saris, Himru weaving and Gongadi sheep wool blankets. Unesco has listed the histories and legends behind the textiles, especially the strenuous efforts put in by weavers. A lot of effort has gone into identification and collating a representative sample of Indian textile crafts from across the country that merit special consideration.Siddipet Gollabhama saris have motifs are woven on the pallu (the loose end draped over the shoulder) and on the lower border but none on the upper border. The body of the sari is plain or has motifs. These saris are made of cotton. Another important feature of Gollabama saris is that the motifs are not woven on the loom but made entirely by hand.

Telangana has revised the intricate and near extinct Pitambari saris, Siddipet Gollabhamasarees, Teliarumal weaving, HIMRU weaving and Armoor silk saris. Now, the state is coming up with Ramappa saris to commemorate the Ramappa temple being recognized as an Unesco World Heritage Site.

Handmade textiles appear to be fast dwindling in the face of the demands of modernity. In this context, it is absolutely essential that handmade textiles are taken stock of, and that they are properly mapped in all their diversity.

Shima Seiki’s automatic cutting machine with pattern matching capability leads the fabric onto a conveyor, reads the position of the pattern with a scanning camera and auto adjusts the marking data according to the fabric pattern.

Pattern matching can be time consuming but with Shima’s technology it can be completed in an instant. The scanner reads the pattern and the cutting results in hems and all sewing parts matching up in their patterns. When the fabric passes through the scanner it is read and converted into data. Distortion of the scanned fabric is graphed and marking data is adjusted accordingly. All marks are adjusted at the same time, removing the need for manual work. When auto pattern matching is complete the data is sent to the cutting machine. Once the fabric is in the cutting area the scanner takes a new image and then the cutting takes place, uninterrupted. This creates efficient cutting as these things happen simultaneously and the time needed to realign mismatched patterns is removed from the process. When combined together or used separately, 3D sampling of new woven fabrics alongside this pattern matching technology could drastically reduce lead times and material waste.

Based in Japan, Shima Seiki is celebrating its 60th anniversary.