Japanese trading house Itochu will provide support for Africa’s textile industry, starting with Ethiopia, which has emerged as an alternative production base to Asia. This will mark the first full-scale production by a Japanese company in the East-African country. Ethiopia’s low labor costs have prompted western brands such as Gap and H&M as well as Chinese and Indian apparel companies to make inroads here.

Itochu has signed an MoU with the Ethiopian Textile Industry Development Institute on promoting the textile sector. The company will dispatch its own employees in addition to five outside Japanese experts to two factories in northern Ethiopia’s Tigre region. The plants will make apparels for export to Japan.

Itochu handles clothing manufacturing from spinning to sewing in such bases as Vietnam and Myanmar. The company aims to quintuple Ethiopian manufacturing efficiency in three years by reviewing productions steps and labor management

Redress, the Hong-Kong based environmental charity will showcase 10 new collections at the Grand Final of the world’s largest sustainable fashion design competition-the Redress Design Award-on September 5, 2019. The collections also included menswear for the first time alongside women’s wear and unisex lines. Create Hong Kong (Create HK) will be lead sponsor of the event which will showcase collections from India, Germany, Canada, Australia, UK, Israel and Spain. These were shipped by the event’s long-term partner UPS. It will also include collections from two Hong-Kong based finalists.

The finalists of this cycle were challenged to incorporate sustainably sourced Eastman Naia TM fabrics into their 100 per cent textile waste-based collection pieces. The team behind the shoot of this collection celebrates the powerful influence that these collections possess to break the stigma of reused and recycled fabrics. The artistic direction of the photoshoot features bright backdrops of artistically torn paper and referenced the breakthrough of sustainable fashion into the mainstream. Renowned fashion photographer Donald Chiu and Hong Kong-based styist Kieran Ho led the photoshoot to capture these collections at creative collaborative workspace.

The Redress Design Award 2019 will offer a number of invaluable prizes. The winner of the first prize will collaborate with a team of fashion leaders on a contemporary sustainable collection for one of the brands of JNBY Group which will retail in their stores across the globe. The runner-up will be awarded with a personal and tailored mentorship with distinguished fashion designer and Redress Design Award Judge Orsola de Castro.

The global spandex market is growing at 10.3 per cent. Spandex is a manufactured fiber in which the fiber-forming substance is a long-chain synthetic polymer comprising at least 85 per cent segmented polyurethane. This fiber, also called elastane, is a synthetic long-chain polyurethane-polyurea copolymer composed of rigid diisocyanate segments and flexible macro-glycol segments arranged in a specific order. The fiber is characterized by exceptional stretch and recovery properties, with the elongation at break of around 400 per cent to 600 per cent. These characteristics entail its wide-scale use in a diverse set of applications in textile and clothing and healthcare industries. Some prominent areas of application for spandex fibers include sportswear, casual clothing, home furnishings, and undergarments. Medical and healthcare-related applications of spandex fibers include diapers, compression stockings and hoses, and bandages.

Steadily rising population, coupled with increasing disposable income, in developing regions is expected to drive growth of the global spandex market. Increasing demand from healthcare-related applications is another major factor driving the growth of the global spandex market.

Asia Pacific is expected to dominate the market whereas the Middle East and Africa, Latin America, Europe, and North America are expected to account for a relatively smaller share. Asia Pacific is expected to register a CAGR of 11 per cent in terms of market value.

"Though six out of ten consumers use at least one digital channel for their shopping of apparels and garments, retailers still value the importance of physical stores. This is leading to the adoption of a combination of physical stores with digital channels to provide customers with wider choice. A recent Apparel Omnichannel Survey of more than 3,000 US shoppers notes, an average omnichannel shopper shops 70 per cent more often than an offline-only shopper and spends over 34 per cent more than an offline-only shopper."

Though six out of ten consumers use at least one digital channel for their shopping of apparels and garments, retailers still value the importance of physical stores. This is leading to the adoption of a combination of physical stores with digital channels to provide customers with wider choice. A recent Apparel Omnichannel Survey of more than 3,000 US shoppers notes, an average omnichannel shopper shops 70 per cent more often than an offline-only shopper and spends over 34 per cent more than an offline-only shopper. The survey reveals that over 60 per cent shoppers now use digital channels either for research or transaction purposes. This share is projected to grow three times more than that of physical store sales.

Personalisation drives sales across channels

The survey says, personalisation is the key driver for sales across both online and offline channels. It offers brands an opportunity to differentiate themselves from their competitors. Customers adopting multi shopping channels experiment more with new technologies and engagement models.

To keep pace with growing demand for innovation, brands are improving their degree and pace of experimentation. Reformation, a direct-to-consumer brand known for sustainable sourcing and manufacturing, delivers new products quickly in response to customer insights and feedback while Revolve Clothing, a digital-first company, creates a full-circle loop based on its proximity to the consumer.

There retailers also investing in new models to engage with the customer. Stitch Fix offers a virtual stylist and subscription service, while Rent the Runway is building an ever-more comprehensive rental service, expanding to new product categories. The retail framework of these retailers focuses on five primary factors—assortment, service, experience, price, and convenience:

Experience: Rather than relying exclusively on owned transaction and third-party-syndicated data to get a view on a customer, these retailers are now transforming their brick-and-mortar stores into data-collection opportunities which offers a complete view of their customers. They are also exploring the practical elements of experience, such as product reviews to increase confidence in the purchase, being able to reserve items to try on in stores, and the purchase channel meeting expectations consistently, Elements of these experiences also include offering interactive and engaging ways to navigate products and discovering new offerings.

Service: Among all factors available to brands and retailers to compete, service has the most room to differentiate and the ability to delight omnichannel shoppers. Research indicates that out of ten, seven shoppers purchase a clothing item from a company that provides excellent service. Retailers are therefore, leveraging virtual stylists and chat bots to provide gain information about their specific customers.

Assortment: Rather than creating an inventory on the basis of historical planograms, leading companies are investing in advanced analytics and web scraping to forecast trends. They are doing fast tests and trials with customers to see what sells before committing to space on a shelf or floor. Tailoring the assortment to a retailer or to a channel allows retailers to break shoppers’ ability to price reference online and enables price variation by channel.

Price: Regardless of which channel they prefer to shop, customers tend to opt for products that are rightly priced and offer better experience. They are even willing to pay more for a better experience, which can include the ability to charge different prices offline and online or across different channels if the experience is sufficiently differentiated.

Convenience: Another factor that drives customers to engage in more purchases is the convenience of seamlessly switching between online and offline channels, flexible delivery options, and location of store. Consistently, companies that engaged in omnichannel retail are designing differentiated experiences across these five factors to strengthen their relationship with their customers.

Earlier, shoppers patronised the dressmakers and tailors who understood their tastes and preferences. They expect the same kind of personal touch today. Only those retailers who are able to translate their customers’ needs and expectations into carefully crafted channel strategies will emerge as winners.

LIVA, the new age fabric from the Aditya Birla Group, showcased its latest offerings in intimate wear at INTIMASIA 2019 in Kolkata. The brand aims to expand its presence in the Indian intimate wear category, which is expected to grow at around 12 per cent in the coming years.

Alongwith its partners including Arvind, Gemini, Prisma, Crazy Penguins and Tom Burg, the brand showcased collections featuring lingerie, men's intimate wear, children's inner wear, shapewear using Birla Viscose and Birla Modal fibers . It also showcased applications in camisole and lounge wear.

The objective behind the brand’s participation was to strengthen its reach and relations with partner brands and increase its presence in intimate wear category.

A soft, fluid fabric which falls and drapes well, LIVA transforms not just the garment but also the person wearing it. The brand recently launched their eco-enhanced version of the fabric, called Livaeco, which made of wood pulp sourced from FSC certified forests.

Eurovet, the organiser of the Salon International de la Lingerie and Unique by Mode City, organised, for the very first time this year, an official awards ceremony. The ceremony recognised 200 European boutiques. The retailers were awarded for the customer experience they provide, the relevance of their advice, their fitting service, and the success of their loyalty programs.

After the award ceremony, a luck draw allowed the Caress boutique in Brasschaat (Belgium) to win a trip for two to Nosy Be, an island off Madagascar, courtesy Eurovet’s partner Air Austral, as well as a beauty box offered by the organiser’s partner Avenue des Parfums.

According to Eurovet, this initiative communicated a bold, positive message in support of key retailers, which will be repeated next year and expanded to retailers worldwide, during the 2020 edition of its summer events in June.

The value of Vietnam’s yarn exports to China has decreased by 2.5 per cent. The reason is the depreciation of the Chinese currency against the dollar. Vietnam imports cotton from the US to make yarn products for export to China. If the yuan continues to fall, Vietnam’s yarn producers will continue to face difficulties.

Much of Vietnam’s yarn exports are to China. Vietnam is also one of China’s major yarn suppliers. In 2014, Vietnam ranked third in China’s yarn import markets, after India and Pakistan. In 2017 and 2018, Vietnam rose to the first place, accounting for 30 per cent of China’s yarn imports. Chinese partners of some Vietnamese enterprises want a further reduction in import prices.

The selling price is still on a downward trend and there is no sign of recovery, while China has launched a large amount of cotton stockpiles, which makes cotton prices fall sharply. This year, the export volume of the Vietnamese yarn industry is expected to reduce by ten per cent to15 per cent and the selling price is also expected to drop. However Vietnamese companies which export to Europe, Japan or Korea get paid in dollars and so the depreciation of the yuan would not have much effect on them.

The Sourcing at Magic event highlighted garment concepts that hinge on collaboration, innovation and sustainability. The event showcased Planet Rehab, the capsule collection designed by Juan Carlos Gordillo and produced by an international partnership of companies in the denim supply chain committed to reducing their impact on the environment. Intended to inspire other companies to combines their areas of expertise for positive change, the collection uses fabrics from Tejidos Royo with Tencel and Tencel x Refibra branded lyocell fibers. Fabrics were dyed using Officina+39’s Reycrom dye technology derived from textile waste and sustainably finished by Tonello.

Mexico-based garment manufacturer Aztex presented PG Denim’s elevated take on denim fabrications targeted at luxury brands. Described as “gala denim,” the Italian R&D house made indigo and black denim with a weft made with real silver thread. The final product served the ultimate high-low look. For an edgier vibe, Aztex touted PG Denim’s “garage denim” feature, a black fabric with layers of gold laser effects, vivid laminations and splashes of glitter.

For more bold fashion statements, Aztex displayed a variety of mixed media denims from textile mill, Corduroy. Highlights included snake- and camouflage-printed patchwork jeans, and jeans made with both camouflage and floral printed denim. Rather than clash, the prints shared monochromatic color palettes, which added harmony to the novelty pieces.

JC Penney is foraying into the second-hand clothing business in partnership with online consignment store ThredUp Inc as a part of its effort to rebuild the waning brand into a profitable business. Thirty of the brand’s stores will begin selling used clothing through a partnership with the resale site, which stocks brands from Gap to Gucci. The selection will rotate weekly in order to surprise frequent shoppers.

This isn't ThredUp's first foray into brick-and-mortar retail. Macy's recently announced a similar partnership with the company. The partnership will bolster ThredUp's visibility.

The retailer reported a net loss of $48 million for the second quarter, and nearly 9.2 per cent decrease in sales compared to the same quarter a year ago. It sells name-brand clothing for up to 90 per cent off retail prices and has resold nearly 100 million pre-owned garments.

Automation and AI have become integral parts of nearly every industry, including fashion. But when it comes to the apparel supply chain, clunky, haphazard processes and communication issues between suppliers, factories and brands still hold the sector back from truly entering the new era.

Technology streamlines operations and marketing to make them quicker, more efficient and more quality-conscious. While brands and retailers have started to react to the new solutions available to them, they’re not doing so consistently throughout their supply chains. Most apparel companies operate at 50 per cent to 60 per cent efficiency. Factory owners and operators need to empower workers to think rather than simply operate. The goal is to give factory workers the tech tools they need to spot problems quickly, and rectify them systematically. Eliminating waste means more profits. Training artisans with digital education can lead to a zero defect product.

While some companies have figured out how to put certain technology into stores, or how to gather data from e-commerce sales, most don’t know what to do with all that data once they have it. And some are innovating in the area of technology so they can keep up with competitors. They can’t take the necessary steps toward incremental improvement.