Gap Inc. has announced a new alliance with Arvind, its long-time sourcing and franchise partner in India, to drive industry-leading solutions that address global water scarcity. The two companies will open a new innovation center to promote the adoption of proven techniques and technology that reduce water use by the textile industry.

Further, both are also investing in a new water treatment facility that will eliminate the use of fresh water at Arvind’s denim mill in Ahmedabad. The facility will save three billion litres of fresh water by the end of 2020 and preserve the local community’s vital freshwater resources.

When it opens in 2020, the new center will be an innovation hub for apparel companies, manufacturing suppliers and vendors, sustainability experts, academics and other environmental stakeholders to advance and scale water stewardship across the apparel sector. The 18,000-square foot space will feature installations that showcase water management best practices and recycling technologies, a library, lab space to develop water management solutions as well as classroom training, and conference space. Once completed, the center will generate scalable solutions that can be replicated at other mills and laundries.

Held between July 27-29, 2019, Innatex- the international trade fair for sustainable fashion and accessories, showcased around 300 brands in Hofheim-Wallau from July 27 to 29, 2019. The international trade fair for sustainable fashion and accessories, being held since 1997 was visited by conventional buyers and concept store buyers in addition to natural textile retailers. The motto of this year’s fair was “Fashion grows here.”

The Buyers Lounge at the fair enpowered visitors to questions associations such as Global Standard or IVN (Internationaler Verband der Naturtextilwirtschaft e.V.) about their certifications. The specialist forums and panel dealt on the subject of seals as a guide to purchasing and certifications.

The Design Discovery area showcased eight new labels included Sam Lang-a gender neutral streetwear that uses a special pleating technique in its designs; N’go Shoes which creates sneakers decorated with ethno pattern fabric and Nudo which offers casual silhouettes and a clear design.

Vietnam garment and textile exports, which reached $19 billion in the first half of the year, are expected to top $40 billion this year. The country mainly makes products for medium and high-end market segments. The CPTPP has had a positive impact on the country’s garment and textile exports. Previously countries such as New Zealand, Australia and Canada rarely imported Vietnamese garment and textile products. But this year, with the CPTPP coming into effect, these markets have begun to import its garments and textiles in rather large quantities.

The country also benefited from reduction of yarn exports to China as it shifted to other lucrative markets such as Japan, South Korea, the Middle East, and Taiwan which enabled it achieve its yarn export target.

Inditex, H&M and Primark lead Spanish textile commerce. In 2018, Inditex, H&M and Primark’s aggregated turnover reached €6.6 billion. Traditionally, sales of the three groups have evolved better than the revenue of the sector in Spain. These groups represent 37.8 per cent of the total fashion sector in Spain.

Inditex occupies 68.18 per cent of the aggregated sales for the three giants. This fiscal, the company’s revenue in the Spanish market was three per cent more than last year. Sales of the group represented 16.3 per cent of the total. H&M’s revenue in Spain was higher by 8.2 per cent. However, low cost Irish giant Primark’s revenue in Spain fell three per cent. This is not due to the group’s revenue in Spain, but because of its problems in home market.

Store chains lead the distribution channel in Spain, with a growth of 33.9 per cent, compared to department stores and multibrand outlets, which are seeing a fall in business. Despite all, the three giants of Spanish fashion have reduced their rhythm of growth. It was 2.17 per cent in 2018 compared to 18.8 per cent in 2014, 11.07 per cent in 2015 or 7.51 per cent in 2016.

Textile commerce in the world sank in 2018 by 2.38 per cent.

Salvatore Ferragamo closed the first half of 2019 with a net benefit 2.3 per cent more than the same period last year. Sales rose 14.6 per cent during the period. Licenses and services rose 22.3 per cent while wholesale rose 7.4 per cent. Retail, on the other hand, grew 3.6 per cent in the first half. By regions, Asia Pacific and Latin America had a rise of 8.1 per cent and 13.4 per cent respectively. In Japan and North America, Salvatore Ferragamo had rises of 0.1 per cent and 0.4 per cent respectively. In Europe, revenue of the group rose three per cent. Leather goods grew 6.9 per cent while footwear and fragrances rose 4.1 per cent and 7.8 per cent respectively. Ready-to-wear, on the other hand, had a drop of 3.3 per cent.

The company has 661 points of sales, of which 397 are directly operated stores and 264 third-party operated stores. Salvatore Ferragamo, based in Italy, is one of the world’s leaders in the luxury industry. The group is active in the creation, production and sale of shoes, leather goods, apparel, silk products and other accessories, along with women’s and men’s fragrances. The group's product offer also includes eyewear and watches.

Bangladesh’s apparel exports to non-traditional markets grew 21.77 per cent this fiscal year. Among the reasons are cash incentives for exporters and systems upgradation. Currently, apparel exporters enjoy a four per cent cash incentive for export to non-traditional markets. In addition, apparel makers in Bangladesh are upgrading machinery and processes to improve product quality. Manufacturers have been participating in global expositions to reach new buyers, which contributed a lot to increased exports to new markets.

Australia, Brazil, Chile, China, India, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Russia, South Africa and Turkey are defined as non-traditional destinations. Traditional markets include the US, Canada and the European Union. Japan’s imports of apparel goods from Bangladesh were 28.90 per cent higher than in the previous year. China’s apparel imports were up by 29.33 per cent. And India’s apparel imports from Bangladesh were up by a stunning 79.09 per cent.

In grabbing more from the pie in non-traditional markets, Bangladesh has to concentrate on product development for those markets. A move towards a free trade agreement and bilateral trade relations will help. An integrated marketing and sourcing plan will be key to grabbing these markets as most of the time Bangladesh manufacturers work for quantity-based orders.

India’s cotton production for the 2019-20 season may fall by one per cent, says the US Department of Agriculture. The decline is a result of reduced plantings in Central Maharashtra, where farmers are shifting toward soybeans as well as in Karnataka, where farmers are switching to pulses and corn. While overall plantings are expected to fall, they are happening at an accelerated rate this season in part because of the delayed monsoon. As of July 19, the cotton planted area is five per cent higher than the five-year average, with plantings especially accelerated in Rajasthan and Orissa.

At 29 million bales, the anticipated 2019-20 output is down only slightly from the 29.3 million bales forecasted earlier this year, but still about nine per cent larger than the 2018-19 crop. While the prospects of a larger crop should result in greater export outflows, Indian cotton prices are currently uncompetitive in the global market compared to other suppliers. Indian cotton prices are up on improving quality and the higher prices help ensure that domestic mills will continue to rely on at least some imported cotton. As for the crop situation next year, the highly remunerative kapas (cotton) prices during the current year and the monsoon projection would induce Indian farmers to prefer to grow more cotton.

HP’s S1000 is a super wide dye sublimation printer, offering solutions for interior decoration and soft signage, including front and backlit applications. The HP Stitch S1000 delivers sharp prints and vibrant colors even on high density jobs printing direct to fabric using a print zone dryer. The S1000 automatically detects and corrects any nozzle problem with its infrared sensors.

Two other printers, the Stitch S300 and S500, are used for sportswear and fashion. Enabling continuous high-quality printing on paper and fabric, the printers achieve high levels of productivity in an even simpler process, reducing waste in printing. The HP Stitch S Printer Series also offers fast production and high uptime, while working unattended without operator management. In 40 per cent less time, a single operator can easily load and unload both transfer paper and textile rolls. Daily manual intervention is minimized with fully automatic print head maintenance. This allows print manufacturers to deliver print jobs just in time and reduce labor costs.

HP, a brand of graphics and signage printing solutions, has developed thermal inkjet printing technology and inks that can work on polyester substrates for the Stitch S Printer Series machines. The machines have applications from home decoration to sportswear.

GEMA, North India's biggest apparel association has urged the government not to replace Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS) with a new duty refund scheme called Rebate of State and Central Taxes and Levies (RoSCTL). GEMA says, ROSCTL, which is a reimbursement of taxes already paid by the industry, is not similar in scope or role of MEIS. Also the backlog of 8 months reported by the smaller players in the industry has created a working capital crunch which would aggravate if MEIS is discontinued.

The association also requested the government to continue with the existing MEIS for garments (HS Code 61& 62) at 4 per cent until an alternative WTO complaint scheme is formulated and implemented. As the RoSCTL scheme was introduced to provide reimbursement of Central and State Taxes, its introduction should not trigger withdrawal of MEIS, rather alternate Scheme should be devised which is WTO complaint.

Diesel plans to finish fiscal 2019 with 20 owned stores in the United States. The plan is to reach 30 or 35 stores in the US in the next three years. The brand will update its store network, restructure its multi brand partners and strengthen its digital presence.

The Italian denim label is revising store looks and operations. The new concept will be deployed by the end of the year in 15 Diesel stores, both new and renovated, in Europe, the US, Japan, China and India. The interior design of the stores will be ultra-dynamic and adaptable. Back-end operations have also been redesigned, with stock levels based on omni-channel requirements. The main features of this new approach are flexibility and the ability to modify more easily the way products are displayed in-store, depending on demand, trends and other signals. Greater transparency is now in full view. The high energy, customised shop fronts have been designed in collaborations with local street artists. For example, in Paris, Diesel has decided to close down a store but open two new stores before the end of the year. In France, Diesel currently operates 84 direct retail outlets, between monobrand stores and department store concessions.