Coats Digital's GSDCost, a time-cost benchmarking solution, won four awards at the 2023 SaaS Awards:

• Best SaaS for Improved Productivity (Non-USA)

• Best Data-Driven SaaS Product

• Best SaaS Product for ERP/MRP

• Best SaaS Product for Product Analytics

The awards recognize GSDCost's innovative features, seamless integration, ability to revolutionize the fashion industry, and for delivering real ROI, while supporting a more collaborative, transparent and sustainable global fashion supply chain.

Quotes:

• Kunal Kapur, Managing Director, Coats Digital: "We are truly honoured to receive these awards. This is a testament to GSDCost's contribution in making the fashion supply chain more transparent, sustainable, and collaborative for the benefit of brands, manufacturers and consumers."

• Adrian Elliot, Divisional CEO, Apparel, Coats Group: "We are immensely proud of our software arm, Coats Digital. Our industry needs technology to meet future sustainability and CSR compliance requirements and GSDCost is certainly a catalyst for industry change."

Fashion is a powerful form of self-expression, but our love of clothes is pushing our planet and societies to the limits. Fashion Redressed, a new online film series presented by Global Fashion Agenda and produced by BBC StoryWorks Commercial Productions, intends to inspire the industry to take action to transform the way we produce and consume fashion.

The series comprises multiple films that showcase organizations from across the fashion and textile industries, spotlighting the innovations that are influencing the new seasons of fashion and featuring a collection of stories that depict tailor-made solutions to fit us and our planet.

The 11 self-contained branded films showcase a range of participants including eBay, Elk, The Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Vestiaire Collective, Spinnova, Lenzing, Faherty, FarFetch, Waste2Wear, Colorifix and Forest Stewardship Council. Each film focuses on a bespoke solution that can benefit us and the planet.

From the scientist taking inspiration from silk-spinning spiders in Helsinki and the duo taking a deep dive into the genetic makeup of colour in Cambridge, to the pre-loved clothes being brought to life on a global platform from Paris and the importance of cultural appreciation in Arizona, fashion gathers the most creative and innovative minds.

This series expresses the dynamism and creativity of the fashion world, spotlighting the people weaving change into the fibres of fashion and those who are working to find the stylish side of a more sustainable sector.

The series was unveiled ahead of GFA's landmark event – Global Fashion Summit: Boston Edition – on 27 September. The renowned forum will bring together core fashion stakeholders for agenda-setting discussions and productive meetings on the most critical environmental and social issues. 

Federica Marchionni, CEO, GFA, says: “Education is a crucial tool to mobilise and inspire the positive transformation of the fashion industry, so we are thrilled to present this series produced by BBC StoryWorks, which showcases an array of promising solutions through human-centric storytelling.”

In a recent ceremony, the Undersecretary of Bahrain's Ministry of Labour, His Highness Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, honored outstanding Bahraini employees at Apparel Group Bahrain. 

The event recognized 120 top-performing Bahraini employees, including new additions, within Apparel Group Bahrain, specifically celebrating the exemplary performance of Bahraini store managers over the past three months.

Neeraj Teckchandani, CEO of Apparel Group, was also present at the ceremony. He emphasized the company's commitment to more than just business expansion in Bahrain, underscoring their dedication to investing in the local community and nurturing Bahraini talent. 

He further highlighted the alignment between Apparel Group's vision and the broader objectives of the Kingdom of Bahrain, noting the acknowledgment and support from HE Mr. Jameel Bin Mohammad Ali Humaidan, Minister of Labour.

In 2023, Apparel Group continued to actively support Bahrain's National Employment Program by employing 80 new Bahraini nationals, out of a total of 120 across various roles and branches in the Kingdom. This achievement represented a noteworthy Bahrainization rate of 34%.

During the ceremony, His Highness Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman bin Mohammed Al Khalifa presented recognition certificates to the esteemed managers and employees of Apparel Group. 

He also addressed the new recruits, conveying the Ministry's pride and gratitude for the valuable contributions made by Bahraini nationals across diverse sectors, while extending his best wishes for their promising and successful careers.

This ceremony is a testament to Apparel Group's commitment to the Kingdom of Bahrain and its people. The company's dedication to investing in Bahraini talent and supporting the National Employment Program is commendable. The recognition of 120 outstanding Bahraini employees is a well-deserved celebration of their hard work and dedication.

The Tiruppur Exporters Association (TEA) announced its plans to reintroduce the Tiruppur Stakeholders Forum next month during its recent annual meeting. The forum, led by TEA Vice-President V. Elangovan, will include representatives from the association, ETI, eight trade unions, three NGOs, the Brand Ethics Working Group, the Assistant Commissioner of Labour from the Labour Department in Tiruppur, and the UN Women Wing.

The revived forum aims to promote worker welfare, enhance working conditions, and contribute to the sustainability of the Tiruppur cluster. TEA is also focusing on fostering the production of man-made fiber (MMF) products to meet global demands. Mr. Subramanian emphasized the importance of product diversification, noting that the current ratio of synthetic to cotton garments is 70:30. 

TEA plans to conduct awareness programs to help its members increase their market share in MMF products.

ESG (Environment and Sustainability Governance) has gained prominence, and TEA is in discussions with experts to understand the necessary procedures for its members to adopt sustainable practices. 

In terms of export performance, India's Readymade Garments (RMG) sector experienced an 8.78% growth in the 2022-2023 fiscal year in rupee terms, and a 1.06% growth in dollar terms compared to the previous year. In the same period, Tiruppur's knitwear exports increased to ₹34,350 crore from ₹33,525 crore in the previous fiscal year. 

Tiruppur's share in all India knitwear exports in 2021-2022 was 55.60%. However, in dollar terms, Tiruppur's knitwear exports in 2022-2023 decreased to $4.29 billion from $4.50 billion in 2021-2022. 

Lenzing Group, a world-leading provider of specialty fibers for the textile and nonwovens industries, has launched a pioneering real-time ocean shipment tracker in collaboration with digital supply chain solution company, project44. 

The tracker is designed to enhance the transparency and efficiency of the global fiber supply chain, while also helping Lenzing and its customers to reduce carbon emissions.

The tracker is powered by a fully integrated real-time application programming interface (API) between Lenzing's systems applications and products (SAP) and project44's platform, Movement. 

It also leverages advanced artificial intelligence (AI), GPS sensors, and machine-learning technologies to provide customers with accurate real-time insights on fiber orders, ranging from shipment status, container location, to vessel route tracking and estimated arrival times at ports around the world.

In addition to providing enhanced visibility, the tracker also offers capabilities to improve the visibility of carbon emissions among partners. This is done by providing customers with access to Scope 3 carbon emission data accredited by the Global Logistics Emission Council (GLEC) framework on shipment and container level. This data can then be used by Lenzing and its customers to collaboratively establish goals and adjust shipment plans to reduce carbon emissions.

The Lenzing real-time ocean shipment tracker will be accessible to all Lenzing customers worldwide starting September.

Benefits of the tracker:

• Enhanced transparency and efficiency of the global fiber supply chain

• Reduced carbon emissions for Lenzing and its customers

• Real-time insights on fiber orders, shipment status, container location, vessel route tracking, and estimated arrival times

• Access to Scope 3 carbon emission data accredited by the Global Logistics Emission Council (GLEC) framework on shipment and container level

Südwolle's collection of yarns for weaving and circular knitting continues to evolve based on the key concept of Responsibility. This principle guides Südwolle Group's commitment to the environment, the textile industry production chain, consumers, employees, and the social repercussions of its business.

The responsible creation of new products is based on 6 integrated and consistent areas of innovation:

• Design: Unique colors, the selection of special raw materials, and the structure of the yarns endow the fabrics with special effects.

• Performance: Yarn performance is constantly improved during the production process, which adds special properties and functionality to the finished apparel.

• Technology: Cutting-edge technology is used, and innovative spinning processes and services are constantly improved for the customers' benefit.

• Traceability: Products have a controlled, traceable production cycle, which makes the supply chain more transparent.

• Circularity: Products and services are in compliance with recycling processes and production chain circularity.

• Sustainability: The entire design and production process is aimed at reducing the negative impact on the environment by developing environmentally friendly products, technologies, and processes.

The intersection between these 6 areas has resulted in a collection in which the concept of seasonality is blurred, and products have a flexible, versatile use. The use of cutting-edge technology means yarns offer a high level of quality, suitable for apparel with outstanding durability, which helps to reduce the environmental impact of textile waste and disposable fashion.

A number of member companies of the British Textile Machinery Association (BTMA) are making a critical but seldom-acknowledged contribution to a more sustainable textile industry – giving existing machines out in the field an extended life.

At this year’s ITMA 2023, BTMA CEO Jason Kent noted that many new technologies are being developed to reduce resource consumption in the textile industry, but many textile companies are not in a position to invest in new capital-intensive projects.

“Outdated but mechanically sound machines used to be simply scrapped, with few other options, but this has now completely changed,” Kent said.

One BTMA member company, Adaptive Control Solutions, is working to extend the life of jet dyeing machines. The company’s Plant Explorer central control system sets the standard around the world for automation, with powerful features and ease of use.

“We have successfully automated many makes and types of dyeing machine and found that the flexibility of PC-based controllers has allowed us to help customers in other parts of the dyeing and finishing plant as well, including with stenter frames and dryers,” says managing director Richard Armitage.

Another BTMA member company, Garnett Controls, has been a pioneer in the retrofit market since 1990. The company offers a wide range of retrofit solutions for textile and nonwoven machines, including blending, carding, nonwovens, and spinning.

“We’ve been installing the most advanced retrofit drive systems internationally for many years and we continue to develop our products as new technologies emerge,” says managing director Mark Baldwin. “Our retrofit systems are fully supported internationally by an experienced team and customers have reported achieving energy savings of up to 40% depending on the type of machine.”

Tatham is another BTMA member offering retrofit services for OEM carding machines, crosslappers, needlelooms, blending systems, spinning frames, and twisting and winding units.

The company’s TS Drive System is designed to run the motors at their optimum performance levels enabling considerable energy savings in the region of 30% to be achieved

“TS Drive Technology is the most advanced product on the market for synchronous drive applications,” says director Tim Porritt. “It provides superior performance and accurate speed regulation even at low speeds.”

Streat Drycom is a BTMA member that specializes in moisture measurement and control systems. The company’s Drycom system is retrofitted onto a wide range of production lines to measure the moisture content of textiles and nonwovens during production and automatically controls the energy and/or speed of ovens and dryers in order to maintain the optimum moisture content.

“Most machines already in operation worldwide function flawlessly mechanically and BTMA members can offer many options via upgrades and automation to secure their production going forward, ensuring a sufficient margin of profit is retained by keeping them going,” Kent said in conclusion. “The cost-effective longevity of retrofitted machines makes sound and sustainable sense.”

 

India's textile and apparel industry holds immense potential, with the country being the second-largest exporter of textile and apparel products globally. Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) play a crucial role in boosting India's textile and apparel exports by eliminating or reducing tariffs and other trade barriers.

Over the past five years, India has entered into 13 FTAs, including noteworthy agreements like the India-Mauritius Comprehensive Economic Corporation and Partnership Agreement (CECPA), India-UAE Comprehensive Partnership Agreement, and India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement. Additionally, India is actively engaged in negotiations for more FTAs, particularly with countries such as the UK and Canada.

Despite the immense potential of FTAs, the Indian textile and apparel industry has not fully harnessed their benefits. To address this issue, the Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI) has partnered with the renowned law firm Lakshikumaran and Sridharan, specializing in Customs and International Trade, to conduct a series of webinars aimed at exploring the various provisions and opportunities offered by FTAs and how to effectively leverage them.

The inaugural webinar, titled "Utilizing Free Trade Agreements to Expand Export Opportunities," delved into the FTA framework, focusing on aspects such as rules of origin and tariff/non-tariff notifications that businesses should carefully consider before making import or export decisions with FTA countries.

T Rajkumar, Chairman of CITI, expressed concern that the industry has not fully harnessed the potential of FTAs. He emphasized the need to raise awareness within the industry and encourage stakeholder discussions on how to effectively utilize FTAs, particularly in the textile and apparel sector, where India possesses significant potential to capture a substantial market share in these partner countries.

India's share of the Korean market has remained within the 2-3 percent range since 2013. Similar trends can be observed in the case of Japan. 

The three-day Textile Series of Exhibitions organized by CEMS-Global commenced at the Bangabandhu Bangladesh-China Friendship Exhibition Center in Purbachal, Dhaka, on Wednesday and are set to conclude on Saturday.

The event has brought together the entire textile and garment industry of Bangladesh as part of CEMS-Global USA's Textile Series of Exhibitions. The three exhibitions include the 22nd Textech Bangladesh 2023 International Expo on Textile, Garment Technology, and Machinery; the 20th Dhaka International Yarn and Fabric Show 2023; and the 42nd Dye+Chem Bangladesh 2023 International Expo.

With participation from over 1,675 manufacturers representing 37 countries, occupying 2,245 booths and pavilions, these three comprehensive international exhibitions cater to the entire textile and garment industry of Bangladesh.

The opening ceremony for the exhibition took place at the Purbachal exhibition center and was hosted by Meherun N Islam, the President and Group Managing Director of CEMS-Global - USA & Asia-Pacific. Notable attendees at the event included Golam Dastagir Gazi, the Textiles and Jute Minister, who served as the chief guest, as well as various other esteemed figures from government and industry sectors.

Sartoria Studio, Soho’s made-to-measure lounge, is hosting a special two-day trunk show event with Vogel and Scabal on September 22-23, 2023.

The event marks the debut event for Vogel – Sartoria Studio’s new footwear partner – and Scabal’s second trunk show with the Soho made-to-measure lounge.

Introducing Vogel

Sartoria Studio is proud to partner with Vogel, one of Manhattan’s original luxury shoemakers, known for its expertly crafted, made-to-order footwear. Each handcrafted shoe represents Vogel’s distinct blend of new-world style and old-world refinement, tailored precisely to each customer.

With over a century of experience in this specialized craft, Vogel's creates one-of-a-kind boots and shoes that represent the pinnacle of custom footwear cherished by elite patrons at the highest echelons of society.

Scabal Returns

Savile Row clothier Scabal will showcase autumn/winter seasonal jacketing and outerwear collections and a new range of Autumn leaves and Magus fabric selections.

For autumn, Scabal will present its new Autumn leaves fabric collection, designed with the colors of the season in mind. The collection ranges from bold and fancy checks to a dramatic selection of plains with distinctive light and dark twisted yarn effect for added depth and character.

For winter, Scabal will introduce its new Magus collection of 14 luxury suiting fabrics in essential, classic colors. The soft-milled fabrics combine Super 160’s wool with a natural stretch – without sacrificing warmth or softness – created purely by the firm’s skillful weavers.