Archroma has been awarded the EcoVadis platinum rating for the second consecutive year.

This consolidates its position among the top one per cent best rated companies. Archroma is making ongoing efforts in sustainable procurement, focusing on supply chain transparency and best practice sharing with suppliers and industry peers. The purpose is to lead the industry toward a more sustainable future for customers and markets.

Archroma is a leading specialty chemical company committed to innovation, quality, service, cost-efficiency and sustainability. This is one of the biggest textile chemical companies globally and one of the most customer-centric companies, Based in Switzerland, the company operates a highly integrated, customer-focused platform that delivers specialized performance and color solutions in more than 100 countries.

Archroma prides itself not as product sellers but system sellers. With Archroma’s deep dive system color book, for instance, customers can take a deep shade and they will be guided on how to make that shade in terms of pre-treatment in knit fabrics. The company offers all kinds of after-chemical treatments that the textile industry has been demanding.

So in athletic wear, for instance, the company has bacteria control for medical applications. And there are non-iron shirt chemical ranges for people who are starting going to the office again.

Japan International Apparel Machinery and Textile Industry (JIAM) was held November 30 to December 3, 2022. The trade show wrapped up four successful days of business.

A total of 10,452 visitors found their way to the fairground. Assembling again for the first time since the pandemic began, 150 exhibitors (domestic112 and overseas 38) from eleven countries and regions welcomed visitors with an extensive and diverse selection of products. Buyers from Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, South Korea, and Pakistan constituted the top five visiting countries (excluding Japan), compensating for a drop in visitors from China this year due to Covid travel restrictions.

The show attracted many visitors from South Asia and showcased apparel manufacturing solutions catered to each and every need, combining high-level skillsets and time-tested knowledge with the latest modern-day technology. In the new normal, there is a growing demand for new technological advancements, productivity improvements, and greater quality control. In addition to solving these pain points, this edition’s exhibitors also showcased various innovations in response to automation, IoT, and networking.

Highlights included a skills training seminar and panel discussions by leading companies in the manufacturing industry. SDGs, examples of IoT in industrial sewing machines, and upcycling initiatives were also on the agenda.

India will have a pavilion at Dhaka International Textile Garment, February 15 to 18, 2023. This will cover the entire value chain of the Indian textile industry starting from yarn and fabrics to high-end fashion garments.

The key focus sectors are textile and textile machinery and components, apparel and accessories, yarn and leather products, home furnishing andinteriors, gift items and suppliers, among others. DITG offers an unparalleled business platform for the entire spectrum of textile components and machinery, knitting, garments, yarn, garment accessories and others.

Exhibitors at DITG are entitled to numerous event and promotional opportunities. Exhibitors have huge branding exposure, and the show is an excellent stage for textile and garment services and highly skilled professionals. The main goal of the exhibition is to promote commercial activities – bringing advanced technology and innovative services from domestic and foreign businesses. The exhibition is an opportunity for Bangladesh’s textile industry to integrate and develop and is a bridge for Bangladesh’s textile and garment enterprises to meet and exchange experiences, introduce products, and expand.

The entire textile and garment and machinery industry will be presented from the development of substances and quality control of raw materials to equipment. There will be more than 250 exhibiting companies, participation from 40 countries, business matchmaking and new product launches.

During the July to November period of the current financial year, Bangladesh’s apparel exports to the European Union increased by 16 per cent.

Exports to Germany increased by one per cent compared to the same period of the previous year. Exports to the UK rose by 11 per cent. Bangladesh’s apparel exports to other major EU countries like Spain, France, Italy and Netherlands increased by 19 per cent, 38 per cent, 50 per cent and 34 per cent respectively. Exports to Austria and Sweden grew by 48 per cent and 22 per cent respectively.

Exports to the US grew by four per cent. The United States is the largest single export destination for Bangladesh. Exports to Canada rose by 30 per cent. Bangladesh’s apparel exports to non-traditional markets grew by 29 per cent from the same period in the last fiscal year. Among major non-traditional market destinations, exports to Japan rose by 38 per cent. Exports to India rose by 48 per cent. Exports to Australia, South Korea and Mexico rose by 21 per cent, 30 per cent and 49 per cent respectively.

Bangladesh’s export earnings in November were much higher than expected considering concerns over the slowdown in western markets.

The total cotton supply for the months of October 2022 and November 2022 in India is estimated at 84.68 lakh bales. So says Cotton Association of India (CAI).

The estimated cotton consumption for the months of October 2022 and November 2022 is at 40 lakh bales of 170 kgs each while the export shipments upto November 30, 2022, are estimated at one lakh bales. Stock at the end of November 2022 is estimated at 43.68 lakh bales of 170 kgs each including 35.68 lakh bales of 170 kgs each with textile mills and the remaining eight lakh bales of 170 kgs each with the CCI, Maharashtra Federation and others (MNCs, traders, ginners, MCX, etc. including cotton sold but not delivered).

Domestic consumption for the season is estimated at 300 lakh bales of 170 kgs each as against 318 lakh bales of 170 kgs each. Exports for the season are estimated at 30 lakh bales of 170 kgs each. Export estimate for the previous cotton season was 43 lakh bales of 170 kgs each. The carryover stock which was earlier estimated at 57.89 lakh bales of 170 kgs each is now estimated at 53.64 lakh bales of 170 kgs each.

The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) sided with Wrangler’s opposition against another denim company that wants to use the letter W in their trademark.

Turkish company Denimci Dis Ticaret Pazarlama Anonim Sirketi’s efforts to register W Denim for denim fabric, jeans, dungarees, and other goods conflicted with Wrangler’s W registrations for similar products.Two of the three examples Wrangler provided were stitched Ws, such as the ones seen on the back pockets of its jeans. The third was a solid W. The board found consumers were likely to be confused by the mark and therefore sustained Wrangler’s opposition.

Denimci DisTicaret Pazarlama Anonim Sirketi filed for the trademark in 2019. In its registration mark request, the company described the illustration as a stylized W above the word Denim.The W mimics the appearance of folded jeans, while Denim is used as a generic or descriptive word.

However, TTAB said Denim does not distinguish the marks.The color blue was also claimed as a feature of Denimci DisTicaret Pazarlama Anonim Sirketi’s mark. Though color is not part of Wrangler’s marks, TTAB found the marks visually and phonetically similar because they consist of or prominently feature the stylized letter W and added that Wrangler’s marks could appear in the same color.

There has been a wave of layoffs in the Indonesian textile industry. This has been due to a decrease in demand, both domestic and foreign demand. Several sectors have been negatively affected.

Almost 150 out of 233 textile companies have reduced the number of employees. In the digital industry, the wave of layoffs occurred due to a decrease in people's consumption patterns that had occurred since economic activity returned to normal.These are cyclical challenges. Even though the economy is growing fast, there are some that are experiencing a slowdown.

The storm of layoffs, especially in technology companies, has not subsided.Throughout 2022, there have been some 20 technology companies in Indonesia that have streamlined their employees with mass layoffs. Most recently, an e-commerce platform laid off 200 of its employees on the pretext of responding to global economic challenges and the rapid changes in digital business. A giant technology company has laid off 12 percent of its total employees or as many as 1,300 people.

The global crisis as a result of the impact of the Russian-Ukrainian war is being felt by the textile industry in Indonesia.Indonesia’s textile exports have dropped dramatically after the Russia-Ukraine war. The loss of this export market has made textile companies in Indonesia overstock.

Tirupur faces dwindling orders from foreign customers. The spending power of the developed countries has eroded because of the pandemic and the war. Food, power, and equal monthly installments have become the top priorities for people in these countries while clothing is no more a priority as it used to be.

Clients in Europe and the US have cancelled their orders for non-formal wear. Customers in Europe used to buy clothes which they would wear till the fifth washing. After the fifth washing, they would dump the clothes and shop for new ones. Not anymore. Now they want clothes that last for 30 washes. This is because their purchasing power has gone down.

Tirupur is the knitwear capital of India as it produces 55 per cent of the ready-to-wear outfits manufactured in the country. The district, which has more than 1,200 knitwear factories, accounts for 13 per cent of the country’s exports in this sector. The demand for new clothes in western nations pick up between October to January but now Tirupur is facing a 64 percent fall in sales. Added to that, the surge in power and water tariffs has broken the backbone of the textile industry.

Frasers Group has acquired JD Sports Fashion’s interests in a raft of fashion brands.

The brands include Base Childrenswear, Choice, Clothingsites (including Brown Bag Clothing), Cricket, Giulio, Kids Cavern, Missy Empire, Nicholas Deakins, Pretty Green, Prevu Studio, Rascal Clothing, Tessuti (including Xile), Scotts, Watch Shop and Topgrade Sportswear (including Get The Label).

Completion of the acquisition of eight of the businesses and the debt took place on exchange, with completion of the remainder expected to take place in early 2023.The purchases, by way of the acquisition of shares held by JD and the transfer of all the debt owed to JD by the businesses, will be funded from Frasers Group's existing cash resources.

Frasers Group is the company behind Sports Direct and House of Fraser. The non-core divestments would enable JD Sports to focus on opportunities for the group’s global sports fashion businesses. The move is expected to significantly simplify JD Sports’ branded fashion offer. JD is recognised for its laser focus on the customer and is convinced that the most significant opportunities lie in the continued international development of the group's global sports fashion businesses. So it agreed to the sale of these attractive, but non-core, brands.

Burmese migrants were made to work up to 99 hours a week on unlawful wages and in forced labour conditions at a Tesco Thai factory.

The workers, who are all Burmese migrants who had fled war or left Myanmar in the hope of finding safety and work in Thailand, worked at a garments factory between 2017 and 2020 in various roles including cutting, tailoring, and packing.

The workers are bringing a legal claim against Tesco. The impoverished migrants worked seven days a week, trapped in a cycle of forced labour and debt bondage at a factory. Bosses housed them in unfit and overcrowded conditions where they slept on cement floors with little or no privacy, no locks, walls or ceilings. Pressure to fulfil large orders for Tesco was so intense that workers were often unable to take breaks to eat, drink or go to the toilet, sometimes working through the night in conditions that were hazardous, unventilated and overcrowded. They were given one day off a month, with no holidays. They worked in high temperatures without ventilation, PPE, training, or clean water. There was poor lighting and exposed electrical wiring. Many of the workers suffered personal injuries as a result of these alleged unlawful working conditions and practices.