Indonesia’s textile exports are facing challenges. A wave of layoffs is threatening the textile and textile product industry in the country.

The lay offs began in the garment industry then spread to fabrics upstream. Cancelled orders from buyers in the US and the European Union have made things worse. Moreover countries that have cold winters will usually prioritize energy spending. With energy costs soaring up to four times, this would add to the challenges for Indonesia’s textile exports.

Around 70 per cent of Indonesia’s exports are to the US and the EU. The rest is to Japan, Turkey, Africa and China. Conditions in these countries are also not too good. Starting from the garment industry to fabrics, even the fiber industry has started to decrease production. The industry in Indonesia wants action against imports that come in without paying taxes. This way, the textile industry in the country hopes to freely cater to domestic consumption even though exports are disrupted.

Indonesia’s earnings from exports of leather, finished leather goods, and footwear increased by 41 per cent in June 2022 compared to the same period in the previous year. There has been a diversion of orders from several global brands to Indonesia.

Bangladesh’s exports of home textiles in the first quarter of the current fiscal year increased by 26 per cent over the same period of last year. Even in the first quarter of the current financial year, when overall export earnings showed a falling trend amid the raging war and unprecedented inflation in the West, home textiles maintained their growth momentum.

After readymade garments, the home textile industry is the second-largest export earner of the country. The home textile sector is one of the first-line export sectors in Bangladesh with the ability to produce bulk products.The home textile export basket of the country includes bed linen, bed sheet and other bedroom textiles, bath linen, carpets and rugs, blankets, kitchen linen, curtains, cushions, cushion cover, and covers for quilts.

Bangladesh entered the market of home textiles in the 1980s and has invested in research, quality products, innovation and the latest technology. However, despite all the positives, Bangladesh’s share in the global home textile export market is only seven per cent. It faces competition from China, India, Pakistan and Turkey. Moreover, although Bangladesh has immense prospects in home textiles, the country is still lagging behind in ensuring fair prices.

The global home textile trade is growing at a compound annual growth rate of three per cent.

Vegan Fashion Week is being held in the US, October 10 to 12, 2022. Vegan Fashion Week has been a leader in the fashion industry by bringing together both emerging and established designers to showcase innovations in animal-free fashion.

Vegan Fashion Week is a celebration of the innovation, sophistication and joy behind contemporary vegan fashion. Vegan fashion has taken a step into the creativity and playfulness otherwise reserved for mainstream fashion.The first-ever Vegan Fashion Week event was held in February 2019.

Brands and designers are pushing fashion forward with everything from leather made from food waste to down made from flowers. Animal-derived materials like leather, wool, fur, feathers, and exotic skins are all major contributors to the climate catastrophe. Cow leather has nearly ten times the negative environmental impact of non-animal leathers. Sheep dip—the toxic liquid used in the wool industry to rid sheep of parasites—contaminates waterways, damaging ecosystems and killing wildlife.There was a time when vegan fashion was an oxymoron. Fashion week was a place where dead-animal skins were paraded and showed off, celebrated and revered. Today, brands and designers no longer use fur. Over 300 brands all over the world have refused to use mohair and angora in their collections.

Trident’s production of bath linen slipped 33 per cent in September 2022 as compared to September 2021. Production of bed linen slumped 50 per cent. Production of yarn tumbled 45 per cent. Production of paper declined ten per cent.

In the first quarter the company's consolidated net profit declined 37 per cent despite a 13 per cent rise in net sales.

Trident is a vertically integrated textile (yarn, bath and bed linen) and paper (wheat straw-based) manufacturer and is one of the largest players in the home textile space in India.

Trident is launching several new categories of product in bed and bath. One is Grace, which marks the company’s entry into the prewashed sheets category. Earth Lover is a special range of sustainably made towels, and Trident Specials is an assortment of towels offering both utility and eye-catching designs.

Trident has also made additions to its Jiva health and wellness collection, which consists of microbe-resistant products with lifetime odor free attributes. In addition, the company has temperature-regulating sheets and a bath assortment featuring its patented Air Rich technology, which helps create towels that stay soft wash after wash.The three keys for Trident’s product introductions are utility, comfort and sustainability.

Denim fabric exports from India fell by 13 per cent from April 2022 to August 2022 compared to the same period in the last fiscal year.

The de-growth can be attributed to lower orders denim manufacturing companies are receiving amid rising inflation in western countries as well as due to piled-up inventories in retail stores.

Out of the total denim exports, cotton denim fabric exports were down 15 per cent whereas exports of poly-cotton denim fabrics were down 11 per cent. Bangladesh, the top export destination for Indian denim mills, has restricted denim fabric (both cotton and poly-cotton denim) sourcing from India. Shipments of denim fabrics from India to Bangladesh from April 2022 to August 2022 were down six per cent.

The global denim market is growing at six per cent. The rise in disposable income levels is aiding the growth of the denim market. Other factors are the rise in urbanization and the trend of denim shirts. Further, the growing popularity of stretchable denim jeans by blending cotton with synthetic material is further anticipated to propel the growth of the denim market. Moreover, initiatives to improve product manufacturing are estimated to cushion the growth of the denim market. In addition, the easy accessibility of raw material will further provide potential opportunities for the growth of the denim market.

Catherine Spindler is deputy general manager of Lacoste. So far she was the French sportswear label’s chief brand officer. Spindler began her business career at Guerlain, then worked for the Rocher group in various communication and marketing roles from 2001 to 2014, before becoming vice-president of Pierre Ricaud.

Catherine Spindler’s appointment comes after she spent three years at Lacoste, enabling it to inject new energy into the collections, to boost the brand’s desirability and its global reach, and set a higher bar for CSR standards and commitments. She is expected to continue making Lacoste the most inspiring brand in sport fashion. Spindler’s mission will be to continue to move Lacoste forward along the premiumization path. The label launched its first polo in 1933 and its current creative director is Louise Trotter.

Lacoste is sold via 1100 monobrand stores worldwide. Globally Lacoste follows a selective distribution network and makes sure that it’s present in premium locations and premium adjacencies. Lacoste generally adds six to eight point of sales every year and would stick to this expansion plan for a few years to come. Lacoste sells apparels, shoes, bags, belts and sunglasses for men, women and children and is popular for its polo T-shirts in solid colors.

The European Textile & Apparel Convention will be held in Portugal, October 13 to 14, 2022.

This, the most important event at the European level for the textile and apparel sector, will see representatives of national and European institutions, leading experts from the industry and like-minded entrepreneurs come together to discuss ideas, share experiences and find solutions to face common challenges.

The convention will look at how companies can anticipate the new European regulatory framework, embrace innovation, and develop a business model where sustainability becomes a source of competitiveness and growth. The conference will address explore solutions to turn quality and sustainability into a source of competitiveness. Workshops with industry experts for a hands-on experience will address the themes of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) in textiles, digital product passport, recycling textile waste and labeling textile. Participants can visit textile companies and further understand the European textile context in practice.

In the current economic, social and political environment, Europe is facing many challenges: increased energy prices, unforeseen inflation and climate change, which add to the day-to-day challenges of running a business. Embracing the European Union’s commitment to a green and digital transformation, the textile industry needs to also move towards a new circular economy where recycling is at the core of the design process supported by digitalisation, innovation and new skills, and creativity.

For LVMH third quarter sales were up 19 per cent compared to the same period of 2021. For the first nine months of 2022, revenues of LVMH were up 28 per cent. The group’s fashion and leather goods division led the jump in sales with a 22 per cent increase on the same period a year ago.

Wealthy shoppers splashed out on fashion and Americans in Europe made the most of the strong dollar.

Sales in Europe, the United States and Japan were up sharply since the start of the year, benefiting from solid demand from local customers and the recovery in international travel. Asia, including China, saw slower growth over the first nine months of the year, though growth accelerated in the third quarter due to the easing of Covid restrictions. In fashion and leather goods, part of the business has shifted away from the US and towards Europe as US citizens benefit from the strength of the dollar.

A recovery in China could come as consumers in the West begin to sober up from the post-pandemic euphoria.Demand for luxury goods has so far proved resilient from inflationary pressures, with affluent consumers less impacted by a cost-of-living crisis that has led the less well-off to cut back on discretionary spending.

French luxury goods giant LVMH, home to fashion brands such as Louis Vuitton and Dior, also owns Sephora and Bulgari.

Lectra will host a series of ideation conferences this year. These will be in New York on November 9 and 10, followed by Los Angeles on December 8, Mexico on November 17 and Atlanta in January 2023.In 2021 ideation was held virtually with a live fashion show event in the Lectra Innovation Center and gathered over 2,200 industry professionals.

Lectra’s solution, Retviews, will be showcased at the ideation, highlighting how brands can easily assess their market and better gauge supply chain issues, to offer consumers what they want while predicting the market’s available stocks and prices. The platform monitors over 5,000 brands globally, curating the data onto the Retviews platform allowing users to easily visualize it through easy-to-digest reports.

As the industry faces macroeconomic issues from supply chain disruption to rising inflation, ideation is aimed at making way for expert insights and commentary that can shape the ideas and strategies for digital transformation that will fuel the industry forward. Since the fashion industry relies on digital transformation to keep pace with consumer demand, and manage the ever-evolving supply chain challenges faced globally,ideation is the perfect place to have that discussion.

Lectra continues to lead the conversation surrounding industry 4.0 technology and its potential to disrupt, innovate, and improve the industry.

Karl Mayer is establishing relationships with leading denim brands. It recently signed an agreement to pursue a joint project with Levi Strauss for a more sustainable indigo dyeing process.

Karl Mayer is already with its ProDye-S unit a leader in the fashion market, and its ProDye-R is increasingly establishing in the rope dyeing process.

Karl Mayer’s Greendye technology is based on a nitrogen dyeing system, and its advantages include highly reduced chemical consumption, best dyeing efficiency, and significant water savings.The arguments for more sustainability and economic efficiency are convincing. This year, the innovative global player Nien Hsing was the first manufacturer to invest in Greendye by Karl Mayer. The premiere machine will be delivered to Taiwan by the end of this year.

Karl Mayer’s research and development center for denim offers the opportunity to test the performance of Greendye on a pilot plant with individual trials.

Pioneering textile machinery manufacturer Karl Mayer is increasingly developing textile product concepts.In the last few months, Karl Mayer has been focusing on the topics of electronic wearable, body mapping for sportswear, one-piece creations for lingerie and genre-mix, especially the combination of lingerie and swimwear with athleisure. In particular the lingerie business provides diverse development potential.