As per a Korean Herald report, henceforth, apparel and clothing items produced in Vietnam with South Korea-made fabrics will face lower tariffs in the European Union as they would enjoy the benefits of the Vietnam-EU free trade agreement. Previously to enjoy these benefits, clothes needed to be made with locally produced fabrics, reveals Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The new amendment will create stronger demand for South Korean products compared to other rival producers such as China and Taiwan.

Vietnam imports around 80 per cent of its textiles. In 2019, the country imported 55 per cent of its fabrics from China, followed by South Korea and Taiwan at 16 and 12 per cent, respectively. Japan accounted for 6 per cent. Last year, South Korea shipped fabrics worth $2.35 billion to Vietnam a 18.4 percent year-on-year decline.

Accusing some customs officers of refusing to believe that textile exports for recycling have originated from UK, Textile Recycling Association (TRA), has raised the matter with the Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy. Although the Brexit deal allows goods that originate in the UK to be exported tariff-free to the EU, disputes have arisen over whether textiles exported for recycling originated in the UK or where they were manufactured.

TRA argues, the garment origin is irrelevant in terms of the Brexit deal. When garments arrive in the UK, they are then bought by consumers and potentially used for years by the original buyer or later ones before being deposited for reuse or recycling.

They will then be sorted in the UK or exported for sorting and processing abroad using a specific export product code for worn clothing and worn textile items. This meant they have legally become a new product while in the UK, and so it can be declared as the country of origin.

Demand for home textiles used for furnishing residence, towels, bedsheets, pillow covers and table linens is recovering as the fear of COVID pandemic subsides with the launch of vaccine.

The reopening of hotels and motels has spurred demand for bed linen as customers have become more picky about the freshness of bed linen in COVID times.

This has led to most textile companies registering strong recovery in the third quarter of this fiscal. These companies expect the demand uptick to continue in the March quarter as the demand in the domestic market is also picking slowly.

However, the import duty of 10 per cent on raw cotton imposed in the Union Budget may push up the cost of textile companies and impact their margins. The levy of import duty on cotton will push up cost of extra long staple cotton such as GizaCotton from Egypt and Supima Cotton from the US and makes India lose ground on premium textile exports.

Target’s activewear brand All in Motion has reached $1 billion in sales. Launched a year ago, the brand offers sports bras, hand weights and yoga mats, says a report by CNBC. It is one of 10 Target brands that generated $1 billion or more in sales in fiscal 2020.

Over the past five years, Target has launched more than 30 private-label brands in clothing, home and other categories to and differentiate itself from competitors and boost profitability. Four of these brands hit $2 billion or more in sales last year: kids apparel brand Cat & Jack; Good & Gather, a food and beverage line; Up & Up, a personal care and household essentials brand; and home decor brand Threshold.

The growth of these labels has helped Target gain $6 billion in market share in the first three fiscal quarters of the year. Its apparel sales have increased by nearly 10 per cent in the third quarter of this fiscal from a year earlier.

The company is confident of outpacing sales of higher-end athleisure and apparel brands. It plans to stick to its formula of developing exclusive products with quality and style, but with more inclusive sizing and lower prices.

Lectra plans to acquire the entire capital and voting rights of US-based Gerber Technology. As per Textile Network, the acquisition would complement Lectra’s market position and enhance its offerings based on Industry 4.0 technology.. After the consultation of the French work council of Lectra is consulted and signing of the binding documentation, the acquisition shall remain subject to merger control clearance and other customary conditions and shall be submitted to Lectra shareholders for approval.

The acquisition will make Lectra and Gerber Technology the ultimate Industry 4.0 for their customers. The strategic combination of Gerber Technology and Lectra will create a premier advanced technology partner, able to quickly meet changing customer needs and deliver even more value through seamlessly integrated solutions. Together, the two companies will have a large installed base of product development software and automated cutting solutions in operation, with a worldwide presence and a long list of prestigious customers.

Consolidating the two companies’ research and development capabilities will enable the combined company to accelerate development of Industry 4.0 technologies and help its expanded customer base seize the full potential of these innovations.

Pablo Isla, Chairman and CEO of Inditex, signed a $4 million multi-year agreement with Rafael Reif, President, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), to jointly pursue technological research initiatives. As part of the agreement Inditex will fund MIT research initiatives relating to the circular economy and new technology associated with sustainability and the recycling of textile materials, in addition to new lines of research related to data analysis.

The agreement supports MIT research by creating two Inditex fellowships in sustainability and operations. The Inditex Materials Science and Engineering Fellowship Fund within the MIT Department of Materials Science and Engineering will receive $1 million from Inditex to promote research into the areas of sustainability, logistics, and supply chain management.

The Inditex Operations Research and Management Fellowship Fund within the MIT Sloan School of Management will receive $1 million in funding from Inditex to Foster research and innovation in data analysis and prescriptive and predictive models applied to the textiles industry.

Inditex will also collaborate with the MIT Institute for Data, Systems, and Society to further research in areas such as artificial intelligence, automated learning, and data science with a multi-year contribution of $1.2 million.

The agreement will also renew the Leaders for Global Operations Master (LGO), Inditex’s scholarship program for MIT students, backed by the MIT School of Engineering and the MIT Sloan School of Management. It will also launch a new round of the MIT-Spain INDITEX Sustainability Seed fund for the promotion of research initiatives between faculty members and students from MIT and their peers at universities and research institutions in Spain.

The new licensing agreement with The Walt Disney Company for Europe, Middle East and Africa markets, gives Himatsingka Seika the right to design, develop and distribute a broad range of home textile products inspired by Disney’s archives and characters from the worlds of Disney, Pixar, Star Wars and Marvel. The collaboration is in line with Himatsingka’s commitment to work with globally-recognized brands.

Himatsingka will manufacture and distribute an expansive range of licensed home textile products across the region, including Germany, UK, France, Italy, Spain, CEE, Nordics and South Africa. The manufacturer, which employs more than 10,000 people, produces bedding, bath, drapery, upholstery and yarn products. Its liscened portfolio includes Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, kate spade, Barbara Barry, Royal Velvet, Waverly and Bellora. Its owned brands include Himêya, Pimacott, Organicott, Gizacott and Home Grown Cotton.

Amongst the largest producers of bed linen products in the world, Himatsingka’s bedding manufacturing facility is equipped with the latest warping, sizing, weaving, continuous processing, dyeing and sewing facilities.

Atul Ganatra, President, Cotton Association of India, believes the imposition of 10 per cent duty on cotton imports will not impact its purchase. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced a 10 per cent import duty on cotton in her budget speech. Textile mills have already imported 600,000 bales of cotton in the 2020/21 marketing year starting from October 1. They are likely to source a further 800,000 bales from outside the country during the rest of the season.

India is also expected to produce 36 million bales in the current marketing year, against local demand of 33 million bales, though supply of extra long staple cotton is negligible. It imports long staple cotton mainly from Egypt and United States. It exports surplus cotton to Bangladesh, Vietnam and China.

The budget has already announced a 5-7.5 per cent reduction in basic customs duty on man-made fibres (MMF) such as caprolactam, nylon chips and nylon fibre and yarn. This would make the MMF industry more competitive globally, added Juneja.

After Asos acquired Topshop and other labels, Boohoo Group Plc acquired the remaining brands from Philip Green’s failed Arcadia Group. As per Business of Fashion, Boohoo has agreed to buy the Dorothy Perkins, Burton and Wallis brands for just over $34 million. The company will only add the brands to its portfolio, keeping 214 stores shut resulting in more job losses. Boohoo will pay another £8 million pounds for clothing stock.

The Arcadia brands will help Boohoo expand its market share and widen its customer base, which has been focused on teenagers and young adults. The acquisition of Burton will help strengthen its menswear range.

Dragged down by an expensive store portfolio and its weakness online, the Arcadia Group began insolvency proceedings in December last year. The group has so far raised over £500 million from its piecemeal sale of brands. Founder Green has also contributed to the sale of BHS department stores.

adidas will use 60 per cent recycled polyester in all its products globally this year to completely eliminate the use of virgin polyester by 2024. The sports giant has collaborated with environmental organization Parley to produce 17 million pairs of shoes with recycled plastic waste collected from beaches and coastal regions in 2021.

In 2020 alone, adidas and Parley collected almost 7,000 tons of plastic waste, corresponding to around 350 million plastic bottles.

In addition to the Parley products, adidas is increasing the recycled materials used in its overall product range. Its Primeblue and Primegreen labels distinguish articles made with recycled materials while offering full functionality and durability.

The prototype Ultraboost DNA Loop shoe, showcased in October 2020, is made from one single material from sole to laces and is welded without glue. Once the shoe reaches the end of its life cycle, it can be shredded to pieces and reused. This Spring, adidas will launch a large volume successor to the Ultraboost DNA Loop.

adidas also launched the €6.7 million EU-funded New Cotton Project, based on the regenerated cellulose developed by Infinited of Finland. Twelve major industry players ar involved in this pre-competitive project.