Circular denim brand Mud Jeans has bagged the Sustainable Entrepreneurship 2022 award from the King Willem I Foundation.

As per a Sourcing Journal report, since its inception, Mud Jeans has focused on closed loop and transparent manufacturing. The brand recycles each pair of its denim jeans into new pair of jeans using 92 per cent less water. The environmental impact of its entire product portfolio is calculated through life cycle assessments.

The company has also introduced a lease-a-jean program to ensure that jeans no longer worn are returned to the brand to be upcycled and eventually recycled.

The King Willem I Foundation Award is the “most prestigious business award in the Netherlands. Also known as the “Oscar of Dutch business,” it is awarded every two years to a large company, a small or midsize business (SME) and a company with a strong focus on sustainable entrepreneurship.

The King Willem I Foundation was established in 1958 to “give the national economy new impulses and thereby increase the prestige of the Dutch business community.

Valued at $1.5 billion in 2021, the high visibility clothing market is expected to surge by 6.5 per cent from 2022-2031 to reach over $2.9 billion by 2031. As per a TMR Study, the market will be driven by new federal rules and regulations being implemented by important government agencies across the world to improve overall worker wellbeing and safety of workers, and also reduce the dangers connected with accidents in industrial setups and other conditions.

High visibility clothing is being adopted by workers in the industrial manufacturing, construction, transportation and warehousing businesses. Producers of this type of clothing are focusing on innovative design to attract people all over the world and access previously untapped areas to increase income, as per a Press News Wire report.

The industrial sector is adopting neon yellow, neon orange, and 3M reflective materials, which have been proven to be perfect for workers doing their task or job in low-light settings. Furthermore, to safeguard oneself from harsh heat, sunshine, moisture, and cold, end users are looking for new and lightweight high visibility gear for various working places, situations, or temperature ranges.

The global denim fabric market is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 4.1 per cent during from 2022-2028. The factors driving this growth will include easy availability of the products and increasing trend of denim fabric globally. An increased demand for cotton denim wear alongwith rising disposable incomes are also boosting the growth of this market.

The growth in the denim fabric industry is also being driven by increasing in consumers’ expenditure on clothes, rise of social media influencers, availability of a large variety of fabrics and favorable government policies.

Some of the major players in the denim fabric market include the market include Cone Denim LLC, Ha-Meem Group, Isko Denim, Kilim Denim, Denim Prime Blue, LNJ Denim, Modern Denim, etc. Besides introducing new innovations, these players are also adopting new strategies like mergers and acquisitions, geographical expansion, partnerships, collaborations, and new product launches, to stay competitive in the market.

In November 2021, Soorty Enterprises launched Zero Stone, a future-proof innovation that will revolutionize the traditional stonewash in the denim laundry.

The innovation offers several environmental and social advantages in the denim world, such as minimal use of natural resources, positive effluent discharge, increase in the speed of production permitting usage of lower laser power & prevention of fabric tearing during laundry.

Brazilian trade bodies - Brazilian Cotton Growers Association (ABRAPA) and Brazilian Cotton Exporters Association (ANES) - are expanding the nation’s global market for cotton by increasing exports to Bangladesh.

A Brazilian business mission will visit Bangladesh on June 12-15, 2022. Its members will meet the officials of the Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA), Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, Ministry of Industries, Cotton Development Board, Noman Group, MAS Group, NRG Group, ISRAQ Group, Viyellatex Group, Syed Group and Salma Group.

According to BTMA, Bangladesh annually produces only 0.16 million bales of cotton. It imports 8 million bales of cotton annually from African countries for $3.5-4.0 billion, India, Australia and the US, while Brazil joined the importing country list in recent years.

Brands face a tough situation while taking a stand on the Xinjiang issue. If they decide to continue sourcing from the region, they face ban and other legal actions from the West and if they leave, they have to deal with large commercial losses. Either way it’s a catch 22 situation for them.

Brands fear losses on speaking up

Brands also risk losing trusted partners if they stop sourcing from Xinjiang. Besides finding new partners, they are also forced to deal with increased costs of sourcing and shipping the material. Also, they are prohibited from speaking against Xinjiang, lest they anger nationalistic Chinese consumers. Inviting Chinese consumers wrath can result in sale lossworth hundreds of mills of dollars for companies like H&M and Nike.

Hence, brands prefer avoiding voicing concerns on Xinjiang though they may take certain steps to curb forced labor. Most fear, protests might disrupt their Chinese operations and delayshipments to the country. Scott Nova, Executive Director, Worker Rights Consortium and Steering Committee Member, Coalition to End Forced Labor in the Uyghur Regionconfirms, some brands have informally committed to leave China but have requested himsecrecy on the information.

Small companies more forthcoming

Smaller, privately-owned companies are more straightforward about leaving China than bigger retailers that have amassed a large portfolio of consumers in the country. Fast fashion companies like H&M and luxury brands like Burberry are being compelled to decide between staying back in China or quitting it completely.

Global clothing brands like Patagonia are currently not able to determine the use of forced labor in Xinjiang due to lack of access to the region. They can only monitor their factories through video visits else they are harassed by local monitoring staff.

Projected to grow at a fastest pace during the forecast period, the women’s socks market is expected to be led by the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region that will grow at a 5.8 per cent CAGR between 2022 and 2032 and capture 40 per cent of the revenue.

As per a Future Market Insights report, the two major contributing countries to the growth will be China and India. Europe will contribute to 32 per cent with the UK, Germany and France accounting for a major share of the revenue.

Predicted to be worth $17.5 billion in 2021, the market is expected to grow to $30.25 billion by 2032. A major portion of this growth will be driven by rising health-consciousness amongst consumers and preference for using eco-friendly socks

White-collar professionals will play a crucial role in improving the demand for socks by increasing the importance of formal attire on a global basis.

The growing expenditure on health and fitness amongst adults will also help boost demand for various shoe accessories including sports and ankle socks at gyms and health clubs.

Largest denim manufacturer in Latin America and a Texbrasil company, Vicunha launched its first collection of the year in Denim City SP.

As per a Texbrasil report, Vicunha’s new collection reflects three fashion macro trends marking the streets and caltwaks and presented by fashion experts Lola Butti and Barbara Santana during the DCSP.

The collection offers five ranges including Zatar Eco, a dyed maxi blue range that retains its shape throughout the day; Kasper range of stretch denims, dyed in medium blue tone having a flame efet in the warp and with excellent; the Kasper Dark range of stretch denims dyed with Maxi Blue in intense indigo shade. The denim offers a flame effect in the wrap and has excellent width.

The fourth range is known as the Kapser Black Black that is dyed with a special black dye over black for an intense color. The last range in the collection is called Rodin which a denim made of special fibers with pre-consumer recycled cotton in the warp and lyocell weft, providing light glow, softness and resistance.

Boosted by growing brassieres imports, the US lingerie market is projected to reach $11.50 billion by 2025. As per a report by the Statista, the market is currently worth $9.13 billion.

From January-April’22, brassieres imports by the US grew by 24.58 per cent, as per the latest data from OTEXA. China remained the top exporter of brassieres during the period with exports increasing by 21.79 per cent to $55.74 million during the period

Vietnam’s exports also increased by 23.54 per cent to $219.45 million worth of brassieres during the first 4-month period of 2022.

The third largest exporter to the US was Indonesia $129.30 million worth of brassieres, noting 58.66 per cent Y-o-Y surge, whereas the imports of the US buyers from Sri Lanka increased by 17.65 per cent on Y-o-Y basis to $100.12 million.

Exports by Bangladesh to the US also grew by 26.21 per cent to $71.33 million.

The demand for used thrift clothes is rising amongst Indonesian population; especially amongst teenagers. As per an Indo Textiles report, these clothes have become a hit amongst Indonesia’s young generation living in big cities. These Indonesians prefer thrifting used clothes instead of buying new ones at the mall or well-known clothing store as the word thrift which means minimizing or reducing waste or saving money.

In Indonesia, used thrift clothes are being sold by brands like Uniqlo, H&M, Pull and Bear, Puma, Adidas, etc at the used clothing market or exhibitions that sell used goods in the country.

Indonesia’s thrift market in located various places like the the Bandung area, commonly known as the Cimol market, more precisely in the South Gedebage Street area. The market is frequented by consumers looking for cheap used clothes.

Imports of denim apparels the United States grew by 40.84 per cent to $1.25 billion in the January-April ’22 period, as per a report by OTEXA.

Exports by all denim manufacturers to the US increased during the period with largest growth recorded by Pakistan, Bangladesh and Egypt.

As per Apparel Resources, US; imports of denim apparels from Bangladesh grew by 51 per cent Y-o-Y to $ 248 million during the January-April ’22 period.

The second highest export of denim apparels to the United States was by Pakistan which exported denim apparels worth $ 152 million noting a 72.48 per cent Y-o-Y growth.

The third position was bagged by Vietnam which exported denim apparels worth $137.37 million followed by China whose denim apparels exports to the US surged by 20.23 per cent to $110.64 million during the period.

The most notable performance was recorded by Egypt whose exports surged by 126 per cent to $ 71.70 million during the four months period.