XDD plans to launch seven new collections at Kingpins Amsterdam to be held from April 20-21, 2022. As per a Sourcing Journal Report, each of these collections will focus on a particular theme. The themes include: Vintage Friendly, One-Size Fit, Black Denim, Raw Denim, Neutrals, Mild Hand Feel and Ecology Denim.

Vintage Denim will be represented through XDD’s vintage-friendly fabric designed and manufactured for brands such as Levi’s. The theme is suitable for various types of denim silhouettes, and the trend can work with different eras, eg the ’60s, ’70s and ’90s. Wearers can experience first-hand how this vintage/marble effect can impact the denim’s quality.

The One-Size Fit collection will highlight a denim fabric developed by XDD to provide an ultra-stretch with excellent recovery via its new Aerate-Max technique. Black Denim collection will provide a different shade of black via different treatments. Its color range will also illustrate the marble/vintage effect consumer’s desire, with just one basic wash necessary.

The Raw denim collection will focus on sustainability, with these jeans comprised of raw, unwashed denim. The jeans will be made from sustainably sourced recycled cotton certified by the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol (USCTP), Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) and the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI). With these certifications intact, XDD can manufacture its products so that the fabric traceable throughout the supply chain.

Neutrals story includes a range of innovative looks, including Earth ColorsThe natural-colored collections are grounded with preferred fiber options, such as USCTP, GOTS, BCI-certified cotton. These fibers include natural slub fabric as well as visible seeds textures.

XDD has also collaborated with Lenzing’s to use Refibra, an eco-friendlier version of the Lyocell fabric, to provide this “eco-soft” hand feel to customers. The mill is also adding bio-based spandex to products besides exploring corn as a natural fiber alternative.

In its second edition, Fashion Revolution Indonesia highlighted the need for ethical and sustainable decisions in the clothes consumers wear. Held at the Jakarta Fashion Hub, the event was launched by Asia Pacific Rayon(APR) and Closed Loop Fashion as a part of global Fashion Revolution Week, held in more than 100 countries worldwide.

The second edition of Fashion Revolution Indonesia called for a fairer, more ethical fashion industry. The event symbolized APR’s support of sustainable and ethical fashion in Indonesia, says Evelyn Santoso, Head-Business Development. The two-day event featured 16 Indonesian labels including Imaji Studio, Mylea x APAKABAR, Stain, Kin and Alley, Tri Upcycle, Abhati Studio, By Binzu, KaIND, Bell Society, Hallah, Dan Liem, Arae, Love Stories Bali, Creative Kitchen, Pijak Bumi and Toraja Melo, along with Pable, Indosole and Re-Pairs.

It also hosted a bazaar, showcasing five ethical and sustainable brands embodying Fashion Revolution’s ethical and sustainable vision: Thread to Fabric, Inen Signature, Gajah Duduk, Batik Trusmi and Rubysh. Other highlights of the second Fashion Revolution Indonesia included the two workshops focusing on dyeing fabric: Japanese shibori with Binzu and eco-print with Inen Signature.

Bintang Aziizu, Founder, Binzu says, the workshop highlighted benefits of natural indigo dyes which were less harmful to the skin compared to synthetic dyes. A campaign by Zero Waste Indonesia, #TukarBaju (#ClothesSwap), was also launched during Fashion Revolution Indonesia, with visitors exchanging their clothing for others in an effort to reduce textile waste.

A webinar ‘Upcycling Fashion: The Art of Designing With Waste Materials’ had panelists: Chahboune, Founder, Closed Loop Fashion; Toton Januar, Designer and Creative Director and Ratna Dewi Paramita, Head-Fashion Program, Binus Northumbria School of Design.

Despite shipments surging over Rs 33,000 crore in FY22, the future ahead looks tough for knitwear exporters in Tiruppur as raw material prices have increased due to the pandemic outbreak. As per the Tiruppur Exporters’ Association, in the last 18 months, prices of cotton yarn increased steadily alongwith accessories prices. MSMEs in Tiruppur are being compelled to execute their orders on increased prices, despite incurring losses or getting a wafer-thin margin.

Exporters demand new schemes

Raja M Shanmugham, President, TEA says, the crisis needs to be addressed on a war-footing. The Centre needs to announce a new scheme like ECLGS to allow MSMEs to avail additional credit facility of 10 to 20 per cent of existing limit, he adds. Knitwear exporters in Tiruppur are being compelled to complete committed export orders for the same price of garments, as buyers are not inclined to increase prices. Exporters are also facing a decline in the quantity of orders being placed compared to the corresponding period of last year.

Training workers to match global standards

Currently employing 600,000 workers, Tiruppur directly houses the most number of women entrepreneurs, and migrant workers from north and northeast. The city contributes about 60 per cent of total knitwear exports from the country and exports only cotton based garments. This offers it ample scope to increase its share in the global market by focusing on value added and synthetic products, adds Shanmugham.

The association plans to construct 100,000 houses for its garment workers. This would enable laborers to shift permanently from their home villages to these industrial clusters. The houses will have all required amenities, says TEA. The association is also training existing laborers to compete with global players like China, Korea, Bangladesh and Vietnam. It is seeking the Centre’s help to upskill workers to match global standards. Its primary goal is to enhance current exports’ turnover to around Rs 1 trillion in another two to three years, adds S Sakthivel, Executive Secretary, TEA.

Its boom time for landlords across malls and high streets as, after a two-year hiatus, rental rates are again increasing almost 15-25 per cent. Mall operators expect rental collections to reach pre-COVID levels in 2022-23, says Yogeshwar Sharma, CEO, Select Citywalk, one of the most popular malls in New Delhi. In fact, encouraged by response, some mall owners even plan to increase rentals by 5 per cent every year instead of a combined 15 per cent after three years, he adds.

During the last two years, retailers saved nearly 20 per cent of their annual lease due to rent concessions offered by mall owners. However, with retail sales outpacing pre-COVID levels, they expect rentals to surge again. Operator of several malls in the NCR, DLF Retail has already increased rents 15 per cent. In case of lease renewals, rents have been increased 20 per cent while for new tenants they have been increased 25 per cent, says Pushpa Bector, Executive Director.

Retailers plan expansion to ease margin pressures

For retailers, rents form almost 10 to 15 per cent of their monthly sales. High rentals compel them to make maximum utilization of retail spaces. Now, with rents expected to rise again, they expect profit margins to come under pressure. To resolve this, retailers plan to expand their product categories. This also enables them to control price hikes in offerings. With a dip in COVID cases, retailers expect growth in the March quarter to reach double-digits. They also expect to expand their retail spaces after almost two years.

Leasing to soar past COVID-levels

For retailers, apart from rentals, prices of fuel and other raw materials have surged significantly, affecting overall costs. Yet, many do not plan to increase product prices as it would affect current consumptions, trend, explains Devarajan Iyer, CEO, Lifestyle International. Real estate investment firm CBRE expects leasing in India to soar past pre-COVID levels to 5.1 million sq. ft. this year. This could also boost new store openings by around 25 per cent in 2022 compared to previous year, indicates the firm’s report ‘Real Estate Market Outlook 2022 – India’.

Texbrasil (Brazilian Textile and Fashion Industry Internationalization Program) — result of a partnership between Abit (Brazilian Textile and Apparel Industry Association) and ApexBrasil (Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency), – has opened a new pop-up store in Dubai in partnership with the Fashion Jardimin anticipation of summer in the region, which begins in June.

The event will feature brands Aqua de Coco, Barthelemy, Blue Man, Empress, Karla Vivian, Nhall, La Sirene, Triya, Shorts & Co and Oasis, which are sold exclusively by the store. It will take place at the Gate Village mall, in the city’s Financial Center. The celebration of Brazilian fashion will also feature a fashion show with brand launches, in addition to the presence of celebrities, digital influencers, customers, local and national press.

Capacity expansion in the spandex market will peak in 2022 after experiencing prosperous cycle. Many new units will be launched in Q2. Supply of spandex may extend longer. The pandemic will impact the production, consumption and logistics.. Downstream production is expected to apparently recover after the spread of pandemic is eased. Some demand in Q3 may be pulled forward. Price of spandex 20D and 30D is estimated to extend lower after new units started production while downstream demand is anticipated to be hard to rise.

Supply of spandex turned to be longer in the first quarter of 2022 after being tight in 2021.The spandex capacity increased by 4.1 per cent to reach 1014.5kt/year at the end of first quarter in 2022.Price of spandex extended lower since Q4 2021 with cautious downstream procurement and increasing supply. The average operating rate of spandex plants declined to around 88.1 per cent in Q1, down by 3.2 percentage points compared with Q4 2021 and 6.9 percentage points on annual basis respectively. Some spandex plants cut more production near the Lunar New Year’s holiday with rapidly reducing spandex price and some plants in North China suspended production affected by the XXIV Olympic Winter Games in Beijing.

Representatives of the Southern India Mills’ Association (SIMA) plan to urge Tamil Nadu Government to increase cotton production by introducing best seed varieties.

Simaplans to urge the government to increase production from four lakh bales to 15 lakh bales a year. M Ravi Sam, Chairman, says, it will urge for better varieties of cotton seeds to be used to increase production by 40 per cent.

The Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI) thanked the state and Union governments for removing import duty, and agriculture and infrastructure development cess, to bring down the skyrocketing cotton prices.

T Rajkumar, Chairman, CITI says, the cancellation of import duty will deter traders, who have hoarded cotton expecting an increase in price. This will lead to a decline in yarn prices within a month. India’s cotton imports will surge to around 30-35 lakh bales before the end of the relief period in India, he adds

The economic crisis in Pakistan and Sri Lanka is boosting prospects of the India market as the industry is expecting more orders to India, an industry insider said.

Garment unit owners believe, the decline in cotton prices will be reflected in yarn prices will also decline in the next few days.

Vishal Fabrics plans to add another facility to manufacture 10 million meter of denim fabrics per annum in H2FY23. The company recently added another facility to manufacture 10 million metre of denim fabrics per annum. Currently, it has eight denim manufacturing facilities with an annual capacity of 80 million metre per annum. The two new facilities will boost its annual capacity to 100 million metre per annum at Dholi Unit.

Total investment in this project will be Rs 30 crore and funded by internal accruals. It will ramp up production of denim fabric without incurring any additional costs for any other process/machinery. The two new facilities will also help Vishal Fabrics to cater to domestic and export demand for denim fabrics.

Brijmohan Chiripal, Managing Director says, these investments will lay the groundwork for the company's next phase of expansion. They will enhance its market reach and grow share in the global denim segment, he adds.

The sudden surge in policy rates to 12.25 per cent by the State Bank of Pakistan may cause a decline in its Pakistan’s value-added textile sector, says Shahzad Azam Khan, Central Chairman, Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturers & Exporters Association (PHMEA). It would also have disastrous effects on the economy, industry and exports, he adds. The enhancement in Export Finance Schemes rates to 5.5 per cent will impact exporters’ efficiency and increase liquidity pressures, he adds.

Already troubled by liquidity crisis and other financial challenges, the domestic industry will be devastated by the sudden increase in policy rates, feels Khan. He has urged Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif and his economic and financial team to take heed to the demands of the business community and reverse the policy discount and EFS rates. Khan has also urged the new government to stick to the “Charter of Economy” for the country’s future development.

The removal of import duty on cotton has encouraged many spinning mills in Tiruppur to place work orders in the US and Australia though few mills would prefer to monitor the price decline before placing their orders. MP Muthurathinam, President, Tiruppur Exporters and Manufacturer Association says, the decision may lead to drop in cotton yarn prices by Rs 10-20 a kg, encouraging garment mills to sign deals with foreign buyers.

N Thirukumaran, Managing Director, Ess Tee Exports explains, the Centre’s decision will help cool yarn prices and stabilize the cotton market. It would also enhance India’s competitiveness with other Asian countries, adds Velmurugan Shanmugham, Managing Director, Jayalakshmi Textiles. K Venkatachalam, Special Advisor, Tamil Nadu Spinning Mills Association (TNSMA) opines, the removal would help imports to stabilize cotton prices at around Rs 88,000 in a few weeks.