Signed between India and UAE, the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) will unleash the infinite potential that both nations hold in the textile sector. The trade agreement has been built on the three pillars of trust, transparency and talent, says Piyush Goyal, Minister of Textiles and Industry. It will boost India’s textile exports to $ 2 billion over next 5 years. Duty-free exports are projected to rise to $650 million/year over next 5 years

Indian textile and apparel industry will also benefit through this initiative as now India will not face 5 per cent duty on textiles and garments, which will be a big advantage for Indian companies. India’s total apparel export to UAE was $1,609.4 million in 2020-21 (HS code 61, 62 combine) and 1,436.64 in 9 months of 2021-22. Its home textiles exports to the country increased by 32.46 per cent y-o-y to $259 million.

Negotiated in just 88 days, the 880-page deal also features a permanent safety mechanism to protect domestic businesses in both nations against sudden surges in trading volumes.

Heimtextil 2022 will organize its summer special edition from June 21 to 24, 2022, alongside the trade fair duo Techtextil and Texprocess. As per a Textile Network report, Heimtextil 2022 will be held in Frankfurt am Main in Germany as a purely physical event. The parallel organization of the three trade fairs will enable national and international buyers to experience global trends and innovations along large parts of the textile value chain one place. Its co-organization with Techtextil

Texprocess will provide Heimtextil buyers exciting new perspectives on innovative functionalities of technical textiles or also nonwovens as well as processing technologies for the home textiles industry. says Olaf Schmidt, Vice President Textiles & Textile Technologies. The Techtextil show will cover the entire spectrum of technical textiles, functional apparel textiles and textile technologies. The leading international trade fair will provide an overview of the latest applications of high-tech textiles to make products lighter, more functional and more sustainable. On the other hand,

Texprocess will present latest machinery, equipment, processes and services for garment manufacturing and textile and flexible materials. The leading international trade fair will showcase the processing of technical textiles, apparel fabrics and flexible materials. As hybrid events, both trade fairs will be supplemented by additional digital offers for exhibitors and visitors.

Held at the Istanbul Expo Centre from February 16-18, the LifeStyle Turkey 2022 Women's Ready-to-Wear Fair hosted participants from over 56 countries. The show displayed 2022 Spring-Summer collections from over 120 manufacturers, 150 brands and 4500 stores, boutiques and wholesalers. All participating companies exhibited over 16,000 new designs and collections.

The fair welcomed participants from over 56 countries including the US, South America, Germany, England, France, Macedonia, Mexico, Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, Kuwait, Qatar, UAE, Russia, Netherlands, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Chechnya, Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, UK, Buyers hailed from countries such as France, Australia, Bulgaria, Algeria, South Africa, Malaysia, Morocco and Libya. In 2021, Turkey exported RMG products worth $20 billion. The prominent exporters included Germany, Spain, England and the Netherlands.

The US’ cotton trousers imports grew over 32.24 per cent to $12.04 billion in 2021, according to OTEXA. As per Apparel Resources, imports also crossed pre-pandemic levels of $11.80 billion. Bangladesh emerged top exporter with exports growing 34 per cent to $2.57 billion. Vietnam occupied the second position with exports growing by 15.09 per cent to $1.98 billion. The third largest exporter was China whose exports grew by 35.60 per cent y-o-y to $1.69 billion. Mexico with exports worth $920.14 million, Pakistan with $ 868.43 million exports, Cambodia $625.48 million and Indonesia $ 610.15 million also reported a robust growth in cotton trousers exports to the US. India was the 8th largest exporter with exports growing by over 66 per cent in 2021 on Y-o-Y basis to clock $365.83 million.

Fashion industry is always the scapegoat when it comes to pollution and environmental damage. While many experts claim the industry is second biggest global polluter in after oil and is responsible for 20 per cent of water pollution and 10 per cent of carbon dioxide output, there is no strong research evidence to back this claim.

Industry segments together create pollution

When it comes to in global pollution, many industries such as oil and energy, agriculture, food, and retail manufacturing and construction along with the fast fashion industry are all in it together. There is no knowing which segment tops this infamous chart as there are no official scientific statistics to prove this. This is because unlike other industries, fashion is integrated into the global economy and not an industry by itself. Also, when fashion research is done, it is often published or funded by some brands themselves which makes the findings inherently biased and unfair. Most statistics on the fashion industry segment are usually off-the-mark as they are not based on any science, data collection, or professional research agency.

Although the fast fashion manufacturing industry is a serious environmental hazard, the concept that this segment alone produces over 92 million tons of waste per year is just one of the many wrong facts that have not been proven by industry research. Many retail brands are still using outdated or inaccurate data to make sourcing decisions, meaning they could be actually be increasing their impact, manipulating data to fit their agenda, or delaying their sustainability commitments altogether.

Focus now on more analytical research platforms

However, some companies such as EDITED, a market and enterprise intelligence platform made for retail, is now undertaking analytical and anecdotal research from retail industry experts and have recently brought out a report with proven vital information. Experts say, with varied elements falling under the sustainability umbrella, fashion retailers need to take a stripped-back approach while focusing on improving the main segments that affect the environment which are material extraction, production and transportation and consumption, and end of the lifecycle of the product.

A key finding of EDITED was that almost 37 per cent of products that fall in the sustainable segment contain some level of recycled polyester, which is more from polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles and not recycled garments. There is a pressing need for new solutions with less reliance on plastics and more focus on more natural alternatives. The use of bamboo in material compositions and leather has undergone a plant-based overhaul, used by retailers such as Coperni, Stella McCartney and Ganni who are focusing on animal-free options like grape, mushroom, and apple leather to lessen their carbon footprint.

Investing in metaverse is also beneficial to the retailer’s sustainability journey as most of them are focusing on carbon offsetting initiatives, even though proving how much carbon has been neutralized remains uncertain, making blockchain technology optimal as a permanent digital record. EDITED has also pointed out that the lack of rules and regulations in the fashion industry has allowed some products to be marketed as green with little to no proof.

However, now retailers will have to redesign their sustainable strategies from 2023 onwards as they are required to be more objective and measurable on scientifically proven facts. This will prove that the fast fashion segment is not the only black sheep of the family and many segments need to be focused on for global sustainability and lesser environmental damage issues.

The new GST rates for products below Rs 1,000 and the rise in raw material costs has caused the prices of finished footwear to rise by 20-50 per cent across categories. As per the Confederation of Indian Footwear Industries (CIFT), from January this year, GST rates for footwear below Rs 1,000 surged from the earlier 5 to 12 per cent. On the other hand, GST rates on products priced above Rs 1,000 have remained unchanged at 18 per cent. This resulted in some wholesalers going on strike as they were unable to absorb the increased costs, says V Noushad, Managing Director, Walkaroo and Vice-President, CIFI.

Naushad urged the government to reduce dependence on China by boosting local production of components, machines and designs in the non-leather category. The category accounts for 85 per cent of the industry’s sales. The association has also opposed the proposal to introduce new Bureau of Indian Standards norms as it may affect around 3 million people dependent on the industry.

Nigeria needs an enabling environment to attract investors to the textile industry, said John Adaji, President, National Union of Textile Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria (NUTGTWN) at a recent event. Adaji urged the government to intensify efforts to stop importation foreign fabrics to encourage citizens patronize locally made fabrics. He emphasized on the need for South Africans to produce what they use and use what they produce. He recommended President Buhar to sign Executive Order 003 to compel government institutions to patronize local products.

Adaji relived the days when the Nigerian textile industry used to be the second largest employer of labour after the Federal government: In 1970s-80s, textile sector was the largest employer of labour second to Federal government. It had a conducive atmosphere with easy availability of cottons and electricity. Adaji added. He urged the industry to create new job opportunities for young entrepreneurs.

Micro and small textile and garment units in Ludhiana are urging the Punjab Government to equip them with the latest technology by starting new schemes.

Harish Kairpal, President, Ludhiana MSME Association, says, once a leader in India, the Ludhiana garment and textile industry now lags behind other states. Other states, particular in South India have adapted latest technologies. The government should upgrade the existing units in Ludhiana and support entrepreneurs financially to adopt new machinery and technology, he adds.

Narinder Mittal, General Secretary, Ludhiana Business Forums, says, the Ludhiana garment and textile units are suffering as a significant percentage of their total business has been taken over by other states. The state government should take appropriate measures like starting unconditional technology upgrade fund scheme for old units to help these units adopt new techniques.”

AtulSaggar, General Secretary, Apparel Manufacturers Association Ludhiana, adds, the new state government should subsidize the purchase of new machinery and open a technology upgrade centreto guide the garment units about the latest technologies. This centre should also give assistance in buying and setting up new machinery, he adds further.

The Odishagovernment is readying a proposal to set up a textile park in the state under the PM Mega Integrated Textile Region and Apparel (PM MITRA) scheme.

The state-owned Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (IDCO) has roped in consultancy firm, Grant Thornton, to prepare the preliminary project report (PPR) seeking setting up of the park. It has engaged the industries department as the nodal agency for the purpose.

The state government has identified around 1,000 acres at Neulopoi near Dhenkanal for a greenfield textile park under the PM MITRA Scheme.

Considering Odisha’s huge potential for growth of the textile industry, the state government has listed the textile and apparel sector as one of the six focus sectors to draw investments.

Odisha also has skilled manpower in the textile and apparel sectors. The state produces several varieties of saris while some of them are popular globally. It has also proposed to set up cotton processing, spinning and weaving, textile and garment plants to draw investment in the sector.

Leading international forum for sustainability in fashion, Global Fashion Summitwill convene core stakeholders across fashion, parallel industries, investment, policy and NGOs to forge alliances for a new era. The Summit is presented by Global Fashion Agenda, under the patronage of HRH The Crown Princess of Denmark. It will organize the Copenhagen Edition 2022 in physical form from June 07-08 in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Formerly known as Copenhagen Fashion Summit, the Global Fashion Summit will build on its 13-year history by strengthening its representation and connections with diverse perspectives from across the world. It will be hosted in various key cities in the future, in addition to its flagship edition in Copenhagen.

Under the theme ‘Alliances for a New Era’, Global Fashion Summit: Copenhagen Edition 2022 will endeavor to form previously inconceivable alliances within the fashion industry and examine atypical cross-industry alliances, in a bid to accelerate the transition to a net positive reality.

The theme will underlay all elements of the Summit. It will be represented on the Summit main stage during plenary sessions consisting of high-level keynote speeches and panels. These will bring together speakers that are often perceived as direct competitors to have transparent conversations about their mutual challenges and collaborate to discuss the actions needed to tackle the urgent issues. The program will also include industries such as transportation, food and energy, to consider the challenges that are similarly experienced in other sectors and learn from successful solutions that are being demonstrated outside of fashion.