Roica ™ by Asahi Kasei will launch the first sustainable uniform created for the Scott Racing Team at the Filo, the international fair of orthogonal weaving yarns for clothing and furnishings, circular knitwear and technical textiles on September 30, 2021. The uniform has been created in partnership with Rosti and Sitip. Rosti was responsible for the styling and manufacturing of the uniform while Sitip provided technical fabrics made from GRS certified recycled yarns including ROICA™ EF.

In the ‘Eseentials’ zone, Roica™ will showcase the Aurora line by Wolford holding two certificates Cradle to Cradle Certified™ at GOLD Level both for the biological and the technical cycles. All products contain ROICA™ V550 either in blend with the ECONYL® regenerated nylon yarn made by Aquafil or Lenzing Modal®, and infinito® by Lauffenmühle.

In ‘Style#Fit’ zone, Roica™ will showcase G-Star’s Jeans made with the Cradle to Cradle Certified® Gold denim fabric, whose chemistry presents zero risk for people and planet”. The collection features a 2 per cent of premium stretch fiber ROICA™ V550.

For ‘Legwear world’ Roica™ will present the brand-new Green Collection by Sarah Borghi of premium Italian socks & hosiery featuring features Amni Soul Eco®, the world's first biodegradable in anaerobic conditions polyamide 6.6 yarn that degrades in around 5 years after disposing of in landfill, developed by Solvay and produced and distributed by Fulgar and Roica™ V550.

The brand will also be protagonist of “The contemporary consumer: Stretch your imagination with Roica™ by Asahi Kasei smart innovation” speech on September 30, organized to tell its sustainable story, made of production and processes, performance, future goals and projects, product news and case histories explained through the fabrics of its partners.

Fuelling industrial growth since the pre-British era, Indian textile industry is likely to reach a value of $300 billion by 2035. Currently, textile and apparel exports account for 11 per cent of India’s overall merchandize exports. Export growth is being driven by the growing urbanization and rising income levels. India’s competitive advantage in this sector can also be attributed to the presence of the entire value—from fibre to fashion—within the country. This helps India stabilize its position in the world textile market.

However, the industry faces challenges. Its overall contribution to India’s industrial output is small. Secondly, the industry is fragmented, which makes production costly. Also, the industry is not globally competitive as it lacks certain facilities enjoyed by competitors like Bangladesh and Pakistan. India’s overdependence on cotton apparels also hinders its development as the rest of world has already migrated to MMF garments.

Incentivizing MMF production

To overcome these shortcomings the textile ministry recently launched the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme. The scheme expands the textile ministry’s focus on the PPE production to make India the second-largest producer of PPE kits worldwide. The PLI Scheme incentivizes production of MMF fabric and apparel, and technical textiles in India. It transforms the processing and weaving segment and provides a strong base for apparel manufacturers. Making India one of the most prominent producers of technical textiles, the scheme also aims to unlock the huge application potential in other sectors like agriculture, infrastructure, water, defence, automobiles, and health and hygiene, wrote VK Singh, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Textiles in a signed article ‘Weaving economic progress’, in Financial Experss.

A boost to competitiveness

Another benefit of the PLI scheme is the Rs 19,000 crore investments it seeks to attract besides generating a cumulative turnover of over Rs 3 lakh crore, and additional direct employment opportunities for 7.5 lakh jobs. The scheme also aims to bring the centres of apparel production and labor supply closer by setting up garment factories in growing districts and Tier-III and IV towns.

The scheme also looks to enhance competitiveness in the industry by offering time-bound incentives. It does not aim to support the industry permanently, thus helping it become self-reliant. To reap full benefits of the scheme, stakeholders will need to collaborate with the state and central governments. They would have set up joint training projects in association with leading skill institutions, writes Singh. This would help them facilitate industry growth and boost India’s economic development.

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is set to boost Eastern Africa’s textile and apparel (T&A) exports by 100 percent, says Denis Karera, Vice-Chairman, East African Business Council (EABC).

Karera made the remarks during a webinar on the AfCFTA-Opportunities for the private sector, organized by the EABC in partnership with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA).

During the seminar, Karera urged the East African Community (EAC) member states to finalize and submit tariff offers under the AfCFTA to enable the EAC bloc to tap into the 1.3 billion continental market with a combined gross domestic product of $3 trillion.

A Sakthivel, Chairman, Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) says, GST Council’s decision to correct inverted duty structure on textiles from January 1, 2022 will lessen the tax burden on manmade fiber (MMF) fabrics and garments.

He said the inverted duty structure has been an issue with the apparel industry and that the council had made recommendations to the government for the elimination of this anomaly that has been resulting in input tax credit accumulation blocking crucial working capital for businesses.

Inputs into the MMF fabric segment (fibre and yarn) attract a GST rate of 18 per cent and 12 per cent whereas the GST rate on the MMF fabric is 5 per cent and that for the finished goods apparel is 5 per cent and 12 per cent, he said.

It creates a tax structure where the rate on inputs is higher than that on the outputs and this increases the effective rate of taxation of MMF fabrics and garments and violates the principle of fibre neutrality, Sakthivel said.

He also said that the GST Council''s decision to extend the validity of GST exemption on transport of goods by vessel and air from India to outside India till September 30, 2022, will partially help soften the impact of the current exorbitant freight costs.

Pakistan’s leather garments exports grew by 8.50 per cent during the first two month of fiscal year of 2021-22 as compared to the exports of the corresponding period of last year.

As per a Daily Times report, from July-Aug 2021, Pakistan exported leather garments worth of $56,985,000 t as compared to the exports of $52,520,000 during the same period of last year.

Data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics shows, the leather exports increased by 8.21 percent, worth $106,284,000 as compared to exports worth $98,218,000 during same period of last year.

Meanwhile, exports of leather Gloves also increased by 7.35 per cent as the exports during current fiscal year recorded at worth $46,272,000 as compared to the exports during the same period of last year which recorded $43,105,000.

During the period under review, other leather manufacturer exports increased by 16.74 per cent to $3,027,000 as compared to the exports of $2,593,000 during the same period of last year.

A global icon in jeanswear and casual apparel, Wrangler® has launched its fall/winter 2021 advertising campaign, ‘For the Ride of Life.’ Inspired by the resilience it takes to see challenges as opportunities and leave nothing on the table, the campaign is styled by Hollywood’s sought-after Heidi Bivens and serves as a springboard for a heightened level of western-inspired fashion and culture that is more relevant worldwide than ever before. The integrated “For the Ride of Life” campaign will launch with broadcast commercials across cable and network TV the week of September 13.

“For the Ride of Life” is anchored by an inspirational campaign film narrated by rising country music star and long-time friend of the brand, Orville Peck. The film features a diverse array of real people following their passions, from a rap crew to a roller girl gang; an eSports player, skateboarder and cowgirl; to young families and an older couple starting a new life together. The result is a celebration of those who live with optimism, joy and courage, no matter where their ride of life may lead.

The campaign represents Wrangler’s continued evolution as a brand balancing dedication to western heritage with strategic growth that is true to its roots. In recent years, Wrangler has expanded its focus to include a broader base of consumers fueled by category expansions in outdoor and female, and geographic expansion with the launch of the Wrangler brand in China. With its 75th anniversary in 2022, the Wrangler brand will launch a year-long celebration, honoring its longstanding presence in music, fashion and rodeo while also celebrating the courage, optimism and triumph of western culture.

Saanich-based Kindred Apparel Inc has shifted the business model of its supplier in India. The Canadian distributor for the company, formerly known as Freeset, completed the shift on September 17. The new company is called Joyye and targets the problems such as sex trafficking and addiction. It also focuses on providing sustainable employment for all genders.

Coinciding with the Joyye launch, Alexandra Bouchard, Under President, Kindred also upgraded the company’s website. Along with larger businesses and groups, the company now also caters to orders by smaller companies. On the company’s website, customers can trace an item from its stock of organic custom apparel back to Joyye to its fabric provider and even in many cases back to the farm the cotton was harvested from.

Luxury brand Prada plans to hold two simultaneous live runway shows this month in Milan and Shanghai respectively. As per a Woman’s Wear Daily report, these shows will be held on September 24 and unveil the brand’s Spring 2022 women’s collection designed by co-creative directors Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons.

Named ‘Synchronic Views,’ the shows will be held in a hybrid format with models in both shows showing exactly the same collection while visitors in complementary sets, enjoying the simultaneous runway event through video screens. The shows will also be streamed on prada.com with viewers having access to a live edit collecting views of the two parallel shows.

The shows will mark Prada’s return to the physical format, after presenting its men’s and women’s collections through videos due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in February 2020.

Pakistan’s textile exports grew 45.19 per cent on a year-on-year basis from $1,007.509 million in August 2020 to $1462.753 million in August 2021. However, exports dropped by 0.57 per cent on a month-on-month basis in August 2021 from $1471.185 million in July 2021, shows data from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.

From July-August 2021-22, Pakistan’s textile exports increased 27.59 per cent as compared to the corresponding months of last year. Exports from the country stood at $4.573 billion during July-August (2021-22), as against the exports of $3.584 billion recorded during July-August (2020-21), showing growth of 27.59 percent. As per report Associated Press of Pakistan, growth was fuelled by rise in exports of cotton yarn, which increased by 67.97 per cent from $115.136 million last year to $193.389 million during the current year. Export of yarn cotton cloth grew 24.74 percent, from $294.724 million to $367.624 million whereas, exports of cotton (carded of combed) surged by 100 percent to 0.770 million. Export of yarn increased 123.73 per cent, from $3.473 million to $7.770 million whereas the exports of knitwear went up by 34.12 percent, from $564.343 million to $756.883 million and bed wear by 24.50 percent, from $424.187 to $528.109 million.

The commodities whose exports declined during the period included raw cotton, exports of which decreased by cent percent whereas the exports of tents, canvas and trapulin declined by 37.19 percent, from $19.504 million to $12.250 million. Pakistan’s textile imports during these two months also increased by 72.59 percent from $6.990 billion last year to $12.064 billion in July-August 2021-22.

In a recent meeting in Bangladesh, terry towel exporters urged textile mills owners to increase investments in the yarn sector to boost exports. The meeting was attended by Mohammad Ali Khokon, President, Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA) and Shahadat Hossain Sohel, Chairman, Bangladesh Terry Towel & Linen Exporters Association (BTTLMEA) alongwith other senior leaders of both the organizations.

Sohel said, local textile mills will have to import more yarn to meet growing demands. The association will seek the cooperation of the Ministry of Commerce to facilitate these imports, he added. Fazlul Hoque, Vice-President, BTMA, said, terry tower exporters have received many orders. However, they have been unable to supply yarn according to needs.

Another leader present at the meeting said, it is difficult for exporters to import yarn as 75 per cent members do not have a bond license. As a result, they will not be able to import yarn with duty free facility. In that case the imported goods may have to be redeemed with a bank guarantee.