The Federal Government of Nigeria has approved the establishment of footwear, garment, and leather processing factories in Kano and Abia states, through a PPP worth N5.08 billion, in a bid to revive its production.

These factories will help the Nigerian government create will create 1,290 direct employment and 3,000 indirect employment on operational. The factories will be established in partnership with Erojim Investment and its technical partners, Poly Technologies of China.

The PPP arrangement will help the government establish world-class factories using the most modern technology and quality inputs to produce high-quality shoes, garments, and leather products to meet the demand of NCS and other Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), whose personnel wear uniforms and make use of other accessories.

In a smart response to the pandemic, Supima staged its annual celebration Design Lab entirely online as the organization looked forward to its next participation at this month’s Hyères Festival.

For 2020, Supima Design Lab featured a wide selection of ideas and creations, showcased in a 20-minute video on Supima.com.

The Supima Design Competition enabled all six finalists to show their ideas before a virtual French garden, La Notre, with a white tech topiary. Led by this year’s winner Amanda Forastieri, all finalists attend fashion and design schools in the United States, from Parsons School of Design to FIT.

Next ten young designers from Hyères showed ideas, ranging from Katarzyna Cichy’s enveloping all-white jumpsuit to Andrea Grossi’s remarkable biker jacket and pants printed in the shape of a human torso and finished with the designer’s name in gothic script alongside intense illustrations.

Finally, the event featured a curated pick of designers: Lutz Huelle, Thierry Colson, Dice Kayek, Jean Paul Knott and On Aura Tout Vu.

The current situation with respect to the corona pandemic and the associated international travel restrictions have caused Messe Frankfurt to postpone the next Heimtextil, the world’s biggest trade fair for home and contract textiles, from the planned dates in January until May 04-07, 2021.

Heimtextil 2021 will share the fairgrounds with Techtextil, the leading international trade fair for technical textiles and nonwovens, and Texprocess, the leading international trade fair for processing textile and flexible materials. The two trade fairs are held every two years in May and, together with Heimtextil, offer the opportunity to present the entire textile value chain at Frankfurt Fair and Exhibition Centre from 4 to 7 May 2021.

Heimtextil is the biggest international trade fair for home and contract textiles. The first trade fair of the year for its sector, it is a climate and trend barometer for the new business year.

HanesBrands, has announced new, wide-ranging 2030 global sustainability goals that include a commitment to setting science-based environmental targets, a goal of improving the lives of at least 10 million people, and addressing the use of plastics and sustainable raw materials in products and packaging.

The goals were launched via a new sustainability website, www.HBISustains.com , designed to increase company transparency and reporting on key metrics, including diversity, human rights benchmarks and risk assessments for investors.

According to these goals, the company aims to improve the lives of at least 10 million people through health and wellness programs, diversity and inclusion initiatives, improved workplace quality, and philanthropic efforts that improve local communities by 2030.

It will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 25 per cent to align with science-based targets, reduce water use by 25 percent, use 100 per cent renewable electricity in company-owned operations, and bring landfill waste to zero.

At an even quicker pace, HanesBrands will eliminate all single-use plastics and reduce packaging weight by 25% while also moving to 100% recycled polyester and sustainably sourced cotton.

As part of the company’s 2030 goals, HanesBrands has signed the Science Based Targets Call-to-Action Commitment Letter, pledging the company to develop science-based targets by 2022.

The company also is building on its long history of employee volunteerism, which provides ample opportunities for its employees to give back to their communities. Through its 2030 goals, HanesBrands is encouraging its 63,000 employees in more than 40 countries to become actively engaged in their communities by volunteering their time.

Kornit Digital, a worldwide market leader in digital textile printing technology, will join the 2020 Innovate Textile & Apparel Virtual Trade Show, WTiN’s annual global exhibition highlighting the true innovators in technology, production, and value chain leadership for the textile and apparel industry.

For this year’s event, Kornit will exhibit its latest capabilities for digital direct-to-garment and roll-to-roll production, including the only single-step process for delivering durable, retail-quality impressions on multiple fabrics within minutes.

Visitors will find opportunities to learn more about Kornit’s portfolio of industry-leading DTG systems, Kornit Presto, Kornit’s new Softener solution Kornit’s range of available pallets and Kornit’s acquisition of Custom Gateway

In addition to sharing diverse customer testimonials, Kornit will be hosting live consultations with system experts, to answer all questions and present Kornit’s value proposition for ongoing business needs. The company will also be leading a seminar presentation during the event.

Mahlo will participate in this year’s virtual Innovative Textile and Apparel Show. The German machinery expert will present the latest systems and solutions for efficient and high-quality textile production and finishing. The Bavarian machine manufacturer will focus on process optimization in a digital environment.

“Your Data Highway starts here” will be the all-embracing motto at Mahlo’s booth, allowing visitors to immerse themselves in the digital world of the Bavarian think tank. mSmart is the concept that defines the digital environment. Mahlo systems communicate with each other and generate data that the customer can immediately use to control his goods on-line with the mPilot control room software. In addition, these values are stored in the new data analysis tool mLog and can be called up at any time to optimize processes and minimize weak spots in the process. Thus they meet the definition of a modern industry 4.0.

Mahlo has been synonymous with high-quality automatic weft straighteners in the textile industry for decades. The experts’ recipe for success is decades of experience coupled with the latest technological developments. Whether roller or needle straighteners, whether for most delicate textiles or large, heavy fabrics – the manufacturer can cater to all requirements.

The All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) has sought an upward revision in duty drawback on exports to bring it in line with current duties and taxes.

In a meeting with senior officers of the Input-Output Coefficient Organization (IOCO) North Zone Directorate General held to evaluate rates of duty drawback on exported goods of the garment industry, it was noted that the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) had established the IOCO Directorate General with the responsibility of constantly evaluating the duty drawback rates on exports and rates of input-output of goods in liaison with the private sector.

Pakistan Customs has revised upward the rates of duty drawback for various sectors under a factual determination by IOCO after revision in the valuation of inputs under the government vision of “Made in Pakistan” to increase global competitiveness of products and contribute to an export-led growth.

APTMA members stressed the need for amending rules, simplifying tax laws and automating business processes to bring transparency in the system so that small and medium enterprises (SMEs) of the value-added textile industry could be facilitated and exports could be enhanced.

They called for implementing the vision of Prime Minister Imran Khan by simplifying the export scheme, providing new incentives for the business community to help them to keep abreast of latest developments and trends in technology.

According to the latest data from the Commerce Department’s Office of Textiles & Apparel (OTEXA), imports of blue denim apparel declined by 32.19 percent in value to $1.69 billion in the year to date through August. This was a bit better than the 35.26 percent year-to-year decline in the seven months through July.

Cambodia and Vietnam continued to be the only major suppliers on the plus side of the ledger. Jeans imports from Vietnam increased by 1.51 percent to $230.19 million in the first eight months of 2020, while Cambodia’s shipments were up 23.2 percent to $89.03 million.

Denim apparel imports from Bangladesh declined by 8.46 percent to $333.55 million in the period while Mexico’s imports fell by 50.89 percent to $274.45 million. Both countries trimmed their year-to-date losses in August from the prior month.

China’s plummeting market share continued, dropping to the No. 4 supplier in value behind Vietnam. Jeans imports from China were down by 60.21 percent in the eight-month period, slightly better than the 63.23 percent decline a month earlier, to $205.94 million.

The rest of the Top 10 suppliers showed moderate improvement in the month, but shipments remained significantly down for the year. Imports from Pakistan were down by 16.44 percent to $142.79 million, Egypt’s were off by 38.2 percent to $71.94 million, Nicaragua’s have fallen by 31.12 percent to $55.7 million, Sri Lanka’s have dipped by 17.49 percent to $31.06 million and Lesotho’s have decreased by 12.47 percent to $31.79 million.

ITM 2021, one of the world’s largest exhibitions of textile machinery, will introduce latest innovations at TÜYAP Fair and Congress Center between June 22 and 26.

Despite the impact of the economic slowdown, the world’s largest textile machinery manufacturers have shown that they trust the market in Turkey by maintaining or even expanding their booth spaces at the ITM 2021 exhibition.

Many domestic and international ITM participants have announced their preparations through press releases for ITM 2021 Many of these firms opine that Turkey continues to be one of the most important countries for businesses looking for new markets and growth opportunities in this devastating period. The fact that the Turkish textile industry demonstrated the whole world that it is a reliable and robust supplier despite the economic instability experienced during the pandemic period has a great impact on this success.

ITM 2021 Exhibition, which will be one of the biggest gatherings of the machinery industry of the world textile after the pandemic period, will crown this success. Company officials, who will have the opportunity to observe rapidly changing technological innovations on-site, will direct their investments by integrating these developments into their production.

Though the pandemic has led to a 45 per cent dip in luxury sales, it has also given the $2.5 trillion global fashion industry an opportunity to tap the potential of digital shows in a post-COVID world. Last month, New York Fashion Week held it first online presentation while the London Fashion Week also live-streamed some of its collections. However, the Indian fashion industry has stuck to the digital space for now. The recent India Couture Week (ICW) was India’s first fully virtual fashion show with pre-made shoots featuring models in designer wedding wear in a sanitized environment. Starting October 21, the Lakme Fashion Week will also be held on a specially designed virtual platform.

Lowers carbon footprint and costs

Indeed digital shows might not offer the charm and glamour of physical ones but they help the industry achieve its long desired target of reducing carbon footprint. A report by fashion technology firm ORDRE and Carbon Trust highlights, every year, the fashion industry contributes 241,000 tons of carbon dioxide to the environment. It is responsible for almost 10 per cent of annual global carbon emissions. One of biggest reasons for environmental pollution is constant air travel by fashion industry professionals, points out sustainability experts. Digital shows restrict air travel hence, they have a lower carbon footprint. Digital shows require a huge energy-consuming infrastructure in the form of massive servers, computers and laptop. Yet, they are greener than physical shows and do not contribute to greenhouse gases.

Sunil Sethi, President, Fashion Design Council of India feels, lower environmental cost of digital fashion weeks is like an icing on the cake as it prevents organizers from discarding sets after the show. In fact, the FDCI recently held its first digital version of India Couture Week where top designers like Falguni and Shane Peacock presented their bridal collection.

Sole focus on product

Another advantage of digital shows is their sole focus on the product, points out Sanjay Garg, Raw Mango, which will present a collection of handwoven textiles at the upcoming LFW. The collection fuses the simplicity of embroidery with the luxury of bandhani.

The digital space can redefine the fashion industry, opines Jaspreet Chandok, Head-Lifestyle Businesses, IMG Reliance. For instance, the virtual showroom in Lakme Fashion Week enables buyers and designers to interact. It also allows buyers to purchase clothes off the ramp after seeing them from any angle. Sethi believes, the future of fashion will be a mix of physical and digital events.