The Tiruppur Exporters’ Association (TEA) has approached all leading banks to tide over the financial crisis faced by small knitwear exporters in the city. The association has urged banks to help exporters saddled with rising yarn prices. Raja M Shanmugham, President, TEA said, the Tiruppur knitwear sector is currently going through difficult times due to the unprecedented rise in cotton and yarn prices that have almost doubled since last year. Tiruppur knitwear sector houses 95 per cent MSME exporters who largely depend on bank funds for their operations.

In FY2021-22, the cluster exported garments worth Rs 33,525 crore or $4.51 billion. Eighteen months ago, knitwear units in the cluster could buy one kg of yarn for Rs 200 but now they can buy only 400 gm with that amount, Shanmugham highlighted. He said, the TEA had earlier appealed to the textile mills associations SIMA Coimbatore, TASMA Dindigul and ITF Coimbatore to advise members to revoke cotton yarn price hike of Rs 40 per kg for all counts immediately and restore it to April 2022 price level.

Last week, the association also urged the Centre to ban cotton and cotton yarn exports immediately till the prices stabilize as the knitwear garment exporters fear that they would not be able to complete the orders taken already based on the previous input costs, Shanmugham added. He said, cotton and cotton yarn prices would soften only if the government bans exports till prices are regularized in the domestic market.

ISKO has expanded its Creative Room Services (CRS) division and opened its first product development centre in London. Creative Room London is the latest initiative of ISKO aimed at offering streamlined and simplified solutions for all denim requirements. In collaboration with machine technology partner Jeanologia, the CRS division will develop innovative washing and finishing techniques that meet the highest quality and sustainability standards, and have a significantly lower environmental impact.

The Creative Room London will also make the entire process agile and efficient. It will act as an education platform for the wider denim community and allow them to collaborate with local talent and universities for sharing knowledge and bringing ideas and concepts to life.

A part of Sanko Tekstil, the textile division of the Sanko Group, the premium denim brand Isko has a strong global presence in 35 countries with 60 international locations. It works to make the world a better place, bringing awareness to environmental as well as social aspects.

Denim Première Vision will debut in Berlin from May 17-18, 2022 at the Arena Berlin. As per a Sourcing Journal report, the denim trade show had initially planned to hold an event in Berlin in November 2020 but was forced to cancel due to the coronavirus. The show will have 82 exhibitors spanning denim mills, garment makers and trims suppliers from Turkey, Italy, Bangladesh, China, Japan, Pakistan, etc.

The event will offer visitors access to new collections, says Fabio Adami Dalla Val, Show Manager. It will include a new segment called the ‘fashion district’ that will offer local designers and brands a space to showcase their upcoming collections. Other attractions of the event include trend seminars, a panel discussion on German fashion’s environmental footprint and videos on sustainability and circularity and a cocktail party hosted in partnership with Naveena Denim (NDL).

The event will also mark Turkish mill Isko’s return to denim trade shows after vacating the previous Denim Première Vision several years ago. The mill will launch its new collections in collaboration with denim developer Paolo Gnutti.

The collections will combine the mill’s ‘advanced responsible denim technologies’ with Gnutti’s creative approach to high-end design. Denim Première Vision will also host the Digital Denim Week from May 16-20, 2022 to offer viewers an opportunity to hear from exhibitors.

After losing momentum during 2020 due to COVID-19, apparel exports from India are gaining pace once more. In the first two months of 2022, shipments rose 10.30 per cent to 736.65 million pieces over the corresponding period in 2021. Average price per garment also increased to $4.28 during the period. As per a report by Apparel Resources exports calculated using official DGFT statistics, India’s apparel exports increased to 3.72 billion pieces in 2021 as compared to 3.13 billion pieces in 2020.In value terms, India’s apparel exports increased 24 per cent to $15.21 billion during 2021 as against exports worth $12.27 billion in 2020. India’s average price per garment also increased to $4.08 in 2021, compared to $3.92 in 2020.

Compared to pre-pandemic period, India’s garment shipments still need to regain pace quantity-wise. In 2019, India exported 3.85 billion garment pieces worth $16.25 billion with each of the garment pieces costing $4.22 billion. However, looking at Y-o-Y growth in 2021 and increase in the first two months of 2022, India should recover previous levels of apparel export growth in remaining months of this year.

By refusing to sign the Accord in Bangladesh even after nine years of its introduction, Levi’s and IKEA are putting their own profit over the lives and safety of those who work tirelessly for them alleges Amirul Haque Amin, President, National Garment Workers Federation, Bangladesh. The Accord was introduced in Bangladesh in April 2013 after the devastating Rana Plaza building collapse that killed 1,138 garment workers due to incredibly unsafe factory conditions.

The agreement has so far been signed by 173 brands including fast fashion giants like H&M, Inditex (Zara), Fast Retailing (UNIQLO) and PVH (Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein). Introduced in September 2021, the new version of the agreement allows it to be expanded to other countries known to violate factory safety rules. The new Accord aims to make workplaces safe for workers by establishing independent inspections, remediation, complaint mechanism, and safety committees in factories that supply to international brands and companies.

Levi’s says, it has “established itself as the leader in industry standards for responsible supply chain practices”. Similarly, IKEA claims to have set own standards with IWAY based on internationally recognized standards and principles for human rights, environmental protection and worker health and safety.

However, the schemes launched by both brands are underperforming, claimed a report released last month by the Clean Clothes Campaign. The report states, neither scheme meets the standards of the International Accord on worker’s safety, with research showing supplier factories scored poorly on many safety indicators.

India exported cotton textiles, including raw cotton, worth $15.29 billion in 2021-22, as per shows provisional data by Cotton Textiles Promotion Council (Texprocil) Manoj Kumar Patodia, Chairman, Texprocil says, India’s cotton textiles exports in 2020-21 totaled $9.8 billion against the target of $13.6 billion. Exports of all cotton textile and clothing products including yarn, fabrics, and madeups to countries such as Bangladesh, the US, Portugal and Sri Lanka grew during the year, Patodia informs.

Yarn exports to China too increased during the year as did cotton textile exports to Egypt and Portugal, notes Siddarth Rajgopal, Executive Director. Volume of exports also increased. Exporters expect cotton prices to remain high and plan to rebuild their business model, factoring in high raw material prices, say experts.

One of Europe’s biggest clothing retailers, Bestseller Fashion Group plans to close all 1,300 physical stores of its Selected menswear brand in China by July 2022. As per a Yicai Global report, Selected mainly sells business formals and business casuals for men. The brand tried to revive its business by launching new technical and functional product lines such as Siver and upgrading to attract new generation of shoppers. However, the brand failed to attract shoppers to its stores.

It was also plagued by rising store rents, management fees and other expenses The brand said, the pandemic has led to huge changes in consumer demand, affecting China’s traditional retail industry. Founded in 1997, Selected entered the Chinese market in 2008 as the fourth brand under Bestseller China after Only, Vero Moda, and Jack & Jones. Bestseller has more than 10,000 stores in more than 40 countries.

Tirupur exporters expect a 23 per cent decline in FY23 garment exports as European apparel brands have reduced garment offtake from Tirupur and Noida by up to 25 per cent due to the uncertainty in the region about the fallout of the Russia-Ukraine war.

The garment hub annually exports Rs 35,000 crore worth of goods. However, its exports volumes have declined due to lack of orders and high yarn prices which is delaying deliveries, says Raja Shanmugam, president, Tirupur Exporters Association (TEA).

Tirupur houses 2,000 knitwear garment export units and another 18,000 ancillary units that are suppliers to the knitwear units. These units have given a closure call on May 16 and 17 to protest against the rising yarn prices, notes Shanmugam

LalitThukral, President, Noida Apparel Export Cluster says, the units at Noida have seen a 15 per cent drop in orders from Europe. Unlike Tirupur, these sell high value items. Their base price for a garment is $5, which is likely to riseto $10. The cluster expects orders to remain low till the uncertainty in Europe continues.

The closure of global brands in Russia too has impacted Indian garment exporting units. Spanish fashion retailer Inditex that owns the Zara brand has halted trading in Russia, closing its 502 shops and stopping online sales a fortnight ago. H&M has also suspended operations in Russia following the invasion of Ukraine and imposition of sanctions. Spain's second-largest fashion retailer Mango has also announced temporarily closing its 120 Russian shops.

The first Mumbai edition of GartexTexprocess India was inaugurated by DarshanaJardosh, Union Minister of State for Textiles & Railways, Government of India at the Jio World Convention Centre in Mumbai.

The 2022 edition of GartexTexprocess opened with over 100 exhibitors and 250 brands. It will host the Denim Show, Fabric & Trims Show and Screen Print India under its umbrella

Supporting India’s aim of bolstering its manufacturing capabilities, the trade fair is showcasing more than 500 innovative, efficient and competitively-priced technologies in textile and garment making, denim production, trimmings and screen-printing. GartexTexprocess India Mumbai 2022 The mega exhibition has attracted apparel brands, design studios, fashion designers and merchandisers, trade body representatives, distributors, garment and textile machinery importers, exporters, wholesalers and many more

GartexTexprocess India is demonstrating textile and garment manufacturing and processing machines brands including Baba Textile Machinery (India), Balaji Sewing Machine, Cotton Council International, EH Turel& Company, Felix Schoeller, Gayatritex Engineers Pvt Ltd, Golden Laser India, Mehala Machines India, Orange O Tec Pvt Ltd, Ramsons Garment Finishing Equipment, Sera Machines, Sky Enterprises, Sewco Garment Solutions and Zoje.

Denim Show 2022 is also making its debut in Mumbai through the showcase of innovative, fashionable and sustainable denim products. India’s biggest denim brands such as Hyosung India, Jindal Worldwide, Arvind, Ginni International, Raymond UCO Denim, Bhaskar Denim, LNJ Denim, Oswal Denims, KG Denim, Nandan Denim, and Ashima Group are displaying their latest denim collections at the exhibition. Also making debut, The Fabric & Trims Show is depicting the evolving fashion trends by curating fashionable and apparel enhancing features like fabrics, trimmings, embellishments and accessories on the show floors.

Highlighting technical innovations & ‘green’ initiatives in the denim manufacturing, an exclusive Denim Talks series is set to present Digital manufacturing and Bio Dyeing technique for the first time in India while the first-ever Flash dyeing technique of indigo will be made public tomorrow on 13 May 2022.

Under the umbrella of GartexTexprocess India, Screen Print India is displaying new technological capabilities in digital textile and screen-printing, screen printing, digital sublimation, heat transfer and textile printing, from brands like DhavalColorChem, Konica Minolta, Skyscreen International, Stovec Industries, Epson India, etc.

Zara owner Inditex plans to buy 30 per cent of the recycled fabric produced by the Finnish company The Infinited Fiber Company for € 100 million ($104 million) for three years in a push to use more sustainable materials.

The purchase commitment will support Infinited Fiber's plans to open its first large capacity factory in 2024, when Inditex is due to start buying the Infinna premium recycled fiber made entirely of clothing waste.

Zara also launched a limited edition collection of clothes made with Infinna fiber. Inditex said earlier this year that 47 per cent of its garments sold in 2021 carried the Join Life label, meaning they have been produced with sustainable materials and processes. The biggest fast fashion group in the world, operates over 7,200 stores in 93 markets worldwide. The company also owns a number of other brands such as Zara Home, Bershka, Massimo Dutti, Oysho, Pull&Bear, Stradivarius, Uterqüean, etc.