With commercial ties with both countries, Turkey is experiencing numerous disruptions due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. In 2021, Turkey’s foreign trade with Russia was worth $32.5 billion, of which, $27.5 billion was generated from imports, primarily natural gas. Similarly imports from Ukraine exceeded $2 billion and exports totaled over $4 billion.

Representing 4.43 per cent of the total world trade, the Turkish textile industry emerged as the fifth largest exporter in 2020. Its operations were mainly affected by the war as many orders of both textile and ready-to-wear garments are cancelled. Seref Fayat, President, TOBB Turkey Garment and Apparel Industry Councils Assembly points out, orders worth approximately $200 million were cancelled including goods already produced.

Russia, Ukraine important export destinations

In the first two months of 2022, Turkish ready-to-wear and apparel industry exported goods worth $3.4 billion. Data from the Turkish Exporters Assembly (TIM) shows, ready-to-wear and apparel exports to Russia amounted to $286.5 million in 2021 while exports of textiles and raw materials amounted to an average of $298 million. Russia emerged the second largest export destination after Germany with a 7.7 per cent share in 2021, points out Mustafa Senocak, President, Istanbul Leather and Leather Products Exporters’ Association (IDMIB).

Turkey exported approximately $173 million worth of ready-to-wear and apparels, $115 million worth of textiles and raw materials to Ukraine in 2021. It signed an FTA with Ukraine during President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s visit to the country on February 3, 2022.

Ukraine poses strong competition to Turkey

Ukraine exports around 80 per cent of its textile products. With 2,500 textile production workshops/factories, the country can become a strong competitor to Turkey. It has over 500 fabric production factories employing more than 16,000 people. All major fashion brands including Adidas, Hugo Boss, Marks & Spencer, Tommy Hilfiger, Zara have production centers in Ukraine. The first three product groups that Turkey imports the most from Ukraine are light rubberized knitted fabrics, knitted sweaters and non-knitted men’s suits, according to the 2019 reports.

Russia introduces new policies to boost production

In 2021, Turkey’s foreign trade with Russia was worth $32.5 billion, of which products worth $27.5 billion were imported from Russia, primarily natural gas. In 2020, Russia exported ready-to-wear garments worth approximately $30.5 billion. Of this, women’s clothing made up the biggest part of $16.6 billion while the rest belonged to men’s and children’s clothing. The most imported product groups included non-knitted women’s suits, women’s non-knitted coats, and knitted sweaters.

To boost textile and apparel production, Russia has introduced new policies. The country has around 40 large and 2,000 medium-sized textile enterprises in Ivanova. Moreover four Turkish companies operate in the region. However, employment in Russia’s textile sector has declined to 85.2,000 from 749,000 in 2000. The ongoing war has made Turkey’s textile and clothing market uncertain with manufacturers seeking to diversify with minimum losses.

Sharad Amalean, Chairman of the Joint Apparel Association Forum (JAAF), says, the global apparel industry will reach $2.2 trillion by 2025.

With sharp price points and constant pursuit of cost efficiencies, the apparel industry currently faces competing priorities, Amalean adds. The pandemic has brought these aspects even more sharply into focus; brands and companies have increased their vigilance on the social, environmental, governance and ethical aspects of manufacturing. Only those that take a holistic view of their production and eco-system will thrive while those with scant respect for ethics, the environment and social responsibility will not find favour with customers.

Having built a reputation of being a sustainable and ethical manufacturing destination, Sri Lanka is well placed to thrive in this evolutionary phase. The Sri Lankan apparel industry is on track to achieve its revenue target of $8 billion by 2025, adds Amalean

Through this edition of the Maroc In Mode (MIM) trade show, organizer AMITH aims to embrace environmental issues by defining sustainability in the Moroccan context through a continuous commitment International trade show of the textile and garment industry. The trade show will be held on March 30 and 31, 2022 at the the El Jadida International Exhibition Center, near Casablanca, Morocco.

Organized by the Moroccan Association of Textile and Garment Industries (Association Marocaine des Industries du textile et de l’Habillement – AMITH), the trade show is a platform for professional meetings offering a diverse and inclusive experience.

The upcoming edition will be identified with an umbrella theme and the expression - “Dayem”, a word that in Arabic language means “sustainable”, conveying how the approach to environmental, social and economic sustainability is becoming a key aspect for the industry.

For this edition, the show will also focus on a wider range of themes and will also include, along with sustainability, innovation. It will also expand its offer and will present the different categories of players within the textile value chain and will present the fabrics, manufacturing, home textiles, accessories innovation, machinery and services categories.

The Woolmark Company has announced the prize winners for the Woolmark Performance Challenge 2021/22. As per a Fashion Network report, the company selected 12 most promising ideas as finalists from over 400 global entries before judges selected the winners for each category. Claimed to be the “preeminent ideas platform for the sports and performance market”, this year, the Woolmark Performance Challenge partnered with two brands for the first time: Swiss running specialist On, and Italian skiwear firm Salewa.

Caroline Schinle from Albstadt-Sigmaringen University was awarded an internship with On while Harleen Kaur from the Pearl Academy bagged a new Research Opportunity award. Kaur’s submission identified a gap in the market to address the needs of pregnant and post-partum runners, creating activewear that works with, rather than against, the changing body. The idea supports both the mother and foetus in the correct areas, providing coolness when the body temperature rises, and monitoring the baby’s health using a foetal heart rate monitor.

Meanwhile, Dan Winegar from the University of Oregon was selected by Salewa for an internship for his idea that automatically adjusts insulation thickness to maintain comfort during and after exercise. The resultant 3D flexible fabrics can change from insulating to cooling modes depending on the levels of skier activity.

Additionally, IED Milano student Francesco Matera was the €10,000 Woolmark Research Bursary recipient, envisioning a garment that acts like a second skin, adapting to the body in motion. His design uses strategically placed zones of high compression using elastane in seamless knitted garments to support and manipulate the wearer’s muscles and limbs during exercise.

Global leader in antimicrobial, anti-odor, anti-pilling, and water repellent technologies, Sciessenthas bagged GOTS Certification for its NOBO anti-odor technology.

A worldwide leading textile processing standard for organic fibres, including ecological and social criteria, GOTSis backed by independent certification of the entire textile supply chain.

As per a Knitting Industry report, the GOTS certificateapproves NOBO’s chemistry formulation while its production processes as meeting the required ecological and social global sustainability criteria. It also acknowledges NOBO as an ecologically and socially responsible product with no adverse effects to the ecosystem or biodiversity throughout its lifecycle.

Specifically formulated to reduce odor in natural and synthetic fabrics, NOBO adsorbs compounds responsible for body odor without the use of an antimicrobial.

In addition to being GOTS certified, NOBO is also bluesign approved and listed on the Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals (ZDHC) Foundation ZDHC Gateway, complying with ZDHC Level 3 requirement.

Homegrown weekend-wear brand Harbour 9 recently unveiled its thoughtfully designed range of women's apparel line. Ideal all the ladies who love to present their tastefully styled, gracefully groomed, naturally charming, and confident personality, the range ensures a perfect balance between fun and classics

Its clothes are manufactured completely in India, right from sourcing the materials to the final product. The new range meets the contemporary lifestyle trend of women. The products are priced consciously. Harbour 9 also believes in reducing the negative impact on the environment through their eco-friendly practices.

Manoj Jain, Director, Harbour 9 says, the new exclusive line of women’s apparel is. custom-made to fit across sizes, The range is in line with the contemporary lifestyle taste of modern women.

Garment Corporation 10 is ramping up its production capacity to meet buyers’ demands, says Than Duc Viet, General Director. As per a Vietnam.net report, the company has been flexible in implementing its business strategies, so the orders it has received are enough for the firm to implement until the end of this June. Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, the prospect of the garment market remains bright.

As local textile-garment firms have gained experience in responding to Covid, they now can facilitate production and adapt to the COVID situation concurrently.

Le Tien Truong, Board Chairman, Vietnam National Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex), says, the group is set to o achieve its growth rate of over 8 per cent this year. To obtain sustainable development in 2022, Vinatex aims to focus on speeding up digital transformation and continue to develop its supply capacity for the hosiery sector.

In 2022, VITAS forecast that local textile-garment firms will continue to face a host of challenges, including logistics costs rising threefold against the average figure recorded over the past five years; disadvantages in terms of exchange rates that left Vietnamese textile-garment items less competitive than those of its rivals; and labor imbalance.

Further, these firms in the field have to face other obstacles such as the competition from major rivals including China, India, Bangladesh and the market share of the sector.

Data from the Ministry of Industry and Trade showed that the textile-garment sector exported US$39 billion worth of goods in 2021, rising 11.2 per cent year-on-year, but its market share made no progress.

New York-based specialty athletic retailer Foot Locker has appointed Samantha Lomow as its first president, global brands.

In the new role, Lomov will oversee Foot Locker’s global brand portfolio and operating divisions across North America, EMEA, and APAC. As per Fashion Network, she will equally work closely as part of the executive team to advance the company’s long-term strategies for continued innovation, growth, and profitability.

Lomow officially took on the position on Friday. She will report directly to Frank Bracken, executive vice president and chief operating officer.

She joins the company from Hasbro, Inc., where she served as president, branded entertainment, bringing over 25 years of global brand innovation, strategy, and business transformation experience across consumer products, entertainment, and licensing.

She also sits on the board of managers of Claire’s Holdings LLC, serving as chair of the nomination, governance and ESG committee and as a member of the audit committee.

With its unique technology for digital dyeing of textile thread on-demand for more sustainable and creative embroideries, Coloreel has sold its first multi-head in the United States to Hirsch Solutions, the world’s largest distributor of embroidery machines. The six units will be placed over a Tajima TMEZ 6 head embroidery machine for one of Hirsch’s innovative customers based in California.

The deal is announced shortly after the very successful Impressions Expo at Long Beach, Los Angeles US, where Coloreel and Hirsch demonstrated live the unique capabilities provided by Coloreel’s products and technology to several hundred interested visitors.

Sven Öquist, VP Sales, Coloreel Group AB, says, Coloreel’s partnership with Hirsch provides Coloreel with the ultimate reach into the US embroidery market and this order of a six multi-head unit is another great step in its growth journey in US. The installation will enable the brand’s customer to meet the fast-rising demand for its more environmentally friendly and creative embroideries.

Asia's largest fashion fair, Chic Spring Shanghai, will be relocated to Nanjing from May 20-22, 2022.

The event will represent various international joint participations. The province of Jiangsu with its capital Nanjing includes numerous fashion clusters such as the Changshu Garment Industrial Cluster for leather and downwear, menswear, womenswear, the Suzhou Garment Industrial Cluster or the Xinqiao Knitwear industrial cluster in Jiangyin. Nanjing itself is known for its womenswear industry.

At the state of the art Nanjing International Expo Center, Chic will offer in halls four, five and six a concentrated overview of the latest trend developments in fashion to the trade visitors. Chic Springas a fashion and lifestyle fair shows the areas of womenswear, menswear, kidswear, denim, shoes and bags, accessories, designers and streetwear in clearly arranged segments.

Chicis organized by Beijing Fashion Expo Co. and China World Exhibitions and sponsored by the China National Garment Association, the China World Trade Center and the Subcouncil of Textile Industry (CCPIT)