With barely a month to the December 31, 2020 end of its transition from the European customs union, Kenya has signed a post Brexit deal with Britain to allows it access the British market on duty and quota-free basis. The new Kenya-UK trade deal is expected to be used as a model or manuscript for future negotiations between the UK and other continental sovereigns. The deal gives Kenya’s EAC partners a five-year period to join the pact while keeping similar terms. Kenya also safeguards its own markets from a disproportional impact of the tap such as the dumping of UK goods domestically.

Moreover, the deal includes the gradual reopening of the country to UK goods over the course of 25 years but with a cap of an 82.6 per cent on the size of market open to the trade. A seven-year moratorium to opening up trade further insulates Kenya’s nascent industries including agriculture and manufacturing.

The deal is expected to see Kenya grow its volume in value of trade with the UK. Kenya is also negotiating with the US to reach a new Free Trade Agreement (FTA). The nature of the deal couldn’t however been further from the pact reached with the UK as concerns continue to be drawn from various quarters.

For instance, Mukhisa Kituyi, Secretary to the United Nations Conference of Trade and Development (UNCTAD), has warned Kenya against walking into a trap as the US seeks terms favoring its own industries over local ones. Kituyi has questioned the premise of the deal arguing Kenya already fails to take full advantage of its existing free market to the US under the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa).

Years since the implementation of the pact, Kenya still has apparel as its biggest export to the US in spite of having the eligibility of exporting nearly 1,000 products under Agoa.

Angelo Bague, Founder, Awake and former Brand Director, Supreme has teamed up with Levi’s to launch a limited-edition collection centered around Levi’s Authorized Vintage lineup. The collection includes classic garments like Levi’s Trucker Type III Trucker jackets and 501 jeans, upcycled with ’90s design influences.

As per a Sourcing Journal, this collection, Baque has created a collage of patchwork stripes, polka dots, animal prints and other patterns to add vibrant colors to the vintage garments. Each patch of shirt fabric has been stitched onto the denim using black thread which creates a perfect homemade effect.

The campaign launched to advertise this collection has been photographed by Quil Lemons. The campaign narrates the untold story of Black families and has been shot in Philadelphia. It reflects Levi’s latest sentiments in support of Black and minority communities.

Pakistan’s knitwear exports grew by 12.30 per cent during the first four months of current financial year as compared to the corresponding period last year, states data Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. As per the data, Pakistan exported knitwear worth $1.183 billion from July-October 2020-21 compared to $1.053 billion during same period last year.

The country’s readymade garments exports grew 4.6 per cent during the period from July-October, 2020-21. Its exports of bedwear during the first four months of this financial year grew 95 per cent to 166,268 metric tons valued at $818.129 million of same period last year. Meanwhile, the country earned $195.662 million by exporting other textile material as compared to exports worth $126.810 million in same period of last year, it added.

The data revealed that exports of other textile material grew by 54.30 per cent during the last four months of current financial year as against the exports of the same period last year. However, exports of raw cotton, cotton yarn and cotton carded remained on down track during first four months of current financial year as compared the same period of last year.

Truetzschler has launched a virtual trade fair for the nonwovens and card clothing sectors. The orgnizer created a room on the net with information covering all aspects of nonwovens production according to the ‘Good Vibes’ motto. The digital exhibition with videos, reports and presentations was rounded off with an interactive level. Visitors were able to exchange information directly with our experts from sales or technology via text chats, telephone calls or videos.

The main attraction of this trade fair was the ‘Virtual Tour,’ which took visitors to the showroom of the Nonwoven Customer and Technology Center (NCTC). The showroom presented several videos and presentations on various topics. Spanning three days, the trade fair attracted 250 external visitors to its Good Vibes Show. The chats and video calls allowed for a number of interesting conversations and direct exchange. The fair provided true value for money to its digitally oriented visitors while it enabled others establish contact with known and unknown people.

According to a recent notification by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), India has extended the anti-dumping duty (ADD) on imports of fully drawn or fully oriented yarn, spin drawn yarn or flat yarn (FDY) of polyester from China and Thailand till December 31. The duty was first imposed in October 2015 after the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) had found that the imports were impairing the domestic industry.

The duty was then extended till November 30, last month, and now has been extended further by a month. FDY is used in making shoe upper fabrics, luggage/bag and curtain fabrics.

The Board added that DGTR, the designated authority, had sought for continuation of ADD after conducting a review of the same that was initiated in April this year.

French trade show organizer WSN Development has postponed the Who's Next fashion show, scheduled for January 22-24, until March. In addition, the event will be held together with the Première Classe, Impact and Man/Woman fairs, as it was in October this year. The combined fairs are now scheduled to run from March 5 to 7, parallel to Paris Fashion Week.

After the March events, the new 'Who's Next Limited' format is scheduled to take place from June 25 to 27 presenting the pre-collections during Paris Fashion Week. Almost parallel to this, from June 24to 26, DR:OP:01 will launch a completely new consumer format, which is specifically aimed at the Millenials and Drop Culture. The venue for this event is the Grand Palais Ephémère on the Champ-de-Mars near the Eiffel Tower, a 10,000 square meter replica of the famous Grand Palais, which is currently being renovated.

Apart from the June events, WSN intends to return to its established dates for most of the coming season: Who's Next will take place at the Porte de Versailles from September 3 to 6, and Première Classe from October 1 to 4, as usual parallel to Paris Fashion Week .

Van Heusen, the power dressing brand for men and women from Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail, has partnered with inStem - a research institute for stem cell science and regenerative medicine under central government’s Department of Biotechnology to manufacture a new range of affordable masks and apparel. Through this collaboration, Van Heusen is launching lab-licensed masks and athleisure wear with germicidal technology that claims to disable the Sars-Cov2 virus on contact with the fabric unlike other masks that function as mere protective barriers.

The new line of masks and athleisure has been launched as part of Atma Nirbhar Bharat initiative. According the company, the brand will launch the germicidal masks in early December and athleisure by first week of January. Van Heusen already sells masks under its brand name. Van Heusen roped in Tirupur-based textile startup Color Threads to develop the technology into market-ready fabric. Color Threads is an incubatee at the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms, also supported by the Department of Biotechnology. According to Van Heusen, its inner wear and atheisure business clocked a growth in the second quarter ended September over last year driven by Work-From-Home, better consumer acceptance and growing salience resulting in increased market share. The brand said innerwear contributes to about 55% of its innerwear and athleisure business. Athleisure registered 8-9% increase in contribution over last year.

Schutzen Chemical Group, the specialty chemical manufacturer, has launched a sustainable denim process that replaces the indigo & sulfur dyes while eliminating the use of hydrosulfite – thus reducing the amount of dye use and water consumption.

As per Apparel Resources, the process does not require installation of any new machinery. It is based on biodegradable polymeric ready-to-use liquor solution that allows the warp beams yarns or open width fabrics to be dyed/printed or coated using pigments, natural dyes or reactive dyestuff instead of indigo or sulfur.

Notably, the process can be done with rope dyeing, coating or printing.

The use of warp beams in rope dyeing/coating or padding eliminates the need for reducing the indigo to its leuco form using hazardous chemicals like sodium hydrosulfite.

Furthermore, the use of new natural denim process allows obtaining a wash down effect even with reactive dyes as well as pigments.

Nigerian craftsmen have urged the government to boost buy their handmade fabrics and export them to the world.

In 2017, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, filling in for the president, had ordered the government to prioritize products made in Nigeria when buying uniforms and footwear. John Adaji, President, National Union of Textile Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria, urged the government to expand this policy.

Nigeria has been producing traditional, handmade, beautiful fabric designs for centuries. But preservers of the ancient art say modern manufacturing and cheap Chinese imports threaten this way of life. Kano’s Kofar Mata dye pit is one of the last surviving hand-coloring textile makers in Nigeria. Over the years, the workers at the pit have become fewer and fewer due to reduced patronage.

Hamma Kwajaffa, Director General, Nigerian Textile Manufacturers’ Association, blames the decline in locally made fabrics on Chinese imports, which he says are often smuggled into the country. 

Nigeria’s Central Bank said last month that it has provided cotton producers with more than $300 million in loans in recent years to support the domestic textile industry, once Africa’s largest.  

Levi’s has launched a new limited-edition collection with Angelo Baque, Founder, Awake and Former Director, Supreme.

Centered around Levi’s Authorized Vintage, the lineup features classic garments like Levi’s Trucker Type III Trucker jackets and 501 jeans, upcycled with ’90s design influences.

For the collection, Baque has created a collage of patchwork stripes, polka dots, animal prints and other patterns that add vibrant colors to the vintage garments. Each patch of shirt fabric is stitched onto the denim using black thread, creating a “perfectly imperfect” homemade effect that Levi’s describes as “one part ’90s thrift store, one part rebellious modern youth culture.”

The result is one-of-a-kind, upcycled Levi’s Authorized Vintage Truckers and jeans that blends creativity and sustainability.

For the accompanying campaign photographed by Quil Lemons, Baque wanted to tell the underrepresented story of Black families. Lemons shot the campaign in his hometown of Philadelphia and featured his own family in the photos.

The campaign reflects Levi’s latest sentiments in support of Black and minority communities. In January, Levi’s partnered with Denim Tears founder Tremaine Emory on a collection based on the story of cotton in the U.S. and a legacy intertwined with slavery.