In June this year, home textiles major Welspun India forayed into the health and hygiene vertical by creating antimicrobial towels, sheets and carpets. Besides, antiviral products, masks and other goods, the company also launched several sleepwear products. The company started by manufacturing masks and distributing it in its communities, notes Dipali Goenka, CEO and Joint Managing Director in an interview with The Economic Times. She believes the next generation of textiles will focus on value and extensions. And the importance of health and care economy will grow, be it in terms of product, food, FMCG or home space.

Demand for sustainable textiles to grow

Goenka emphasizes besides, health and hygiene, consumers will emphasize on sustainability in textiles which is the second biggest polluter in the world. There will be increased demand for anti-viral fabrics that help in inhibiting the micro-organisms, says Goenka. According to her even sleep inductive textiles will become important as they will promote physical and mental well-being. Currently, there is a surge in demand for home textiles with all of Welspun’s factories working at full throttle. The company is highly dependent on MSMEs and hopes to make it the foundation of its future business.

Textile industry to save India from COVID-19 downfall Goenka expects India to create 90 million non-farming jobs in the next couple of years. According to her, textile is the biggest employer after agriculture in the country. Hence, the industry needs to create an ecosystem to make India an important growth center for textiles. Industry leaders need to focus on localization which will help India become the bright spot of the textile world, she adds.

Textiles will also become an important industry for India in the next two years as more people will move towards non-farming jobs. Demand for home textiles will rise as consumers will spend more time at home, adds Goenka. The textile industry will emerge as a savior from the current crisis as India not only has the required manpower, technical knowledge and vertically integrated facilities but is also the largest producer of cotton in the world after China, she says.

ROICA has launched the ‘Imagining Sustainable Fashion Award ‘that aims to recognize companies that have made investments, have innovated to achieve loftier ethical and responsible goals, but have not been able to communicate them. Takaaki Kondo, General Manager of ROICA™ Global Marketing Department of Asahi Kasei and Main Sponsor of the Award says, “ROICA™ is a world leading company bringing forward innovation and sustainability to manufacture premium smart and high-tech stretch for the wardrobe of tomorrow.”

The company strongly believes that together with responsible innovation, communication is the key to bring sustainability to the next level: to inspire, educate, inform and allow both professionals and consumers to make the right choices. That’s why it decided to endorse the “Imagining Sustainable Fashion Award.

Hashimoto, Senior Managing Director, Asahi Kasei Advance says, “Consumers’ needs have moved towards new pillars such as traceability, transparency, water, energy, CO2 savings, material health and social values. In this perspective, innovation plays an important key role, as it makes it possible to achieve important objectives and targets from a sustainable point of view. But when it comes to communicate all these values, we still experience some difficulties nowadays. Imagining Sustainable Fashion Award is the opportunity to find the most effective way to spread this new era of consciousness.”

The project is collaboration between Connecting Cultures, a non-profit research agency spearheading the Out of Fashion platform, and C.L.A.S.S., a smart platform that offers innovative tools for those directly interested in responsible fashion and textile business.

Richard Collier will become the new CEO of Jack Wolfskin effective December 1, 2020. In this function, he will be responsible in particular for the development of the strategic brand positioning and the further internationalization of Jack Wolfskin.

In June 2020, the outdoor company based in Idstein/Germany had already confirmed that its current CEO Melody Harris-Jensbach and Callaway Golf would be amicably preparing a succession arrangement. This follows the completion of the integration of Jack Wolfskin into the Callaway Group, which acquired the company in 2019. Harris-Jensbach, who has been CEO of the Jack Wolfskin since 2014, will continue to support the company in a senior consulting role.

Prior to his position at Jack Wolfskin, Collier worked at technical ski, sailing and workwear company Helly Hansen in Oslo for the last 17 years, most recently as Chief Product Officer. Before the British citizen gained experience at Tandberg Telecom, Kurt Salmon Associates and Adidas, where he held senior sales and marketing positions.

At least 110 garment factories in Cambodia have been closed in the first nine months of the year leaving over 55,000 workers without jobs.

Ngoy Rith, Undersecretary, Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training said as of early September, 111 factories had closed in the garment, footwear and travel product sectors. He added the number of closures was similar to the first nine months of last year, when 110 factories closed.

Rith said the government had been effective in introducing measures to keep factories open in one of the most important sectors of the Cambodian economy. He added that the global market for garment products had been virtually shut down by the Covid-19 pandemic and other factors.

He said the number of suspended employment contracts was gradually subsiding, noting that the number of garment factories that had frozen work contracts had decreased to 52, which affected the incomes of roughly 14,000 workers.

However, Fa Saly, President, National Trade Union Confederation, said the actual numbers might be higher than the figures released by the labor ministry and that more Cambodian workers were losing their jobs and incomes each day. Saly said even though Cambodia is under the General System of Preferences (GSP) program, which will facilitate imports to the UK starting in January, he was still not optimistic.

He called on the government to seriously address these problems and ensure that the Kingdom’s workforce has good working conditions and more jobs.

C.L.A.S.S. ecohub, the platform empowering responsible fashion and textile business will launch ‘For the Fashion4’ virtual talk on December 01, 2020 on Zoom. The seminar will set new rules and raise the bar in both responsibility and communication. Dignitaries at the talks will include World reknown Supermodel, actress and activist Amber Vallettam Carlo Capasa, Chairman of Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana, Sara Sozzani Maino Deputy Director Vogue Italia, Head of Vogue Talents

C.L.A.S.S. launched C.L.A.S.S. ICON, the annual award bestowing a visionary creative who innovates both in style and responsibility tuning with new sustainable values and, striving to raise consumers’ awareness. “C.L.A.S.S. ICON is more than an award; it highlights the 4th dimension of sustainability bringing together professionals and consumers in a virtuous path.”

In a letter to the shipping ministry, Chittagong Port Authority and Bangladesh Shipping Agents Association (BSAA), have demanded a withdrawal of the emergency cost recovery surcharge (ECRS) carrier as the apparel sector and other industries are already in jeopardy.

Global retailers are continuing to suspend or cancel work orders, which has created uncertainty for factories and workers, said Mohammed Abdus Salam, first Vice President, BGMEA.

Feeder vessels operating to and from Chittagong port have imposed $75 per laden teu and $37.50 per empty container congestion surcharge since 15 November.

They imposed the surcharge as the ports in Colombo, Singapore and Port Klang have experienced severe congestion in the last couple of weeks, with vessels facing berthing delays of up to 48 hours, causing productivity losses they are trying to recoup via the surcharge.

Ahsanul Huq Chowdhury, Chairman, BSAA, argues that the surcharge is not being collected locally. He said the feeder vessels are realizing the increased amount from mainline operators, which in turn are collecting it as a general rate increase from the global buyers.

World's biggest manufacturer of surgical gloves, Top Glove plans to close over half its factories after a surge in coronavirus cases among workers. The company has seen a huge jump in demand since the start of the pandemic as countries scrambled to stock up on protective equipment, pushing up both its profits and share price.

However, virus outbreaks amongst employees at factories near Kuala Lumpur are forcing the company to shut its operations again. The company recently registered 1.000 new cases of coronavirus and therefore decided to shut 28 factories.

Top Glove operates 47 factories, of which 41 are in Malaysia. Many of its workers hail from Nepal and live in crowded dormitory complexes. The company produces over 70 billion gloves a year and is a major global supplier. In July this, the US has banned imports from two of the company’s subsidiaries over concerns about forced labor.

Most wholesale markets in Gujarat witnessed heavy buying during Diwali from buyers across the country. Textile markets in Ahmedabad and Surat had remained completely closed for almost three months. As a result, textile traders faced acute liquidity crisis as most of their stock remained unsold. They witnessed almost zero demand till August end but from September the market started improving gradually.

The Diwali season came as a blessing for traders as they witnessed heavy demand during the festivities. Many traders recovered their payments ahead of Diwali. Items like rayon fabric are being sold in cash, which is an encouraging sign for the textile sector in Gujarat, says Gaurag Bhagat, President, New Cloth Market and Member, Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI)

Almost 90 per cent of the over 300 wholesale textile markets in Surat have started functioning, informs Dev Kishan Mangani, Chairman-Textile Committee, South Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SGCCI)

Mangani expects buying to continue post Diwali in the wake of marriage season as well as Pongal and Christmas festivities. However, everything depends upon COVID-19 situation in Gujarat as well as other parts of the country, he says.

As per Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, RMG exports by the country grew by 4.6 per cent during first four months of current financial year as compared the exports during the corresponding period of last year.

From July-October 2020-21, Pakistan exported about 11,378 thousand dozens of readymade garments valuing $947.419 million as compared to 20,850 thousand dozens valuing $905.243 million exported during the same period of last year.

During the period under review, the country’s knitwear exports grew by 12.30 per cent to 24,425 thousand dozens valuing $1.183 billion as against the exports of 40,837 thousand dozen valuing $1.053 billion during the same period last year

About 149,937 metric tonne of bed wear costing $899.558 million were exported during first four months of current financial year as compared to the export of 166,268 metric ton valuing $818.129 million during the same period last year, it added.

The country also earned $195.662 million by exporting other textile materials as compared to $126.810 million earned during same period of last year

Export of other textile materials increased by 54.30 per cent in last four months of current financial year as against the export during the same period last year.

PVH Corp has appointed Allison Peterson, Chief Customer Officer, Best Buy Co, and George Cheeks, President and CEO, CBS Entertainment Group, to its Board of Directors. The company believes their deep experience in successfully navigating consumer disruption will help PVH evolve as one of the world’s largest apparel companies. Having a proven track record of delivering strong consumer engagement fueled by strategic marketing, cross-channel experiences and brand positioning, Peterson will be responsible for the customer strategy, consumer insights and research, experience design and membership/loyalty for Best uy. She will help the company to build its digital presence to align with new consumer behaviors. She has earlier worked with major retail corporations like Target Corp and Best Buy where she held several leadership postions including Chief Marketing Officer and President of E-Commerce.

With over 25 years of experience in the media and entertainment industry, George has a deep understanding of how an iconic brand grows with its audience in the context of changing distribution, culture, lifestyles and preferences. Currently engaged with the CBS Group, he has previously served in various senior executive positions at NBC Universal. Most recently, he was Vice Chairman, NBC Universal Content Studios.

Both appointments will be effective from January 26 and March 22, 2021, respectively. PVH also plans to appoint Stefan Larsson, President PVH Corp., to the Board as part of its previously announced CEO succession plan.