Members of the Cotton 2040 Impacts Alignment Working Group, which includes the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI), Cotton Connect, Cotton Made in Africa, Fairtrade, MyBMP, the Organic Cotton Accelerator and Textile Exchange, have jointly signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)–‘The Sustainable Cotton Aligned Impacts Measurement and Reporting Joint Commitment.’

The MOU sets the intention for the “Delta Framework”–which will become a credible and shared guide for impact measurement and reporting of core sustainability issues of relevance to the cotton sector.

The groups noted that the Delta Framework is voluntary and intended to apply worldwide to any cotton and coffee farming system, with the potential to be expanded to other agricultural commodities over time. Ultimately, this common indicator set will help brands and retailers to confidently track the impact of their sustainable cotton sourcing decisions, support upgrading of farmer services to encourage continuous improvement at the farm level and facilitate increasing transparency and communication with consumers.

The Delta Project is a joint effort of BCI, the Global Coffee Platform, the International Coffee Organization and the International Cotton Advisory Committee, and is supported by the ISEAL Innovation Fund.

The autumn edition of the Yarn Expo proved its importance to the industry as a vital business hub, and additionally this year as a chance to reconnect and recover both in-person and virtually. The leading first yarn & fibre industry event was held from September 23-25, 2020, at Shanghai’s National Exhibition and Convention Centre with 15,707 visitors.

Around 419 exhibitors from six countries and regions including China, Hong Kong, India, Pakistan, the US, and Vietnam, took part in the fair. Yarn Expo answered the current and future needs of the industry, a number of themed areas and events featured at the fair. This included the China Fibre Fashion Trends Display Zone, China Knitted Fancy Yarn Trends Display Zone, New Fibre Horizon – Textile Material Innovation Forum, and Product Launch Conference, according to a press release by Messe Frankfurt.

Yarn Expo Autumn 2020 was held concurrently with Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics – Autumn Edition, PH Value, and CHIC, providing a concentrated overview of the latest trends and developments in the textile sector.

Fashion e-tail giant Asos has launched its first circular fashion collection following a collaboration with the Centre for Sustainable Fashion. The collection features 29 trend-led styles designed with industry-leading circularity principles, with no compromise on product or price.

The collection puts all of its learnings into practice with a focus on zero-waste design, manufacturing that minimizes waste, using recycled materials, selecting materials that will last longer, and creating items that can adapt to multiple ways of being worn. It also avoids too much material mixing that can hamper recycling efforts, and creates products that are easier to recycle at the end of their life.

The collection is also fashion-forward and led by the season’s biggest trends, challenging the misconception that circular and sustainable clothing can’t be fashionable. Its standout trend pieces include color-drenched tailoring, oversized cardigans and tees, mix and match stripes, square neck volume dresses, and mix-and-match jewelry in brown, lilac and neutrals.

Each product also features a QR code on its garment tag, helping consumers learn more about the firm’s circular design principles and how the product was made.

Gotabaya Rajapaksha, President, Sri Lanka says, it is imperative for local industries to commence production of standard and high quality textiles immediately. He explored the possibility of assigning the larger percentage of supply of school and security forces uniform material to local industrialists following an inspection visit to textile mills in the Dankotuwa Industrial Zone.

Rajapaksha first visited the Creative Textile Mill in the Dankotuwa Industrial Zone. The company has been importing threads from India, Pakistan and China to produce clothing material. Its production capacity is expected to increase to 100,000 meters per day while demand for annual school uniform is estimated at 11 million mt.

President Rajapaksa encouraged the company to recommence apparel production and requested it to devise a plan for the self-employed entrepreneurs to contribute to the demand for the school uniforms. Rajapaksa also inspected Creative Textile Mill Wattala, a branch of Dankotuwa Textile Mill which manufactures fabrics for the uniforms of the tri-forces . The Company employs over 1500 people. One of its primary functions is to dye fabrics as required by the security forces. Rajapaksa inspected the production of the National and Buddhist flags in the company and instructed the owners to increase the production to meet the local demand accordingly.

Its first physical edition post lockdown, Shanghai Fashion Week will host more than 90 shows from October 8-18. These shows will showcase emerging Chinese talents with global recognition such as Shushu/Tong, Yuhan Wang, Angel Chen, 8on8 and Yueqi Qi who will present their spring 2021 collections alongside local standouts including Lily, Mukzin, Le Fame, Hazzys, Urban Revivo and Cabbeen.

SFW will continue its digital collaborations with Tmall, and re-

brand the online showcase as a part of the Tmall Fashion Fes Atival.

Other highlights of the event include Israeli designer Galia Lahav’s China debut, and Uma Wang’s first collaboration with well-known underwear-maker Threegun. The trade show business will be back in full force with Italy’s IGFD Group joining the official trade show lineup of Ontimeshow, Shanghai Showroom, Nova by DFO, Not Showroom and Tube Showroom with Modalink, which focuses on bringing international brands to China.

Ontimeshow, the largest one among them, expects more than 15,000 visitors to check out 250 brands such as Deepmoss, Qiuhao, Haizhen Wang and Ricostru at the West Bund Art Center venue, opposite to Centre Pompidou Shanghai.

It will also host a two-day forum focusing on sustainable fashion with sustainable production and consumption consulting firm Greenext, and partnering with the digital wholesale platform Joor to bring the trade show online.

Parisian luxury fashion house Valentino has teamed up with Levi's to create a collaborative luxury denim line. The denim line was showcased as a part of the Valentino Collezione show in Milan. It featured a special dual-logo back alongwith the OG design. Following on a partnership with Onitsuka Tiger, the collection is set to drop in the first half of 2021. Valentino SpA is an Italian clothing company founded in 1960 by Valentino Gararvani it is a part of Valantino Fashion Group owned by the State of Qatar. In 1998, Garavani and Giammetti sold the company for approximately $300 million to HdP, an Italian conglomerate controlled, in part, by the late Gianni Agnelli, the head of Fiaat. In 2002, Valentino SpA, with revenues of more than $180 million, was sold by HdP to Marzotto Apparel, a Milan-based textile giant, for $210 million.

British e-commerce fashion firm Boohoo has urged the US court to drop a $100 million lawsuit that accuses it of offering fake discounts to shoppers. According to an Apparel Resources report, the lawsuit alleges Boohoo of adopting deceptive pricing by running fake sales and promotions to attract more shoppers.

The last few months have been controversial for Boohoo. It was initially accused of violating workers’ rights by Leicester garment factories which led it to suspending all business activities with some of its non-compliant suppliers. The owner of Nasty Gal and PrettyLittleThing, Boohoo has prepared a series of legal arguments that also include the exclusion of customers outside California.

The UK-based online fashion retailer was founded in 2006. It had sales of £856.9m in 2019. It specializes in its own brand fashion clothing, with over 36,000 products.

Environmental NGO Canopy will work in collaboration with Nike, Stella McCartney, Burberry, Chanel, Inditex to make a case for low-carbon raw material alternatives within the industry. Canopy has joined the United Nations’ Fashion Charter (UNFCCC) as a supporting organization, and will work on an UNFCCC report that scans low-carbon raw material options for fashion.

Earlier this year, the organization outlined its next generation vision for Viscose – backed by H&M, Next and producer Tangshan Sanyou, amongst others – detailing several ambitious targets to scale promising ‘next-gen’ solutions. By 2025, it expects the production of Next Gen fibers to replace at least 90 per cent of viscose production volumes currently coming from this critically endangered land. By 2030, 50 per cent of all viscose should be made from these Next Gen feedstocks.

The environmental group also encourages scaling viscose production in close proximity to next-gen feedstocks to increase their chances of growing. If achieved, 20 per cent of all viscose production will be using Next Generation feedstock content, replacing pulp, paper and packaging sourced from Ancient or Endangered forests, by 2021.

BKMEA has denied access to Indian ethnicwear exports as many local manufacturers also make such products in the country. Indian Textile Ministry had proposed to create a special provision for export of ethnicwear products to Bangladesh who has refused to provide it an access to its market

India and Bangladesh proposed an MoU to enhance trade and economic relations in a balanced manner by expanding business and cooperation in the sphere of textiles, including handlooms, silk, jute, cotton, skills training institutions and clothing and fashion industries.

Reacting to India’s proposal, Mohammad Hatem, Vice-President, BKMEA, underlined the draft memorandum was being examined by them considering the trade benefits for both the countries while adding that technical support from India would benefit the Bangladesh textile sector.

The 50th edition of the IHGF Delhi Fair will be held as a virtual trade show and offer sourcing and product solutions for buyers around the world. The event will take place from November 4 to 9 and cover 25 virtual halls featuring a dozen product segments, including residential furniture. An estimated 1,500 exhibitors will showcase home textiles, bath and bath accessories, carpets and rugs, furniture, lighting, accessories, housewares, garden and outdoor furnishings and more.

To be organized by the Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts India, the show will feature themed pavilions and live demonstrations highlighting Indian handicrafts. A separate trend area will feature trend and fashion forecasts and color analysis for the upcoming year. In addition, the organizers have planned a number of webinars and panel discussions during the event.

The show will feature a mix of products produced through sustainable manufacturing processes that meet post COVID-19 consumer requirements.