"Consumers across the globe are raising their voice against the inaction of brands and governments on climate change. Protest of young consumers, led by teen activists like Greta Thunberg, is compelling companies to embrace sustainability. Various clothing brands are adopting sustainability by using eco-friendly fabrics like organic cotton. They are also reusing previous collections, abolishing the use of animal fur and sourcing their clothes more ethically."

Consumers across the globe are raising their voice against the inaction of brands and governments on climate change. Protest of young consumers, led by teen activists like Greta Thunberg, is compelling companies to embrace sustainability. Various clothing brands are adopting sustainability by using eco-friendly fabrics like organic cotton. They are also reusing previous collections, abolishing the use of animal fur and sourcing their clothes more ethically.

Riding the green wave

Catwalks at fashion events across the world are going green. The recent Milan Fashion Show showcased the Spring/Summer 2020 collection of United Colors of Benetton based on the theme of sea, water and sailing. Popeye the Sailor Man served as the “green” ambassador of this collection. The collection also showcased a trench coat made of paper and recycled fibers besides talking about the non-toxic natural dyes it uses.

Measurement company Nielsen is also riding the green wave with its sales of sustainable products growing by 20 per cent since 2014. For other apparel retailers such as Marks & Spencers sustainability has become the new style statement. The brand has been using Tencel fibers for its various categories like denims, tops and innerwear. These fibers are naturally wrinkle-resistant and biodegradable. They are also softer than silk, more absorbent than cotton and cooler than linen.

Closer home W, the women’s apparel brand recently launched its spring summer collection in association with Livaeco, the fashion fabric brand of the Aditya Birla group. The brand believes that this association can play a great role in contributing towards a sustainable future and help the brand to convert its goals to sustainable results. The brand has also tailored the ‘Yolo Dress’ which uses fibers that reduce carbon footprint.

Another brand that has adopted a sustainable approach to fashion is Numero Uno. The brand recently launched a new denim range known as ‘one glass water denims.’ These denims use a sustainable washing and finishing process that reduce their water and chemical consumption significantly. Narinder Singh, CMD, Numero Uno believes this process will help in reducing its reducing he harmful impact of the collection on the environment.

Meanwhile land filling culture is changing as consumers across the world now prefer to repair their damaged clothes instead of throwing them away. This shift is leading brands to respond accordingly. Marks & Spencer initiated a yearly clothes exchange program that urges customers to return their old apparel. For their every return, customers get Rs 600 voucher which they can be use for their next purchase.

Rewards for embracing sustainability

Brands are also rewarding consumers for their sustainable behaviors. Liva, from the house of Aditya Birla, has launched plantable green tag to instill awareness amongst its consumers about sustainable fashion. This tag is created using seed paper made from recycled biodegradable fibres. Post soaking in water for 5-6 hours, it can be sowed in soil.

South Korean cosmetics brand Innisfree has launched an eco-handkerchief to curtail the use tissues. This will help the brand save trees, protect forests and reduce global warming. Cosmetics retailer Kielh’s has launched a ‘recycle and get rewarded’ program which offers a stamp with each of its products. A customer who collects 10 stamps is rewarded by the brand.

ITM will be held in Turkey, June 2 to 6, 2020. This is a trade fair for textile machinery and a venue for the launch of new ideas and new technologies. Held every two years, the trade fair enables participants from all over the world to collaborate and helps bring European and Asian suppliers and buyers together. It offers companies an opportunity to introduce their latest developments to a global audience. ITM 2020 is expecting to set new records in terms of the number of exhibitors and visitors. In 2018, the show hosted 1,150 exhibitors from 64 countries, registering a 20 per cent increase in country diversity compared to the previous fair in 2016. Delegations from Iran, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, Panama, Czech Republic and Russia visited the show. ITM has become a brand in Turkey, both by bringing together all the players in the industry and allowing the country to keep up with the new technologies in machinery.

For Turkey 2018 was a historical year for exports, in spite of the trade wars, Brexit, rising populism and regional conflicts. Exports reached $168 billion. Target markets for 2019 include Africa as well as the South American and Asian markets.

Primark aims at using 100 per cent sustainable cotton in all its product categories. The brand currently uses sustainable cotton in women’s pajamas, denim, towels and bedding. Men’s wear and T-shirts are next in line.

As a part of this program, the fast fashion retailer has set a new target of training 1,60,000 farmers in India, Pakistan and China in eco-friendly farming methods by 2022. Different farming methods being taught include efficient irrigation, planting in rows with trenches to maximise drainage and introducing pesticides and fertilizers such as cow dung to reduce the use of chemical options. Some farmers in India have increased their incomes by 200 per cent since enrolling on the program. Primark is minimising the use of fertilizers and pesticides on crops but not doing away with them altogether. Completely organic farming means a much lower yield which would affect the livelihoods of farmers.

UK-based Primark is one of the biggest names in value-focused fashion. Its fourth quarter sales growth has been faster than in the previous nine months of the financial year due to an improving like-for-like performance. Primark has performed well in the UK even though the country’s fashion market has been weak. Its new store in Birmingham High Street showcases its full product range and new food and beverage and beauty services. 

French luxury group Kering plans trim its remaining stake in Puma by issuing bonds worth $550 million that can be exchanged for shares in the German sportswear brand. These bonds will be equivalent to 3.5 per cent to 3.7 per cent of the share capital of Puma, which has been performing strongly, thanks in part to sports partnerships including with English soccer club Manchester United, and celebrity marketing deals.

Kering, which owns fashion brands like Gucci, Saint Laurent and Balenciaga, still has a 15.7 per cent stake after spinning off 70 per cent of its stake to shareholders last year. These investors include Artemis, the holding company for the Pinault family that founded and controls Kering, and which is now Puma's leading investor with a stake of just under 29%.

In recent years Kering has been increasingly focused on its high-margin luxury businesses, but even within this portfolio it has disposed of smaller brands like Christopher Kane.

Inonge Wina, Vice President of Zambia recently visited Indian company Shree Vagmi Cotton, which plans to invest $7 million in the next three years to build a cotton lint processing factory in Zimbia. The company has acquired a 26-acre land in Mwembeshi area of Chibombo district in the Central Province and would engage 23,000 cotton farmers in the country in two years.

Vagmi already has a cotton factory in Indore. The company plans to evolve into a full textile company in 2020 and resuscitate the once vibrant textile industry in Zambia. It will run a scheme under which it will supply farmers with seed, chemicals, wool packs and collect cotton from farming areas. The company will also build houses for some Zambian staff running the factory.

VF Corporation’s first quarter revenues have jumped six per cent. Growth was distinct in China and in the company’s digital channels. The US-based company, owns brands like Vans, The North Face, Timberland and Dickies. The company plans a digital-led transformation into a consumer-minded and retail-centric enterprise. VF Corp will also be seeking to drive and optimize its portfolio, distort investments to Asia, and elevate its digital channels. Revenues are expected to grow at a five-year compounded annual growth rate of between seven per cent and eight per cent with progress being driven by the company’s largest brands, the international market and the direct-to-consumer channel. Earnings per share are expected to grow at a five-year CAGR of 12 per cent to 14 per cent compared to fiscal 2019’s adjusted EPS.

The past two-and-a-half years represent one of the most transformative periods in VF Corp’s 120-year history. The group has emerged with a sharpened focus on what’s required to become even more consumer minded and retail centric. With greater clarity to the opportunities ahead, it is confidently updating its five-year strategic growth plan and financial outlook. To reflect the latest evolution in its strategy, VF has also revealed a slick new corporate logo, accompanied by an overhaul of its branding, the company’s first change of this kind in 21 years.

For the first quarter Nike revenues rose 7.2 per cent. Gross margins rose to 45.7 per cent. In North America, its biggest market, revenues rose 3.6 per cent while sales in Greater China, its fastest growing market, jumped 22 per cent. The sportswear maker's strategy to sell sneakers and apparel directly to consumers through its own stores and online retailers has powered growth.

The world’s largest footwear maker now sells more products directly to customers through online platforms rather than through wholesalers. Nike has also launched pop-up stores that cater to loyal fans of the brand in several big US cities in an effort to build a strong relationship with its customers and gain market share. The move has helped the company sell more products at full prices.

Nike’s women's category grew double digits in fiscal ’19 accelerating in the back half of the year. The Air Max Dia, a women's sneaker, helped drive double-digit growth in the women's category last quarter. As of now the category makes up less than a quarter of total revenue. The Nike app provides the complete shopping experience on mobile for the brand, and growth has been strong here, too.

The yarn market in India is dull. China and Bangladesh are not buying yarns and prices are low. China is a major market for Indian yarns but the trade war between the United States and China has affected the Chinese textile sector. The Indian textile sector has been heavily spinning based and this is the problem.

Gujarat is the number one cotton producing state in India. This year’s crop is expected to be of good quality due to the rains. The yield will be high and due to good quality yarn realization is also expected to be high. Ginning begins soon after Diwali. Gujarat has ramped up its spinning capacity since 2012, due to the state’s supportive schemes such as power and interest subsidies. Currently, the state has about 3.5 million ring spindles and has proximity to cotton—a positive aspect. But the upstream sector such as garmenting and finishing does not have the necessary capacity to cater to big markets. There is still a demand for value-added products to markets like the United States, which cannot be currently handled by the Indian textile sector. A structural shift is needed to focus on building value-added sectors such as garments and technical textiles.

Indian textile manufacturers and exporters feel opening up the domestic market for China under the proposed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is not a good idea. They feel added competition from cheaper Chinese goods may put pressure on domestic sales at a time when international business has been under threat from Bangladesh and Vietnam.

Based on India’s existing free trade agreement with Asean, RCEP will include all the nations with which Asean has trade deals — New Zealand, Australia, China, India, Japan and South Korea.

Export of readymade garments, in which India’s export competitiveness has fallen over the past fiscal, contracted by 2.44 per cent in August. While the ongoing US-China trade war presents an opportunity for Indian textile manufacturers to enhance exports to the US, China too would be looking for new markets for its products. Meanwhile, India is preparing a final list of products on which it may retain import tariffs for China, painfully aware of a huge trade deficit. Such a list is based on its plan of a differential tariff reduction for various nations. Also under consideration is a mechanism to fix an import ceiling, again particularly for China. This is the first time India will fix such a ceiling in any trade deal.

F&F will incorporate Lycra T400 fiber with EcoMade technology into the F&F Contour Jean Range with Lycra Beauty fabric. This will make the range not only F&F’s most popular but also one of the brand’s most sustainable jeans offerings. The F&F Contour Jean with Lycra Beauty fabric was launched three years ago and became F&F’s best-selling jeans range. The high-performance fabric ensured that the product delivered on its promise to comfortably shape the wearer’s curves with no sagging or bagging. Now, with the upgrade to Lycra T400 fiber with EcoMade technology, the jeans will maintain all its previous features and good value-for-money offering while providing customers with a more sustainable option.

Lycra T400 fiber with EcoMade technology is made from a combination of recycled materials, such as PET bottles and renewable plant-based materials. The original Lycra T400 fiber is the building block for the brand’s popular Lycra dualFX technology – a small percentage of this fiber gives the performance-enhancing results. Lycra T400 fiber with EcoMade technology offers the same benefits of lasting comfort, fit and performance as the original, but with the value-added offer of sustainability.

Since introducing Lycra Beauty technology into its jeans, F&F’s denim business has grown by 40 per cent.