The global women’s wear market is expected to register robust growth by 2020 as fashion is one of the important aspects of women’s wear. There are various channels available where women’s wear can be purchased. These channels include department stores, boutiques, retailers, specialty stores and online. Global women’s wear market can be bifurcated into five categories: clothing, footwear, sportswear, accessories and others.

Europe represents the largest market, closely followed by North America. Asia Pacific is expected to be the fastest growing market for women’s wear. Increasing promotional activity, rising disposable income, increasing consumer confidence and increasing shoppers eagerness to keep up with the latest fashion trends are some of the major driving force for women’s wear market. With the lower effect of economic recession, employment rate and disposable income levels are rising, which allows the consumer to spend more on apparels.

Some major companies operating in the women’s wear market include GAP Inc., H&M, The TJX Companies, Inc, Marks & Spencer Group plc, Benetton Group, Pacific Brands, Etam Development, Fast Retailing Co, Esprit Holdings, Aoyama Trading Co, Mexx Group, Arcadia Group, Next plc and Nordstrom, Inc.

US retail sales fell in December. This is the worst drop in nine years. The value of overall sales fell 1.2 per cent from the prior month. Excluding automobiles and gasoline, retail sales slumped 1.4 per cent. The steep drop however is at odds with figures showing a healthy job market and steady wage gains. The slump also may prove temporary as stocks have regained ground following December’s plunge.

All but two of 13 major retail categories showed a decline, with non-store retailers — which includes online stores — falling 3.9 per cent, the most since November 2008. The broad-based weakening reflected lower sales from clothing stores and gasoline stations. Auto dealers and building materials stores were the only sectors to record increases.

Receipts at health and personal care stores fell two per cent, the most since October 2016. Sales at sporting goods, hobby, musical instrument and book stores tumbled 4.9 per cent, the biggest drop since September 2008.

The prolonged trade dispute between the United States and China is affecting the US cotton market. With the cost of inputs rising, excess supply compared to demand, US cotton farmers are starting to think about alternate strategies. A solution to the dispute is in the interest of agribusiness, particularly cotton, as China is a major importer of US cotton.

With the expectation that there will be increased cotton acreage in the United States in 2019, the supply-demand situation is going to play a pivotal role in the cotton sector this year. The trade issue with China primarily centers around intellectual property rights that has been going on for over two decades, and therefore finding a resolution is complicated.

If the ongoing trade war is not resolved soon, mills in China could move away from US cotton permanently and toward Brazilian or West African cotton. The US cotton industry enjoyed a 46 per cent share of all imports going into China. But that changed when China issued a 25 per cent tariff on US cotton in retaliation for tariffs placed on Chinese goods by the US.

However, China is still seen as a key market for US cotton and the US will promote the benefits of its cotton. Chinese mills like US cotton for its quality, its consistency and its low contamination.

The minister for textiles, Smriti Irani, announced a new project with the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) in Chennai to create India-specific fashion trend forecasting. The project will use Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning techniques to forecast fashion trends specifically for the Indian fashion market. While before international agencies would dominate the market and merely adapt their Western trend forecasts for the Indian market, this project aims to start with India to forecast more accurately.

The project also aims to account for the diversity in trends within India itself. NIFT students will work with local artisans to understand trends as well as with technology. The project is an attempt to consolidate indigenous data.

Shima Seiki’s Mach 2 S whole garment knitting machine offers the flexibility of producing whole garment knitwear using every other needle as well as conventional shaped knitwear using all needles. This feature helps users invest in their technology wisely.

The latest version of Shima Seiki’s 3D design system SDS-ONE Apex3 is at the core of the company’s Total Fashion System concept. Apex3 is designed to provide comprehensive support throughout the product supply chain, integrating production into one smooth and efficient workflow from yarn development, product planning and design to production and even sales promotion. With comprehensive support of the knit supply chain, Apex3 integrates every stage from planning and design to machine programming, production and even sales promotion into one smooth and efficient workflow. Photorealistic simulation capability allows virtual sampling to minimise the need for actual sample-making, reducing time, material and cost while increasing presentation quality in the sampling process.

Apex3 supports design and simulation in a variety of textile including flat knitting, circular knitting, weaving, pile weaving and printing for such industries as towel and home furnishings.

Shima Seiki, based in Japan, is a Japanese computerised flat knitting machine manufacturer. Shima Seiki’s seam-free whole garment knitting technology offers an alternative to labor-intensive manufacturing.

Italian investment bank Mediobanca held its firsts annual ‘Fashion Talk’, presenting the results of a fashion industry study, called Focus Moda, carried out by its research department. The study analysed the 2013-2017 results for 163 Italian fashion companies with annual revenue above €100 million (in the 2017 financial year), and compared the results of the top 15 of them with those of other leading European groups.

The aggregate added value generated by the 163 companies examined was equivalent to 1.3 per cent of Italy's GDP in 2017, an increase of 0.2 per cent compared to 2013. Notably, one third of the companies’ aggregate revenue was generated by 66 foreign-owned firms, chiefly owned by groups from France (26 companies), Switzerland (6), the USA (6) and the UK. Of the 163 companies surveyed, 48 per cent are based in the North of Italy, while the most highly represented market sectors were apparel, leather goods and eyewear.

The top 15 companies in the sample, all of them above the €900 million revenue mark in 2017, recorded higher profitability than the remaining companies, though it decreased slightly over the five-year period. Smaller companies, whose EBIT rose in the period, instead posted an average annual revenue rise that was higher than that of the top 15. It is interesting to note that, in 2013, 77.7 per cent of the sample's net income was generated by the top 15 firms, but the share fell to 56.2 per cent in 2017.

Japanese retailers are making headway in China. They include brands such as Casio Computer and Uniqlo. They are combining their physical presence with strong digital sales. Asics, known for its running shoes, has a large network of stores in eastern China, and to a lesser degree the central and northeast portions of the huge nation. Its sales are down two per cent in the United States and flat in Europe. They're up four per cent in Japan but advancing 40 per cent in China, thanks to strong demand for its Onitsuka Tiger brand of fashion sneakers.

Makeup brand Shiseido has a more even split between northeastern, eastern and central China. Its sales are up over 20 percent in China, driving record company-wide sales and record operating profits last calendar year. Casio sells its namesake watches and all manner of other electronic consumer goods.

Sony and Canon could follow in the footsteps of Casio, all three with a large network of Chinese stores. Japanese retailers are doing a better job than their US rivals in selling to the Chinese. China’s economy is increasingly driven by domestic consumption and consumer spending. Retail sales for China’s 1.4 billion population grew at nine per cent last year.

In early February, apparel retailer H&M revealed its plans to close 160 stores internationally and renegotiate 1,000 store contracts. H&M will need to reposition itself in the competitive apparel market. It can, however, use a similar approach to its Spanish rival Inditex, which has an adaptable and fast supply chain, reducing the need for heavy discounting. Forecasts suggest growth will continue to slow, meaning H&M is unlikely to be helped by market conditions and will, therefore, need to produce a market leading strategy to take on its rivals.

H&M has been struggling to compete against the growth of online e-commerce giants like Amazon, Asos and Boohoo that offer free shipping and returns. Meanwhile, budget chains such as Primark compete strongly on price. At the higher end, retailers such as Inditex have performed exceptionally well, and the company has managed to ramp-up its online sales.

More exhibitors, latest technologies, knowledge sharing sessions, larger area, global visitors will mark the third edition of ITMACH India 2019, from December 5-8, 2019. The third edition of ITMACH India will be held from December 5-8, 2019, in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, an most important hub for textile manufacturing in the country. This edition of ITMACH India will be important for the textile industry, especially in the Asian region, being the first large scale show in India, just about six months after ITMA 2019, in Barcelona.

Over 500 exhibitors are expected to attend the event who will display latest technologies. A number of important players in the textile engineering industry have already signed up as exhibitors. An added attraction at ITMACH India this time is a series of conferences, which will have renowned international speakers, and will attract a global audience. Indian Textile Sourcing (ITS) Exhibition 2019 will be held concurrently to ITMACH India 2019.

Pakistan’s share in the European Union’s imports increased by 0.5 per cent in both knitted and woven categories over 2013-2017. That means GSP Plus status, valid till 2023, hasn’t helped much. However, over the same time the share of Bangladesh, Cambodia and Vietnam increased six per cent, two per cent and 1.1 per cent respectively.

The main challenges facing Pakistan's textile sector are lack of product and market diversification, low value addition and low export competitiveness. Among the measures contemplated are focusing on the domestic supply chain, adoption of latest technology, making access to industrial raw materials easy and affordable and capacity building. One essential area is making access to credit convenient and easy, especially for the small and medium sector, and introducing policies to make the system of acquiring bank credit simple and friendly and doing away with complex procedures.

Pakistan’s textile sector plays a vital role in the country’s economy with 8.5 per cent share in GDP, a 40 per cent share in the industrial workforce, a 25 per cent share in industrial value addition and a 21 per cent share in large scale manufacturing. Pakistan’s share in the global garment market is 1.1 per cent.