Istanbul Fashion Connection will take place in Turkey, February 8 to 11, 2023.

Some 25,000 visitors from 100 nations are expected, from all sales channels, from department stores and boutiques to online platforms, from eastern Europe, the central Asian markets and the Arabian Gulf region, alongside buyers from Turkey.

The goal of the event is to offer a one-stop shopping solution that shows the creativity of the Turkish fashion scene, enables access to new sales markets and at the same time establishes the connection to potential production partners for supply chain optimization.

The clearly structured fair with over 600 exhibitors in nine halls gives an overview of the new collections in the areas of women’swear, men’swear, children’s wear, denim, shoes, leather and furs. Separate platforms are LinExpo for lingerie and hosiery and FashionIST with a wide range of wedding dresses, evening wear and suits. IFCO Sourcing, a new area, offers the opportunity to find numerous companies for sourcing capacities.

Turkey has long been a global player in the fashion business.The competitive advantages of production in Turkey are short delivery times, high production quality, young and well-trained employees, the possibility of small minimum order quantities and a vertical textile and clothing industry that allows one-stop shopping.

Inditex’s nine-month profit rose by 24 per cent.

Inditex raised prices by five per cent to offset rising costs. The price rises helped offset weakening global demand for clothing.The world’s biggest fashion retailer’s store and online sales rose 19 per cent from a year ago.

Known for its ability to quickly deliver the latest designs to consumers thanks to its flexible sourcing, Inditex has lately been offering more high fashion Zara pieces designed for special occasions.The approach has allowed it to sell higher-priced items and attract shoppers from the luxury segment of the market. Sales increased 11 per cent during the third quarter, a slower pace than in previous months, reflecting a weakening consumer environment. The company’s second quarter sales increased 16 per cent from the same period a year ago.The fashion giant’s sales between the start of November and December 8 increased 12 per cent from a year ago. Sales were positive in all geographic areas. But the company will have to deal with more cost increases over the coming months including pressure from workers for higher salaries.

Inditex is the parent company of brands like Zara, Massimo Dutti, Pull&Bear and Bershka. Zara continues to be the strongest brand in Inditex’s mix.

The operating rate of cotton yarn mills in China has reduced continuously. Chinese cotton yarn mills have still not recovered to normal production due to the loss of spinning and the difficulty of procuring cotton.

With December about to end, it is hard for mills to recover their operating rate to the high level in September. On the other hand, the expectation on the future cotton yarn market turned from pessimistic to slightly optimistic as the relaxation of the epidemic control policy increased the confidence of market participants and ZCE cotton futures were firm.

Downstream fabric mills and traders had few stocks in hand, and the willingness to stock increased obviously compared to previous stages.Price-rising sentiment moved up with the improvement of sales and firm ZCE cotton futures. Offers in some mills rose and the discounts given at previous stage were canceled. But the trading sentiment was still not as good as that in the previous year.

The inventory of cotton yarn mills was not low, and cotton yarn prices were still under control. If the future market sustains, cotton yarn prices may start rising. After all, the overall cotton yarn inventory pressure has relaxed this year in terms of overall stocking volume.

CDP has awarded Lenzing an A rating for leadership in corporate transparency and performance on climate change.

Lenzing is a supplier of sustainably produced specialty fibers. CDP is a global environmental non-profit and is seen as the gold standard of environmental reporting with the richest and most comprehensive dataset on corporate and city action.

Through significant demonstrable action on reducing climate impacts, water security risks and deforestation, Lenzing is leading on corporate environmental ambition, action and transparency worldwide.Wood, the pulp derived from it and water are some of the most important raw materials for the sustainable production of cellulosic fibers from Lenzing and also part of the most important focus areas of Lenzing’s sustainability strategy. Lenzing assumes responsibility by striving for sustainable procurement based on environmental certificates and responsible and efficient use of these valuable resources. Lenzing sources wood and dissolving pulp from sustainably managed forests and plantations and not from ancient, protected or endangered forests.

Lenzing’s biorefinery process ensures that 100 percent of wood constituents are used to produce dissolving wood pulp for fiber production, biorefinery products, and bioenergy. With its Refibra and Eco Cycle technologies, Lenzing offers solutions for transforming the textile and nonwovens industries towards a circular economy.

Bangladesh’s apparel trade share increased in 2021. This is clearly a positive note for Bangladesh’s textile and apparel industry. As the industry is bouncing back with high-hopes despite multifaceted global challenges apparel entrepreneurs have upgraded the technology and product quality as well as capacity. Thus, despite Covid and the Russia-Ukraine conflict brands and buyers keep on placing orders with the readymade garment industry.

Bangladesh wants to elevate its share in the global apparel business to ten per cent by 2025 from the current six per cent. The industry is focusing on diversifying markets and apparel products to swell its growth. In July to November of fiscal year 2022-2023, Bangladesh’s apparel exports to non-traditional markets grew by 24 percent.

Bangladesh is the second-largest exporter of clothing after China. The country is gaining from its favorable sourcing destination with its high reputation in transparency and circularity i.e. sustainable factories, comparatively low labor cost, smooth supply chain while globally leading fashion retailers are trying to down their apparel sourcing from China. Despite China’s strong performance in 2021, China accounted for only 23 per cent of US apparel imports in 2022, much lower than 36 per cent in 2015. Similarly, China’s market shares in the EU, Japanese, and Canadian garment import markets also fell over the same period.

Hohenstein has opened a testing lab in China.

Starting in the first quarter of 2023, the new textile laboratory will supplement the company’s Hong Kong laboratory capacity with testing and on-site inspection services in the hot spots of textile production. The new laboratory will offer suppliers, manufacturers, brands and retailers a wide range of textile testing services.

With more than 40 offices and laboratories, Hohenstein is an international partner for independent testing, certification and applied research around the human-textileenvironment interaction. Through standard or customized testing, and interpretation of the results, Hohenstein solves problems, verifies claims and helps partners bring better, safer products to market – more sustainably. The laboratory locations in Germany, Hong Kong, Bangladesh, India, Hungary, and now Shanghai, offer shortened turnaround and sample transport times.

In some locations, Hohenstein offers sample pick up services from the customer to the lab for testing. The laboratory locations in Germany, Hong Kong, Bangladesh, India, Hungary, and now China offer shortened turnaround and sample transport times. In some locations, Hohenstein offers sample pick up services from the customer to the lab for testing.No matter where the examinations, tests and analyses are carried out, all these laboratories work with state-of-the-art equipment and the same high standards.

Indian footwear and leather exports to Wana (West Asia and North Africa) grew by 20 per cent in the first half of 2022.

In the Wana region, the UAE and Saudi Arabia are the major markets. Indian footwear and leather exports to the UAE grew by 31 per cent during the first half of 2022. Exports to Saudi Arabia grew by 22 per cent. The footwear and leather industry is emerging out of the pandemic slowdown when exports declined by 28 percent. However, there was a significant recovery in the last fiscal with exports registering a growth of 32 per cent overall and the growth trend is continuing this year as well.

India is working toward getting zero duty access through free trade agreements in leather goods, sportswear and footwear. About 7,000 small industries units are connected with the footwear sector which holds great significance to the economy and foreign exchange earnings of the country.Nearly 40 per cent employed in the sector are women and for every 1000 pairs that are produced or sold, 425 jobs are secured.

India is the second largest producer of footwear and leather garments. Practices like zero-waste discharge, salt-free tanning, and occupational health and safety interventionscan increase production and export ten times in the near future.

Burberry has achieved an A score for leadership in climate change from CDP.

CDP is an environmental non-profit. Burberry is one of a small group of organisations to achieve an A rating, with nearly 15,000 companies assessed. Burberry has a longstanding commitment to responsible business, with ambitious targets across its four strategic priorities: product, planet, people and communities.

Most recently, Burberry was one of the first companies globally to receive approval from the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) for its net-zero emissions target. Burberry has a continued commitment to transparency as it works to achieve its ambitious goalsand will continue to push for greater change across the industry and beyond. Environmental transparency is the first vital step towards a net-zero and nature-positive future.

In a year of ever-increasing environmental concerns around the world – from extreme weather to unprecedented losses to nature – the need for transformational, urgent and collaborative change is more critical than ever.CDP’s annual environmental disclosure and scoring process is widely recognised as the gold standard of corporate environmental transparency. A detailed and independent methodology is used by CDP to assess these companies, taking into account publicly-disclosed information, how organisations are tackling environmental risks and demonstration of best practice, such as setting and reporting against meaningful targets.

Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics will take place in China, March 8 to 10, 2023.

The event will predict the upcoming season’s trends and will have four distinct trend stories: Mission Earth, Poetic Sensuality, Alternative Cults, and Energetic Reset. The Trend Forum will display a range of exhibitors’ fabrics that exemplify the four predictive stories.

The story of Mission Earth allows visitors to collectively rediscover the beauty of age-old artisanal crafts, the untamed glory of various flora and fauna, and the wonder of the world’s natural phenomena. Poetic Sensuality captures the rhythmic nature of the human spirit. Visitors can get a feel for luminous satin, luxurious decorative damasks, and sensual sheer voiles, while being dazzled by the majestic effects on show, such as vivianite mineral print, sumptuous monochrome, shadowy floral, and mysterious water colour. Alternative Cults will feature colours that express joy and free-spiritedness, and fabrics that are sustainable and folksy, prints and patterns hatare culturally inspired by influences such as carnival, festive bohemian, kitenge, and truck art. Energetic Reset pairs smart designs with punchy colours, allowing the freeform to take shape, turning the complex simplistic, and converting chaos to cheerfulness.New age materials, such as recycled polyester, lab-grown cotton, and biodegradable fibers, will be in the spotlight.

On-trend samples will be prominently featured and labeled, allowing buyers to source and be inspired by the various materials, textures, patterns, and colours on show, all in one central area.

Shipments of wearables to India are expected to reach 117 million units next year.

Growth is expected to be led by smart watches and on the back of brands trying to crack the offline segment, bringing in new features and form factors. Smart watches and earwear are nowhere close to their final form and there are a multitude of advances that the market can expect in the next year in terms of features and form factors.

There may be a significant shift in focus from just consumer acquisition to retention, and hence innovation both in terms of hardware and insights. There will probably be a spike in demand for the calling functionality in smart watches, along with increased demand among children and the elderly.

India’s wearables market has 61 million users. Some are a combination of a watch and a fitness device; some are smart watches or smart bands separately. Pricing of these products has remained a critical filter for their mass adoption. Since most customers in India are price sensitive, pricing of the wearables would be critical. Also, the rate of growth is expected to fall sharply to 17 per cent on year from a steep 51 per cent in 2022, amid worries of an economic downturn as well as an expected saturation of the high selling audio accessories segment.