Spinnova and Bestseller have launched Jack & Jones trousers that are made of 20 per cent Spinnova fiber, 20 per cent BCI cotton and 60 per cent organic cotton.

Spinnova is a material innovation company based in Finland. Bestseller is a Danish fashion group which owns Jack & Jones.

The new fiber created by Spinnova is made from wood with no harsh chemicals involved in the process. The technology guarantees close to zero water use and minimal CO2 emissions while ensuring a natural touch and feel.

This is the first Jack & Jones product made with Spinnova fiber. Bestseller operates in 70 markets with over 20 individual brands. Jack & Jones believes in a better way of making clothes and pushes itself to innovate and explore processes and materials with a lower impact on the environment.

In Spinnova, the brand found a strong and ideal partner to work with. Bestseller’s aim is to change the fashion industry for the better and so is an early adopter of Spinnova’s revolutionary material. Spinnova is now working toward industrial-scale production of a million tonnes of sustainable fibers annually. Its strategy includes commercial scale-up and the involvement of multiple brand owners who are committed to the long term.

The global intimate wear market is growing by eight per cent a year. Rise in awareness regarding hygiene, fluctuation in demographic dividends, and customization of product portfolios are boosting the growth of intimate wear market. New measurement and design techniques combined with production methods and innovative materials are transforming the quality, range, and applications of intimate wear.

For instance, lingerie designs show a new trend toward muted colors such as earthy tones, navy blue, and pastel colors. Lingerie designers are coming up with many new designs that are embroidered and have two-tone color patterns, and most of them asymmetrical. Animal prints and organic shapes combined with geometrical patterns are also in fashion.

Luxurious, elegant, desirable, and evocative vintage lingerie is also gaining popularity in both the fashion markets and modern intimate apparel. Asia-Pacific is leading the intimate wear market, followed by North America. Growth in the region is supplemented by an increase in national per capita disposable income and growth in fashion consciousness among the young generation.

The fabric used to manufacture intimate wear is also enhanced and made more comfortable, thus offering promising opportunities for intimate wear market players.Intimate apparel is sold through different channels such as mass merchandizers, mono brand stores, specialized stores, and others.

C&A’s denim plant in Germany has technologies specialized for sustainable production.

The facility is powered by 100 percent renewable electricity from on-site solar and a wind farm and about 50 percent of the water used is recycled. Finishing machines are equipped with modern systems to reduce the consumption of water and chemicals by up to 80 percent compared to conventional finishing. The aim is to create a more digital and sustainable textile production and supply chain.

Completed in September 2021, the facility initially hired and trained about 100 employees for the sewing and laundry departments and has produced six styles for C&A’s Forever Denim Collection. Production is ramping up starting with 4,00,000 jeans per year and could expand to 8,00,000.C&A is working to clean up its denim business and help others in their own sustainable evolution.

The company open-sourced its Cradle to Cradle (C2C) certified jeans guidance to support others in the industry. In 2020, the company introduced the first-ever Platinum level C2C certified denim apparel made in partnership with long-term supplier Rajby Textiles. Called Beluga Denim, the organic cotton fabric is made with 100 percent renewable resources and is fully traceable. The fabric manufacturing process is 100 percent carbon neutral and the water used to make it kept in a closed loop system.

Indonesia is facing tough challenges in textile exports. Around 43,000 textile industry employees have been laid off since the Covid pandemic emerged.

Apart from the phenomenon of layoffs in the domestic textile industry there is the impact of the weakening global textile market. Countries such as the United States and the European region are experiencing a slowdown in the economy so that demand for imports has also experienced a fairly deep decline.

Domestically, the performance of the textile sector has also begun to slow down. Apart from the result of the unstable purchasing power of the people, it is also due to the flood of imported products into the domestic market.This has had an impact on textile industry production. There has been a reduction in employee working hours from seven days a week to five working days.

Estimates are that the performance of Indonesia’s textile industry in 2023 will be weak until the fourth quarter of that year.The easing of inflation in export destination countries will also determine the fate of the Indonesian textile industry. Hopes are that policies can prevent the import of illegal textile products, including applying trade remedies or protecting domestic industries from the losses of unhealthy trade practices. The industry also hopes there will be facilities related to restructuring policies for textile players who are facing financial problems.

For the third quarter Columbia Sportwear’s net sales increased 19 per cent. The increase in sales reflected earlier shipments of higher fall 2022 wholesale orders and direct-to-consumer growth. Revenues increased by 15 per cent for the first nine months of the year. However, net income decreased by six per cent for the year-to-date period.Inventories increased by 47 percent, indicating purchase of more goods than sold.Third quarter net sales and earnings growth reflect a broad momentum across the

American brand’s business and the power of its collective brand portfolio.Net sales growth was led by the Sorel and Columbia brands, which increased 28 per cent and 19 per cent respectively. The company has growth strategies in place and will be investing in strategic priorities to create iconic products, amplify marketplace excellence with digitally-led and omnichannel global distribution, and accelerate growth.Going ahead, the company expects fiscal 2023 net sales to be between ten per cent to 12 per cent compared to that in 2021.Based on a strong third quarter performance, the company is reiterating its full-year net sales and diluted earnings per share financial outlook and has planned iconic and innovative products such as the expanded Omni-Heat Infinity collection and the new disruptive poly fleece innovation called Omni-Heat Helix.

West African country Benin is developing its textile sector. Benin has in the last few years become Africa’s leading cotton producer. It exports almost all of that raw, with the majority going to Bangladesh.

Now an initiative is under way to create jobs and revenue by processing the cotton locally with the goal of exporting apparel to consumer markets in Europe, Asia, Africa and the United States. So Benin has decided to no longer sell cotton raw but to transform this cotton, in particular by installing integrated textile factories.

The plan includes textile factories as well as cashew processing units, pharmaceutical processing units, and more. Although the systems are not yet in place to get cotton from field to factory, about 1,000 garment workers are being trained in the use of imported materials for now.In about a year the industrial zone in the southwest of the country aims at employing 15,000 people in three textile factories that will have a processing capacity of about 40,000 tonnes of cotton fiber. Eventually, a multi-billion dollar industry is envisaged that can process the majority of Benin’s cotton.

Cotton is grown in several West African countries including Mali, Togo, Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast, but most is exported raw with little industrial processing across the region.

The IAF World Fashion Convention will be held in Dhaka, Bangladesh, November 14, 2022.

Held during Made in Bangladesh event, organized by BGMEA, it will focus on finding solutions to a set of imminent challenges for Bangladesh’s industry, including supply chain collaboration and purchasing practices, climate action, education and digitalisation and raw material recycling and availability.Buyers pay lower prices to apparel suppliers in Bangladesh than they do to some of the country’s competitors.

The International Apparel Federation (IAF) is the only global federation of its kind representing apparel associations from 60 countries, representing over 1,50,000 companies. The IAF convention caters to apparel industry leaders from across the supply chain, from all continents.

In a world where prices cannot drop much lower, boats cannot go much faster and people cannot work much harder, improvements are made only when the business is made smarter. This means smart supply chain collaboration, smart new machines, smart materials and above all, smart people.

On top of that, the convention will provide an excellent opportunity to meet the global industry in one location. The convention will show many inspiring examples of a smarter apparel supply chain. Top speakers from across the globe will cover the width of the supply chain, from raw materials to apparel sourcing and from production to retail trends.

Walmart and Ikea face losses in India despite a surge in sales.

Walmart India – which owns and operates 28 cash and carry wholesale stores – posted a six per cent jump in revenue in fiscal year 2022 while net loss went up by 49 per cent compared to the year ago. Three of Walmart entities in the country, Flipkart Internet, Myntra and Walmart India, all expanded losses by almost 50 per cent largely due to higher spending on delivering orders, advertisement and promotions, while their revenues grew by up to 45 per cent.

Ikea India’s net loss too went up by 12 per cent while revenue jumped by 77 per cent. Furniture and home décor store Ikea India is working on its plans towards positioning, growth and profitability of the omni-channel business in India.

Nevertheless Walmart and Ikea are currently in a market acquisition mode in India to establish a dominant position and may sacrifice profit in the short term. Also, the market environment has been tough last fiscal due to increased competition despite a bounce back post-Covid.

Tunisia’s exports of textiles and clothing picked up 11 per cent at the end of September 2022 compared to the same period last year.

But the quantities exported dropped 27 per cent compared to the same period of 2021. For the clothing sector, clothing in warp and weft increased 18 per cent in dinars and 12 per cent in tons, during the first nine months of 2022, compared to the same period last year. Knitwear has increased by 34 per cent in dinars and 24 per cent in tons. Analysis by market exports of clothing in warp and weft shows a growth in value and weight on the main markets, namely France (12 per cent in dinars and four per cent in weight), Germany (34 per cent in dinars and 28 per cent in weight) and Italy (21 per cent in dinars and ten per cent in weight). Exports of the textile sector went down 34 per cent in dinars and 50 per cent in tons.In value, textile exports to Italy grew 13 per cent but declined 52 per cent to France.

Tunisia’s imports of textiles and clothing increased 29 per cent until the end of September 2022 compared to the same period of 2021

Turkey’s cultivation area of cotton has increased this year. Cotton cultivation areas are estimated to have increased by 28 percent compared to the previous season. The ginning crop rate is estimated to be 40 percent in the new season.

On the other hand, low cotton purchase prices are not able to meet the demands of producers in the face of increasing costs and this situation may adversely affect producers in cultivation next season. If prices are low in the new season, manufacturers who cannot see a return on their costs may not want to sell the product.The availability of high-priced cotton and high-cost yarns in the stocks of spinners may cause a 12 per cent to 20 percent demand shrinking in the new season. It is expected that producers will see better prices after the new year.

Cotton maintains an important position in the country’s economy by providing raw materials to nearly 30 industries with its main and by-products.It makes a serious contribution to the economy, especially in the production of oil, seed, pulp, gunpowder and textiles. Turkey exports cotton seeds to countries such as Greece, Spain, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan and the demand is increasing every year.