Uster offers solutions for removing contamination from nonwovens.

Nonwovens applications such as medical, hygiene and cosmetics demand two non-negotiable rules: zero-tolerance and reliability. Contamination control is the supreme discipline in producing nonwovens for sensitive applications. The Uster contamination sorter masters this essential job with ease and security. It ensures customer satisfaction and a perfect experience for the final consumer – whether the end-product is made of natural or synthetic fibers. Drylaid nonwovens producers operate to the most stringent quality levels – with zero-tolerance standards for defects bigger than 1 mm. In this nonwovens segment, end-product quality depends absolutely on the efficiency of contamination sorting early in the process.

Bales of cotton typically contain various kinds of contamination – none of which should get into the final product, and ideally should be removed at the earliest stage of production.Eliminating contamination during fiber preparation – and before the contaminants are shredded into smaller particles by further processes – improves the quality of the raw material and reduces waste. The Uster Jossi Vision Shield N contamination sorter ensures the best possible detection and removal of contamination.

Conventional camera-based systems cannot match the performance of the top-level spectroscope technology from Uster. These spectroscopes can find contamination even within the invisible range of IR and UV light.

AI-driven business-to-business fashion marketplace Fashinza has appointed Neil Topiwala as its new director in the UK and Pushkar Kumar as its UAE director as the business plans further international expansion.

Following its recent $100 million Series B funding round, Fashinza is focusing on expanding its fashion business into the US, Middle East, Europe, and UK. As part of this plan, Topiwala and Kumar will use their decades of experience in fashion to harness data and cloud-based technology to enable the business to form a more transparent, ethical, and sustainable production and supply chain.

Pushkar and Neil have more than 20 years of experience in the industry and have worked with top brands, retailers, and buying offices, including Inditex, Next, Primark and Landmark. Fashinza expects to be able to make great strides in the US, UK, and European markets with their vast experience and knowledge on both the demand and supply sides and is confident their leadership skills and their extensive experience across different sectors will help Fashinza scale in both demand and supply by bringing in more enterprise clients from the international markets.Fashinzais looking forward to scaling its international business to new heights with the duo of Neil and Pushkar.

Prym, a German apparel manufacturer, is reputed for producing accessories for the global lingerie industry.

Prym Fashion has launched eco-friendly snaps. The snaps, available in EcoWhite or EcoGreen, offer earth-friendly solutions for sportswear, outdoor performance apparel and children’s and babies’ wear manufacturers. The EcoWhite snaps are made from recycled water bottles. The EcoGreen snap is green in color but also green because it is sourced from plant materials, such as potato starch. As a result, this snap is both biodegradable and recyclable. An EcoBlue snap is on the horizon, which will source recycled ocean plastic for production.

The fashion industry is well-known for wasteful practices in manufacturing, including excessive water consumption and chemical run-off. As brands and retailers in the textile industry continue to raise their sustainability goals, details like trim will become increasingly important. Prym Fashion is committed to making snaps that make a difference.

Prym is a company with a rich legacy of close to 500 years, including over two decades in Sri Lanka. Despite the current economic crisis in Sri Lanka, the island has been an ideal destination for the apparel manufacturer. Prym will continue to expand its presence in the country by investing in more machinery and training the local teams to increase their production capacity.

Techtextil will be held in Mumbai, India in September 12 to 14, 2023.

A series of live sessions will spark debates on important industry topics and high-growth application areas. This is the leading business event for the Indian technical textile industry and aims at connecting international and domestic players with buyers from various segments under diverse application areas and creating a one-stop sourcing platform to highlight latest product innovations in technical textiles.

Leading Indian players such as Alok Master batches, Khosla Profil, Park Nonwoven, Sarex Chemicals, Suntech Geo, Weavetech will showcase innovations in high-growth application areas of Geotech, Packtech, Agrotech and Indutech with a focus on products such as specialty fibers, filtration fabrics, functional textiles and advance technology.

Mobiltech, Indutech, Meditech, Packtech and Sportech constitute a major share value in the global market for technical textiles. Major players in the Indian market are Oekotech, Protech, Mobiltech, Geotech, Indutech, Agrotech, Buildtech and Packtech. The technical textile sector’s growth is being accelerated. Theaim is to place India as one of the leaders in the global technical textile market.Key applications of this sector are in areas like agriculture, roads and railways, water resources, hygiene and healthcare, and personal protection. Strong efforts are being made to encourage the use and adoption of technical textiles.

C.L.A.S.S. (Creativity Lifestyle And Sustainable Synergy) will be present at Filo, September 14 to 15, 2022, Italy.

Filo is a yarn and fiber show. C.L.A.S.S. will present its expertise in smart materials, processes, measurements, as well as marketing activities and nextgeneration communication. The aim is to give voice and activate real values and paths of responsible innovation. C.L.A.S.S. will present smart materials and tell its story by introducing its services to support companies on their sustainable journey, from responsible innovation to smart materials, from processes, certifications and measurements to marketing and communication activities.

Since 2007 C.L.A.S.S. has been advocating for a new generation of fashion where the fusion of design, innovation, communication and responsibility shapes an informed and competitive business, able to play both at an economic and social level. Class supports the whole supply chain to trigger change in the system while activating values that speak clearly to contemporary consumers.

At the Filo fair, C.L.A.S.S. will weave new sustainable paths against green washing and activate change. Filo invited the international platform as an ambassador and agent of change to share new sustainability values and its vision for an all-round responsible textile sector. Filo is dedicated to the fashion world’s key ingredients of creativity and also sustainability.

With a massive 84 per cent contribution to total exports earnings of Bangladesh, the readymade garment (RMG) sector witnessed depreciation in the just-ended fiscal year (FY) 2021-22. As per a Textile Today report, Bangladesh’s RMG exports totaled $42.61 million in FY 2021-22 while import of textile and apparel raw materials was worth $19.43 billion. Net exports therefore, stood at $23.22 billion during the year, resulting in a drop in value addition to 54.50 per cent. The decline in apparel value addition can be attributed to a rise in global freight charges coupled with high prices of other raw materials, says Faruque Hassan, President, BGMEA.

Rise in FoB value triggers decline

As per Shovon Islam, Director, BGMEA and Managing Director, Sparrow Group, the drop can also be attributed to a rise in volume of apparel exports and improvement in export freight on board (FoB) value per garment. In fact, increase in FoB value per garment exports has not led to an increase in percentage of value-addition in them, he explains.

The increase in cost is being borne by manufacturers while buyers are paying for the increased cost per garment’s FoB value. The 10 to 15 per cent cost increase in the $42.61 billion RMG exports earning is eating up $4 to $6 billion from exporters’ earnings resulting in net RMG export earnings falling to $38 billion.

Manufacturers’ resilience boosts exports

Since the last 5-6 years, Bangladesh’s apparel exports grew 10 to 15 per cent even after adjusting raw material import cost. Overall, RMG shipments have reached pre-COVID growth levels. This growth is a result of the resilience shown by apparel entrepreneurs. Normally, for manufacturers, imported raw materials make up 60 per cent of the cost, to which they add 40 per cent value. However, with an increase in raw material costs, value addition has dropped, Islam explains.

Consumers shift to MMF

Another important reason for a decline in value addition by Bangladesh manufacturers is the overall change in fashion choices among global consumers. Consumers no longer prefer plain cotton-made garments. Instead, they opt for cotton blends – like Lycra, poly-based knit fabric among others. And since these fabrics are not produced domestically, Bangladesh manufacturers need to import them at a high price, leading to a drop in value addition, Islam sums up.

Munich Fabric Start was held August 30, 2022, to September 1, 2022.

The positive, motivated and ambitious mood of the trade show with inspiring new products, innovative contents and future-oriented themes was transferred to the industry: More than ever, especially in addition to intensive discussions, especially about raw material and energy prices, buyers, product managers and designers in Munich showed a desire for something new.

The event confirmed its role as one of the most important European fabric shows and leading business platforms for the fashion and denim industry. Munich Fabric Start not only celebrated the comeback of Munich Fabric Start and the international denim trade show Blue Zone after the formats of the past seasons had been adapted for Covid reasons but also its growth with the biggest event in its history. In total, the approximately 900 exhibitors from 40 countries showed around 1,500 collections on a total exhibition area of 45,000 square meters, around 2,500 square meters more than at the last pre-Covid edition in September 2019.

Visitors number lower than pre-covid, but quality convinces exhibitors

Within the general trend in the trade show and event sector, Munich Fabric Start also recorded a corresponding decline in the number of visitors compared to pre-Covid times. With 14,200 visitors, the number was down, which was to be expected considering the continuing travel restrictions and reservations, especially transcontinental, as well as the structural changes to be observed in the fashion industry. Nevertheless, the quality of the buyers, designers and product managers present was convincing, which was also confirmed by the exhibitors. Mostly companies from Germany, Austria and Switzerland came to Munich. The Netherlands remained an important visitor group with companies such as Calvin Klein, Claudia Sträter, Expresso Fashion and Scotch & Soda. Also strongly represented with their teams were the Scandinavian region with visitors such as the Bestseller Group as well as brands from France and Italy, including Calzedonia, Diesel, Giorgio Armani or Lacoste.

Design Studios 60 and The Source hailed as unique Show-in-Show concepts

The organisers further expanded their successful show-in-show concept. In the Design Studios 60 leading international fabric designers, print and pattern developers came together. Keyhouse and Catalyser brought together technological, sustainable and aesthetic innovation drivers at the intersection of fashion and denim. The completely new format The Source was fully booked at its premiere with around 65 exhibitors and provided answers to the increasing demand for manufacturing and nearshoring.

In Germany, Europe‘s most price-sensitive market, almost every discussion at the show was about finding approaches to maintaining price points on the one hand and not sacrificing quality on the other – a balancing act in times of rising energy prices.

Innovations in all areas

Visitors encountered innovations in all areas of Munich Fabric Start and across all steps of the value chain. Many innovative raw materials were on show that were either recycled, recyclable or biodegradable – for example, from Wastea, Piñatex and Incalpaca. The many examples of highly efficient innovations to be discovered ranged from waterless dyeing to oxygen-based finishing to AI-driven processes as seen at Muze, Wiser and Tejidos Royos. In addition, fully digital dressing and design options played an increasingly important role.

Autumn Fair is being held in the UK, September 4 to 7, 2022. Spring and Autumn Fair are the UK’s most vibrant marketplaces for wholesale home, gift, fashion, and sourcing.

As the definitive shop for shops, they support the retail industry like no other.This is a wholesale marketplace for home, gift, fashion and sourcing, visited by retailers to source new products from hundreds of exhibitors as well as enjoy a host of insightful and educational talks and inspirational catwalk shows.

Visitors are delighted to discover exciting new brands and products. It offers the ultimate platform for retailers to discover, network, re-connect with peers, be inspired, and source their next best sellers for the golden quarter and latest seasonal and Christmas designs. Feedback from exhibitors highlighted the volume of quality orders being placed.

New features, educational and inspiring content being offered

Making the journey towards new discoveries even easier, a host of new features are offering curated product inspiration and creating a visual and interactive space for visitors to make their sustainability pledges. Visitors learn more about Autumn Fair’s three Power of One pledges to make positive changes towards better sustainability and well-being.

As part of its ongoing strategy to deliver educational and inspiring content, the Inspiring Retail Stage presented a host of talks on sustainability.Delighted by the volume and quality of visitors, many exhibitors commented on how busy the first day was. The new jewelry and watch space attracted huge interest.Retailers love the comprehensive menswear jewelry collection and the concept of endless switching with women’s rings and jewelry. A wide variety of international brands are exhibiting.

‘’Facing the Future: The Benefits of Sustainable Retail’’ explored the benefits of sustainable retail and how sustainability is impactful across every aspect from business, from own practices to suppliers and beyond. The session took the audience through tools businesses large and small can implement practices that prioritise sustainability, from mapping out high-risk areas in supply chains, whether it be waste, emissions or human rights issues, to opening peer-to-peer conversations and conversations with consumers for optimum transparency. The talk highlighted the importance of communication through all pillars of the sustainable journey, from visibility in the supply chain, introspective reviews of business policies, and how these expectations are embedded through suppliers and partners before being portrayed to consumers.

‘’Sourcing Ethical Suppliers that are right for your Business’’discussed the journey of sourcing ethical manufacturers and suppliers, from choosing the right one for one’s business, building relationships, and managing expectations. ‘’What is the Future for Sustainable Retail?’’ discussed the future of sustainability, unlocking the value of waste, embracing ESG values and the new definitions of retailing.

The place to be to touch, feel, and experience

Located in the center of the UK, Spring and Autumn Fair is easily accessible for UK and international retailers (be it independent, multiple, or online, designers, contractors, and suppliers) to meet every February and September. This is the place to be to touch, feel, and experience what's new and innovative across the home, gift, and fashion retail industry. It can be described as a treasure trove of new ideas and new trends waiting to be discovered and displayed in a shop, showroom or e-commerce site.

Banana fiber, hemp, bamboo, and coconut fiber are among the natural products that are finding wider use by garment manufacturers in Tirupur.

Black Bull Apparel plans to launch shortly-naturally dyed garments for infants.The company also plans to explore natural dyes sourced from suppliers for T-shirts.

With international buyers and brands pushing for sustainability in production processes and the end product, hosiery makers in the knitwear town are experimenting with different natural products for fibers, colors, and even printing. There are several smaller apparel and fashion brands in the international market that are promoting sustainability. Customers of these brands do not mind spending a little more and it is these brands that are looking for suppliers of naturally dyed garments. While this is an emerging trend that is encouraging many manufacturers in Tirupur to explore different natural sources for dyes, they face challenges while trying to produce such dyes in bulk and in getting more color shades.The production cost goes up three times when natural dyes, chemicals, and processes are used.

While cotton is a natural fiber used to make apparels, disposal of garments is a problem because of the dyes and chemicals used. So there is a big demand for natural dyes, even in domestic garment brands.

Stretch denim continues evolving and improving its performance in terms of comfort and coolness.

Isko Reform fabrics is a series of stretch denims offering from 20 per cent elasticity, for regular daily activities, up to 100 per cent elasticity levels, through a special denim supporting the wearer when engaged in heavy physical activity. Orta and The Lycra Company have a new collaborative collection of denims, Orta’s Thunderbird fabrics that hug one’s shape without pressure and keep their comfort despite one’s size and shape change.

These denims have a sleek compact crosshatch and open appearance added with 80 per cent elasticity that morphs to the shape of their wearer. They are made with Lycra Adaptiv, a fiber that hugs one’s shape without pressure. They are comfortable, easy to wear and holding one’s shape without providing any rigid tight feeling.

As these denims can be worn for longer, they adapt to one’s changing shape and size, an important aspect these days where if an average garment stays in use three times longer than today its carbon footwear is reduced by 65 per cent and its water use by 66 per cent. Only 19 per cent of clothing is disposed of because it is damaged, stained or worn out.