South Korea-based chemical company Hyosung TNC plans to commercialize the world’s first bio-based spandex. Known as ‘Creora bio-based’, the spandex was derived using a natural material extracted from corn instead of coal, and obtained a global eco-friendly certification.

The ‘Creora bio-based’ spandex uses a corn-derived substance that obtained an eco-friendly certificate from the US Department of Agriculture, replacing a part of coal-extracted raw materials. The corn-derived substance has long been used for general fibres, wrapping papers, cosmetics, and liquid detergents, but not for high-functional textiles, such as spandex, as it is impossible to deliver unique elasticity and resilience due to technological limitations.

Hyosung TNC will initially start production of the bio-based spandex at its production bases in South Korea including facilities in Gumi, and then increase its production through global production bases, such as those in Vietnam.

In addition, it aims to continuously increase the use of natural raw materials for its products through collaboration with global fashion brands.

Direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands in the fashion and accessories segment have shown maximum growth in the last two years, as per a report by Apparel Resources.

The fashion and accessories’ segment grew by 89.5 per cent Y-o-Y in FY’22 on brand websites compared with 52.2 per cent growth the year before.

The health and pharmaceutical segment reported order volume growth of 84.8 per cent on brand websites, alongside its muted growth of 9.2 per cent on marketplaces.

This leads to a strong growth of brand websites as consumers prefer to order directly from the brand.

The FMCG and agriculture segment witnessed a Y-o-Y growth of 67.7 per cent on brand websites in FY ’22, while marketplaces grew by 50.6 per cent.

The report further said brands across segments are building a strong online presence with focus on selling directly to consumers, and companies have realised it is important to invest in strong brand website operations to develop a connection with consumers.

A delegation of Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturers and Exporters Association (PHMA) has requested Finance Minister Miftah Ismail to lift the ban on import of textile machinery and equipment to increase the production capacity of the region and incre

Restrictions imposed by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) are impacting the hosiery exports from the country, according to WealthPK Report.

The SBP has imposed sanctions to strengthen the national economy to reduce the import bill and reduce the gap between the country’s exports and imports. ase exports.

The Foreign Exchange Operations Department (FEOD) of SBP has banned the import of all types of industrial machinery. Prior permission is required for import of such machinery and other related items. The restrictions have hit the industry as it regularly imports textile machinery and equipment.

Exporters of hosiery products said that they were inconvenienced a lot by taking prior permission for import of machinery as they failed to fulfill their commitments with respect to export orders on time.

Mian Kashif Zia, President, PHMA says, exports act as a lifeline to earn valuable foreign exchange, especially in the current scenario as Pakistan was facing unprecedented challenges and had a massive deficit of $17.4 billion. He urged the government to resolve the issues by easing the restrictions imposed on the import of machinery.

Chennai-based menswear and boyswear clothing firm Indian Terrain Fashion (ITFL) plans to double the number of its exclusive stores to 400 by FY ’25.

Charath Narsimhan, Managing Director and CEO, the brand plans to increase the number of EBOs to 400, most of which will be in Tier-II and Tier-III cities.”

Around 60 per cent of the new stores would be franchise-owned while the rest will be company-owned, he adds. The company also aims to explore the possibility of entering girl’s clothing segment.

During FY ’22, ITFL had posted revenues of Rs. 336 crore against Rs 213 crore in the previous fiscal year and now aims to clock a turnover of Rs. 500 crore by 2025.

Vidyuth Venkatesh Rajagopal JMD, ITFL, says, this would achieved by rapidly expanding the reach of boyswear segment, brand building and brand positioning with new apparel offerings, increasing footprint across small towns, cities and geographies in India and enhancing and improving retail and online presence, amongst others.

High cotton prices, Russia-Ukraine war and dwindling demand from the apparel industry have hit the Indian spinning industry hard with many cotton yarn mills across the country planning to cease production.

Already, many mills have stopped working for two days in a week. Additionally, many mills have discontinued their second shifts also in the remaining five days.

Tamilnadu Spinning Mills Association (TASMA) has also sent an advisory to its members to stop production. All member mills of the association are voicing their concerns over the recent losses due to dwindling demand amid rising cotton prices and poor marketing of yarn.

However, many mills continue to run their mills as usual, even with high losses.

Besides Tamil Nadu, spinners in Gujarat are also facing the hit.

The industry has been repeatedly representing the Government to completely withdraw the import duty on cotton imports or at least to extend the withdrawal up to 31 March 2023, but the exemption is available only up to 31 October 2022.

Cambodia’s National Council on Minimum Wage plans to increase the monthly minimum wage for the garment, footwear and travel goods industry for next year. The council recently invited representatives of employers and employees to propose their respective figures for the negotiations as they require more internal discussions.

Presenting key statistical updates on socio-economic criteria to form the basis for the 2023 minimum wage talks, the council also received inputs like current inflation, competition and market situation from the representatives of employers and employees.

The monthly minimum wage for the sector was increased from $192 in 2021 to $194 in 2022. However, workers were not granted fringe benefits like a transport and housing allowance of $7 and a regular attendance bonus of $10 per month.

The next meetings will be held on August 24 and 31 and September 7, 14, 22 and 23 at the ministry of labor and vocational training.

The imports value of US textile and apparelsincreased by 28.1 per cent Y-o-Y to $11.45 billion in June. The imports volume increased by 18.2 per cent Y-o-Y to 10.65 billion sq m. US apparel imports value in June 2022 rose sharply by 40.3 per cent Y-o-Y to 8.64 billion and the imports volume increased by 18.9 per cent Y-o-Y to 2.76 billion sq m.

The US textile and apparel imports volume from China declined by 11 per cent Y-o-Y to 3.25 billion sq m in June 2022. The imports value reached $2.95billion increasing by 15.8 per cent Y-o-Y. US apparel imports value from China in June 2022 rose by 32.9 per cent Y-o-Y to $1.98 billion, and the imports volume reached 1.04 billion sq m, up by 12.5 per cent year-on-year. Compared with 2019, the total imports value from China decreased by 11.5 per cent, and the reduce rate saw a seasonal decrease.

Over the past 5 years, China's share in US textile and apparel imports was on the decline. And it stayed at 25.8 per cent by June 2022.

Around 544 medium and small garment units have invested Rs 745 crore in the state besides adding about 64,000 jobs over the past three years, owing to the state’s favorable garment policy, says Shankar PatilMunenakoppa, Handloom & Textile Minister. Launched in 2019, the policy will be in force for two more years.

Mega projects under the policy attracted another Rs 1,060 crore investments, creating about 17,300 jobs. The garment policy 2019-24 aims at attracting investment of up to Rs 10,000 crore and adding about 5 lakh jobs, adds Munenakoppa.

Known as the garment capital of India, Karnataka provides a fifth of the clothes manufactured in India. Karnataka plays a major role in exporting raw materials. Karnataka contributes 49 per cent of mulberry silk production, 12 per cent of wool production and 6 per cent of cotton production.

In addition to products made 98 per cent in Bangladesh, China plans to grant 1 per cent more products’ Made in Bangladesh duty-free facility in in the Chinese market.

Noor MdMahbubulHaq, Additional Secretary to the Commerce Ministry (FTA), claims, apparels, jute and jute products, leather and leather goods, frozen fish, agri products and light engineering items are already enjoying duty-free access in the Chinese market while adding now with the facility further expanded by 1 per cent, Bangladesh needs to assess whether it has new products to get the benefits from the tariff line.

It may be mentioned here China had been providing 97 per cent duty-free facility to 8,256 Bangladeshi products including all apparel products, since 1 July 2021. The facility was expanded to 98 per cent later by adding another 383 new products including leather items to the list.

With the theme ‘Far Furore’, the upcoming edition of Munich Fabric Start is set to be bigger than ever, says Sebastian Klinder, Managing Director, Munich Fabric Start. To be held on August 30 and September 1, 2022, the exhibition will feature 1,500 collections from 900 exhibitors spread across 45,000 sq mt space. This year’s Munich Fabric Start will comprise eight zones: Fabrics and Additionals with international material innovations for all apparel segments; ReSource and innovation novelties for sustainable innovations; Design Studios with fabric designs and new print developments on an enlarged area; the Keyhouse innovation hub, Bluezone denim powerhouse; The Source, a new sourcing area for international vertical integration.

The Source Segment

A one stop solution for holistic fashion in Europe The Source area will present 65 international manufacturers of cut-make-trim to high-end garments. The area will attract participants from countries Portugal, Turkey, Morocco, Tunisia, Bosnia and Vietnam among others. Hosted in new Hall 8 with around 2,500 sq. mt. additional space, the unique new venue will offer flexible sourcing services and rethought value chains.

ReSource to offer certified recycled fabris

ReSource, the sourcing platform for sustainable material developments will offer bio-certified, bio-based, recycled, recyclable or regeneratively sourced fabrics and ingredients and continues to gain in importance.

A new area in Atrium 3

Atrium 3 of the exhibition venue will house a completely new area the Design Studios. Housing around 40 studios, the area will feature well-known exhibitors lie: Buntastic, Eleonora Clerici, Fusion CPH, Le Studio Copenhagen, LETI, Musticstsyle or Zisser Textile Design, who have been presenting in Munich for many years. For the first time, the Create collective will be represented with its 27 creative studios enlivening the print segment of the trade fair.

Keyhouse to feature trendsetting showcases

An innovation hub for the fashion of tomorrow information and interaction, the 1,000 sq. mt. Keyhouse area will feature trendsetting show cases alongside sustainable innovations – be it on sustainability, digitalization, traceability, technology or finishing. The area will host the main lecture forum of Munich Fabric Start with exclusive keynotes panel discussions, trend presentations, Q&A sessions and expert talks by international industry insiders.

Bluezone: Denim Powerhouse

The Bluezone are will be held at Hall 6&7 on August 30 and 31. A global key event for the denim industry featuring around 100 international denim mills, weavers, manufacturers and finishing companies under the motto ‘Campus’, Bluezone area will showcase caps, socks, bags and bottles and FloydTravel Cases.

At the entrance of Bluezone, Wiser Tech will present an automated high-tech machine park to revolutionize denim finishing. Titled ‘The Italian Luster’, the new project will depict a fully integrated value chain of Italian denim production. The participating companies include: ACM Trims, Berto Industria Tessile, the Elleti Group, Fashion Art and Olimpias.

Talks on sustainability

Bluezone and Transformers Foundation will organize a series of lectures on the core topic of sustainability on both days. On August 30, a lecture on energy and decarbonization will be held and the next day, a review and exchange of Transformer Reports on Unethical Behaviour and Cotton will be presented.