The Indian textile industry is showing gradual signs of recovery. Indian garment exporters have begun getting sizeable orders from European and American buyers. China’s exports of apparel to Japan have improved in the last few months.

Retailers hope the festive season to release some of the pent up demand of the last few months. These retailers are increasingly using e-commerce and social media to attract buyers, and are also going to the consumers, as consumers hesitate to move to shopping centres & malls. These positive signals have encouraged Textile Excellence to launch vTexShow, a perfect platform for the industry to negotiate with clients, customers and peers.

Scheduled from September 21-26, 2020, vTexShow will being attended by leading exhibitors including AGS, Archroma, ATE Enterprises, Batliboi, Britacel, Colorjet, Datacolor, Dhanesh Weaving, GCL International, GOTS, Lakshmi Card Clothing, Rabatex, Saurer, Sitaram Spinners, SPGPrints, T4Texultants, Texfab, Texperts, etc. Besides, showcasing latest products, ATE Enterprises will also upgrade its legacy machines. While Archroma will use the platform to showcase its various environment-friendly solutions, and it’s latest anti-microbial finishes to the industry. Dhanesh Weaving will launch some of its most innovative hemp based textiles on the vTex platform. GOTS will ensure that the industry is offered the necessary services even during these times of lockdown.

As per a report by the Kohan Textile Journal, Kenya Bureau of Standards (KBES) has developed a new protocol for importers and dealers of used clothes. Developed in collaboration with the Ministry of Trade, the protocol mandates these importers and dealers to ensure their consignment is subjected to physical examination and certification.

The protocol also mandates used clothes and shoes to be cleaned and fumigated before baling. It directs each consignment to be packed in clear transparent and waterproof material.

Additionally, all importers and dealers need to be registered with KEBS and adhere to the COVID-19 prevention protocols issued by the Ministry of Health. A month ago, President Uhuru Kenyatta had directed Trade and Industrialization Cabinet Secretary, Betty Maina to establish acceptable protocols for lifting the ban on import of second hand clothes and footwear. According to Maina, the directive was aimed at safeguarding the health of Kenyans who regularly purchase second hand clothes. It was also meant to promote the local textile industries in the country during a period that has seen other sectors face challenges.

Women’s Wear Daily (WWD) reports designer Heron Preston has collaborated with LevI’s for a new collection titled ‘Mistakes Are OK.’ The collection features four men’s and four women’s Levi’s Truckers and Levi’s 501s. The collection reworks each style to include ‘conscious aberrations’ like internal pockets designed to face outward, asymmetrical pockets, an upside down coin pocket, mismatched buttons and rivets, incorrectly cut back patches, raw seams, exposed linings and off-register resin prints are other signs of the intentional imperfections.

The aim is to encourage customers embrace their mistakes as they make things cool and interesting. It also includes Preston’s signature orange tags and Levi’s red tabs. The collection will be sold exclusively on Levi’s app. Last year, Preston had collaborated with Levi’s to celebrate its 501 Day on May 20, which marks the anniversary of the patent that the company received for rivets on its work pants. Born and raised in San Francisco, the designer has been an admirer of the brand since his teenage years.

The 31st edition of Milano Unica was attended by around 207 exhibitors, of which 171 were Italian and 36 were from other countries. Exhibitors showcased their collections of high-end fabrics and accessories for menswear, womenswear and childrenswear for the A/W 2021 season.

The trade show was attended by 2,400 companies from America, Japan, Britian, France, Switzerland and Germany. Inaugurated by Alessandro Barberis Canonico, President, Milano Unica, who said exceptionality of the moment in which the 31st edition of the Italian Textiles and Accessories Trade Show was been held. He thanked all exhibitors for their courage and determination to participate in the trade show.

Canonico urged attendees to adopt a long-term perspective and continue to invest in trade shows, keeping an eye on the future scenarios and the potential economic and commercial developments. He urged exhibitors to leverage on the pillars of creativity, innovation and digital sustainability with a new determination Massimo Mosiello, General Director thanked the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and the Italian Trade Agency for providing them with economic aid and essential support for the promotion on international markets.

Among the main novelties of the trade show was the development of e-MilanoUnica Connect in collaboration with Pitti Immagine, which made new omnichannel model available. The digital marketplace provides an opportunity for participating companies to offer virtual showrooms with different levels of accessibility.

Labor related issues are becoming routine in the global fashion world. As a report in Fashion Law points out, last year laborers in a Bangladesh garment factory went on a week-long strike to protest against their low wages. Before that, laborers in a Zara factory protested against non-payment of dues while Myanmar garment workers revolted against their employers’ non-observation of Thingyan, one of the largest and most widely celebrated holidays in the country. Luxury and high fashion brands too are not immune to labor unrest. In 2018, 100 laborers in Marc Jacobs, Coach and Michael Kors’ suppliers’ factories went on a strike to protest substandard working conditions while workers of Chanel’s Korean factory protested against their long working hours and low wages.

These are just a few examples of the growing unrest amongst garment workers against their exploitation. Brands that strive to find a solution to this issue are hindered by the current legal system. To eradicate labor exploitation completely, they need to take more control of their supply chains. However, this puts them at risk of tremendous legal liability.

Amend labor laws

Therefore, to bring about real change, the countries in which these brands are based, need to amend their current labor laws and reward brands for their involvement in labor issues within supply chains.

Garment production has undergone tremendous evolution over the past few decades. A garment value chain now involves activities including designing, manufacturing, selling, and sometimes, even recycling. A brand is legally responsible for the actions of suppliers only if the supplier is directly employed by the brand. In a global value chain, most suppliers are hired as either contractors or subcontractors. This prevents them from being held accountable for their actions.

Improve supplier coordination

To protect workers’ rights, brands need to improve their coordination with suppliers and subsidiaries. They need to take control not only of their own suppliers but also of suppliers’ suppliers, and so on. This will help improve production efficiency, product quality control and manage brand reputation effectively.

As per current law, brands can rarely hold their suppliers accountable for violation of laws. If they try to control their supply chains, they risk losing legal defenses. Hence, to help brands stop worker exploitation in their supply chains, the industry needs to understand their financial and operational limitations and offer them new incentives to reform their operations.

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted apparel supply chains across the globe with companies now trying to balance their operational skills with flexibility and affordability. As David Simchi-Levi, Professor, MIT opines, the US-China trade war has compelled companies to reconsider their relationship with China. A survey of over 3,000 companies released in February by the Bank of India revealed, companies in 10 to 12 global sectors aim to shift a part of their supply chains away from their current locations. Some of these companies plan to set up manufacturing units closer to demand while others plan to reshore operations.

Some apparel manufacturers are moving to Southeast Asia. High-tech industries are maintaining a portion of their manufacturing in China. However, they are also moving into Brazil, Mexico, and Eastern Europe. These restructuring trends are accelerating in light of the pandemic, explains Levi.

Technological advancements make China shift difficult

In her paper ‘Reshoring, restructuring, and the future of supply chains’ author Sara Brown says COVID-19 prompted many supply chain leaders to move out of China. However, this is not really happening, believes Yossi Sheffi, Director, MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics. Though some companies have left China due to rising costs, most have been unable to move their supply chains completely out of the country.

It would take decades for these companies to move out of China completely, Sheffi argues. China is a sophisticated supplier of many parts and its exports of raw textiles have increased over the years. Even the US-China trade war doesn’t incentivize companies to move out of China. Hence, companies need to diversify both inside and outside China, adds Levi

Role of standard tests and procedure in reshoring

Brown writes post COVID-19, many apparel manufacturers plan to bring production back to the US. However, this does not offer companies what they are looking for, says Levi. Also, this kind of consolidation can be risky, Levi adds pointing to the slaughter plants in the US that are concerned about their backup in meat production, falling prices for farmers, and meat shortages.

Reshoring also requires government involvement. For example, reshoring of drug manufacturing requires clean chemical manufacturing technologies. In turn, this needs significant investment of time and money. Companies should focus on stress test rather than location, Levi says.

Companies can successfully reshore their activities through the risk exposure model which allows them to evaluate the impact of disruptions on their performance. To achieve this, brands need to engage in supply chain mapping. The government needs to establish standards and stress tests, similar to the annual stress test that banks need.

Supply chains pass the pandemic test

Both Sheffi and Levi feel global supply chains performed better than expected during the pandemic. Despite facing empty shelves, the food supply chain in the US continued to work as did the medical supply chain which too did not face any shortage of drugs. In fact, the pandemic successfully highlighted the role of these supply chain managers in the corporate hierarchy.

Inditex, returned to quarterly profit in the three months from May to July despite a 31 per cent fall in sales as the coronavirus crisis kept consumers away from city centre shopping districts.

Inditex, which also owns the Massimo Dutti and Bershka brands, said 98 per cent of its stores had reopened and that current trade showed a progressive return to normality with online sales growing sharply and store sales recovering.

Inditex reported a second-quarter net profit of 214 million euros ($253 million), beating the 96 million euro mean forecast from Refinitiv's SmartEstimate model, which is weighted towards more recent estimates and higher-ranked analysts.

It saw a 74 per cent jump in online sales in the first half, a trend seen at apparel retailers worldwide, as shoppers bought from home with many stores closed and movement restrictions in place.

Indian apparel makers should aggressively focus on the US market, said Prabhu Dhamodharan, Convener, Indian Texpreneurs Federation (ITF).

Many clusters in Tamil Nadu have demonstrated high level of quality, consistency, on-time delivery, best sustainable practices, green manufacturing practices, and empowerment of rural workforce. Its time for Tamil Nadu textile clusters to form an alliance, project their strengths and market it well to establish a strong TN textile sector and US partnership as an alternative to China in apparel sector, said Dhamodharan

Due to COVID-19 implications, the overall US apparel imports dropped by 30 per cent in the first seven months of 2020, but this decline was much higher at 49 per cent for import of apparel from China. The recent US actions in terms of trade restrictions on Chinese apparel and other products from one of the major textile regions, Xinjiang, will accelerate this trend further, Damodaran added.

India has a level-playing field with its competing nations like Vietnam and Bangladesh as none of these countries have an FTA with the US as of now. So, as a market diversification strategy, it’s now the right time to step up efforts to export more apparel to the US market.

Uzbek garment-textile exports rose by 112 per cent to $1 billion from January to July as new markets opened up and new products were developed. During the period, the country exported textile-garment products to 57 countries and regions. The main destinations were Russia (39 per cent), China (18 per cent), Kyrgyzstan (13 per cent) and Turkey (12 per cent).

In addition to traditional markets, Uzbekistan also exported to Hungary, Slovakia and Greece. With the support of the Uzbek embassy in Kuwait, it exported to that country for the first time this year.

Uzbekistan optimised the export commodity structure of its industry by increasing the proportion of value-added finished products such as knitwear and readymade garments to 51 per cent, according to a report in an Uzbek media outlet.

It also started exporting new products like protective masks and clothing. Uzbekistan textile companies currently produce 6 million masks and 10,000 sets of protective clothing per day, and export them to Russia, Kuwait, Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia and other countries.

The government also committed to simplifying the process whereby producers get value-added tax rebates once they ship their goods out of the country.

Inditex plans to invest nearly €3 billion over the next two years to beef up its digital platforms and integrate store and online stock, as it culls smaller stores and focuses on larger, spruced-up flagships.

The Zara owner reported €241 million in net profit over the second quarter, forging a path toward recovery amid ongoing disruption from the coronavirus crisis.

The Spanish fast-fashion retailer, which also owns labels Massimo Dutti, Bershka and Stradivarius, marked an improvement in its sales, which declined by 31 percent in the second quarter as 44 percent decline in the first quarter, amounting to €8 billion for the first half of the year. Its online sales continued to grow robustly, up 74 percent for the first half.

The retailer recently hit the 1 million order mark in a single day for the first time and noted that since the beginning of the year, its brands reached nearly 3 billion online visits and now count 190 million followers on social networks.