The Lycra Company, a leader in innovative fiber and technology solutions for the apparel industry, has launched the new Lycra® FitSense™ technology. This groundbreaking innovation is a patented water-based dispersion that features the same molecule as the Lycra® fiber, but in liquid form.

The Lycra® FitSense™ technology is screen printed onto fabric containing Lycra® fiber to deliver targeted lightweight support that can be combined with visual effects like patterns or color blocks. As a result, sewn-in panels or extra seams that may restrict movement and cause discomfort can be eliminated and the consumer’s need for great-fitting, ultra-comfortable garments satisfied, giving support just where it is needed.

The Lycra® FitSense™ technology can transform activewear and athleisure apparel (leggings and tops) and intimate apparel (bras, sports bras, bralettes, underwear and shapewear) by adding lightweight power, soft shaping and lift, and targeted support without sacrificing comfort.

Lycra® FitSense™ technology offers printers, garment makers, brands and retailers a host of benefits. This solution helps streamline garment manufacturing, offers unlimited design possibilities that provide functional benefits, and differentiates garments by providing a premium offering made with a breakthrough innovation.

Pakistan’s exports of readymade garment increased 32.77per cent in 2018-19. Exports of knitwear increased 15.52 per cent in the same period.

The country is taking steps to attract foreign and domestic investment and revive sick units in the textile sector. The installed capacity of the manufacturing sector will be increased to enhance competitive import substitution, export enhancement, employment generation and revenue generation. The US-China trade war has positively impacted textile exports from Pakistan. Global value chains, especially in the textile sector, are realigning in the US market due to the high tariffs against Chinese imports. This realignment is providing an immense opportunity to Pakistan’s textile industry to integrate into the value chains, which will exponentially contribute in enhancing exports of the country. A policy paradigm is being worked out for upward growth of the manufacturing sector. An industrial policy will assist the industrial sector in improving its growth by effective allocation of resources.

The economy still centers around production of cotton, a commodity, while manufacturers have been slow to embrace automation. But those that have gained a global foothold may benefit from the country's depreciating currency -- the rupee has lost a third of its value in the last two years, which makes Pakistan exports cheaper.

Louis Vuitton is taking steps to limit environmental damage. For the past year, Louis Vuitton has been using salpa, a type of reconstituted leather, to produce some of the models for its leather goods products, which enables it to avoid using real leather. By 2020, 70 per cent of tanneries LVMH sources from will be Leather Working Group certified. The aim is to make that 100 per cent by 2025. The group uses leather off-cuts to reduce waste.

Faster production and data-crunching about demand trends have allowed the brand to cut back on inventories. That allows the company to limit the destruction of unsold goods. Louis Vuitton now the highest sell-through of any brand in the world and destroys less than anyone else.

While the luxury label has opened factories in Italy, Spain, and the US, it is committed to keeping the majority of its supply chain in France. In fact Louis Vuitton plans to add roughly 1,500 manufacturing jobs in France over the next three years, ramping up production to feed surging demand from China and other emerging economies. Chinese consumers fueled a 20 per cent increase in sales of fashion and leather goods last quarter for Louis Vuitton’s parent LVMH.

A new workplace compliance-and-safety-monitoring body will take over the infrastructure, operations and staff of Accord as it transitions out of Bangladesh over the next several months. Accord will hand over its responsibilities in Bangladesh to the Readymade Garment Sustainability council (RSC). This national initiative will bring together industry, brands and trade unions to promote unified industrial relations, skill development and environmental standards, while carrying forward the significant accomplishments made on workplace safety in the South Asian nation since Accord’s formation in the wake of the 2013 Rana Plaza disaster, which killed more than a thousand workers and injured thousands more.

An international compact among nonprofit organizations, Western manufacturers and retailers, Bangladesh union federations, and several major global unions, Accord has monitored fire and building safety in 1,700 factories in Bangladesh over the past six years for signatory brands. It has conducted 30,000 inspections and remedied more than 90 per cent of violations at 1,000 factories.

Readymade garments make up roughly 80 per cent of Bangladesh’s export earnings, contributing almost 16 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product. Bangladesh is the world’s second largest garment exporter after China and produces clothing for some of the biggest retailers in the world, including H&M, Uniqlo and Zara.

The US-China trade war has caused US importers to diversify their sourcing to avoid risk and higher prices. PVH Corp for instance has moved a lot of its production out of the China. Next year, between 10 to 12 per cent of its requirements will be coming out of China down from 30 per cent three years ago. The tariffs have accelerated that movement. PVH Corp recognized what was ahead over the next three to four years and opened up Africa. The company moved to some other locations throughout Asia and tried to position itself with key fabric suppliers throughout the world that would enhance its supply chain.

The slow decline and flight from China has meant gains for many of its Asian neighbors. Till July this year, shipments from Vietnam to the US rose 13.05 per cent while imports from Bangladesh increased 11.53 per cent. Among other suppliers from Asia, shipments from India were up 9.56 per cent, imports from Cambodia gained 6.36 per cent and Pakistan’s shipments rose 9.38 per cent. Significant gains were also seen from Sub-Saharan Africa, as imports from the region rose 22.23 per cent, led by Kenya, Madagascar, Ethiopia and Mauritius.

Levi Strauss & Co will buy The Jeans Company (TJC), its distributor in South America. This will enable Levi Strauss to expand its reach in South America. TJC is a distributor for the brands, Levi’s and Dockers. The acquisition includes roughly 80 Levi’s and Dockers retail stores, the region’s leading multi-brand retailers and the logistical operations in these markets. This is expected to build on the strong foundation established by TJC and position Levi Strauss to accelerate growth across the Andean region. The move is expected to help streamline business operations, further diversify the business, create operational synergies and enhance shareholder value. Deploying capital through organic acquisitions is a key part of the company’s long-term strategy to become a world-class omni channel retailer.

The transaction is expected to close by the end of the year. Through the 30-year partnership, TJC had enhanced the market position of Levi’s and Dockers in Chile, Peru and Bolivia.

Levi Strauss has expanded into new categories and found new ways to make sales. Levi Strauss has had near across-the-board growth, with men’s sales up six per cent, women's rising 16 per cent and higher sales in both bottoms and tops. It also saw its global direct-to-consumer business shoot up 14 per cent year over year.

Kohl’s plans to achieve 100 per cent sustainably sourced cotton in its proprietary brands by 2025. The company will require all facilities that produce its products to meet Higg Standards by 2025. Higg Index Environmental Module is a suite of tools that allows companies to measure environmental performance. Kohl’s itself will use the Higg Index to drive substantial water reductions. Other goals include reducing greenhouse gas emissions in Kohl’s-owned operations by 2025; reducing energy consumption by ten per cent at Kohl’s facilities by 2025; expanding renewable energy platforms by building off the company’s existing 161 solar and wind locations; and supporting the transition to a low-carbon transportation system, building off the company’s existing 96 locations offering electrical vehicle charging.

The company will achieve its responsible sourcing goals by cross-collaboration between departments. Product development and merchant departments will identify product categories for proprietary brands, develop individual product styles and negotiate the purchase transaction with suppliers. The global trade compliance department will work with agents, vendor partners, and factories to monitor factory working conditions to help ensure the fair and ethical treatment of workers in a safe and healthy work environment.

The sustainable sourcing commitment comes as part of the company’s new, overarching sustainability goals.

"Gone are the days when around 95 per cent of the clothes sold in the US were also manufactured in the country. Now, finding apparels made in the US is almost like finding a needle in a haystack as around 97 per cent of all clothing and 98 per cent of all footwear is imported."

Gone are the days when around 95 per cent of the clothes sold in the US were also manufactured in the country. Now, finding apparels made in the US is almost like finding a needle in a haystack as around 97 per cent of all clothing and 98 per cent of all footwear is imported.

However, even today, more than half of all consumers prefer clothes ‘Made in the USA’. As noted by a recent survey by Cotton Incorporated Lifestyle Monitor™, nearly 74 per cent consumers check the country of origin of their clothes before buying them. It is also surprising that more men than women do this. Those over 35 years of age are more prone to check than their younger counterparts.

A fillip to the domestic economy

These consumers believe, it is important for them to buy clothes “Made in the USA” as it helps them to support the US economy. Around 53 per cent also believe clothes made in the US are of better in quality, while 37 per cent believe they are more environmentally friendly.

Over 53 per cent consumers also emphasise on the brand’s transparency in their manufacturing process. Additionally, 51 per cent stated that they are more likely to buy from a clothing brand that honestly communicates about its environmental and societal impacts, compared to one that doesn’t.

Sustainability and quality Moreover as per the Monitor™ research, 90 per cent consumers emphasised on the feel good factor that cotton grown in the US offered. About 74 per cent believe cotton grown in the US is more sustainable than cotton grown in other countries and 62 per cent were also willing to pay more for clothes made with cotton grown in the US.

A lot of appreciation for US-grown cotton stems from consumer’s expectations about the quality of cotton. As the survey noted, around 79 per cent consumers expect the cotton produced in the US to be of extremely good and high quality. This was significantly higher than their expectations for cotton produced in other countries, such as Egypt, Australia, Turkey, Brazil, India and Africa.

Primark plans to train more than 160,000 independent cotton farmers—over five times its current enrollment—in sustainable farming methods across India, Pakistan and, for the first time, China.

The brand has been working with agricultural enterprise CottonConnect and grassroots stakeholders since 2013 to train farmers in three-year batches on ‘more natural,’ climate-appropriate techniques that slash water and pesticide use and boost cotton yields. Participants in Pakistan, where the program launched last year, for instance, saw an 11.2-percent rise in yields, a 12.9-percent reduction in input costs and an average profit increase of 26.8 percent after their first year of training, Primark said. Many of the farmers, the retailer noted, have used their surplus profits to invest in farm equipment, children’s education or housing.

CottonConnect will collaborate with the Heping Cotton Farmers’ Cooperative, its implementation partner, to introduce over 80,000 independent cotton farmers in China to the scheme. Additional farmers will also be enrolled in Primark’s existing programs in India and Pakistan.

The retailer eventually plans to use only sustainably sourced cotton across its entire product assortment.

American clothing companies are scouting for greater investment opportunities in India. They are eager for a free trade agreement between the US and India. Fifteen American companies have forwarded a proposal for improving the ease of doing business, providing higher skills to workers and drawing up a sustainable growth plan for the sector. The delegation comprised representatives from American textile majors such as Ralph Lauren, PVH (which owns brands like Calvin Klein, Timmy Hilfiger, Van Heusen and Arrow) and Carter’s. However as of now the two countries have not even been able to work out a limited trade agreement involving a few products.

Following the US-China trade war, manufacturing is moving away from China. More and more American companies are looking at moving their investments from China. On paper, India has significant strength and could be the natural successor to China. There is a window of opportunity for India to attract investments in manufacturing. In doing this, India faces a lot of competition from countries like Bangladesh, Vietnam and Indonesia. In the last four years, investments worth $30 billion in textiles have moved out of China because of various factors, including rising input costs, but very little has come to India.