Bangladesh aims to increase export earnings from leather and leather goods by tenfold over the next nine years.

As per the Business Standard report, the commerce ministry is drawing up a ten-year perspective plan, which includes a target to increase the leather sector's export earnings from below $1 billion to $10-12 billion by 2030.

If Bangladesh can live up to the target, it will be among the top ten global exporters in the sector, says Shaheen Ahmed, President, Bangladesh Tanners Association.

Leather Working Group's certificates are important in attracting foreign buyers. If factories are not fully compliant, it is not possible to get this certificate. And to get foreign buyers and higher prices for products, it is a must, he adds

He called for the government's policy support and said foreigners are now buying leather goods at lower prices due to poor compliance. The price will go up once the factories get compliant. Export income will also increase.

The Denim Deal, officially known as the Dutch C-233 Green Deal on Circular Denim, is laying the groundwork for its mission to promote the use of high-grade post-consumer recycled cotton (PCR) by 2023.

. Using data from seven of its 38 signatories, including recyclers, producers, brands, retailers and public authorities, the group published a report that will serve as a baseline for achieving the Denim Deal’s goals.

Established in October 2020 in Amsterdam with 28 parties, the Denim Deal signatories committed themselves to the joint approach of working as quickly as possible toward a new industry standard at 5 percent PCR cotton used in the production of all denim garments. A public-private initiative, the Denim Deal was established by the Dutch Government, following the EU Green Deal and Circular Action Plan.

With December 2023 as the common target, brand and retailer signatories aim to achieve a minimum of 5 percent PCR content in their own denim collections; set and achieve higher goals for PCR content; and commit to “individual ambitions” designed to meet the joint goal of using 20 percent PCR cotton in 3 million pairs of jeans.

Signatories include local companies like PVH Europe, Scotch & Soda and Kings of Indigo, as well as Calik Denim, Ereks and Recover from the supply chain.

Athletic wear continues to drive apparel sales despite most people returning to their offices. Recently brands Abercrombie, Express’ UpWest and Revolve launched their first athletic wear collections following the first sneaker collection launched by footwear brand Birdies. Continued launch of athletic collections is also sustaining demand for high-performance fabrics and silhouettes. It is also boosting activewear apparel sales that surged 37 per cent year-over-year last year, says the NPD Group.

Athleisure dominated not just apparel but also footwear sales last year with sports-leisure footwear lifestyle sneakers emerging as one of the most popular shoe subcategories during the year. The category captured over one third of all footwear revenue in 2021, indicates a Modern Retail report. Athleticwear became almost a permanent fixture in shoppers’ closets with the trend continuing even this year.

Sustained demand leads to new launches

After the soft launch of a few styles earlier, Abercrombie recently launched its new athletic sub-brand, YPB. Denoting Your Personal Best, the brand offers products like leggings, bike shorts, sports bras and gym bags. The products were designed after almost 18 months of research post the launch of another sub-brand called 96 Hours in 2017, notes Kristin Scott, Global Brand President. For the last few months, the brand has been a witnessing demand for activewear on its website, explains Corey Robinson, SVP, Design and Merchandising. This has encouraged it to launch an active wear range focusing on quality and fashion alongside traditional athleticwear concerns like performance or fit.

Similarly Birdies has forayed into athleticwear space with two new shoe launches —tennis sneaker and a running sneaker. The brand that earlier focused on more formal footwear like velvet flats or tasseled loafers, has now riveted to sneakers, adds Marisa Sharkey, Co-Founder, Birdies.

Category positioning poses a challenge Besides Birdies and Abercrombie, other fashion-focused apparel and footwear brands that have launched athletic or athleisure collections this year include resort wear brand Ona, Express ’DTC subbrand UpWest and fashion retailer Revolve. Similar activewear collections were launched last year by non-active brands like intimates brand ThirdLove and luxury house Roland Mouret..

The activewear market has become bigger and more crowded, affirms Kristen Classi-Zummo, Director-Market Insights, NPD Group. The pandemic has made it a staple in all wardrobes. Most fashion brands are adding athletic-inspired shoes to subcategories like boots and sandals. These days, sport leisure footwear sales are largely being driven by athletic brands, adds Beth Goldstein, Executive Director, NPD Group. Similar developments are been witnessed in the apparel segment.

On the other hand, fashion brands are struggling to position their new athletic or athleisure assortments into their existing portfolio. For instance, Birdies was compelled to release its new sneakers collection under the main brand to highlight its versatility. The brand also launched a new marketing campaign focusing on athleisure values.

Abercrombie is highlighting the performance qualities of its new range. The aim is to make a clear distinction between earlier products and the new offering. Classi-Zummo points out, athleisure category will continue to grow in 2022 as customers look for apparels spanning occasions. Versatility will be key to athlesiure’s future growth as brand continues to focus on innovative styles, patterns and customization, adds Zummo.

The American Apparel and Footwear Association (AAFA) has partnered with Bangladesh's apparel apex body- BGMEA- to explore opportunities and work together to increase the country's trade access to the US market and improve purchasing practices.

The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and the AAFA signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), As per the understanding, the AAFA will support Bangladesh in promoting its trade interests in US market, especially advocating for the withdrawal of GSP suspension to recognise the progress made in the local industry in the area of workplace safety, workers well-being and environmental sustainability.

They will also work on creating joint scoping missions to explore bilateral investment opportunities, particularly in Bangladesh's backward linkage textile industries, especially in the non-cotton segment.

According to the MoU, the two groups will explore opportunities and work together to increase trade access for Bangladesh to the US market, improve purchasing practices, build on the great work already done by the Bangladeshi industry on sustainability, and expand the strong partnership between the US and Bangladeshi industry.

They will also work collaboratively on capacity building to cut time and cost, to make supply chain more sustainable, via developing joint programmes to train workers and mid/top management, and a special collaboration with BGMEA Center for Innovation, Efficiency and OSH, and a collaborative arrangement between the Parties and BGMEA University of Fashion & Technology (BUFT).

The two associations will inspire buyers-supplier collaboration to upscale product development and innovation capability to explore untapped segments of the export market, via joint research, coaching programmes, sharing of knowledge and information like fashion trend analysis and forecasting, matchmaking events, media campaign.

AAFA and BGMEA will collaborate to deepen discussion towards a unified code of conduct like symphonisation for social and environmental audits in manufacturing facilities, via setting up of a Joint Committee with clear terms of engagement.

They will also set up a corporate alliance on CSR initiatives to ensure well-being of the workers and communities.

Fabric makers in Bangladesh have launched a massive expansion drive to capture more share of the fast-growing global denim market. As per a Daily Star report currently, 40 denim mills produce 280 lakh metres of denim fabrics in Bangladesh. For instance, Envoy Textile has increased capacity from 3.5 million meters two years ago to 4.42 million meters of denim fabrics a month. Currently, the mill is fully booked with orders from the international retailers and brands, says

Kutubuddin Ahmed, Chairman says the mill ships more than $120 million worth of denim products a year to Europe and the US and is bringing diversification to denim products with new investment to meet the growing demand for the items. Amber Denim has expanded capacity to make the most of the growing demand. Currently, it produces nearly 40 lakh meters of denim fabrics a month. The denim sector is growing at 15 per cent as people are investing in the promising sector, says Showkat Aziz Russell, Chairman.

Mostafiz Uddin, Managing Director, Denim Expert, believes, denim will be future of business for Bangladesh. The global denim market size will increase every year boosting the growth of Bangladesh's market, adds Mostafiz.

The 2022 Fall/Winter edition of Korea’s largest fashion event, Seoul Fashion Week will be launched on YouTube’s official fashion and beauty channel according to the show’s organizer, the Seoul Metropolitan Government. As per a Korea Herald report, Seoul Fashion Week will be introduced through the global streaming platform’s vertical.

The YouTube Fashion & Beauty channel features videos of international runways, fashion shows’ backstage, insights on hair and makeup from the fashion world and celebrities, along with clips of designers, models and red carpets. It has about 1.5 million subscribers so far. Seoul city government has collaborated with the YouTube channel to enhance the fashion event’s position to one of the top five fashion weeks.

The partnership will focus on uploading collaborative content related to the Seoul Fashion Week on the channel. It will also share reviews of products by the fashion week-featured designers. Seoul Fashion Week is held every March and October, along with a biannual series of global fashion weeks. The 2022 F/W Seoul Fashion Week will be held March 18-23 in an online-offline hybrid format. It will mark the first time in three years the fashion show will take place offline amid the lingering COVID-19 pandemic.

Philippines’ garments, textile and apparel exports are expected to be worth $1.5 billion in 2022 up from $1.052 billion in 2021 despite lingering pandemic and Russia-Ukraine war. According to the Foreign Buyers Association of the Philippines (FBAOP, local players continued to receive orders, which other countries such as Vietnam, China, India and Bangladesh could not serve because of minimum volume requirement.

Robert Young, President, FOBAP and Trustee, Philippine Exporters Confederation says, the industry should protect its track record of being the second largest exporter of garments and textile in Asia despite supply chain problems. In 2021, shipments including the $200 million worth of finished goods remained in ports due to supply chain issues, says Young. FOBAP hopes the next government would implement a comprehensive, doable and sustainable roadmap to boost the textile and apparel industry. He urged the government to revive the nuclear power plant to resolve power cost, energy issues and reexamine workers’ wages.

Egypt’s garment exports grew by 54 per cent to $204 million in January 2022 compared to 132 million in January 2021, says Marie Louise, Head, Apparel Export Council. The US emerged largest destination for Egyptian garment exports with a value of $123 million in January 2022, compared to $78million in 2021; followed by European markets which received clothing with a value of $37 million compared to $28 million.

Exports to Arab countries increased 63 per cent to $25million while exports to non-Arab African countries declined 66 per cent to $109,000. Exports to the rest of the world, increased 58 per cent to $19 million. The country aims to open new markets through cooperation with Egyptian Commercial Service (ECS) offices in all nearby countries to increase the volume of exports to them — especially to Arab countries — in light of the Russian-Ukrainian crisis, which may negatively affect exports of ready-made garments, especially to the US.

The Apparel Export Council will continue its efforts to increase exports, says Louise. During February 2022 edition of held in Las Vegas Magic Show the Council set up an Egyptian pavilion with 14 companies from the apparel sector. The council also held bilateral meetings with 150 foreign buyers and succeeded in providing 30 export opportunities for companies that did not participate in the exhibition.

The council’s efforts provided four export opportunities for the ready-made garment sector to Spain through coordination with the Commercial Representation Office in Madrid, adds Louise.

Sweden-based technology company for digital dyeing of textile thread on-demand for embroideries, Coloreel, has sold an eight-head unit in Italy to Bond Factory. A prestigious Italian manufacturer of high-end apparel to the European fashion and textile industry, Bond Factory is also a part of the Dyloan group.

As per an Apparel Resoruces report, Coloreel will install a production line of eight multi-head unit inside the Bond Factory. Sales at the unit will be done in collaboration with Coloreel’s new distributor in Italy, Technoprogress.

Sven Öquist, VP Sales, Coloreel Group AB, says the installation enables Bond Factory to meet the fast-rising demand for Coloreel;s more environment-friendly and creative embroideries. This is also a great start for our Italian distributor Techno progress will help us capture the large Italian market together with them.

Bangladesh Bank data reveals, value addition in Bangladesh’s readymade garment products dropped to 55.80 per cent in the July-December 2021-22 due to global increase in raw materials prices. As per a report by New Age Business, value addition in Bangladesh’s apparel products has been declining since fiscal 2019-20. In FY20, the value addition dropped to 56.84 per cent from 64.32 per cent in FY19. Though value addition slightly increased to 59 per cent, in FY21, it again declined in the first half of FY22.

Exporters attribute the drop to the pandemic which disrupted supply chain and increased prices of raw materials. Apparel exports in the first half of FY22 grew 28 per cent while imports of raw materials increased 54.46 per cent in the period. Md Shahidullah Azim, Vice President, BGMEA opines, value addition in apparel products has been declining due to increasing freight cost and business operation cost amid the pandemic. Md Fazlul Hoque, Former President, BKMEA adds, attributes the decline to many factors but hike in raw materials price is the most prominent. Besides, cost of doing business has increased amid the pandemic, Fazlul adds.