The new Montex finishing range by Monforts has a working width of two meters.

The range draws on all of the latest advances and technical expertise of Monforts gained from countless installations around the world. It allows customers to pigment dye, direct coat and pad apply finishes and offers more scope for R&D. The precise process control functions of the line give technicians confidence to make new products as well as finely tune the energy requirements of existing products. It is possible to record the energy used on each production batch and use this for continual improvements and efficiency savings. The touchscreen software is visual and easy to use, moving from one screen to another to check the various parameters of processing.

Many refinements have been made to the Montex Coat in the past few years, resulting in higher coating accuracy and better quality of the treated fabrics.

Monforts is the only manufacturer to offer completely integrated coating lines from a singlesource and the coating machine is tailored to the subsequent Montex drying technology – with all the benefits resulting from fully integrated plc control. The advancement of the technology on the Montex has been vast, especially in burner and air extraction. The machine is also very robust, especially the chains, which need very little lubrication and will last a long time. It is possible to quickly move from a 100gsm fabric to a 600gsm fabric, with no requirement to adjust tensions.

Shein is planning to deepen its foothold in the US as its sales to American shoppers continue to soar.

The online retailer that has turbocharged the global fast fashion industry is planning to build three large distribution centers in the US that could eventually reduce shipping times for its customers by three to four days. It is also planning a hiring spree in the country over the next few years. The majority of the new hires will be directly employed by Shein, while others would be contract workers. The retailer is also planning to hire at least several hundred employees at its US corporate headquarters and in other American cities. Shein now has more than 400 staffers in the US, up from 15 in 2019, and the plan is to have probably well over several thousand employees in the US by 2025.

Shein is known for extremely low-priced and trendy apparel and accessories but is trying to sell more higher-price products with fatter profit margins. Shein sells exclusively online and currently ships its merchandise from China to more than 150 countries. The US is one of Shein’s biggest markets, accounting for about a quarter of the company’s gross merchandise value.

China is helping Ethiopia improve environmental, social, and labor standards in the textile sector.

China attaches great importance to its cooperation with Ethiopia’s textile sector and consistently supports the sustainable development of the country’s textile industry through various means such as trade and investment. With a population of over 100 million, Ethiopia continues to attract more Chinese investors to its textile industry. There are over 30 Chinese textile companies in Ethiopia. If one were to look at the number of investors in Ethiopia, Chinese investors take the lion’s share. The role of China in Ethiopia’s foreign direct investment is immense. More than 80,000 new jobs have been created in industrial parks in the last Ethiopian fiscal year which ended on July 7 with Chinese companies hiring the largest number of job seekers, especially women.

China has been very generous in promoting foreign direct investment in Ethiopia, particularly in the textile and garment sector. China has contributed a lot in introducing new technologies and promoting environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices in the textile sector in Ethiopia and beyond. An enabling environment will be created to promote sustainable textile industry development and raise awareness of ESG among all stakeholders in the textile industry in Ethiopia and beyond.

Inditex plans to hike prices again. Earlier in spring and summer, the fast fashion bigwig had hiked prices and now it’s going to happen again this autumn. Though sales are being driven by the newness, quality and design of its collections, Inditex is thinking about a stable pricing policy.

In the first half of 2022 Inditex’s sales rose by 24 per cent. Store and online sales were up 11 percent year-on-year.Profits were up 41 percent and gross margin was up 57 percent, marking the strongest first half in seven years.

Inditex has a unique fashion proposition, an increasingly optimized shopping experience for customers and a focus on sustainability. In the face of possible supply chain tensions entering into the second half of the year, Inditex accelerated the current-season inventory flow. Product availability was up 43 percent in the first half of the year.

Inditex is the parent company of brands like Zara, Massimo Dutti, Pull&Bear and Bershka.

Zara continues to be the strongest brand in Inditex’s mix. The fashion giant’s sales were up 29 percent as it continues to up its fashion game with a stronger offer of designer-inspired items, including its Night collection, with a much-publicized campaign starring Kate Moss.

Kenya and India have partnered to promote trade and investment in the textile and manufacturing industry.

The Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KNCCI) will become an official partner in the preparation and planning of the International Textile and Manufacturing Expo- India ITME, set to take place in India from December 8 to 13, 2022.

Kenya will leverage on its competitive advantage in leather and textiles to roll out a labour-intensive agro-processing industrialisation program. The textiles and apparel sector is estimated to account for six per cent of the overall manufacturing sector in Kenya and contributes 0.6 per cent to Kenya’s GDP.With a large and well-established apparel subsector, Kenya has become a leading exporter in Africa and top exporter to the US under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).

East Africa has become an emerging hub in Africa for sourcing apparel, and buyers have increasingly established regional sourcing offices in Kenya. The manufacturing and textile sector is expected to contribute significantly toward the attainment of Vision 2030.The aim is to raise the share of the sector to GDP from the current 8.3 per cent to 15 per cent.

KNCCI’s focus is to urge private investors in the textile industry to take advantage of the opportunity as Kenya aims to increase the industry investment from $350 million to $2 billion and create 5,00,000 cotton jobs and 1,00,000 new apparel jobs.

The global golf clothing market is growing at six per cent a year. The Asia-Pacific region, especially India and China, is offering lucrative opportunities to players in the market.

The emergence of trend of golf tourism, a surge in fitness consciousness among consumers and the trend for fashionable sports apparel have driven the growth of the global golf clothing market.North America contributes the highest share in terms of revenue.

The bottomwear segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment during the forecast period. This is due to the increase in the number of participations in sports tournaments and physical activities, especially golf.On the basis of distribution channels, the online store segment is anticipated to register the fastest growth, as users are inclining more towards online shopping due to the easy accessibility of different sports apparel.Heavy discounts and offers on sporting goods, apparels, including golf clothing provided by these online platforms, boost the sales of golf clothing.

Depending on the user, the women’s segment is anticipated to grow at a higher CAGR due to the fact that nowadays women all around the globe are increasingly participating in various sports activities.

Some of the major players in the industry are Callaway Apparel, Linksoul, Nike, Puma and Under Armour.

Sports giant Puma is embracing recycled materials with the launch of Re:Collection, a line of products for sportstyle, running and training and motorsport that are made with recycled cotton and polyester. It’s all part of the German firm’s Forever Better sustainability strategy. This has seen it setting ambitious targets for using materials from more sustainable sources and increasing the amount of recycled content in its products.

By 2025, 75 per cent of the polyester used in its clothing and accessories will come from recycled sources.In this case, the pieces contain between 20 per cent and 100 per cent recycled materials since this creates a look of perfect imperfection in neutral colours. Waste from cutting has been used to reinforce the uppers of the lifestyle footwear launched as part of the collection.

The offer, which launches for the autumn season, includes performance products for running and training such as the PWRFrame TR, a high-performance raining shoe that's engineered for foref oot support and features at least 30 per cent recycled material in the upper.Meanwhile, also in the training category, the tights are made with at least 70 per cent recycled material but retain the performance characteristics such as the moisture-wicking properties of Puma’s DryCell tech.

Brands feel the format of the Berlin Fashion Week needs to move forward. They would like to see more investment and rethinking. First and foremost, they would like to see designers integrated into the planning of the event since Berlin is a creative melting pot and designers could come up with a lot of ideas that would benefit everyone.

Berlin has always had the desire to be noticed and to dance along on the international fashion parquet but that remains a considerable challenge. Brands do not see a direct effect on business from the runway presentations. For many of them, the cooperation is primarily about getting their clothes out there in real time. So they say the show doesn't do them any good anymore from a wholesale or order point of view since the buying round has long since been completed. So the concept works well for already established labels with a stable customer network but not for most of the designers at Fashion Week in Berlin, especially the up-and-coming ones.

Exhibitors like the freedom Berlin gives them but many have decided to show their collection in Paris as well. One of her reasons, probably the decisive one, is that there are more buyers in Paris, especially international buyers.

RLTY, Fabricant and World of Women have collaborated on a metaverse fashion event.

RLTY is metaverse event business. Fabricant and World of Women are metaverse fashion behemoths. Fabricant is a digital fashion brand that aims at infusing the metaverse with a sense of style. World of Women is a massive global NFT collection that was made possible by the contributions of tens of thousands of authors.

The main object of the event to be held between September 20 and 22, 2022, is to draw women and fashion into the metaverse. WoW and Fabricant designers will be dispersed across the event area to build up pop-up exhibits and sell memorabilia. To launch the event, WoW and Fabricant have collaborated to present a 27-piece digital fashion collection.

A 1000-piece collection that will be issued later includes the 27 items. One of these 27 pieces can be purchased by participants via OpenSea or during the event using MANA.One of the most well-known events in this category is the fashion show. Many major fashion brands have entered the metaverse by publishing their digital collections and exhibiting them there, including Nike and Zara. An earlier metaverse fashion week was held in March 2022. Numerous upscale fashion companies attended the festival.

Kanye West and Gap have terminated their partnership. The brand they worked on, Yeezy Gap, was launched to be a disruptive, highly creative endeavor — one that aimed at attracting new, younger and more diverse customers. While they shared a vision of bringing high-quality, trend-forward, utilitarian design to all people through unique omni experiences with Yeezy Gap, how they worked together to deliver this vision was not aligned.

However West will now promptly move forward to make up for lost time by opening Yeezy retail stores. He says Gap has abandoned its contractual obligations under the strategic agreement and failed for over two years to sell a single product in a single Gap store, including any of its 500plus stores in North America, and failed to open a single dedicated store anywhere in the world.Specifically, he argues that the company has failed to sell Yeezy products in Gap’s stores or open dedicated stores to the line. The deal was signed after the start of the pandemic.

The real question now is what it may cost West to walk away, either in terms of legal fees or a possible settlement with Gap, and what the separation will mean for the value of Gap.