To be held from September 5-6, 2022 at NEC Birmingham, Curated Meetings at Autumn Fair has announced its first round of confirmed brands for the fair. The fair will showcase product including eco-conscious and tech innovations, statement jewellery, crafted leather bags, aromatherapy and candles, artwork, books and games, to pre-approved and budget-holding buyers from retailers including WH Smith, Paper Tiger, Brown Thomas, FY!, Harvey Norman Ireland, Lark London, Ragdale Hall Spa, Nest, as well as international retailers including Manor Pharmacy from Switzerland, and Lithuanian store group Kosmelita.

Attracting brands and buyers from across the UK, Europe and rest of the world, Curated Meetings will hold pre-scheduled15-minute meetings between qualified buyers and relevant suppliers based on a mutual interest to drive new business opportunities together. The fair will hold hundreds of pre-scheduled meetings across the two days of the UK’s leading marketplace for wholesale Home, Gift and Fashion.

Halting of duty-free exports from the country and reduction in traffic has led to Arvind reducing garmenting capacity in Ethiopia. Last year, Arvind restricted some facilities across India and started reducing capacity in Ethiopia. Cancellation of AGOA Treaty led to the company reducing its installed capacity in Ethiopia to about 50 million pieces, notes Samir Agrawal, Chief Strategy Officer.

Introduced in 2000, the AGOA treaty offers duty-free access to the US from sub-Saharan African countries. Although the treaty was renewed in 2015 till 2025, it still faces uncertainty over further renewal. To compensate for the reduction of garment capacity in Ethiopia, Arvind plans to augment capacity in India during FY23. The company will invest Rs 200 crore towards capacity augmentation in advanced material division and garmenting businesses, besides cost optimization projects for fabric business.

The Punjab government plans to set up a textile park spread over 1,000 acre in Ludhiana to boost exports. As per The Tribute, the textile park will house seven mega industrial estates to be built at the cost of Rs 4,445 crore. Approved under the PM Mitra Scheme, the ambitious industrial project will be a joint venture between the Centre and the state. It will be completed over five years by 2027-28, for which the requisite funds have been approved under the scheme.

The three textile clusters in the state: Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Amritsar, export textiles and garments worth almost Rs 12,000 crore every year. In 2019-20, the three clusters exported textile products worth Rs 11,639.63 crore to the US, UAE, UK, and Australia. Sibin C, Director & Secretary-Industries and Commerce says, Punjab has over 1,200 textile and apparel units employing 1.2 lakh people. The state is home to major textile players such as Trident, Nahar, Vardhman, Shingora, Sportking, Nivia, Savi, Avani Textiles, JCT Mills, and Indian Acrylics, he adds.

As COVID-induced lockdowns in China snap the links of global suppliers, US manufactures are benefitting from growing ‘Made in USA’ sentiment among consumers. Established in 1992, New Jersey-based Unionwear saw a rapid surge in business this year. With 100 per cent local supply chain, the manufacturer of customized baseball hats, scarves and backpacks, the company witnessed a surge in buyers no longer able to import goods due to lockdown.

About 70 per cent respondents to a survey by the Reshoring Institute showed preference for US-made products over imported goods; 83 per cent are willing to pay over 20 per cent more for locally-made products.

Realizing the benefits of nearshoring

As per information on BR Logistic website, container rates for China-US routes have surged almost three times of the pre-pandemic rates to about $18,000 per 40-foot container. Oil prices have also increased due to the Ukraine-Russia conflict, leading to sharp rise in shipping costs. However, localized manufacturing is helping Unionwear sell products at competitive rates. Before pandemic, baseball caps would cost about 40 per cent more than products imported from China. Currently, they are being sold at $10 per unit in wholesale.

Bigger companies in the US are also realizing the benefits of nearshoring as a more secure and reliable option for manufacturing, says a April report by Thomasnet.com.

Meanwhile some non-resident companies also aim to step up investments in the US. South Korea-based Samsung Corporation plans to invest $17 billion to set up a new facility in Texas for producing advanced semiconductors. To be operational in late 2024, the facility would stabilize global semiconductor supply chain. Released in 2022, the Kearney Reshoring Index shows, 79 per cent manufacturers based in China have either shifted a part of their production to the US or plan to do so in the next three years, and another 15 per cent are planning to follow suit.

Reshoring to make supply more sustainable and carbon-neutral

Meanwhile re-shoring trend in the US has intensified due to the tariffs imposed by Trump government on Chinese imports, says William Reinsch, Industry Expert - International Trade, Center for Strategic and International Studies. Bringing these companies back to the US would help them shorten supply chains, making them more resilient to natural and manmade disasters, explains Nick Vyas, Associate Professor -Operations and Supply Chain Expert, University of Southern California Marshall School of Business.

A domestic supply chain also helps make US companies more sustainable and carbon neutral. He advises companies to adopt the triple bottom-line mindset that also takes into account a company’s resiliency and sustainability besides costs. US companies also need to strengthen relationships with suppliers in the Caribbean, South America and Canada in order to become insulated from rising production costs, Vyas affirms.

To expand both its retail and wholesale business in the region, Italian luxury group Valentino has appointed Alessandro Beretta as the new Head-European Business

Starting his career at Procter&Gamble, Beretta further moved to Nike as its Partner-Management Director –Europe. He will report to Laurent Bergamo, Chief Commercial Officer, Valentino for the Americas, Europe, Middle East and Brazil.

Founded in 1960 by Valentino Garavani, the group has revamped its operations since mid-2020 and appointed new managers. Controlled by Qatar Investment Vehicle Mayhoolam the company also added Jacopa Venutrini as its new Senior Chief Executive during the pandemic times.

The group's revenue increased by 3 per cent to €1.23 billion last year over the pre-pandemic levels of 2019.

Test conducted by Moincoins over the last six months on four of the most popular fast fashion brands show, Zara and Guess offer the least eco-friendly collections while Pull & Bear offers the best. The fourth brand tested was H&M.

Conducted from November 2021 to January 2022, the test included testing T-shirts, jeans, sweaters and dresses from the brands’ eco collections. The testers looked into the sustainability of the materials, textile certifications, quality and durability, as well as the product information given in the online shop and on the product tags. All items were worn, washed, handled and cared for according to the care instructions by Moincoins employees.

The results show that the Guess Eco collection lacked transparency and used the least amount of sustainable materials. The clothing from Guess was the most expensive but had the best quality. Zara’s products were the worst in terms of quality and durability, but some items had textile certifications. H&M Conscious Choice scored average and was the cheapest of all brands tested. Pull&Bear was the surprise winner, ranking highest when it came to sustainable materials and product information.

Turkiye faced a 2.98 per cent rise in consumer prices in May this year while its annual inflation increased by 3.53 points to 73.5 per cent, according to the TurkiyeCumhuriyetMerkexBankasi (TCMB), the country’s central bank. Prices in Turkiye;s clothing and footwear group grew by 4.63 per cent on a monthly basis while annual inflation in the category rose by 3.52 points to 29.27 per cent.

The rise in annual consumer inflation spread across sub-categories in this period, with the most significant contribution coming from core goods and services. In May, subcategories of the core goods group faced annual inflation. The annual price increase in the services group remained relatively flat in transport services while it increased in other sub-categories.

The rise in producer prices persisted in the month due to international commodity prices, exchange rate developments and ongoing supply chain disruptions. In May, annual core goods inflation increased by 3.74 points to 65.32 per cent.

G-III Apparel Group has finished acquiring 81 per cent stake in fashion brand Karl Lagerfieldfor approximately $214 million. G-III purchased the stake in the brand from a group of private and public investors, led by Fred Gehring of Amton Capital BV. The transaction was funded by G-III with cash on hand. As a result of the transaction, the Karl Lagerfeld brand is wholly owned by subsidiaries of G-III Apparel Group, Ltd.

The brand joins the G-III portfolio of more than 30 licensed and proprietary brands, including DKNYY, Donna Karan, Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, and Karl Lagerfeld. G-III’s owned brands include DKNY, Donna Karan, Karl Lagerfeld, Karl Lagerfeld Paris, Vilebrequin, G.H. Bass, Eliza J, Jessica Howard, Andrew Marc, Marc New York, and Sonia Rykiel. G-III also distributes directly to consumers through its DKNY, Karl Lagerfeld, Karl Lagerfeld Paris, and Vilebrequin stores and its digital channels for the DKNY, Donna Karan, Vilebrequin, Karl Lagerfeld, Karl Lagerfeld Paris, Andrew Marc, Wilsons Leather, and G.H. Bass brands.

In 2019, Karl Lagerfeld joined the Fashion Pact, a global sustainability initiative seeking to transform the fashion industry through objectives in three areas: climate, biodiversity, and ocean protection.

The innovative display graphics and industrial textile solutions from Electronics For Imaging, Inc, at the FESPA Global Print Expo deliver remarkable efficiency, quality and sustainability to help customers drive profits and win new business. The new EFI™ ReggianiecoTERRA pigment solution making its debut there is an advanced integrated solution for streamlined, greener textile printing.

The EFI ReggianiecoTERRA is an all-in-one solution for water-based pigment printing that requires no ancillary equipment for pre- and post-treatment. Its patent-pending technology gives customers a distinct competitive advantage, dramatically cutting energy and water consumption in the overall process for a more sustainable direct-to-fabric printing experience.

Users will benefit from ecoTERRA’s ability to deliver excellent wet and dry fastness, remarkable sharpness in detail and extraordinarily high durability while also yielding longer printhead life with reduced maintenance costs.

The new ecoTERRA ink range features 7 colours – cyan, magenta, yellow, black, blue, red and green – for an expanded colour gamut. An enhanced polymerisation and finishing unit for the EFI ReggianiecoTERRA also gives the fabric a softer hand feel, delivering performance that is in line with the most stringent textile industry requirements.

To achieve net zero carbon emissions goal by 2030, the fashion industry needs to accelerate its response. Failure to do so might result in doubling emissions from the permitted levels to align with the Paris Agreement, warns a new report by the Global Fashion Agenda. Titled, ‘The GFA Monitor,’ the new report fosters collaboration on sustainability in the fashion industry to accelerate the impact. Prepared in consultation with 20 partners and organization, the report offers insights on current industry status, solutions, action needed and proven best practices.

Bringing about universal change

Disrupted by the pandemic and volatile geopolitical climate, the fashion industry needs bold collaborations to redesign operations and bring about universal change, says the report. It guides the industry on the five sustainability priorities outlined in the Fashion CEO Agenda including: Creating Respectful and Secure Work Environments, Creating Better Wage Systems, Circular Systems, Resource Stewardship and Smart Material Choices.

Each priority is explained in the report with expert insights from GFA’s Impact Partners including Fair Labor Association (FLA), the Social & Labor Convergence Program (SLCP), Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Apparel Impact Institute, and Textile Exchange, respectively. These priorities enable the industry to achieve a fair living wage for all, reduce conventional virgin resources and decrease carbon emissions.

Federica Marchionni, CEO, Global Fashion Agenda adds, “The report enables us to create an aligned resource for the industry. It encourages knowledge sharing through expert alliances with multiple organizations in different specialties.”

Global Fashion Agenda collaborated with sustainability insights platform, Higg to establish a base for the measurement of reliability, and consistency of data for industry progress. Data available from brands and retailers on the Higg Brand & Retail Module (BRM) shows the tremendous progress achieved in resource stewardship, respectful and secure work environment and smart material choices. However, a lot still needs to be achieved in the field of Better Wage Systems and Circular Systems, the report states.

Standard to measure industry progress

GFA aims to make The GFA Monitor, an annual standard for the fashion industry to measure industry progress, make it more accountable, offer latest data on the industry, and highlight the required actions to meet its objectives. Lewis Perkins, President, Apparel Impact Institute (Aii) says, “The report highlights the industry’s collaborative nature to accelerate positive impact. We can fill the tremendous gaps existing in the industry only through greater collaboration and transparency.”

Laura Balmond, Fashion Lead, Ellen MacArthur Foundation affirms, the report brings together key industry actors to address challenges and create real change. “Our contribution to the report will help the industry transition from a linear model of take and make waste, to one that eliminates waste and pollution, circulates products and materials and regenerates nature.”