US apparel firm Kontoor Brands has appointed Ashley Goldsmith, Executive Vice President and Chief People’s Officer as its new Director. As per a Textile Value Chain report, Goldsmith will serve as director on the company’s talent and compensation and nominating and governance committees. She has been the executive vice president and chief people officer of Workday, since 2013.

Prior to joining Workday, Goldsmith was with Polycom for three years with Polycom as its executive vice president and chief human resources officer. She led the company through a high growth phase. She also worked at Ventana Medical System for three years as senior vice president, human resources, corporate communications, environmental health and safety.

From 1995 to 2007, Goldsmith held various leadership positions with Home Depot, most recently serving as vice president, human resources, northern division. Beginning her career at Great-West Life & Annuity, Goldsmith holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Vanderbilt University, a master’s degree in human resources development from Georgia State University and a master’s degree in business administration from North western University.

Hermes’ sales in the fourth quarter missed market forecasts, leading to a 7 per cent decline in the brand’s shares as it imposed various caps on production that prevented it from meeting targets. The brand’s sales from leather goods and saddlery division declined 5.4 per cent over the period, as the company faced capacity constraints. However, the volume of leather goods production increased by 7 per cent annually, informs Axel Dumas, Executive Chairman. Compared to 13 per cent in Q3, Hermes’ sales increased only 11 per cent during the fourth quarter to €2.38 billion with US and Chinese shoppers driving growth.

However, Hermes sales grew 42 per cent in 2021from a year earlier and 33 per cent from 2019 levels. The brand’s revenues exceeded their pre-pandemic levels in all regions except France, where business has been dented by the absence of deep-pocketed tourists. The brand does not plan to increase prices to boost results as it is less exposed than rivals to increasing costs of energy and primary materials, adds Dumas.

At the request of the Pakistan Court of Appeal, Pakistan National Customs Commissioner plans to reopen the anti-dumping investigation of polyester filament yarn and adjust the anti-dumping duty on the products involved to 2.78-6.82 per cent for China and 3.16 per cent for Malaysia. The measure is valid until August 25, 2022. The anti-dumping investigation initiated by Pakistan against China's PFY found the adjusted anti-dumping duty rate has declined.

In recent years, Pakistan’s exports of PFY grew year on year due to rapidly growing demand for textiles. Reduction of anti-dumping duty rate is undoubtedly a great boon. In 2021, China's PFY exports to Pakistan reached a record high of 257kt, accounting for nearly 9 per cent of exports, most of which need to be subject to anti-dumping duties.

With adjustment of anti-dumping duty rates at the beginning of the year, it means most PFY exported to Pakistan before August 25, 2022 can enjoy the dividend of reduced anti-dumping duties, which to a certain extent increases the export competitiveness of China-made PFY.

Signed between India and UAE, the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) will unleash the infinite potential that both nations hold in the textile sector. The trade agreement has been built on the three pillars of trust, transparency and talent, says Piyush Goyal, Minister of Textiles and Industry. It will boost India’s textile exports to $ 2 billion over next 5 years. Duty-free exports are projected to rise to $650 million/year over next 5 years

Indian textile and apparel industry will also benefit through this initiative as now India will not face 5 per cent duty on textiles and garments, which will be a big advantage for Indian companies. India’s total apparel export to UAE was $1,609.4 million in 2020-21 (HS code 61, 62 combine) and 1,436.64 in 9 months of 2021-22. Its home textiles exports to the country increased by 32.46 per cent y-o-y to $259 million.

Negotiated in just 88 days, the 880-page deal also features a permanent safety mechanism to protect domestic businesses in both nations against sudden surges in trading volumes.

Heimtextil 2022 will organize its summer special edition from June 21 to 24, 2022, alongside the trade fair duo Techtextil and Texprocess. As per a Textile Network report, Heimtextil 2022 will be held in Frankfurt am Main in Germany as a purely physical event. The parallel organization of the three trade fairs will enable national and international buyers to experience global trends and innovations along large parts of the textile value chain one place. Its co-organization with Techtextil

Texprocess will provide Heimtextil buyers exciting new perspectives on innovative functionalities of technical textiles or also nonwovens as well as processing technologies for the home textiles industry. says Olaf Schmidt, Vice President Textiles & Textile Technologies. The Techtextil show will cover the entire spectrum of technical textiles, functional apparel textiles and textile technologies. The leading international trade fair will provide an overview of the latest applications of high-tech textiles to make products lighter, more functional and more sustainable. On the other hand,

Texprocess will present latest machinery, equipment, processes and services for garment manufacturing and textile and flexible materials. The leading international trade fair will showcase the processing of technical textiles, apparel fabrics and flexible materials. As hybrid events, both trade fairs will be supplemented by additional digital offers for exhibitors and visitors.

Held at the Istanbul Expo Centre from February 16-18, the LifeStyle Turkey 2022 Women's Ready-to-Wear Fair hosted participants from over 56 countries. The show displayed 2022 Spring-Summer collections from over 120 manufacturers, 150 brands and 4500 stores, boutiques and wholesalers. All participating companies exhibited over 16,000 new designs and collections.

The fair welcomed participants from over 56 countries including the US, South America, Germany, England, France, Macedonia, Mexico, Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, Kuwait, Qatar, UAE, Russia, Netherlands, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Chechnya, Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, UK, Buyers hailed from countries such as France, Australia, Bulgaria, Algeria, South Africa, Malaysia, Morocco and Libya. In 2021, Turkey exported RMG products worth $20 billion. The prominent exporters included Germany, Spain, England and the Netherlands.

The US’ cotton trousers imports grew over 32.24 per cent to $12.04 billion in 2021, according to OTEXA. As per Apparel Resources, imports also crossed pre-pandemic levels of $11.80 billion. Bangladesh emerged top exporter with exports growing 34 per cent to $2.57 billion. Vietnam occupied the second position with exports growing by 15.09 per cent to $1.98 billion. The third largest exporter was China whose exports grew by 35.60 per cent y-o-y to $1.69 billion. Mexico with exports worth $920.14 million, Pakistan with $ 868.43 million exports, Cambodia $625.48 million and Indonesia $ 610.15 million also reported a robust growth in cotton trousers exports to the US. India was the 8th largest exporter with exports growing by over 66 per cent in 2021 on Y-o-Y basis to clock $365.83 million.

Fashion industry is always the scapegoat when it comes to pollution and environmental damage. While many experts claim the industry is second biggest global polluter in after oil and is responsible for 20 per cent of water pollution and 10 per cent of carbon dioxide output, there is no strong research evidence to back this claim.

Industry segments together create pollution

When it comes to in global pollution, many industries such as oil and energy, agriculture, food, and retail manufacturing and construction along with the fast fashion industry are all in it together. There is no knowing which segment tops this infamous chart as there are no official scientific statistics to prove this. This is because unlike other industries, fashion is integrated into the global economy and not an industry by itself. Also, when fashion research is done, it is often published or funded by some brands themselves which makes the findings inherently biased and unfair. Most statistics on the fashion industry segment are usually off-the-mark as they are not based on any science, data collection, or professional research agency.

Although the fast fashion manufacturing industry is a serious environmental hazard, the concept that this segment alone produces over 92 million tons of waste per year is just one of the many wrong facts that have not been proven by industry research. Many retail brands are still using outdated or inaccurate data to make sourcing decisions, meaning they could be actually be increasing their impact, manipulating data to fit their agenda, or delaying their sustainability commitments altogether.

Focus now on more analytical research platforms

However, some companies such as EDITED, a market and enterprise intelligence platform made for retail, is now undertaking analytical and anecdotal research from retail industry experts and have recently brought out a report with proven vital information. Experts say, with varied elements falling under the sustainability umbrella, fashion retailers need to take a stripped-back approach while focusing on improving the main segments that affect the environment which are material extraction, production and transportation and consumption, and end of the lifecycle of the product.

A key finding of EDITED was that almost 37 per cent of products that fall in the sustainable segment contain some level of recycled polyester, which is more from polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles and not recycled garments. There is a pressing need for new solutions with less reliance on plastics and more focus on more natural alternatives. The use of bamboo in material compositions and leather has undergone a plant-based overhaul, used by retailers such as Coperni, Stella McCartney and Ganni who are focusing on animal-free options like grape, mushroom, and apple leather to lessen their carbon footprint.

Investing in metaverse is also beneficial to the retailer’s sustainability journey as most of them are focusing on carbon offsetting initiatives, even though proving how much carbon has been neutralized remains uncertain, making blockchain technology optimal as a permanent digital record. EDITED has also pointed out that the lack of rules and regulations in the fashion industry has allowed some products to be marketed as green with little to no proof.

However, now retailers will have to redesign their sustainable strategies from 2023 onwards as they are required to be more objective and measurable on scientifically proven facts. This will prove that the fast fashion segment is not the only black sheep of the family and many segments need to be focused on for global sustainability and lesser environmental damage issues.

The new GST rates for products below Rs 1,000 and the rise in raw material costs has caused the prices of finished footwear to rise by 20-50 per cent across categories. As per the Confederation of Indian Footwear Industries (CIFT), from January this year, GST rates for footwear below Rs 1,000 surged from the earlier 5 to 12 per cent. On the other hand, GST rates on products priced above Rs 1,000 have remained unchanged at 18 per cent. This resulted in some wholesalers going on strike as they were unable to absorb the increased costs, says V Noushad, Managing Director, Walkaroo and Vice-President, CIFI.

Naushad urged the government to reduce dependence on China by boosting local production of components, machines and designs in the non-leather category. The category accounts for 85 per cent of the industry’s sales. The association has also opposed the proposal to introduce new Bureau of Indian Standards norms as it may affect around 3 million people dependent on the industry.

Nigeria needs an enabling environment to attract investors to the textile industry, said John Adaji, President, National Union of Textile Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria (NUTGTWN) at a recent event. Adaji urged the government to intensify efforts to stop importation foreign fabrics to encourage citizens patronize locally made fabrics. He emphasized on the need for South Africans to produce what they use and use what they produce. He recommended President Buhar to sign Executive Order 003 to compel government institutions to patronize local products.

Adaji relived the days when the Nigerian textile industry used to be the second largest employer of labour after the Federal government: In 1970s-80s, textile sector was the largest employer of labour second to Federal government. It had a conducive atmosphere with easy availability of cottons and electricity. Adaji added. He urged the industry to create new job opportunities for young entrepreneurs.