With brands struggling with slower deliveries and rising transportation costs, the fast fashion industry is under grave threat. The industry is being threatened by declining profits as highlighted by the 40 per cent drop in Asos’ annual profit this year and the huge dent in full year profits of Boohoo, Aberchrombie & Fitch and Nike due to rising freight costs.

Labor shortage increasing transit times

Most brands are suffering owing to slower deliveries from their Asian suppliers, says Matt Friend, Chief Financial Officer, Nike. Last month, transit times from Asia to the US doubled to 80 days, he adds. Deliveries from Vietnam are delayed due to labor shortages in garment factories, adds Neil Saunders, Managing Director and Retail Analyst, GlobalData Retail.

This further delays brands’ consignments to European stores, says a Reuters report. By the time, goods reach the European markets they are no longer in fashion. For instance, in the third quarter of current fiscal, about a third of Zara’s black men’s blazers failed to hit the market at the required time as did over a fifth of H&M women’s white T-shirts, reveals StyleSage that operates an online platform to monitors product pricing.

Less dependence on global suppliers

To resolve this, brands need to reduce their exposure to global suppliers. This will also enable them to address environmental social and governance (ESG) issues, including carbon footprints and workers' rights.

Zara-owner Inditex has already taken a step in this direction by reducing its dependence on Asian suppliers and sourcing more products closer home. Similarly, Italian brand Benetton is shifting to near-shoring to protect businesses from COVID-19 effects. Few brands managed to resist the pandemic impact on operations. Asos was able to increase its adjusted earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) margin by 70 bps to 5.3 per cent during the year to August 31. It plans to maintain this growth over the next three-four years.

Having expanded operations in the United Kingdom, Asos sources the majority of its goods from China and India. The retailer is facing supply chain pressures resulting in longer lead times for imported goods and constrained supply from partner brands. However, it is building up third party brands and hopes for decent sales growth in the first half of this year, says Adam Crozier, Chairman.

For the first time in the year, US’ apparel imports rose to 8.07 billion in August ’21. As per an Apparel Resources report, the country recorded a 23 per cent Y-o-Y surge value-wise in apparel imports during the month. In volume terms, imports increased to 2,841.04 million SME of garments. The country stepped up orders to all suppliers in Asia, Middle East, Africa, Latin America and Caribbean region during the month.

US’ apparel orders to China increased 21.20 per cent during the month to. The country imported apparels worth $2.20 billion from China in August’21. Vietnam was the second largest exporter to the US with shipments growing by 21.80 per cent from August’20 to $1.51 billion. Shipments from Bangladesh grew marginally by 5.40 per cent to $626.26 million while those from Cambodia grew by a whopping 31.30 per cent to $349.50 million. India’s apparel exports to the US grew 31 per cent in August’21 to $334.69 million while Pakistan’s grew 53.80 per cent to$199.81 million. Sri Lanka’s exports saw grew only 0.50 per cent to $143.85 million during August ’21.

Kenya tops African exports

Kenya emerged the leading African exporter to the US with shipments growing 51.30 per cent year-on-year to $44.12 million. Shipments from Madagascar grew over 100 per cent to $23.72 million while those of Ethiopia grew by 34 per cent to $21.80 per cent. On the other hand, Lesotho could not grow its exports to the US and its shipments by 32 per cent to $23.45 million during the month.

With 101% increase, Turkey dominates Middle Eastern exports

The apparel exports of Middle East Countries to the US was dominated by Turkey which shipped $ 84.35 million worth of apparels and related products to US in August’ 21. Its shipments increased by 101 per cent year-on-year during the month. The second largest apparel exporter to the US was Egypt whose exports increased by 45.60 per cent to $93.21 million. On the other hand, shipments from Jordan grew marginally by 2.70 per cent to177.27 million.

Columbia, biggest Central American exporter

Exports from Latin America, Central America and Caribbean countries were dominated by Columbia whose shipments increased 69.30 per cent to $28.30 million in August ’21. Nicaragua emerged the second largest exporter with shipments surging 55.50 per cent to $199.55 million. The third spot was occupied by Haiti with shipments surging 53.50 per cent to $101.38 million. Honduras followed Haiti with 27.40 per cent rise in shipments to $251.28 million during the month. El Salvador was the smallest exporter US during the month with exports surging by just $15.80 per cent to $146.16 million.

Over 200 participants from the global cotton community took part in the International Cotton Association (ICA)’s first ever Hybrid Trade Event Liverpool 2021 held from October 07-08, 2021.

With the theme of Cotton Connected, the two-day programwas packed with hybrid sessions from a variety of industry leaders, connecting the 153 online and 72 in-person delegates.

Day One saw industry renowned Joe Nicosia (Louis Dreyfus Company) deliver a keynote addressing the Outlook on Cotton. It was followed by an ICA Update delivered by Bill Kingdon (ICA Managing Director) and a final keynote from Andrew Olah (Kingpins) on the future of the cotton industry and the most important strategic actions that need to take place.

Day Two included an all-female panel moderated by Kim Hanna (TransGlobal Inspections) which examined What does changing demand mean for cotton’s future? The final keynote of the event was delivered by Michael Zimmerman and Sameer Bajaj (Kearney), looking at the topical issue of Logistics Markets: Navigating the worst conditions in history.

For the first time, the trade event also showcased a series of Cotton Connected hybrid sessions which allowed for smaller, more interactive discussions. Topics included Arbitration, ICAspire, Women in Cotton, World Cotton Day and a number of regional sessions to address different markets.

The event concluded with a St George’s Soirée in the Concert Room of the magnificent St George’s Hall, where in-person delegates gathered for a sophisticated cocktail party with drinks and entertainment.

Kim Glass, President and CEO, The National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) has emphasized on the importance of investing onshoring and nearshoring.

Glas said, years of offshoring production in a race to the bottom –exacerbated by predatory trade practices that have undermined many manufacturing industries--has led to a tipping point.

China’s virtually unlimited and unrealistic pricing power coupled with its subsidies and lack of enforceable environmental standards strips benefits and undermines policy objectives, and leaves the US industry in an untenable situation of overreliance on a foreign supply chain for critical products and raw materials. This needs to change, he added.

China needs to be made accountable for predatory trade practices that have offshored our industries and our jobs. The industry needs to onshore and nearshore more textile and apparel production chains out of Asia to the US and also to Western Hemisphere trade partners. This has a multitude of benefits to ensure more reliability in production and also has remarkable job benefits to US manufacturers and its allied trading partners who adhere to higher labor and environmental standards. Further, it will help address the migration crisis and grow better paying jobs.

The sustainable textile material company Spinnova and VF brand Icebreaker® have collaborated to developcircular midlayer products with next-generation blends of merino wool and the highly sustainable Spinnova® fiber that can be recycled again and again.

Spinnova and Icebreaker have begun their joint sustainability journey by entering a product development agreement on Spinnova-merino wool midlayer materials that will have a minimal environmental footprint and high performance. The blend Spinnova and Icebreaker are now piloting for midlayer products is sustainable and comfortable, and also fully circular. After consumer use, the developed yarn is intended to be separated and reused, with the ambition to get one step closer to circularity and lowering the products’ impact on the environment.

Icebreaker is an industry sustainability pioneer with ambitious sustainability goals including abandoning the use of plastic fibers by 2023. In 2020, already 91 percent of Icebreaker’s materials were merino or plant-based. This partnership is a great match between Icebreaker’s high sustainability standards and Spinnova’s innovation that aims to transform the way textiles are made globally.

The sustainable and fully circular Spinnovafiber is made without harmful chemicals. The fiber uses 99.5-percent less water and produces nearly 64.5-percent less carbon dioxide emissions than cotton production cradle to gate. Thanks to the mechanical process Spinnova uses to harness its raw material, wood pulp, the fibres can simply be remade mechanically, again without harmful chemicals or quality loss. It also has strong insulation properties, and will be a great companion for merino wool.

Maryam Naebe from the Institute for Frontier Materials (IFM), Deakin University, Australia has been awarded the 2021 Discover Natural Fibers Initiative Innovation Award alongwith her team. As per an IWTO report, Dr Naebe was awarded for creating a special light-weight nonwoven textile fabric from a blend of virgin and waste wool fibers to use as an insulator in automobiles.

Most insulators currently used in automotive applications are made from petroleum-based polyester, polyethylene, and polystyrene molecules, but leading car manufacturers are moving towards replacing interior materials with lighter-weight and biodegradable natural fiber options.

The wool insulator material qualifies for Reuse-Recycle and Reuse–Recover purposes at the end-of-life of vehicles. Dr Naebe is currently a Senior Research Fellow at the IFM, Deakin University in Australia. She received her Ph.D. from the university in 2009 in materials science, and has since then worked in the area of fiber science and functional materials. Her research focuses on sustainability-inspired innovation using waste materials and adding value to natural fibers and biomass for sustainable industrial applications.

The chemical protective clothing market is set to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 9.1 per cent from 2021-26, reveals a report by Performance Apparel Markets from the global business information company Textiles Intelligence. Growth will be driven partly by the expectations of rapid industrialization in many parts of the world and partly on expectations of significant growth in the number of life-threatening incidents involving hazardous materials, including chemical, biological, radiation and nuclear (CBRN) emergencies, outbreaks of disease and industrial accidents.

Another major factor driving growth would be the continuing COVID-19 pandemic and increased pressure on employers to provide suitable personal protective equipment (PPE) to workers. Transportation of hazardous materials in the US will also boost this growth along with a growing threat of cyber attacks which could cause chemical leaks or explosions.

Product innovations will play a pivotal role in driving market growth -- including those based on integrating smart technologies into chemical protective ensembles which will enable wearers to optimize their performances by quickly gauging their workplace hazards and their own physiological states.

A study commissioned by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH with support from BGMEA advocates Bangladesh to capitalize on the country’s reputation as a compliant and certified trading partner to EU and US markets. Titled, ‘Feasibility Study on Scaling up the Production of Technical Textiles’ (TT), the study says, sustainable growth and value addition can be achieved if the textile and garment sector of Bangladesh expands towards the production of Technical Textiles (TT) and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).

Throughout the years, Bangladesh has been a leading global supplier of textile and garments. It needs to maintain its position despite the ongoing pandemic, the study adds. Once Bangladesh has built its confidence and reliability in the new product sector of TT and PPE, advanced technologies can be introduced, it says These will help to diversify and sophisticate the product portfolio, offering greater profit margins, opines BGMEA.

The German development cooperation, namely the GIZ textile cluster, is capacitating local stakeholders to tackle some of these challenges. Outlining the successes of GIZ interventions in textile and garment sector, Achim Tröster German Ambassador assured continued support.

Ravi Sam, Chairman, The Southern India Mills’ Association (SIMA) has urged Prime Minister Modi to stabilize cotton prices that have surged to peak levels in the last 11 cotton seasons, especially in the international market. Sam said, the New York Futures Index that used to hover around 70 to 80 cents per pound is now ruling around 110 cents thus creating a panic situation and uncertainties in the business of cotton textiles & clothing products. NYF increased 25 per cent in the last 15 days. Indian cotton prices, though currently attractive due to comfortable closing stock position, have ncreased from Rs 41,900 per candy during December 2020 to Rs 57,000 per candy during the first week of October 2021 (Sankar-6 variety), he added.

India’s 2021-22 cotton season, which started with an opening stock of over 100 lakh bales, is likely to produce around 355 lakh bales, consume around 330 lakh bales, import around 10 lakh bales and thereby leave around 135 lakh bales for export and the carry over stock, Sam explains. India’s exports may exceed 100 lakh bales in the current season due to US sanction on Xinjiang Chinese cotton that accounts 10 per cent of the world cotton production resulting in not only shortage of cotton but also abnormal speculation in the cotton market.

Sam appealed to the Prime Minister to introduce an innovative Cotton Procurement and Trading Scheme for CCI by providing government funding to procure around 15 per cent of the cotton that arrives in the market during the season. This will enable the corporation to create a strategic stock for price stability, sell the cotton only to the actual users in a staggered manner till the end of the season and maintain some buffer stock for the next season, he added.

Third quarter sales of French luxury group LVMH's fashion and leather goods division rose strongly even as the group’s overall revenue growth in Asia and the United States eased due to its stellar first-half performance. Sales of LVMH’s fashion and leather goods division rose to 24 per cent during as star labels Louis Vuitton and Dior gave a boost to business. Revenues from the division rose 38 per cent above pre-pandemic levels at the end of the quarter.

The company showed a marked improvement in performance in Europe in the third quarter, even without deep-pocketed visitors from Asia, as local travel resumed over the summer. Revenues from the US grew 28 per cent while those in Asia grew by 12 per cent. The group did not face any supply chain issues given its manufacturing is largely based in Europe and also brushed off concerns about rising shipping costs, noting that the group has sufficient margins to cope.

Overall like-to-like sales rose 20 per cent to £15.51 billion ($17.90 billion) in the three months to September. Jean-Jacques Guiony, Chief Financial Officer, said the company would continue to focus on broadening the appeal of its blockbuster acquisition, US jeweler Tiffany, by refocusing its product assortment and ongoing marketing efforts.