Nike is the hottest selling footwear and apparel brand amongst teenagers in the Piper Sandler’s 42nd semi-annual survey this Fall. The brand garnered 27 per cent votes in the apparel category, followed by American Eagle at 7 per cent, and PacSun, Adidas, and Lululemon at 5 per cent. Nike’s vote share was larger in footwear at 57 per cent. Vans came next with 11 per cent, followed by Adidas, Converse, and Foot Locker. In September, Nike reported 16 per cent rise in Q1 revenues to $12.2 billion. The results fell short of estimates of $12.46 billion in revenues from a survey of analysts.

Like other footwear brands, Nike has been significantly impacted by ongoing factory closures in Vietnam, the second largest supplier of footwear to the United States behind China. Nike had almost two months of no unit production in Vietnam when two of its footwear suppliers in Vietnam stopped production in July. Vietnam accounted for 51 per cent of Nike’s footwear and 30 per cent of apparel units last year.

Clothing was the number one spending priority for teens at 22 per cent for the first time since 2014. Athletic emerged as a dominant category in the footwear and apparel sector. These categories are dominated by legacy brands like Nike and Adidas, smaller challengers such as Lululemon and Gymshark are widening their reach.

The Trade Council of Denmark-Bangladesh, in collaboration with BGMEA on October 5, 2021 organized a webinar to create awareness about technological solutions from Denmark for green building and industrial processes. As per a Textile Today report, the webinar aimed to facilitate the sustainable economic transition of Bangladesh. The country has the highest number of green garment factories in the world with 148 LEED-certified green factories by the USGBC, said Faruque Hassan, President, BGMEA.

The association is working on industrial symbolize, digitalization, product development, and innovation to take Bangladesh textile and RMG to the next level. The country has already launched a large number of projects for sustainable production with LEED. It currently has 135 LEED certified projects while 500 new projects have been registered for LEED certification, by U.S. Green Building Council. In 2021, Bangladesh received the USGBC Regional Leadership Award.

Khondkar Morshed Millat, General Manager, Sustainable Finance Department (SFD), Bangladesh Bank added, the central bank of Bangladesh is passionate about green banking, green financing, and sustainable financing since 2009. It has taken efforts to prioritize based on their contribution towards sustainability with respect to environmental, social, economic, and governance issues that are in conformity. Its primary objective is to help steer private capital to activities that benefit the environment in the long term.

Bangladesh Bank has four types of funds for the manufacturers who work on green energy, green product, and initiatives. If an ideal fund size for green building and green industry is almost BDT 1.50 to 2.00 billion. Against this requirement, the maximum fund from the BB refinancing scheme will be BDT 0.20 billion for green building and 0.50 billion for green industry and the rest will be on the owner’s bank’s own finance and equity, Milllat added

Chinese-owned fashion brands are looking to expand abroad, sparking a trend of new labels being established in the country with the goal of international growth, says Yishu Wang, Co-founder, Half a World, a firm that offers marketing advice to brands seeking to expand overseas. Fashion labels, including Shang Xia, Icicle and Fosun Fashion Group, are opening flagship stores in Paris and hiring French designers. Founded a decade ago by Jiang Qiong Er and French luxury group Hermes International, Shang Xia started out as a lifestyle brand focused on showcasing Chinese craftsmanship and then expanded into ready-to-wear fashion.

While the label is well-known in China, it has yet to achieve broader commercial success. Shang Xia showed its commitment to Paris when it held its first fashion show on the official Paris Fashion Week, sending a lineup of models in polished suits in bright colours along a circular runway. The label recently set up a design studio in Paris to complement production in Shanghai.

Shang Xia executives said they are seeking to broaden their customer base among younger consumers, add new stores in Asia this year and push into the digital realm beyond China next year.

Fosun Fashion Group has been working to revive the historic French label Lanvin with younger, international consumers in mind, and hired Bruno Sialelli French designer from LVMH-owned Loewe label for the job. For spring ’22 ready-to-wear runway show in Paris, the designer showed slim party dresses, worn by models in towering platform shoes with flared heels, along with an array of handbags and a new pair of futuristic sneakers – accessories are key to the label’s growth strategy.

As per the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS) garment and textile firms in the country are unable to complete export orders due to severe labor shortages and broken supply chains. Many workers in South Vietnam migrated to their hometowns as the fourth and most intense COVID-19 wave caused many textile companies to close or operate at partial capacity between July and September. Around one million workers in the sector, quit their jobs or stayed away from work with or without pay, says VITAS.

Supply chains continue to be broken as most foreign clients shifted their orders to other countries. Many companies in the regions adopted the stay-at-work and commute-to-work models, but they could only get 10-30 percent of their employees back to work. This resulted in garment and textile exports falling by 9 percent month-on-month in September to $3 billion. This year, VITAS expects exports to reach $33.5-34 billion if the pandemic continues until early December, $36-36.5 billion if until November and $37.5-38 billion if it is controlled by October.

Dolce & Gabbana sold a nine-piece collection of digital NFTs or nonfungible tokens at an auction held on September 30. A report suggests, the brand also sold some actual couture for a total of 1,885.719 Ether (Ethereum cryptocurrency), or the equivalent of nearly $5.7 million. The sale has increased cryptocurrency’s value by 10 per cent— making the collection worth $6.1 million as the payment to Dolce & Gabbana will be made at market rates rather than values at the auction’s close. The purchasers included Pranksy and Seedphrase, two leading NFT collectors; Boson Protocol, a company building a crypto-commerce protocol; and Red DAO, a decentralized autonomous organization formed in the crypto community to invest in digital fashion.

The project was conceived in April by Shashi Menon, the Dubai-based publisher of Vogue Arabia, and Founder and CEO, UNXD Together, they created Collezione Genesi — or the Genesis Collection. Five pieces of the collection are physical creations, designed and executed by Dolce & Gabbana, with virtual iterations by UNXD for the metaverse: two versions of The Dress from a Dream, in gold and in silver, both with shimmering beads and crystal accents;

The four other pieces are solely digital: three richly embroidered men’s jackets and The Impossible Tiara, made of gems that can’t quite be found on Earth. Based on sketches by the brand’s designers, Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, they were constructed by UNXD, using the Polygon blockchain.

In a webinar by Groz-Beckert on October 4, consultants from The Fiber Year GmbH, said the global production of knitted fabrics is likely to surpass 2019 levels in 2021. The pandemic resulted in a significant change in apparel demand globally, with a large increase in sportswear and leisurewear based on fine gauge fabrics, heavily influenced by the rise in both home working and the preference for outdoor activities.

Many countries have also been struggling to contain second and third wave outbreaks, with a return to lockdowns in major knitting countries including Bangladesh, Brazil and Vietnam having damaging impacts. These countries are now experiencing order backlogs and inevitably, new orders are flowing back to China. The flexible nature of circular knitting is also bringing benefits in a general move to shorter lot production runs.

As per a Knitting Industry report, China’s overall knitting industry has subsequently bounced back to full production and has also been heavily investing in new low-cost, high speed and flexible circular knitting capacity, as well as in warp knitting machines, although there has been a significant drop in orders for flat knitting machines from the country.

In the first six months of 2021, China has increased its knitted apparel production by 34 per cent, with exports booming and retail sales in China itself even higher, reflecting the success, both on the domestic markets and in exports this year, of China’s own sportswear brands such as Anta and Li Ning.

The Union Cabinet has approved the Mega Investment Textiles Parks (MITRA) scheme proposed in February this year. The scheme involves development of seven mega textile parks across India to create world-class infrastructure with plug-and-play facilities. A part of the government's 'Farm to Fiber to Factory to Fashion to Foreign' push, the parks will generate one lakh direct and two lakh indirect employments per park, says Piyush Goyal, Textiles Minister.

The MITRA scheme enables textile industry to become globally competitive and boost employment generation and exports. The scheme will have two parts, with the larger component being development support. Each of these parks will be set up with an estimated investment of Rs 1,700 crore. . First movers who establish anchor plants and hire atleast 100 people will get a competitive incentive support from the government. These businesses can secure upto Rs 10 crore in a year for three years or a total of Rs. 30 crore under this formula.

The government plans to establish 'holistic integrated textile processing regions' around these parks. This would include common services centers, design centers, research and development centers, training facilities, medical and housing facilities as well as Inland Container Terminals and logistics warehouses.

The COSATU-affiliated Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers’ Union (SACTWU) has called off its four week protected wage strike at SAKPRO, a bag manufacturing company located in White River in Nelspruit in our Mpumalanga Province.

SACTWU and SAKPRO management engaged in three rounds of plant level wage negotiations, earlier this year. Unfortunately, these negotiations deadlocked, and mediation processes facilitated by the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation & Arbitration (CCMA) could also not yield a settlement.

SACTWU then conducted a strike ballot, in which 79.7 per cent of its members voted in favour of strike action. They accordingly embarked on a protected wage strike, with effect from 9 September 2021. This strike caused a complete but orderly shutdown of the factory’s operations. The strike finally yielded an acceptable settlement on October 01, 2021.

In terms of the final settlement, SACTWU members will receive a 6 per cent wage increase, back-dated to 1 July 2021. In addition, they will also receive a 5.3 per cent increase in their monthly transport allowance.

Supported by higher cotton output, Pakistan’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth is likely to rise by over 5 per cent in the current fiscal year, predicts the All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA).

Pakistan’s cotton arrivals from farms have increased by 100 per cent to 3.8 million bales. By October 1, over 3.846 million bales of cotton had arrived in local markets as compared to 1.907 million bales by the same time in the previous year.

The country also plans to set up 100 new textile mills under the new textile policy, which would boost exports by over $20 billion, adds an APTMA official. The new units would help attract foreign investment of over $5 billion besides providing more than 500,000 jobs to the local people, he adds further.

In July-August 2021, Pakistan’s textile exports increased by 28.68 per cent to $2.93 billion as against exports of $2.28 billion in the same period of previous year, according to recent data of the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

Cotton yarn exports rose by 67.97 per cent to $193.39 million from $115.13 million in the corresponding period of previous year.

Likewise, cotton cloth exports surged by 24.74 per cent to $367.62 million from $294.72 million, whereas exports of cotton (carded or combed) increased by 100 per cent to $0.77 million.

At the upcoming Autumn Edition of Inter Textile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics, running from 9-11 October, four Asian country and region pavilions will return from Japan, Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan, along with the Milano Unica Pavilion.

The Japan Pavilion this October will consist of 36 companies, including two brand new exhibitors. The very best of original Japanese designs will be on display along with exclusively produced natural and polyester fibres.

The Taiwan Pavilion will feature 15 exhibitors displaying the latest innovative textile and accessories. Highlighted products include world famous lace and embroidery pieces for wedding and high-end dresses, and functional fabrics with antibacterial and hygienic features.

The Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) are the organizers of the Hong Kong Pavilion which will showcase ladieswear, casual wear and functional wear from eight suppliers, with a variety of quality embroidery and high-grade knitted fabrics to be discovered.

Organized by the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) and the Korea Fashion Textile Association (KFTA), the Korea Pavilion members will mainly focus on ladieswear, casual wear and functional wear. A variety of fancy and functional fabrics can be found among the 14 exhibitors’ collections, along with velvet, Modal, metallic, Tencel, nylon, rayon, cotton, jacquard, linen, wool, polyester, coated, printed and mixed woven fabrics.

Rounding off the country and region pavilions, Milano Unica can be found in SalonEurope alongside suppliers from Switzerland, Turkey, France and the UK to name a few. Milano Unica is in fact returning to Intertextile for the first time since the start of the pandemic and will be formed of 38 exhibitors showcasing products from wool, cotton and functional fabrics to suiting and shirting fabrics. Meanwhile, the very best of made-in-Germany fabrics will be on display at the German zone with a focus on raw materials, finishings, functional textiles and more.

Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics – Autumn Edition is organized by Messe Frankfurt (HK); the Sub-Council of Textile Industry, CCPIT; and the China Textile Information Center.