Pakistan’s cotton production in the current crop year 2021-22 is likely to be 19.42 per cent lower than government's estimate of 10.5 million bales. The government estimates cotton output for the current year to reach 8.46 million bales. As a The News, Pakistan total cotton production in the current year will be less than the industry’s demand of about 14-15 million bales. However, production in Punjab is expected to increase 8.5 per cent to 4.5 million bales.

The 398.6 mm rainfall in 2020 had a devastating impact on the cotton production in Pakistan whereas this year the rainfall of 78.6 mm has improved the prospect of overall production. However, the attack of Mealybug and Whitefly and CLCuV has adversely affected the production of cotton in the country. Farmers need to be made aware of contamination control, said Syed Fakhar Iman, Minister for National Food Security and Research.

The government will be proactive with the provision of quality seed to facilitate farmers, he informed.

Hemantha Perera, Secretary, Sri Lanka Chamber of Garment Exporters has urged the country’s apparel industry to increase value addition in exports to the EU from 52 per cent to 65 per cent. A member of the Joint Apparel Association Forum, Perera believes this will enable them to utilize GSP+ benefits to the fullest.

Perera was speaking at a panel discussion, ‘GSP Plus; Past, Present and Future’, hosted by the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Sri Lanka and the Colombo Chamber of Commerce. He noted that certain fabrics used for apparel production are currently being imported from regions that disqualify the manufactured product for tariff reductions under the EU’s GSP+ concessions. This disqualification could be resolved through local production of such inputs, he added.

Several other speakers highlighted the need for Sri Lanka to retain GSP+ concessions to the EU, including Suresh de Mel, Chairman, Export Development Board (EDB) and Dayaratna Silva, Sri Lanka’s former Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the World Trade Organization (WTO). Silva referred to previous studies published by respected academics that highlight instances of GSP+ withdrawal had a negative impact on the country’s overall economy – with GDP declining by more than 1 per cent.

The use of sustainable cotton in Hong Kong is not prevalent in Hong Kong, shows a new report from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). The report states, eight out of 10 fashion labels in Hong Kong either completely fail or provide only a limited range of sustainable cotton clothing. The survey is based on a study of 39 local and global brands’ ESG reports, online stores, surveys as well as on-site visits to 140 stores across Hong Kong from 2019 to 2020, informs As Green Queen report,

Limited use of sustainable cotton among brands

The WWF report shows, only six of all the surveyed brands committed to use sustainable cotton and sell their clothes at designated areas in stores. These are: H&M Baby, M&S, M&S Baby, Muji, Tommy Hilfiger, and Tommy Jeans. Only 13 brands sold clothes made from 100 per cent sustainable cotton in their stores though all of them had committed to this transition, the report highlights

This limits the availability of apparel made from sustainable cotton in the market, opines Christine Cheng, Sustainability Project Officer, WWF-Hong Kong. Only international brands are known to use sustainable cotton, while local brands do not yet prioritize on sustainable materials, she adds. Brands also fail to offer required information to shoppers to enable them towards conscious shopping choices.

Need for more investments in cotton recycling infrastructure

The WWF-Hong Kong report studies the material’s impact on the planet. One of the most widely used materials, cotton requires huge amounts of water for cultivation and causes intensive soil-degrading and emissions.Hence, it is necessary for a shift to more sustainably produced cotton, such as Better Cotton Initiative (BCI), organic cotton, recycled cotton, and Fairtrade cotton, says the report. The Hong Kong fashion market lacks the required cotton recycling infrastructure to facilitate this transition, adds Karen Ho, Head - Corporate and Community Sustainability, WWF-Hong Kong.

However, they can develop into a major cotton recycling center if it invests more resources in post-consumer waste collection, material clearing and recycling of cotton fibers, he adds. Hong Kong consumers need to boost consumption of sustainable cotton in the country, believes Ho. They need to make sustainable fashion choices by buying more secondhand clothes, swapping garments or recycling their clothes.

Welspun Group has promoted Rajendra Mehta to the CHRO of the Group – People’s Practices. A $2.3 billion enterprise with global presence across differentiated sectors like line pipes, home textiles, infrastructure, steel, advanced textiles and flooring solutions. People Practices has been one of the fundamental pillars of the Group’s success with a keen focus on agility, speed and ownership philosophies.

This vertical has been adopting best practices to further the Group’s transformational objectives and has achieved remarkable feats year on year – be it technology, capability development, agile partnerships or cultural stewardship- it has paved the way for enriched employee experience and consequently having a positive impact on business.

Mehta has 26 years of experience in driving strategic and transformational HR practices across BFSI, Entertainment, Private Equity, Engineering industries. He joined the Textile division in May 2020, and since then has significantly contributed towards stabilizing and strengthening HR Functions at Welspun India He has been instrumental in driving key people practices, innovations and has actively worked in the direction of attaining the company’s ESG goals.

Signed by 77 international apparel brands, the International Accord for Health and Safety in the Textile and Garment Industry has been approved as the successor agreement to the Bangladesh Accord.

On the occasion of the start of the International Accord, Clean Clothes Campaign relaunched its brand tracker to indicate which brands have signed on and which of the major brands sourcing from Bangladesh have not yet done so.Most of the largest buyers from the country, including H&M, Inditex (Zara), C&A, PVH (Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein), and Bestseller (Vero Moda) have signed on. Their signatures alone mean that workers in hundreds of factories can be assured of working in factories that are regularly monitored and proactively remediated and have access to a credible complaints mechanism.

Other major companies sourcing from Bangladesh, including Gap, VF Corporation (North Face), Primark, Desigual, and Auchan, have not yet signed the new agreement. The Clean Clothes Campaign network and its allies will start a public campaign calling out all brands that fail to prioritize their workers’ safety by signing the International Accord.

The IAF 36th World Fashion Convention, to be held from November 07-09 in Antwerp, is being supported by global sponsors.

As per reports, sponsors for the convention include IHKIB, a major Turkish association strengthening the export capabilities of a major part of Turkish apparel manufacturers; QIMAone is a collaborative platform digitizing quality and compliance management for global brands, retailers, and manufacturers; Serai simplifies global trade by building more efficient supply chains; A&E, the foremost manufacturer and distributor of premium quality industrial and consumer sewing thread, embroidery thread and technical textiles; Fair Wear Foundation, a multi-stakeholder initiative helping companies to improve labor conditions in their supply chains and SIM brings innovative supply chain information systems from the food industry to the apparel industry. These organizations enable federations such as the IAF to host a high level industry-wide platform. Also, the event will be extensively covered by media partners just-style and FashionUnited and knowledge partners Fibre2fashion and Sourcing Journal.

The Convention will bring together senior apparel industry representatives from across the supply chain. The Convention’s theme ‘Transition of the Global Fashion System’ will therefore be consistently viewed through the lens of the necessary buyer-supplier collaboration to pull of the needed transition.

David Sävmann, Head-Supply Chain, H&M Group will discuss with various manufacturers from different parts of the world on this theme. Leading industry analyst John Thorbeck will present a current business case highlighting the strong link between a transition of business processes and improved sustainability. And the convention’s extensive coverage of the crucial topic of digitalization will be built around the interaction between brands, retailers and their suppliers.

Leading Portuguese textile company Impetus is planning to launch a premium carbon positive and traceable intimates collection, made with cotton from the world’s first carbon positive Good Earth Cotton farm in Moree, Northern New South Wales, Australia.

Specializing in underwear, loungewear, beachwear, athleisure and technical textiles, Impetus is one of the core creative brands in Europe today, with its own licensed brands and private label.

As per an Innovation in Textiles report, Impetus has partnered with Singapore-headquartered FibreTrace to ensure the combination of physical and digital traceability to authenticate the raw cotton fibre from the farm and accurately report on environmental credentials to reduce impact.

Good Earth Cotton products will be introduced into Impetus Brand collections at the end of 2021, ready for market by 2022.

The 17th Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) report published by America-Canadian apparel manufacturer Gildan Activwear Inc, reflects the company’s key priorities towards continuing its vision of ‘Making Apparel Better.’

As per Apparel Resources, the company faced unprecedented circumstances in 2020 due to the impacts of the COVID pandemic and two back-to-back hurricanes in Central America.

Despite these challenging events, Gildan ended the year on a strong note, demonstrating that operating and financial performance combined with a focus on ESG creates value for all stakeholders.

In 2020, Gildan completed its second set of 5-year environmental targets. Some of the key achievements regarding environment include 33 per cent of Gildan’s total energy from renewable sources, 88 per cent of Gildan’s total waste being recycled or repurposed, 11.4 per cent reduction in water intensity achieved from 2015 to 2020 and 14 per cent decrease in Gildan’s total waste from 2015 to 2020.

In 2020, Gildan achieved the vast majority of its social goals and maintained industry-leading working conditions and labour practices by creating safe and healthy workplaces, respecting human and labour rights and employees’ freedom of association, empowering women and offering competitive benefits.

Business of Fashion has reported that Eric Liedtke, Former Head-Global Brands, Adidas, is launching a zero-waste, zero-plastic streetwear brand called Unless.

Unless takes inspiration from the city of Portland and builds on the sustainability-focused work Liedtke is known for, which helped Adidas move into new territory with regards to materials and manufacturing.

The brand will maintain what it describes as a “zero plastic promise,” meaning—as touched on above—no waste will be left behind once a piece from the brand hits the end of the metaphorical road. Prospective buyers can look forward to a wide range of products including apparel, footwear, accessories, and more. The first drop is slated for this fall.

The brand is backed by Connect Ventures, a partnership between entertainment and sports agency Creative Artists Agency and venture capital firm New Enterprise Associates

Liedtke, a 25-year Adidas veteran, left the brand at the close of 2019. He was credited with guiding collaborations with Kanye West, Pharrell Williams and Beyoncé. He has been on the board of Parley for the Oceans, a nonprofit that works with brands on products made from recycled ocean plastic, since 2015.

During the pandemic, traffic on the Lenzing’s Carved in Blue platform increased by 30 per cent as it continued to meet market demands. As per a Sourcing Journal report, the platform pivoted to videos and a webinar series to help the industry stay connected

Since its launch five years ago, the blog has become a favorite communication platform of the denim industry. It not only amplifies the success stories of partners that use Lenzing’s fibers such as Tencel and Tencel x Refibra in their collections but also features news articles, social media, videos, webinars, ecommerce, a YouTube channel and a podcast series called Blue Cast.

The Content Marketing Institute awarded the blog with the ‘Best Topic Specific Blog’ award in 2020. The accolade affirms the platform’s creator’s belief in need for community building platform for the sector to bridge the supply chain gap with brands and consumers. The blog is also home to several popular content series such as ‘All in the Family,’ a collection of 25 profiles on family-owned denim businesses.