German sportswear brand Puma has appointed Prabhdeep S Bedi as the new director and head of it’s direct to consumer e-commerce operations in India.

Bedi was earlier employed as the COO of education-tech company Toppr Technologies. He has also worked with McKinsey & Company and Procter and Gamble India. He holds an MBA from Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, and an undergraduate degree from IIT Bombay.

Bedi’s appointment will accelerate Puma India’s digital transformation journey and will be responsible for leading the direct-to-consumer (D2C) e-commerce business and the entire value chain of operations, cataloguing, technology, account management and customer experience.

Bedi will report to Abhishek Ganguly, managing director, Puma India and Southeast Asia.

Schoeller Textil AG, the Swiss textile and technology company has named Joachim Kath as its new CEO.

Kath, who comes from the chemical industry, has been working closely with Seigfried Winkelbeiner, Retiring CEO, as COO at Schoeller for the past year and a half. The team successfully pulled together and has been able to strengthen the company’s reputation as an innovation leader. On more than one occasion, exciting collaborative projects with both existing and new customers opened up previously-uptapped business fields and markets.

Under the management of Siegfried Winkelbeiner, Schoeller has successfully weathered even the enormous appreciation of the Swiss franc and the current pandemic. His primary focus has always been to create a working environment in which staff and management have the opportunity to exercise their talents and skills for the benefit of the Schoeller Group.

Joachim Kath originally comes from Flensburg (DE). His career over 30 years has incorporated engineering, production and marketing & sales in diverse management in a wide range of business segments for various industries and areas of application around the globe. Joachim Kath spent 12 years of his career dedicated to textile finishing, with a period of intensive travel in Asia and a 3-year stay in the US.

Mohammad Ali Khokon, President, BTMA, has alleged that some people were benefiting from a recent fire at a Narayanganj juice production plant by circulating rumors about textile mills.

As per Textile Today, Kokon believes, they are spreading these rumors at both homes and abroad in hopes of smearing the goodwill of local export-oriented industries.

Khokon added that some of the local authorities involved in setting up and observing Bangladesh’s industrial establishments have been trying to pass the buck regarding the fire.

Md Monir Hossain, Chief-Media Committee, BTMA shared Khokon’s statement that says, a section of critics are passing negative comments that are damaging the image of the local garment sector. He also displayed deep shock over the death of 52 workers at the fire at Hashem Foods factory.

After the fire incident, a domestic and foreign quarter has been trying to disrupt the prevailing peace and order of the country’s industrial sector with various unsolicited statements centering the incident, Khokon adds.

Textiles minister Piyush Goyal aims to scale up the industry’s capacity 10 times by boosting investment and employment in the sector. Goyal has mandated his team of officers in the ministry to prepare a detailed action plan for each segment — ranging from fibers and garments to handloom and handicraft — along with the deadline. He has directed them to focus on man-made fiber along with technical textiles and handlooms.

The government hopes that a series of steps, including the extension of Rebate of State and Central Taxes & Levies (RoSCTL) will provide clarity to exporters when they negotiate contracts. Similarly, integrated textiles parks with the proposed free trade agreements with the UK and the EU are expected to provide further fillip to Indian exporters. With lower duties in these crucial markets, the textiles industry hopes to compete more favorably with rivals such as Bangladesh, which enjoy wage and tariff advantages.

The ministry has proposed steps such as Mudra loans for startups to buy cotton-plucking machines for renting to farmers. Goyal hopes to replicate the strategy adopted by him in his earlier assignments, such as a massive LED bulbs scheme and steps to scale up renewable energy space and coal production. He has also asked his team to focus on improving the quality of handloom and handicrafts and standardizing it.

The Lycra Company has launched a new stretchable, antiviral fabric in partnership with finishes developer, HeiQ of Zurich, Switzerland. Based on Lycra StretchFX antibacterial fibre, the fabric will be introduced at the Intertextile show to be held in Shanghai, China, from August 25-27 2021. The two companies plan to combine their technologies, commercial networks and global marketing channels to launch a range of new products and will initially target the Chinese markets with them. The is the first of many innovation platforms will roll out through the summer, bringing a new dimension of comfort and confidence to the consumer by delivering HeiQ freshness and antiviral benefits with the quality and comfort of stretch fabrics certified to perform with a new Lycra® freshFX® technology brand standard.

Together, HeiQ and The LYCRA Company bring trusted expertise across the global textile value-chain of yarn processors, fabric mills, garment producers, brands and retailers and demonstrate a commitment to sustainable, consumer-driven innovations, delivered through partnerships that take textile performance to unprecedented levels.

A major player in analytical testing across the world Eurofins Textile Testing Spain has signed an agreement with Tailorlux, a Germany-based full-service provider for product authenticity to digitize cotton tracing by using an enriched viscose fibre. Both have signed a contract with Kipas to enable digital transaction certifications for over 3,000 tons of recycled yarn. Through this, retailers and brands will be able to procure recycled products with an ensured ratio of recycled content based on production data.

The agreement also provides Eurofins access to the Tailorlux algorithm to quantify the recycled content in textiles to audit the technology and test its reliability. Through further data acquisition, the composition of textiles can thus be determined with increasing precision and their ecological footprint be calculated.

Tailorlux provides authentication and traceability solutions with covert markings that are inseparably linked to the product. Through its interdisciplinary expertise in light emitting materials and detection, Tailorlux contributes to making transparency, authenticity and traceability a reality in value chains of various industries. For textile applications Tailorlux provides a polymer or viscose marker fibre that can be traced throughout the supply chain.

H&M, Ikea, B&Q, and Walmart have partnered with COP26 High-Level Climate Action Champions to initiate the ‘Race to Zero Breakthroughs: Retail Campaign.’ Supported by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), this initiative aims to support industry-wide campaigns to promote climate action and encourage other retailers to reduce carbon emissions and keep global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius. It aims to set science-based goals and commit to achieving net-zero emissions from vehicles by 2050 at the latest, and join the ‘zero-emission race’ initiative.

Peter Bakker, CEO, WBCSD says, the campaign urges retailers to take ambitious climate action to address risks posed by climate change across their supply chains and operations. They need to join the UNFCCC’s Race to Zero and showcase leadership and commitment, like H&M Group, Ingka Group (Ikea), Kingfisher, and Walmart, he adds.

In 2019, Amazon and the climate non-profit organization Global Optimism jointly launched a similar movement known as the Climate Pledge. The members of the climate pledge promise to achieve the Paris Agreement ten years ahead of schedule and achieve carbon neutrality by 2040. Verizon, Siemens, Microsoft, and Best Buy are among 108 signatories to the pledge.

Indian apparel manufacturer Sewtech Fashion plans to set up a RMG factory in the Chattogram Export Processing zone in Bangladesh with an investment of $9.26 million. As per a Daily Star report, the company has signed an agreement with Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority (Bepza) for the initiative.

A sister concern of one of India's largest apparel manufacturer Shahi Exports, Sewtech Fashion will annually produce 3.36 million pieces of woven tops for ladies, kids and men. This will create employment opportunities for 3,393 Bangladeshi nationals. According to Bangladesh Bank data, Indian investors invested $134.59 million in Bangladesh in 2020. Of this, $10.70 million was invested in textile and weaving sector.

A report by Hong Kong-based supply chain compliance solutions provider QIMA ranks the Bangladesh garment industry second in ethical manufacturing. The findings of this survey were revealed during the seminar on ‘Wellbeing of RMG Workers through Inclusive Business Initiative by the Dutch-Bangla Chamber of Commerce and Industries in Dhaka.

Faruque Hassan, President, BGMEA, said, the Bangladesh RMG industry has earned significant progress in workers’ safety, well-being, sustainability and industrial relations. It has responded adequately on all compliance and workers’ rights issues from child labor to safety and hygiene at workplaces. The Labor Law was amended twice in 2013 and in 2018 and Labor Rules were promulgated in 2015 to ensure workers well-being and safety at the workplace, Hassan added. Formation of a safety committee and a workers participation committee has also been made mandatory, Hassan stated.

A central fund has been created under government supervision where garment factories are contributing $10 million of their export receipts to be used for the workers’ welfare purposes, he added.

Afsaneh Mehrabi, Director-General, Weaving and Garment Industries Department estimates Iran’s garment exports to have reached $59 million in Iranian calendar year 1398. Mehrabi says, production of garments and textile products in Iran in previous year increased 25 per cent compared to the preceding year. Production of the said commodities had increased by 20 per cent in the Iranian calendar year 1398 (ended on March 19, 2020) compared to its previous year, she adds.

Iran government has decided to ban clothing imports in order to support domestic producers and provide them with an opportunity to improve the quality of their products and become more competitive in global markets. Iran currently exports garments to Iraq, Kuwait, Australia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Russia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Germany, Korea, Japan, UAE, UK, Venezuela, Ivory Coast, Italy, Turkey, Canada, Qatar, Oman, Nigeria, Switzerland, Pakistan, Georgia, Spain, and Denmark. Domestic units are supplying 70-80 percent of the Iran’s internal requirement for clothing, says Chairman of Tehran’s Union of Garments Manufacturers and Sellers,