The Indonesian government has announced that it will place restrictions on the import of textile and footwear products, in a bid to protect domestic producers from unfair competition.

The move comes after the Indonesian Textile Association (API) revealed that unrecorded imports of textile products had reached 31%, posing a serious threat to the country's domestic market.

It is observed that Indonesia has been weak in protecting its domestic market from imported legal and illegal products, and government needs to tighten control over goods entering Indonesia, as imported products can kill domestic products and dominate the domestic market.

The government is considering imposing the necessary restrictions. Importing textiles illegally is considered to make local textile cloth producers unable to compete, and this move will help protect their interests.

The API has suggested that thrifting businesses can help market domestic textile industry products. This is better than selling used imported products, which are illegal in Indonesia.

According to API, local brands are quite competitive in terms of quality with foreign products, and the thrifting business can help sell products from the Indonesian textile industry. This will create a broad economic impact, as production and labor requirements will automatically increase when demand in the industry runs smoothly.

The Indonesian government has announced that it will place restrictions on the import of textile and footwear products, in a bid to protect domestic producers from unfair competition.

The move comes after the Indonesian Textile Association (API) revealed that unrecorded imports of textile products had reached 31%, posing a serious threat to the country's domestic market.

It is observed that Indonesia has been weak in protecting its domestic market from imported legal and illegal products, and government needs to tighten control over goods entering Indonesia, as imported products can kill domestic products and dominate the domestic market.

The government is considering imposing the necessary restrictions. Importing textiles illegally is considered to make local textile cloth producers unable to compete, and this move will help protect their interests.

The API has suggested that thrifting businesses can help market domestic textile industry products. This is better than selling used imported products, which are illegal in Indonesia.

According to API, local brands are quite competitive in terms of quality with foreign products, and the thrifting business can help sell products from the Indonesian textile industry. This will create a broad economic impact, as production and labor requirements will automatically increase when demand in the industry runs smoothly.

Hugo Boss, a leading global apparel brand, has taken a bold step into the Metaverse with the launch of its virtual showroom.

The move comes on the heels of a critically acclaimed Spring/Summer 2023 Fashion Show in Miami, and the Metaverse Fashion Week (MVFW) provided the perfect platform to showcase Boss 's innovative concept. An immersive and interactive experience can be felt, exploring the Boss showroom and discovering the brand's latest products in a new and engaging way.

The Metaverse showroom, which serves as a digital extension of the Boss Miami Fashion Show, featured a visual identity that contrasts the event's aquatic theme against brutalist architectural elements. The five looks displayed in the space are shoppable and are linked to the relevant product pages on the BOSS online store. The outfits feature hero pieces from the runway, along with additional menswear and womenswear styles that celebrate BOSS's design codes, such as timeless tailoring and effortless separates. The brand's hallmark black, white, and camel color palette is interspersed with pops of soft blue, as seen in Miami.

To enhance the user experience, Boss had integrated a layer of gamification into the virtual showroom.

Hugo Boss sees the Metaverse concept as an additional sales channel within the company's future omnichannel strategy. Hugo Boss is one of the leading companies positioned in the premium segment of the global apparel market, offering collections in 132 countries at around 7,400 points of sale. With approximately 17,000 employees worldwide, the company posted sales of EUR 3.7 billion in the fiscal year 2022.

Better Cotton, one of the world's largest cotton sustainability initiatives, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Tajikistan, as first Central Asian country to enhance their partnership and promote the production of sustainable cotton.

The MoU was signed at the Tajikistan Investment and Development Forum in London. The partnership aims to expand sustainable cotton production in Tajikistan with a focus on environmental, social outcomes and overall agricultural sustainability. Both parties will develop a strategic roadmap for sustainable cotton production in Tajikistan based on the Better Cotton Standard System and the requirements of the global market.

Tajikistan is the first country in Central Asia to work with the Better Cotton Initiative. The country already hosts 1,057 licensed farmers, producing 14,000 tons of better cotton harvested on 14,000 hectares of land. Better is engaging with other stakeholders to boost demand for Tajikistan's more sustainably grown cotton and further support its cotton farming sector.

Bestseller's Jack & Jones has launched a new line of jeans made from recycled cotton-rich waste fibre, Infinna, which is an eco-friendly alternative to virgin cotton.

Infinna from Infinited Fiber Company (IFC), is a textile fiber made from recycled cotton-rich waste and is free of harmful chemicals. The resulting fabric is of premium quality, versatile, and has a soft feel that is indistinguishable from cotton. Moreover, it can be recycled repeatedly without losing its quality or performance.

Infinna is a circular superfiber created from textile waste, making it an eco-friendly alternative to virgin cotton. It is completely biodegradable and contains no microplastics, making it a sustainable choice for the future of fashion. By incorporating Infinna into their products, Bestseller and Jack & Jones are reducing their reliance on virgin cotton and diverting textile waste from landfills, thereby reducing their carbon footprint.

As the fashion industry comes under growing pressure to address its environmental impact, Bestseller and Jack & Jones are setting an inspiring example by embracing new materials and technologies that promote sustainability.

Bestseller's investment arm FWD was among the new investors in IFC's recent financing round, and this investment has secured a multi-year sales agreement with IFC for Bestseller.

The 22nd China Hangzhou Chemical Fiber Forum, hosted by CCFGroup, held a high-end roundtable discussion about the future development of the polyester and refining and chemical industry.

The discussion included seven guests from major companies in the industry. Topics included the logic of refineries adjusting ratios, the economic balance of oil products and aromatics, the price difference between PX and naphtha, industrial profit distribution, industry competition and the tight supply of PTA.

It was discussed that refineries need to adjust product structures according to the principle of refinement. It was emphasized that PX does not necessarily drive the production of PTA. During the forum experts forecasted a rise in the operating rate and a fall in stocks in the second quarter due to the low oil product inventories in the United States and China.

PVH Corp has signed an agreement for biorecycling and joins a fiber-to-fiber consortium that has been founded with On, Patagonia, PUMA, and Salomon. The consortium, aims to test and enhance biological recycling technology on their own products, using Carbios’ biorecycling process at an industrial scale.

Carbios, a French company committed to accelerating the transition of the textile industry towards a circular economy, The ultimate goal of the partnership is to prove fiber-to-fiber closed circularity.

During the two-year collaboration, Carbios and its partners will work together to deliver the biological recycling of polyester items at an industrial-scale, including thorough sorting and dismantling technologies for complex textile waste. Carbios has developed a unique and sustainable technology that uses highly selective enzymes to recycle blended feedstocks, reducing the extensive sorting required by current thermomechanical recycling methods.

Globally, only 13% of textile waste is currently recycled and mainly in lower quality applications such as padding, insulation, or rags. The remaining 87% is destined for landfill or incineration. Consortium members will supply feedstock in the form of apparel, underwear, footwear, and sportswear to work on improving textile recycling technologies.

In 2023, a new line for textile PET waste will be operational at Carbios’ demonstration facility through the "LIFE Cycle of PET" project, co-funded by the European Union. This move is in anticipation of future regulations, such as the mandatory separate collection of textile waste in Europe from 1 January 2025.

The partnership between Carbios and PVH signifies the textile industry's continued commitment towards circularity and sustainability. With innovative technology and collaboration, the industry can move towards a more sustainable future, reducing waste and preserving natural resources.

The European Commission has initiated an anti-dumping proceeding targeting certain polyethylene terephthalate (PET) with an intrinsic viscosity of 0.78 deciliters per gram or higher, originating in China.

While the investigation is expected to have limited impact on Chinese PET bottle enterprises, the uneven export volume of these products from China to the EU means that some provinces may be more affected than others.

According to China Customs, the country exported approximately 4.52 million tons of PET bottle chips in 2022, with less than 360,000 tons being exported to the EU, which accounts for only 8.8% of China's total exports. However, Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces account for more than 60% of the total export volume to the EU, with Zhejiang Province exporting around 120,000 tons and Jiangsu Province exporting around 90,000 tons in 2022, making them the most vulnerable to the anti-dumping investigation.

Nevertheless, Chinese companies still have opportunities to gain market share from other countries and regions as the supply cannot be restored immediately in the short term.

The fact that the $2.5 trillion fashion industry is contributing towards 10 per cent of carbon emissions and 20 per cent of waste water effluence is well known. What is news however is, the sector is responding to seriously contributing to decreasing its polluting presence and working towards sustainable production? The dateline for discussions and ideas has been crossed as immediate action is the need of hour.

The global textile sector can no longer operate in its customary linear way using huge amounts of non-renewable resources to produce apparel that have a short lifecycle as trends keep changing, filling landfills with unsustainable amount of wasted garments and incinerating discarded ones. It is apparent that no thought was given to reducing waste, recycling fibres and exploring resources that were not denuding the planet. Environmentalists and scientists are trying to show governments and masses the writing on the wall for the planet, the high-profile fashion sector has been thrown directly under a glaring spotlight.

Regeneration rather than creation

Giulio Bonazzi, Chairman and CEO, Aquafil Group recently stated in an interview with Mint, there isn’t really a need to invest and spend time on creating new products as the sector already has one too many. The way forward is to dive deep into studying existing material and using them innovatively to reduce emissions and effluence during production and recycling them over and over again. He says, if the textile sector pulls its weight together and focuses on regeneration, a significant amount of resource extraction would end. It would also mean less and less items would head towards landfills and incinerators and that research and development would be a leading part in generating circularity.

As potable water gets scarcer, there is simply no excuse for the textile manufacturing sector to contribute towards large levels of water pollution. The standards to reduce textile pollution is focus on avoiding the use or discharge of alkyllphenol-ethoxylates and minimum use of organic solvents. Also, avoiding non-degradable surfactants and spinning oils in washing and scouring processes. Pad batch-dyeing is recommended as it is an effective method and use of natural and azo free dyes and use of organic fibres.

Indian textile industry greening itself

India’ textile and apparel industry, which has a four per cent share of the global trade, is expected to grow at a CAGR of 10 per cent annually to reach $190 billion by 2026. Spurred on by massive domestic and foreign demand, the industry is a top source of employment and attracts a lot of investment. However, this burgeoning industry has high reliance on coal and natural gas to supply electricity and heat, which adds to its also increasing carbon footprint. The Indian Ministry of Textiles has signed a cooperation agreement between the United Nations’ Environment Programme and the Cotton Corporation of India to ensure circularity and mainstream sustainability in the supply chain - innovative materials, using safe dyes, reducing water and energy consumption, treating waste material and ensuring a greater focus on reducing, reusing and recycling.

Similarly, textile producing nations Vietnam, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Pakistan have jointly decided to work on reducing pollution from the textile sector and a $43million initiative will support this endeavor to help these four nations streamline their production towards a more sustainable manufacturing process. The United Nations has played a key role in not only providing the development fund but also sustainable technology.

Buying pre-loved clothes from foreign lands, particularly from South Korea and Japan, is not a new phenomenon in Indonesia. South Korean and Japanese street fashion has always been popular with young Indonesians, which led to a robust parallel sector thriving in Jakarta and other cities. However, this practice has been detrimental to local garment manufacturers who cannot meet the trends, quality and prices that smuggled pre-loved clothes offer. In theory, this is an illegal sector as the local government’s trade ministry imposed a complete ban in 2015. However, the ban has not dented business due to lax policing of street markets, many secret entry points spread over the vast archipelago nation and most importantly a huge demand.

Spotlight on clothes smugglers

Illegal clothes import is valued at around $1.2 billion and 300,000 tons per year. As per Customs and Excise Directorate General, illegal import of used clothing made its way to Indonesia through five main harbors: Tanjung Priok in Jakarta, Tanjung Perak in Surabaya, Tanjung Emas in Semarang, Belawan in North Sumatra, and Cikarang in West Java. The clothes are being smuggled into Indonesia under labeled undeclared goods. Smugglers also mix smuggled clothes within large consignment of lawfully imported goods, knowing that custom authorities will not be bothered to check entire consignments. They also ship used clothes to small ports that lack customs checks, bribing local officials. Another tactic is to send used clothes to neighboring Timor Leste before smuggling them to Bali, Nusa Tenggara, and other areas. Since February 2023, the Customs and Excise Directorate General’s office has tied up with local police forces across these notorious areas and conducted 44 raids, busting 234 illegal operations.

Local manufacturers ready to replace smuggled clothing

The law enforcement authority’s seriousness has gone down well with Redma Gita Wiraswasta, Chairman, Indonesian Fiber and Filament Yarn Producers Association or APSyFI. She feels illicit imports severely damage the domestic apparel industry and prevents the creation of hundreds of thousands of new jobs in the sector. She hopes if these successful operations can decrease illegal imports, Indonesia can easily substitute the import with domestic products, can create new jobs for 500,000 people and such actions would make up for Indonesia’s sluggish apparel export.

Indonesian Garment and Accessories Suppliers Association (APGAI) Chairwoman Poppy Dharsono says domestic producers are ready to fill the demand currently met by smuggled apparel, particularly by providing items rejected by stores with high quality standards. Manufacturers are ready to sell rejected goods in their warehouses at large discounts. Dharsono also states, with this becoming an established practice, smuggled clothing sector will fade away naturally as consumers would be able to buy new clothes at a cheaper rate than used ones. The revenue generated by apparel market amounts to $22.05 billion in 2023 and represents a huge opportunity for local manufacturers as they can capture larger amounts from this revenue. According to Statista, Indonesian apparel market is expected to grow annually by 4.33 per cent until 2027.

Destryoing smuggled clothes

Recently, Teten Masduki, Minister for Small and Medium Enterprises held a public campaign on March 28, 2023, in Jakarta where 7,300 bales of seized foreign second hand clothes valued at $ 5.3 million were destroyed. Masduki hopes this signals Indonesian government’s seriousness in cracking down on smugglers and ending this practice that has for a long time hurt the Indonesian fashion SMEs.