Responsible Fashion Summit will take place in Sri Lanka, August 8, 2019. This is a platform aimed at driving sustainable practices and accountability in the fashion industry and showcasing Sri Lanka as an apparel sourcing destination which has made considerable progress in creating a supply chain that is responsible and accountable. Responsible Fashion Summit is a knowledge sharing platform which brings together thought leaders, creatives, and thinkers from Sri Lanka and around the world to discuss ideas which can be implemented to create real solutions for a sustainable fashion and apparel industry. This edition of RFS will focus on oceans and plastics.

Apparel exports from Sri Lanka grew 6.38 per cent in May 2019. From January to May apparel exports grew 8.7 per cent against the same period last year. This has been the highest growth rate recorded in the past five years. Sri Lanka’s apparel exports have made a significant impact on American, European and other major export markets around the globe. The country’s target is to reach $ 8 billion in exports by 2025. About 57 per cent of Sri Lanka’s total exports go to the US and the EU. Apparels are Sri Lanka’s biggest exports to the EU.

Texfair will be held in Coimbatore, August 9 to 12, 2019. This is a textile machinery, accessories and spares exhibition. As many as 250 exhibitors from across India and also from Europe, Japan and China will attend the event, which will have 320 stalls. About 70 per cent of the exhibitors will be from Coimbatore. The fair will also feature a farm to finish expo, where cotton, manmade fiber and blends will be exhibited along with garments made from them.

There is a global slump in the textile sector. About 20 per cent of the facility in mills across India are remaining idle. Due to the US import sanctions on Chinese garments, there is a slump in exports from China. This in turn has led to a fall in yarn exports to China from India. In the last quarter, there has been an almost 50 per cent fall in exports to China. The Indian domestic market has also been suffering because of this as domestic prices have come down.

In such a situation, a textile machinery fair is expected to benefit all stakeholders. As it is not feasible for mills to invest in new machinery in this situation, and as mills are looking to improve quality and productivity, there would be a bigger demand for spares for maintenance and auxiliary equipment to improve quality.

India’s apparel market is projected to grow by ten per cent to 12 per cent this year, says Ratings agency CARE. Operating margins of spinners will continue to remain under pressure in the short to medium term as the increase in cotton and blended yarn prices will be lower than the increase in cotton and manmade fiber prices amid weak demand in the country. Also, on the back of slower movement in yarn demand, the utilisation rates of the domestic spinners is expected to be lower, which will put further pressure on margins.

Going forward, with crude oil prices expected to moderate this year on the back of ever increasing US oil production and the overall weak world economy on back of the ongoing trade wars, substitute manmade fiber prices are likely to be competitive in the domestic as well as international markets. Hence, demand for cotton yarn is expected to improve only marginally during the upcoming season.

Cotton prices in the domestic market are expected to marginally pick up from the current levels and remain firm in the wake of strong exports along with tight supply in the domestic market and increased minimum support price. Going forward, cotton prices are likely to register a growth of about six per cent to eight per cent.

Global Footwear Sustainability Summit will be held in China, August 29 to 31, 2019. The event works closely with all parties involved in shoe manufacturing, textiles, brands and other industrial ecosystems from the global footwear industry. It will attract over 300 participants from global footwear brand companies as well as senior executives from sourcing, CSR and supply chain management. Over a period of eight years, it has become one of the most influential footwear industry events worldwide. There will be discussions on the 5G era, building integrated solutions to accelerate footwear supply chain intelligence and speed to market, operational excellence in risk management of factories and workers, the role of digital transformation in accelerating footwear sustainability in manufacturing and retailing, the role of digitalization in value added for footwear and a fast and responsible supply chain that can build a closed loop connecting demand and supply in a digital consumption environment.

Since CSR is becoming a hot topic, the summit will also share practical cases and experiences of sustainable development, including technological innovation, material innovation, employee production safety and environmental protection. This is now a turning point for the development of China’s footwear industry, transforming from processing plants to building high-end brands.

At least 400 factories that were to slow to comply with the new safety rules of the international Accord are no longer allowed to accept orders from the Western brands that are members of the Accord. The Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh was set up by European fashion brands to improve factory safety in Bangladesh after a garment factory complex collapsed in 2013 killing more than 1,100 people.

The five-year pact was originally due to expire in May 2018 but the transition period has been extended. The pact’s factory oversight team will then hand over to a government body set up for that purpose. Nearly 200 out of 1,600 garment factories in Bangladesh have met the requirements of an international accord on worker safety.

"The problem of waste in the fashion industry is getting bigger. Ariel Muller, Asia Pacific Managing Director of non-profit Forum for the Future, recently noted at the Ecosperity conference in Singapore, the fashion industry, which produces around 10 per cent of global carbon emissions is likely to produce over 26 per cent emissions by 2050. The industry loses around $500 billion every year due to clothes that are hardly worn and rarely recycled. Textiles equivalent to one truck of garbage are either landfilled for burned every second."

The problem of waste in the fashion industry is getting bigger. Ariel Muller, Asia Pacific Managing Director of non-profit Forum for the Future, recently noted at the Ecosperity conference in Singapore, the fashion industry, which produces around 10 per cent of global carbon emissions is likely to produce over 26 per cent emissions by 2050. The industry loses around $500 billion every year due to clothes that are hardly worn and rarely recycled. Textiles equivalent to one truck of garbage are either landfilled for burned every second.

Harsha Vardhan, H&M’s Global Environment Manager, Production, terms this waste as a missed opportunity that can be exploited for further benefit of the industry. For this, he advises brands to adopt the circular economy model which relies heavily on recycling. However, this could prove as an uphill task as trash is not traditionally seen as treasure and consumers too have an unending thirst for novelty; particularly Asian consumers.

Preferences for new, shiny clothes increases fashion garbage

Edwin Keh, Chief Executive Officer of The Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel (HKRITA) says, Asian consumers have a deep-rooted preference for the new, bright and shiny clothes which needs to be changed. They associate new materials with quality and value. Also, the traditional recycling methods compel them to compromise on looks and feel of the garments which further increasing their aversion to recycling.

For this Arthur Huang, Chief Executive and Founder of upcycling firm Miniwiz, emphasizes that brands need to revamp their recycling methods. Recycling materials and products and even the recycler needs to be seen as sexy. He advises designers to work with the world’s top lifestyle tastemakers who dictate the current trends in the market. Citing the example of his own firm’s collaboration with sportswear firm Nike, Huang informs that Miniwiz not only incorporated recycled materials into the EVA foam midsole and used Nike’s proprietary Flyknit technology—which is more environmentally sustainable than traditional sports footwear manufacturing methods—but also considered the wider ecosystem.

For packaging, Miniwiz introduced an “Air Bag”, made from 100 per cent recycled polypropylene, each the result of recycling 180 disposable coffee cup lids. The structured bags could be stacked, replacing traditional palettes used in the transportation process, and could be arranged into an in-store installation.

Scaling up business models

Huang opines that even if Asian consumers embrace the idea of alternative materials, the industry must make recyclability as its selling point. It should instead scale up its business models as quickly as possible. A case in point is HKRITA which focuses on shorter and less energy intensive recycling methods. The institute aims to recycle fibre to fibre and garment to garment. It uses heat and pressure to separate and reprocess material which ensures less damage to the material, less energy in the reprocessing, and no generation of chemical waste.

One of Miniwiz’s innovations, the Trashpresso mobile recycling machine also encourages more people to recycle their garments. Consisting of a 12-metre container housing a solid-waste processing line, the Trashpresso machine compacts the recycling process into three steps: reducing the size of the plastic waste, purification and reshaping. The result is usable consumer products such as coasters, bowls and cups, in just four minutes.

Miniwiz pairs the latest technology with artificial intelligence (AI) and data to give the scalability. Latest camera technology and a robust materials data bank is used to identify the materials presented for recycling. The machine processes the trash using AI which allows it apply the correct level of heat and pressure. Collaborations like these between brands, designers, manufacturers and scientists helps the industry move towards circular fashion. It now needs to work together to find solutions to this issue of circularity.

Rikhab C. Jain, Chairman, TT Group was awarded with the prestigious Life Time Achievement Award by the Executive Council of NISTI at the NISTI-ITTA joint conference held on July 12, 2019 in New Delhi.

Jain was awarded for his entrepreneurial excellence, visionary leadership, ethical management, effective organisational abilities and outstanding success in building a diversified business.

An MBA from IIM, Kolkata, Jain also holds a honorary doctorate degree in Business Management. He has many firsts to his credit including pioneering exports in 1964. He has spearheaded many textiles associations including NITRA FOHMA, DHUM, AEPC, (Knitwear Cell).

Winner of lifetime achievement awards from FOHMA, DHUM, SIHMA, TAI and WBHA, Jain is recognised as the pioneer of the hosiery industry. He was recently awarded with prestigious “Transforming India Award” by Ministry of Textiles.

According to the Fact. MR study, sale of knitted fabrics are likely to increase from approximately 49,000 tonne to reach nearly 52,000 tonne in 2019. This growth will be influenced by a variety of factors, such as positive growth prospects of the textile industry and increasing popularity of knitwear among the millennial population. According to the study, sales of knitted fabrics in the APEJ region are likely to reach nearly 35,000 tonne by the end of 2019, which will continue to support growth of the market in the region.

China leads growth of knitted fabrics market in the APEJ region with a whopping 61 per cent share in the global sales of knitted fabrics. China is one of the top clothing exporters in the world, as it accounts for over one-third of the EU’s apparel and textile imports. Domestic manufacturers in China are rapidly transforming their manufacturing strategies with digitalization and automation to bolster their sales of high-quality knitting fabrics worldwide.

The Fact.MR study predicts demand for weft-knitted fabrics will remain higher vis-à-vis wrap-knitted fabrics, owing to the low cost and versatility of weft-knitted fabrics. Weft-knitted fabrics need only single yarn feed, which ultimately helps end-user in the textile industry to cut down the raw material input requirements and the processing steps involved in the production of knitwear apparels. As most end-users are seeking ways to curtail economic, social, and environmental costs of their manufacturing processes, the demand for weft-knitted fabrics has remained consistently high over the period of past few years.

Apparel Textile Sourcing Canada (ATSC) will be held August 19 to 21, 2019. ATSC will feature 500 exhibits of the latest in apparel and textile products and services from more than 20 countries. In addition, ATSC will deliver a world-class fashion show, representing local and international designers, up-and-coming student talent and global fashions presented by show exhibitors.

Thousands of representatives from the apparel and textile industry will convene to hear Canadian trade policy updates and future market outlook as well as the latest industry developments. The show will present a leading roster of speakers covering key topics such as customs, imports and exports, investment opportunities for apparel brands and retailers, shifts in the North American apparel retail trade, compliance, sustainability, industry trends and forecasts, latest digital and lean manufacturing technologies, and the future of fashion. Global apparel industry experts will discuss China’s changing role in the international sourcing landscape.

With Canada in the midst of a shifting trade environment, ATSC has put together the most comprehensive sourcing seminars, expert panels and Q&A segments to arm representatives across all segments of the industry — brands, retailers, e-commerce sellers, designers, importers and buying offices — with the knowledge, tools and practical solutions they need to address current industry issues and navigate through the rapidly-transforming sourcing ecosystem.

BGMEA President Rubana Huq has accused the new fire safety related conditions imposed by Accord of harming the apparel industry. She believes that the new conditions are slowing down the pace of the association’s growth. She also accused Accord of violating the conditions of the memorandum of understanding. Bangladesh attracts renowned clothing brands with is its cheap labor. But the sector, which employs over four million workers, had faced some fires and accidents due to lax safety measures. The government sprang into action after the 2012 fire at Tazreen Fashions followed by the Rana Plaza collapse, which highlighted the poor working condition at the factories.

The Accord was formed as an independent and legally binding agreement between brands and trade unions to work towards a safe and healthy garment and textile industry in Bangladesh.