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In order to attract investments to the African continent, the Ready Made Garments Export Council (RMGEC) in association with Textile Export Council organized the second edition of the Destination Africa conclave in Cairo.
The two day event on Nov 11 and 12 saw over 100 exhibitors from 15 African countries. Different products including ready-made garments, home textiles, yarn and fabric were the key elements on display. The participating countries included Egypt, South Africa, Lesotho, Tunis, Morocco, Zimbabwe, Kenya and Tanzania. The event agenda included regional exhibition, international conference along with the ongoing networking functions.
The previous year’s event was organized along similar lines with a fair success rate. Citing figures 96 per cent buyers confirmed they will source from Africa, 90 per cent were satisfied from the diversity shown and 93 per cent were satisfied in terms of quality.
The November 2017 edition of International Apparel and Textile Fair (IATF) proved to be a grand success. Now global apparel and textile manufacturers are looking forward to the 8th edition of the fair slated for April 24 to, 26, 2018. The three-day event that took place from Nov 1 to 3, 2017 took place at Dubai World Trade Centre.
With more than 140 exhibitors from around the world, IATF once again proved its status as UAE’s exclusive sourcing fair for textiles and clothing. IATF provides a platform to manufacturers and their agents to showcase their collection to the most influential buyers and designers in the MENA region. The event also, offers buyers, distributors and designers the opportunity to view a wide range of textiles from prominent mills in the world of fashion and design.
IATF attracts some of the world’s largest manufacturers of fabrics and leading print design studios. Exhibitors were mainly from India, UK, China, Japan, Taiwan, Turkey, Hong Kong, Thailand among others. The show witnessed exclusive pavilions from India, China and Taiwan. The Federation of Indian Exports Organizations brought 50 exhibitors from India who displayed their diverse collections in the Indian pavilion. The 7th edition of International Apparel and Textile Fair witnessed a 44 per cent increase in visitors and 27 per cent increase in exhibitors. The show attracted around 3000 buyers mainly from the UAE and GCC region. A number of visitors came from Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar.
Synthetic clothing is not readily recycled due to a lack of technology and commercial viability. While in the last century used clothing from Europe and the US was high-quality and good value, this is no longer the case. Now much of used clothing is unsaleable due to poor quality – often associated with the greater use of synthetics and polyester and natural fiber blends.
Wool, however, tells a different story. Wool has been recycled for more than 200 years. It remains a popular and valuable recyclable – of the total amount of clothing donated for recycling by consumers, nearly five per cent is wool. To put that in perspective, wool’s share of the virgin fiber market is 1.3 per cent.
The best case scenario for textile recycling is the closed loop route. For wool, this means a mechanical process through which garments are pulled back into the raw fiber state. Wool knitwear can retain its fiber length through this process and yield yarn that can be used to recreate a new garment that has all of the natural beauty and performance qualities of virgin wool.
While wool potentially offers fresh opportunities for innovation for outdoor garments, it has become a fiber that slowly but surely more players in the outdoor industry are looking into as one way of improving their environmental and materials footprint.
The World Fashion Convention will be held in Holland, on October 9 and 10, 2018. The convention is a well-established event, bringing together leaders from the fashion industry from over 20 countries. On top of that, visitors get acquainted with the local fashion supply chain of the host country.
The event is hosted by the International Apparel Federation (IAF). This is a unique global federation uniting fashion industry associations, brands, retailers and major suppliers to the industry. Through the convention, IAF offers a place for the fashion industry to meet, to be informed and to be inspired by top national and international speakers.
The World Fashion Convention is being held in the city of Maastricht. This is a fashion conscious, smart and creative city with a strong international character and in close proximity to world class logistic and material science hubs. Here, a new type of fashion industry is coming to life: more interdisciplinary and with a bigger focus on technology and on sustainability.
Every year IAF organized a convention for its members, relations and all other interested parties called World Fashion Convention. The convention caters to industry leaders and therefore, covers a broad spectrum of strategic issues, ranging across the supply chain, from raw materials to retail and from sourcing and supply chain management to retail and branding.
Gerber Technology has software product lines that make it easier for customers to adopt technology and achieve optimization through improvements in their digital workflow. The world’s leading brands rely on Gerber to help them through their digital transformation.
Improvements have been made to the AccuMark family of products and a planned launch of YuniquePLM 8.0 coming in 2018. AccuMark Cloud offers all the features of AccuMark, the industry-leading pattern design, grading, marker making and production planning software, with the benefits of cloud computing.
AccuMark Creator leverages the core functionality of the YuniquePLM product in the form of simple AccuMark add-on modules beginning with virtual sample management, allowing AccuMark users easier and more efficient collaboration with internal and external partners.
Gerber Technology is partnering with Avametric on an advanced 3D simulation engine that powers AccuMark 3D, integrates into AccuMark 2D and gives users the most realistic representation of fabric properties to create digital samples, saving companies up to 50 per cent of time and associated cost. The Avametric partnership also expands Gerber’s 3D offer to cover the complete apparel value chain from retail/consumer all the way through design, development and production.
Yunique PLM 8.0 is the latest in easy-to-use, cloud-based PLM with an exciting, new look, more intuitive functionality and equipped with a self-guided tutorial for easier training and adoption.
Taipei In Style (TIS) is being held in Taiwan from November 16 to 19, 2017. This is an annual fashion trade show featuring displays, seminars and competitions. The fair aims to promote the country’s fashion industry and boost exchanges between local fashion talent and global professionals.
Promoted as an all-in-one trade fair, the event comprises house shows, seminars and business matching meetings. There are 208 booths for the 145 participating local and foreign exhibitors, while 14 fashion shows, four seminars and some design competitions will be held during the fair.
Taipei In Style is designed to give Taiwanese designers exposure, to further enhance the image of Taiwan and Asia, while enriching the regional and global market.
The event is punctuated with Taiwanese designers and their creative philosophies, as well as pieces from Japanese, Hong Kong, Korean, and other designers of varying nationalities. The theme of this year's show, a sustainable fashion future, is recognizable in each of the looks, each simultaneously futuristic and emanating eco-awareness. Garments of royal-colored furs mix with bright plaids and oh-so-many textures valiantly stand out as the models walk. Upbeat sounds, like a waterfall over a riverbed of plastic, accompany the models down the catwalk.
The menswear selections in particular resonate presence and confidence. Palettes both light and dark pair with unexpected garment lengths.
The global market for cooling fabrics is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 11.1 per cent by 2024. Cooling fabrics help to keep the wearer’s body cool. The fabrics also help evaporate sweat and provide protection against heat stress.
The dramatic rise in market value over the years is being attributed to global technological advances combined with a rising awareness of cooling fabrics in the consumer sphere. Changing consumer trends and preferences, together with increasing R&D activities, are expected to drive the growth of the cooling fabrics market over the forecast period.
Cooling fabrics are getting prominence in sportswear and leisurewear, and as these two market areas are also growing in regions such as North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, the market is set to grow even further.
Synthetic cooling fabrics currently dominate the market, with the trend expected to continue throughout the forecast period. Synthetic fabrics offer a wide range of benefits when compared to rival materials. Synthetic materials include polyester, nylon, rayon and spandex, which are not only breathable, but allow effective ventilation. These fabrics are also easily acquired for manufacturing.
Enhanced cooling and moisture management is one of the key benefits, particularly with regards to the sports and athleisure market. In addition, synthetic fabrics also provide higher strength and durability, meaning that they can be used for a wider variety of applications. The segment is expected to account for a large share of the overall market.
Colombiatex will be held from January 23 to 25, 2018. It will showcase textile-garment sector of Latin America. On display will be textiles, specialized solutions, supplies, chemicals, and machinery and more. More than 550 national and international exhibitors are expected with close to 15,800 buyers from 60 countries and more than 22,000 visitors, the trade show will be the meeting point for entrepreneurs, buyers, producers, marketers, managers of design, marketing, from the complete value chain of retail companies, students, renowned Colombian designers, and important communication media.
Colombiatex not only establishes the business agenda for American continent but also brings together supply and demand from every segment of the industry and every fashion category. Brazil will be a guest country in this edition.
Last January’s event hosted over 21,924 national and international visitors, 5.5 per cent more than last year. It had 510 exhibitors, mainly from Colombia, India, Brazil, Spain and Italy, as well as 1,928 international buyers, nine per cent more than last year.
Close to 41 per cent of the investments were directed towards textile purchases, 23 per cent for machinery and equipment, ten per cent for trims and fittings, seven per cent for chemical products, seven per cent for threads and yarns and 12 per cent registered for other categories.
In a development that might prove to be disastrous for the knitwear, garment and textile industry of Ludhiana, which has a turnover of Rs 15,000 crore per year and accounts for 95 per cent of total hosiery production in India, the Union government's move to cut down the duty drawback incentive on export of readymade garments from 7.7 per cent to 2 per cent.
In one of the worst drop registered this year, exports from the country have fallen more than Rs 3,712.67 crore in the month of October as compared to corresponding period last year. According to city exporters, this massive decline is just the beginning and the worst is yet to come as Pakistan has announced a large number of incentives for its garment and textile exporters under its prime minister's package of incentives.
Exporters are worried as they feel this move by Pakistan will hit them very hard in the global market as they will be unable to compete with the exporters of Pakistan due to cut in their incentives. It is an emergency situation for garment exporters as the duty drawback has almost been totally finished by the government. It is said that the situation won’t improve Until the union government tries to match the incentives given by the neighboring countries like China, Pakistan and Bangladesh to their exporters.
Cambodia’s garment exports are expanding at five per cent. Similar growth is expected in coming years if certain issues hindering the industry are addressed. Issues now hampering the sector include: high production costs, low productivity and access to a limited number of markets. The minimum wage will be raised from January. So, factories hope for a change in productivity, a reduction in the cost of doing business and new policies to help investors.
Cambodia’s total export volume reached $9 billion during the first nine months of the year. Eighty per cent of that trade consisted of garments or footwear. In 2016, Cambodia’s garment and footwear industry had 786 factories and a workforce of more than 7,00,000 people. The main export markets for Cambodian garments are the EU, the US, China, New Zealand and Japan.
Cambodia wants international buyers to increase investment in the garment and footwear sector and introduce new technologies. The garment sector is burdened by low productivity brought about by outdated technology, which sinks a country into low positions within global value chains.
A workshop will be set up with buyers, unions, factory owners and government agencies to hear from all sides and collectively prepare a strategy to guide development in the sector.
