FW
"As per Euromonitor International’s baseline scenario, global apparel sales are forecast to rise by $156 billion from 2016 to 2019 (measured in current prices), provided economic growth evolves. This essentially means that in three years, global sales are set to rise eight times the annual turnover of the world’s largest apparel corporation, H&M Hennes & Mauritz AB, which generated $19.8 billion in sales in 2016. However, global growth is unevenly distributed. Only six countries will account for two-thirds of the forecast global growth, namely China, the US, India, the UK, Russia and Mexico."
As per Euromonitor International’s baseline scenario, global apparel sales are forecast to rise by $156 billion from 2016 to 2019 (measured in current prices), provided economic growth evolves. This essentially means that in three years, global sales are set to rise eight times the annual turnover of the world’s largest apparel corporation, H&M Hennes & Mauritz AB, which generated $19.8 billion in sales in 2016. However, global growth is unevenly distributed. Only six countries will account for two-thirds of the forecast global growth, namely China, the US, India, the UK, Russia and Mexico. Furthermore, focusing on cities – i.e. at even more detailed geographic level – may further narrow the list of locations with the best potential for new stores. While the global apparel sales growth forecast is impressive, two-thirds of the total growth will take place in only six countries around the world, including four emerging markets.
Emerging cities with growth potential
Apparel retail sales in China are expected to rise by an impressive $60 billion over the forecast period. Focussing on key cities in China may help capture most of the growth at minimal costs. While China’s six megacities with over 10 million people account only for 7.2 per cent of country’s population, they will account for 19 per cent of total growth of consumer expenditure on clothing and footwear.
India’s growth outlook is also very promising. However, India is less urbanised in comparison to China and accessing significant share of the Indian apparel market would require coverage of a larger number of Indian cities. The six most rapidly growing cities in terms of consumer expenditure on clothing and footwear include Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata, Delhi and Hyderabad. However, all of them combined will account for only 10 per cent of total forecast growth of consumer expenditure in India. To capture one-fifth of the growth of apparel sales (which required being present in six major cities in China), investors would need to carry out activities in at least 40 major Indian cities.
Mexico and Russia are two other promising markets for apparel retailers. They rank among the fastest emerging markets for apparel, even if their total market size will grow by relatively modest terms in comparison to India or China – namely, $4-5 billion in each country over 2016-2019. Geographically, investment should be even more concentrated in Russia and Mexico in comparison to China or India. Both countries are dominated by their key megacities, Moscow and Mexico City, respectively, which will account for 31 per cent and 15 per cent of total consumer expenditure growth. Growth in Moscow, given the relatively stable forecast of the Ruble’s exchange rate, would be at par with major Chinese metropolitan areas in terms of expected consumer expenditure growth.
Patagonia has sued an e-commerce company called Dazzle Up for selling product through its Simply Southern brand that allegedly infringes on Patagonia's Fitz Roy trademark.
Patagonia has alleged that Dazzle Up’s brand, Simply Southern, has been selling tees with graphics that look like copies of the outdoor brand’s registered mark.
Patagonia is claiming trademark infringement and dilution. In its complaint, it alleges that consumers would be confused about the origin of the products being sold on Dazzle Up. Patagonia is protecting its mark which it claims has enormous goodwill among consumers both in the US and globally.
Patagonia originally put the Fitz Roy mark into use in the seventies when the company formed. It gained official protection in 1984 and has subsequently registered two updates to the mark in 1989 and 1993. Patagonia also holds a copyright to the image.
Patagonia further argues in its complaint that Simply Southern copied all elements of the Patagonia logo including the font. The complaint points out that even the intentional design elements in Patagonia's mark such as uneven spacing of the color bands and the silhouette of the mountains are copied in the Simply Southern graphic.
Patagonia is asking the court for an injunction to prevent further sales of the designs.
A report on the first half of 2017 by real estate consulting firm CBRE recently showed investments in India’s retail market by private equity firms and wealth funds touched $200 million.
During the first six months of the year there were 70 new entries or expansions by global and domestic brands across also seven new global brands entered India during the period, including apparel names like Kate Spade and Scotch & Soda.
The report also showed that India overtook China to top the Global Retail Development Index in 2017 with a market attractiveness of 63.4 per cent and retail sales of about $1 trillion.
Anshuman Magazine, CBRE’s India and South East Asia chairman mentioned that with several legislations and policies in implementation mode, there has already seeing an increase in consumer and investor confidence. This will have a cascading effect on the retail segment. Overall, retail real estate will continue to grow and witness healthy demand across tier I and II cities.
Many retail developments were completed across select cities and resulted in about 1.5 million square feet of fresh supply entering the market. Demand for quality retail space was strong during the first six months of the year with a majority of the supply concentrated in Mumbai, Bengaluru and Delhi-NCR.
According to the report the supply pipeline for the rest of the year is also healthy and is led by Hyderabad and Bengaluru, adding that demand for quality space will remain strong in the fast fashion, department store, sport and leisure segments.
Rental growth in most high streets across key cities will be limited since rents in these locations have already peaked and the completion of infrastructure initiatives will decide the rental trajectory for markets.
Most essential items are exempt from tax, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) are in the 5 per cent tax bracket, restaurants are in the 18 per cent slab and some items–ranging from luxury cars to movie tickets priced over a certain amount–are in the higher 28 per cent bracket after there has been implementation of the goods and service tax (GST).
The International Labor Organisation (ILO) has launched the Global Commission on the Future of Work.
The organisation will work on a report examining the future of work, which intends to provide an analytical basis for the delivery of social justice and fairness.
The commission, composed of 28 members, including ILO director general Guy Ryder, and Philip Jennings, general secretary of UNI Global Union, will focus on the relationship between work and society, the challenge of creating decent jobs for all, the organisation of work and production, and the governance of work.
Members of the commission will produce a report to be submitted to the centenary conference of the ILO in 2019.
IndustriALL, a global player representing the interests of 50 million industrial workers in the world, welcomes the launch of the ILO initiative. It expects this initiative will help it on how to achieve fairness and justice especially in countries where workers’ conditions are still at the level of Industry 0.4 in terms of precarious working conditions.
Just Transition, a tool from the trade union movement aimed at securing jobs and livelihoods during the shift towards more sustainable production, is one of the answers to challenges faced by people of labor in the fast changing work environment.
Global footwear exports have witnessed 25 per cent growth in volume terms over the last 10 years, reaching 13.9 billion pairs, an increase of 78 per cent in sales terms, or $122 billion says the 2017 edition of the World Footwear Yearbook.
On the other hand, exports dropped in value and volume over the last two years. Since 2010 Asia, which remains the global leader in footwear exports, has seen exports fall 2 per cent while for the same period, Europe has gained three points and now accounts for 13.5 per cent of world exports. A trend, which potentially indicates, renewed interest in European production, lead by Italy, Spain and Portugal. China, meanwhile, still represents 67.35 per cent of global shoe exports, followed by Vietnam with 7.5 per cent of the market share.
As for imports, Asia has seen an increase of 5 per cent over the last 10 years. This figure sits just ahead of North America with 23.9 per cent of the import market. Accounting for 36.9 per cent of global imports, Europe remains the leading import market for shoes. However, country wise the United States accounted for 19.6 per cent of imports in 2016, a figure on the decline.
Finally, the average price of an export is $8.84, a decrease in price of 2.3 per cent. A decline over the last two years, which is partly due to a growing interest in sneakers and casual shoes, and a decline in leather footwear production, which are more expensive.
CENTRESTAGE, organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), will be held from 6-9 September, at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC). The event will feature more than 210 fashion brands from 22 countries and regions. About 40 fashion events will be staged, including CENTRESTAGE ELITES, the opening gala fashion show, some 20 fashion shows, as well as designer sharing sessions, an industry forum, trend forecast seminars and networking activities.
HKTDC Deputy Executive Director Benjamin Chau noted that the inaugural CENTRESTAGE served to spotlight fashion brands and designer collections and reaffirmed Hong Kong’s position as Asia’s fashion capital. It was a delight that the first CENTRESTAGE received such widespread and enthusiastic support both at home and from overseas, says Chau and this year’s show will feature spectacular activities, attracting more than 210 fashion brands presenting designs from all over the world.
CENTRESTAGE will also host the finals of The Hong Kong Young Fashion Designers’ Contest 2017 (YDC). Designers and guests who attended today’s preview included designers Fiona Lau and Kain Picken of Hong Kong brand, FFIXXED STUDIOS; Felix Chung, Chairman of the Steering Committee of Fashion Summit (HK) 2017; artiste Vincent Wong, other exhibiting designers, fashion brand representatives and partners.
In addition, the Knitwear Innovation and Design Society will organise the Knitwear Symphony 2017 and the seventh Hong Kong Young Knitwear Designers’ Contest, while the fashion environmental NGO Redress will stage the grand final show of The EcoChic Design Award 2017. The Hong Kong Footwear Design Competition, organised by the Federation of Hong Kong Footwear and co-organised by the HKTDC, will also uncover more local design talent during CENTRESTAGE.
CENTRESTAGE will become “OPENSTAGE” on 9 September, the closing day and it will welcome public visitors aged 12 and above free of charge. The event will allow members of the public the chance to experience this major international fashion event and to check out the latest designs from leading brands.
From the famous Dhakai muslin, Bangladesh is known for its heritage textile products since ages. One of the main specialities of artisans is hand knitting specifically sweaters. Not just this, Bangladesh houses one of the largest knitting capacities in the world and has brought a revolution in automation in automatic knitting as well.
Earlier knitting and knitwear firms were centred in and around Narayangonj in Bangladesh. Today they are well spread throughout major garment manufacturing zones. The hosiery sector started expanding into knitting industry after the expansion of RMG sector since 1980s and 1990s, which greatly boosted their growth. In the last fiscal year 2016-17 when Bangladesh apparel export has seen lowest growth in 15 years, the knitwear export increased by 3.01 per cent. Knitwear export stood to $13757.3 million in FY 2016-17 while it was $13355.42 million. For the FY 2017-18, Bangladesh has set an ambitious target to increase knitwear export to $15.1 billion.
Gauging the viability
Figures reveal another picture for this industry, while cost of production of average single jersey regular ‘knitting’ varies between Taka 20-24 per kg the rate of knitting for the same fabric still fall within Taka 12-15 per kg. This is in turn making knitting industry an unviable proposition. While vertical composite industries are investing more in knitting to make sure seamless delivery and production of fabric. Account books of all the ‘knitting’ units show losses. Given this a scenario, reducing cost is important in ‘knitting units’. More importantly, price of ‘knitting’ job work must be increased.
Need for big ticket investments
In order to achieve the goal of $50 billion in RMG export by 2020, Bangladesh has to rely heavily on its knitting and knitwear industry. No wonder experts say the country requires more investment in ‘knitting’. In recent times, not many small cottage like knitting factories are built and it’s highly unlikely that further investments would pour into the industry. Most of the new machinery is bought by big companies to build vertical capacity reducing outsourcing in knitting. Investment should be done to reduce cost and to increase value addition. Knitting units should invest to increase productivity, efficiency, reduce cost and increasing automation.
IKEA, the world’s largest home furnishings retailer, has made a strategic decision to establish a Regional Distribution and Supply Chain Centre for ASEAN in Malaysia. The centre, to adopt the structure and technology of IKEA’s biggest Regional Distribution Centre in Germany, will be among the 10 largest Regional Distribution Centres of IKEA Group globally.
The home furnishings retailer headquartered in the Netherlands will invest RM908 million for the new centre that will manage an inventory of 9,500 stock keeping units (SKUs) worth RM6.6 billion annually. IKEA’s new 100,000 sq. mt. specialised warehouse will utilise its integrated ICT systems and automation to reduce the dependency on labour and significantly increase the efficiency and accuracy of its inventory management processes.
YB Dato’ Sri Mustapa Mohamed, minister of international trade and industry (MITI) stated that the project, which resulted from continuous engagements and facilitation by the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA), represents a significant milestone for both IKEA and Malaysia.
After hitting an over two-week high earlier in the session ICE cotton fell on Friday and has snapped six straight sessions of gains as concerns of crop damage due to Hurricane Harvey faded in top US producing regions. As Rogers Varner, President, Varner Brokerage in Cleveland, Mississippi says the track of Harvey was changed from going into the Delta to more or less southern and south western Texas and dissipating.
Cotton contracts for December settled down 1.68 cent, or 2.41 percent, at 68.15 cents per lb, snapping six straight sessions of gains. It traded within a range of 67.51 and 70 cents a lb. Still, at this time losses would appear to be minimal - at least in terms of overall US production, points out Louis Rose, Co-founder and Director of research and analytics at Rose Commodity.
Varner says the market is going lower over time. On ICE Futures US, speculators cut net long position in cotton by 6,516 contracts to 21,172 in week to August 22. Total futures market data showed total open interest fell 973 to 226,412 contracts in the previous session its volume rose by 11,341 to 28,120 lots. Certificated cotton stocks deliverable as of August 24 totaled 10,888 480-lb bales, down from 11,279 in the previous session.
A new project has jointly been launched by UNICEF and Bangladesh government called ‘Mothers@Work’ at Labour Ministry Auditorium in Dhaka. The project aims to support maternity rights of women workers and promote breastfeeding in the industrial sector, especially the ready-made garment sector.
The government further added this initiative comprises seven minimum standards including paid maternity leave; breastfeeding accommodations; provision of breastfeeding breaks and flexible working arrangements; and medical benefits and provision of day-care. These measures will address the challenges faced by young mothers who have to juggle between childcare and work.
UNICEF Bangladesh Representative Edouard Beigbeder pointed out most working women in the readymade garment industry are of reproductive age and many of them are mothers who are responsible for nurturing the next generation, yet the fear of losing their sole sources of income causes many women to return to work too soon, before they have even physically recovered and stopped breastfeeding.
Several labour union leaders, government officials, Directors and office-bearers of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) among others were present at the launch.
