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Turkey's clothing sector, a main driver of foreign sales, may miss this year's export target if a row with Germany is not resolved. Despite signs of a sales turnaround to other countries, some German buyers have canceled trip to Turkey after a rise in political tension between the NATO allies. This may make it hard to match exports of $17 billion in 2016 which were already about a billion dollars short of an initial target due to the attempted military coup of last July.
Relations between Turkey and Germany deteriorated after Turkey arrested 10 rights activists, including a German, three weeks ago as part of a wider security crackdown. Turkish exports were hampered by last year’s coup attempt, which continued into the first and second quarters of the year. Some German companies have canceled their visits recently. Germany is Turkey’s biggest export market for ready-to-wear clothing.
Ready-to-wear clothes constitute Turkey's second largest export sector after automotives. The European Union buys more than 70 per cent of Turkish clothing exports, with 2.5 billion dollars going to Germany. In the first six months, Turkey’s total exports increased by 8.2 per cent while readymade clothing and apparel exports fell by 5.8 per cent.
The Target Accelerator Program’s fifth edition is set to pioneer new technologies for both their business and the garment sector including AI and machine learning. Target India has selected eight companies to work on the planned technology solutions and a rigorous four month program will be carried out. During the program, the eight companies will refine their technologies and pilot them at Target stores and headquarter locations. The fields in which the eight companies selected reside include artificial intelligence (AI), analytics, digital experience, computer vision, natural language processing, and machine learning.
The eight companies selected by Target India include Jumper.ai which enables shopping on social media using hashtags, Streamoid which uses natural language processing to create personalised product recommendations, and vPhrase which uses structured data to give insights into natural language. Also, Light Information Systems will use natural language processing to add to customer support functions and Cognitifai will enable video analytics on both live and recorded video footage.
The addition of these new technologies to the online retail experience will certainly transform the e-commerce landscape in India. AI is increasingly being used in online stores. With the rise of e-commerce and online payments as a whole, Target India is backing development in a sector sure to continue expanding.
Taiwan is presenting innovative products at the ongoing Outdoor Retailer Summer Market in US on from July 26 to 29. New product categories include cutting-edge fabric printing technology; smart textiles measuring heart rate and motion data; textile innovations utilizing fewer chemicals, water and raw materials while preserving function and complex colors; and the world’s first PFC-free durable water repellant polyester filament, PFC-free soil release polyester filament, and bio-based membrane and foam from coffee oil.
Taiwanese suppliers have devoted research and development to green technologies to meet demand and achieve sustainability goals and corporate social responsibility. Taiwan’s competitive advantage in functional, environmental, and smart fabrics comes from its strong development of functional artificial fibers, which helps produce a wide variety of fabrics. Taiwan’s fabric industry also incorporates semiconductor, biomedical and cross-industry innovations.
The output value (including overseas production) of Taiwan's functional fabrics accounts for roughly 50 per cent of the global output value of functional fabrics, making Taiwan the world’s largest functional fabric production base.
Outdoor Retailer Summer Market connects outdoor gear manufacturers with retailers. From small shops and regional chains to retailers, the event attracts buyers looking for outdoor products, services, fresh ideas, apparel launches and outdoor innovation. The bi-annual event connects around 46,000 attendees for its summer and winter shows every year.
Southern Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SGCCI) and Pandesara Weavers jointly submitted a representation to the Ministry of Commerce and the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) demanding imposition of import duty on Chinese fabrics to protect small and medium enterprises in Surat. The SGCCI has raised concerns that import of heavily under-invoiced fabrics from China has crossed Rs 5,500 crores in the last one year, but could be worth Rs 10,000 crores.
SGCCI president P M Shah stated the government of China provides heavy subsidy to its textiles industry. This has reduced the production cost per unit in China making difficult for the powerloom weavers to survive here.
Pandesara Weavers president Ashish Gujarati says the quality of fabrics imported from China are made of man-made and synthetic fibres as cotton is expensive in China compared to India. This fabric has caused a surge in demand to India's SMEs in Surat.
He stated India despite having production capacity has lost production leading to massive unemployment. Import of fabrics are taking place at unit price of Rs 5 to Rs 15 per square metre. This price is unbelievably low for any kind of fabric as a simple handkerchief costs more than Rs 5 per piece in the market. Therefore, the cost of fabrics should be at least Rs 50 per metre.
Pakistan’s textile and garment industry will stress on value addition and promoting and facilitating exports in order to enhance the country’s overall shipments. Incentives will be given to the garment industry to help it enhance value addition capacity.
Pakistan’s overall exports have gone down from around $24 billion to around $20 billion a year over the past few years of which textile exports constituted more than half of the total shipments. The fast widening trade deficit is a big challenge.
Issues like electricity tariffs, sales tax, high cost of doing business, including the burden of surcharges in electricity bills and levy of taxes on the export-oriented industry will be taken up. The priority is to facilitate textile sector and help it gain competitiveness to enhance the country’s exports.
Existing power looms will be upgraded to switch to technical textiles in addition to producing traditional cheap grey cloth. The old, obsolete and depreciated machinery will be replaced to increase the profitability of power loom owners. There will be comprehensive value addition in the shape of fashion garments. This is necessary to earn optimum profit from the textile chain. It is the last stage of cotton that brings the maximum profit.
LVMH posted a 15 per cent increase in revenues in the six months of 2017. Profit from recurring operations rose by 23 per cent. Its largest division, fashion and leather goods, saw revenues move up by 17 per cent. LVMH is the world’s largest luxury conglomerate and boasts of the largest market capitalization of any company in France.
Selective retailing, which includes cosmetics chain Sephora and international luxury chain duty free, saw sales surge 15 per cent. Perfumes and cosmetic sales advanced by 14 per cent. Wines and spirits grew 12 per cent, powered on by the recovery of demand in China. Finally, watches and jewelry advanced 14 per cent as Bulgari registered an excellent first half.
LVMH enjoyed an excellent first half, to which all its businesses contributed. In the current climate of geopolitical and economic instability, creativity and quality, the group’s founding values have become benchmarks. Increasing digitization of activities reinforces the quality of experience it brings to customers.
LVMH controls luxury’s greatest shelf brands. Its extensive portfolio includes Dom Pérignon, Ruinart, Hennessy, Louis Vuitton, Céline, Kenzo, Givenchy, Fendi, Emilio Pucci, Marc Jacobs, Parfums Givenchy, Parfums Kenzo and Perfumes Loewe. LVMH also controls Chaumet, Zenith, Fred and Hublot.
Diesel’s Jogg jeans are comfortable enough to sleep in. They are soft and comfortable as a pair of sweatpants. They are a denim/jersey hybrid that is the best of both worlds, with jersey’s stretch, and denim’s cool factor and durability.
The brand’s Jogg jeans have been around since 2011 but they have got added shine with the whole athleisure trend. At a pinch they are a stand-in for yoga leggings as the athleisure leg wear of choice. Some of them have drawstrings at the waist and no zipper, while others have the normal button up and zip fly.
The Jogg jeans line has options for men and women, and includes jackets, dresses, and shorts. Jogg is for those who love jeans but want the comfort of sweat pants. Jeans team well with most outfits but sometimes they are not the most ideal or clothing choices, especially for travelling or on a hot day. This is where Diesel’s Jogg jeans come in. They are a mix of jogging trousers and denim.
These jeans put the durability of Diesel denim into motion. They are a cutting edge crossbreed between jeans and active wear, crafted in a unique fabric that weaves together the style of denim with the versatility of jersey. They offer great freedom of movement.
China’s exports to North Korea grew nearly 20 per cent in the first half of the year. However, China’s imports from North Korea in the same period were down 24.3 per cent. China is North Korea’s biggest trade partner and a key source of energy and food. Exports from North Korea to China slumped as much as 52.3 per cent year on year in March, a month after China stopped all imports of the North Korea’s coal and lignite.
China’s imports of coal from North Korea between January and June showed a 54.9 per cent year-on-year drop. Even though jet fuel was one of five banned export items in April 2016, China’s export of jet fuel to the country increased 18.3 per cent year on year in the first half of the year. Exports of rocket fuel and helicopters - also on the banned list - were nil during the period.
China’s exports to North Korea were augmented in spite of the sanctions. Shipments of made-in-China mobile phones spiked 92.8 per cent year on year in the first six months and textile exports also expanded at a sizable rate. North Korea had 3.24 million mobile phone users as of end 2015. That is almost 47 times the figure in 2009, when the country first allowed citizens access to mobile phones.
Accessoires Trilogie (Accessories Trilogy), is an exhibition for the public dedicated to the excellence of French know-how in fashion accessories: shoes, gloves and leathergoods. The next edition will be held in Paris from September 20 to 26 at Joyce Gallery.
French Shoe, Glove and Leathergoods Federations join forces to introduce and promote the gestures, habits, customs, innovations and products resulting from an alliance of technology and creation in keeping with contemporary lifestyles. The purpose of the event, is to emphasize manufacturing expertise as well as brand’s capacity for imagination. The exhibition will be enriched by a dialogue with avant-garde influencers before and during the exhibition.
The exhibition-conversation is designed to let the public discover a selection of 40 fashion accessories from every angle and a variety of facets. It is a unique, in-depth opportunity to explore the objects that adorn our everyday lives. The week-long exhibit, which takes place right before fashion week, unveils both the tangible and intangible contributions of craftsmen and manufacturers, revealing the quintessential aspects of each accessory category for visitors. Extraordinary details, that often pass unnoticed, contribute with savvy discretion to the added value and potential of contemporary French production. This excellence, associating technology with innovation, gives the industry its energy and helps it perform for exports. A playful experience that will draw attention to the evidence of an indisputable French know-how.
The leader of the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Future of Production initiative, Attila Turos, will be the keynote speaker at October’s Textile 4.0 Conference, the first event to explore the opportunities and risk of Industry 4.0 for textile industry strategists. The conference, organised by World Textile Information Network (WTiN), will take place at the Hotel Novotel Amsterdam City, from October 25 to 26, 2017.
Switzerland-based WEF brings together the world’s most influential people in business and politics to shape global, regional and industry agendas. It says of manufacturing and distribution strategy: “The world is at the threshold of a new industrial revolution characterised by a confluence of emerging technology breakthroughs, including mobile connectivity, artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, next-generation robotics, 3D printing, wearables and genetic engineering, nanotechnology, advanced materials, biotechnology and others.
An international development expert, Turos worked as an independent consultant before joining the WEF in 2015. Big players from the textile industry will also feature at the Textile 4.0 Conference. A first-day session on digitalisation and its capacity to disrupt business models will deliver the vision of Chiaretto Calo, group CEO of the newly created, Italian-based IMPRIMA Group, which has already brought together some of the biggest names in digital textile printing. The implications of such workplace automation for employment and skills will be the subject of a session featuring Yves-Simon Gloy, of the Institut fur Textiltechnik der RWTH Aachen University.
WTiN recently launched IoTex magazine and introduced a Textile 4.0 channel as part of its online Intelligence portfolio, to provide a focus for discussion of the business and technology implications of Industry 4.0 in the textile industry. WTiN digital innovation analyst Mutlu Chaouch Orozco will deliver the results of her latest research, and an opening note will be delivered by Tansy Fall, editor of IoTex and Digital Textile magazines.
