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M&S believes in not just social and environmental sustainability but financial sustainability as well. So if it cannot thrive financially, neither can many of the workers within the farthest reaches of its supply chain. The UK department store chain operates about 1,000 locations across Europe, Asia and the Middle East. It has 268 franchise stores in 34 markets and an established joint venture in Greece as well as India.
By 2025, Marks & Spencer hopes to support 1,000 communities and help 10 million people live happier, healthier lives. The communities the British multinational retailer is currently in discussions with are in the UK.
M&S will work with local councils and charity partners to support communities to deliver positive, measurable change. It will initially be piloted in 10 communities over the next two years, when the retailer tries out a range of actions designed to tackle issues that matter most to communities – such as unemployment, skill shortages, loneliness, poverty, and mental health and wellbeing. Successful initiatives will be rolled out to 100 more locations by 2023 and learnings will be shared with 1,000 locations by 2025.
Another of Marks & Spencer’s aims is to be a zero waste business. Marks & Spencer has been the first mover in the retail sector on supply chain sustainability.
Manmade fibers are increasingly edging cotton out of the fashion arena. And fast fashion is doing its bit. Today, with fast fashion based on polyester, there are many changes in a year. Polyester is cheap and doesn’t last as long as cotton, so brands can keep producing new things as quickly and as cheaply as possible. This has really eaten into cotton’s share.
The advantage of polyester is that it is durable, resists wrinkles and shrinkage, is inexpensive, has almost negligible color fastness and is easy to maintain. Cotton by contrast wrinkles, is expensive, has issues with color fastness and is expensive to maintain (washing, drying and ironing). Polyester is an efficient and utilitarian fiber, so it will often be added to fabric where affordability, durability, washability, and function are a priority. So it is being used extensively in mass-market apparel, active wear, and work wear.
Even cotton importers in the US are bringing in more polyester than cotton. Another competitor in the US fiber market is hemp. Growing hemp is illegal in the US because of its similarity in appearance to marijuana. But once growing and processing hemp in the US is legalized, it will be more competitive for cotton than polyester.
Invista’s brand Cordura has a commitment to developing varying degrees of groundbreaking durable fiber and fabric technologies. Over the years, Cordura has worked hand-in-hand with leading brands in the textile industry to break barriers and pave the way for new durable solutions. Cordura is now launching a series of product collaborations and new fabric technologies - from engineered fabrics to performance naturals - that are dedicated to helping consumers Live DurableTM at Outdoor Retailer Summer Market. The innovations are in support of its latest brand campaign, building on the brand's durable 50-year heritage and underscoring its commitment to developing varying degrees of groundbreaking durable fiber and fabric technologies
Cordura fabric is a primary ingredient in many of the world’s leading high-performance gear and apparel products ranging from luggage, upholstery and backpacks to footwear, military equipment, tactical wear, work wear and performance apparel.
Leading brands rely on Cordura fabrics. Brands like Reebok, Fox Racing, Mountain Hardwear, Outdoor Research, Levi's and Goldwin use Cordura fabrics for their gear and apparel products. Artistic Milliners uses Cordura denim fabric to provide long-lasting, reliable freshness and enhance the life of the garments.
In addition Cordura has three outdoor product innovations for 2017 –Authentic Heritage, Simplicity in Style and Going the Distance. Authentic Heritage fabrics aim to help achieve real performance, real results, versatility and reliability. Simplicity in Style has bags, packs and apparel with clean simple minimalistic lines and all around durable style. Going the Distance trend is about multi-functional fabrics that bring a range of hidden benefits. These combine the best of both worlds – strong with soft, fashion and function, durability with definition.
India’s cotton production may rise 12 per cent during 2017-18. Export of raw cotton from India has witnessed a significant increase in recent years along with decreased cotton imports into the nation. The country is now the second largest textile and clothing exporter in the world, contributing around five per cent to the global textile and clothing trade.
As Chinese cotton auction started at a 25 per cent premium over prevailing fiber rate in India, Indian exporters are hoping for a revival in cotton yarn exports. The Indian textile industry is estimating cotton production at 380 million bales against 340 million bales produced last year.
India is emerging a favorable destination for Latin American countries as they want to reduce their dependence on Chinese markets for imports and are looking towards diversifying their markets. During April-December 2016, India’s cotton yarn exports slumped by 12 per cent. During the last 16 years, the area under cotton production has doubled with about 10 million farmers producing cotton in India. However, though the country produces good quality cotton, it is sold at a discounted price because of unwanted constituents and contaminants. The textile industry will use biotech and better irrigation and mechanization.
In 2013-2014, India had overtaken Italy and Germany and become the second largest textile exporter in the world. However, there has been a downslide since then. Overall export of cotton textiles has declined by over 30 per cent in the past three years. The volume of cotton yarn exports declined 15 per cent from 2015 to 2016. Other textiles (yarn, fabric, made up articles) declined by 10 per cent during 2014-15. Raw cotton (including waste) recorded an overall decline of 14 per cent. Cotton fabrics recorded an overall decline of five per cent. This decline is expected to add to the existing distress in the economy.
Cotton textiles comprise cotton yarn, other textile yarn, fabrics, made-up articles, cotton raw waste and cotton fabrics and made-ups, which include products like bed sheets, blankets and curtains. Export of cotton at present is under the open general license. India ranks among the largest producers and exporters of cotton textile products. India exports cotton textiles to Russia, UK, Australia, Sri Lanka, Iran, Germany, Belgium, Italy etc.
The cotton textile industry in India faces numerous problems. Some of these are: Long staple cotton is grown much in India. Many factories are old and productivity is lowered.
The cultivation of genetically modified (GM) crops with new transgenic traits such as herbicide tolerance (HT) is spreading fast in cotton growing states in India even though no license or approval has been granted for growing them in India.
Farmers are swayed by the multiple benefits of these GM varieties, which are being sold illegally, as they offer the twin advantage of bollworm resistance and herbicide tolerance. In comparison, the approved Bt variety (Bollgard I and Bollgard II) is only bollworm-resistant.
The new GM varieties are being sold at half the price of approved hybrid cotton seeds by the grey market players, who seem to be outsmarting regulatory officials by operating directly in remote parts without any valid licenses.
Farmers often keep the information under wraps fearing that they could be sent to jail if they are found cultivating the illegal GM cotton varieties. It is estimated that the unapproved transgenic cotton seed varieties that carry a combination of HT and IT (insect tolerant) traits are being cultivated in about 15 to 20 per cent of the total cotton crop area in the country.
Cultivation of these GM cotton hybrids is happening in all the major cotton growing states. To that extent the cotton seed market has shrunk for the licensed seed companies.
Benetton is not yet back on track but is pursuing its investment plan. The clothing group has struggled to take off despite its reorganization that began in 2015, which saw the company refocus on its two main brands, United Colors of Benetton and Sisley, by completely changing its structure.
Benetton nearly doubled its net loss from €46 million in 2015 to €81 million a year later, while it recorded an operating loss of €38 million compared to €19 million the previous year. The results were published in Edizione’s 2016 balance sheet, the holding company which controls 100 per cent of Benetton and the empire of the eponymous family. In 2016, Benetton Group suffered from continued economic stagnation in Europe, with a deterioration in sales and profitability which resulted in a weakening of its financial position. Cash flow went from €85 to €24 million in one year.
According to the textile group it has not slowed down its ongoing transformation projects or its investment plan, and is on track to achieve them as planned without falling into debt. Moreover, Benetton accelerated its investments last year, since they increased by 39.2 per cent compared to 2015, reaching €45 million. Nearly 330 outlets were opened or repositioned in 2016.
Shirts, trousers, jackets, T-shirts and sweaters contribute 75 per cent to Bangladesh’s apparel exports. But during the last fiscal only the sweater segment maintained an upward trend in earnings. Earnings grew by 5.62 per cent. Earnings from shirts declined nine per cent, trousers fell by 4.62 per cent, jackets fell by 6.02 per cent and T-shirts fell by 4.19 per cent.
Among the reasons for the fall in exports are rising production costs, currency fluctuation and a decline in global demand. But a critical factor is sweater units are automated. Prices of sweaters dropped and customers placed more orders in the jacquard category. An automated jacquard machine is not only able to produce diversified and fashionable products, but can also fabricate critical designs.
As for other categories like shirts and T-shirts, they were already competitive and therefore there was no further margin to compromise on.
Bangladesh has more than 500 sweater factories in operation and nearly 60 per cent of these have switched over to automation to ramp up productivity. A manual machine with one operator can produce a maximum of five pieces a day. An automatic machine with one operator can produce about 30 pieces a day. Many owners have opted for automatic machines to remain cost competitive in the long run.
Donear has acquired Grasim Bhiwani Textiles. The acquisition will give the Donear Group world class manufacturing capabilities, an iconic fabric brand and access to marquee customers globally. It will significantly enhance Donear’s product portfolio, give it access to a strong nationwide retail network, wholesalers and multi-brand outlets through which Donear can expand its reach.
Grasim is the country’s largest manufacturer of PV and PW suiting, selling its products under the Grasim and Graviera brands in India and abroad. The biggest strengths of Grasim Bhiwani are its quality-conscious trade partners and global customers, who have been associated with it for a long time.
Grasim Bhiwani caters to international fashion houses in the US and the UK, supplying fabric to them for making garments. These garments are available in some of the largest retail chain stores. Donear aims to build further on Grasim’s existing strengths. Both Donear and Grasim Bhiwani will maintain their individual identities and stay committed to offer the best products and services to their valued customers as one team.
Textile is Donear’s core business. It has a production capacity of around 45 lakh meters a month. Donear also has a strong international presence. With a comprehensive product basket, the company is supplies fabrics to India’s largest brands including Louis Philippe, Van Heusen, Peter England, Blackberry, Arvind, Wills Lifestyle and more.
Only job workers or units with an annual turnover of Rs 20 lakh or more, need to register for GST. However, the textile industry, especially the power loom segment, is not impressed. There are a large number of small job workers with an annual turnover of less than Rs 20 lakh, whom the power loom industry, especially master weavers, has to engage. With exemption from GST registration, master weavers would end up with the reserve charge mechanism.
In other words, master weavers would have to pay duty on behalf of job workers. Decentralised units employ job workers’ services for weaving and embroidery work, which attracts GST at 18 per cent. Units in the powerloom sector feel they should have been given time to first come under formal taxation net before being subject to any duty.
The powerloom sector is also padding up for a double whammy. Much of the yarn twisting and embroidery work is done by women from their homes but labor, which along with power accounts for 80 per cent of input, is not under the input credit net in the GST regime. This would deprive power loom owners of a refund.
