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“British Wool is proud to be a partner of the National Sheep Association (NSA) for the valuable work”, said Joe Farren, British Wool’s chief executive officer, while inaugurating, NSA Sheep South West 2017”. He further commented that British Wool is keen to work more closely with the NSA on key industry issues as well as promoting British sheep products, be it wool or meat.
The South West of England is hugely important in the world of sheep farming for updating the audience on wool prices. Wool prices at auctions fell 10 per cent in 2016, mainly due to a move in Chinese fashions away from the use of our finer wools in clothing.
Farren also discussed on the improvements currently being made within British Wool, the producers’ business. All depots are being run more efficiently and have targeted a 3p/kg reduction in depot floor costs for the 2017 clip. British Wool works with the NSA in many areas including: co-participating in their Next Generation Ambassador programme which seeks to encourage and support young sheep farmers; many of the NSA’s regional managers are also representatives on British Wool regional committees; platforms are shared at agricultural shows and industry events and British Wool news is extensively covered in the NSA newsletter.
The All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) will organize a textile convention along with all textiles associations of the country in the second week of July. The aim is to plan action for the growth of the industry in the country.
Pakistan wants to compete with regional competitors including India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Vietnam for enhancing the county’s exports and achieving the target of economic stability and growth.
The textile industry contributes 60 per cent to the total exports of the country. An export enhancement package has been given the textile sector. The package eases the import of textile machinery which will modernize and enhance the capacity of the sector. The package is expected to strengthen the country’s economy by increasing exports. Energy at competitive prices will be provided to the spinning, weaving and processing industry.
APTMA is the premier national trade association of the textile spinning, weaving, and composite mills representing the organized sector in Pakistan. APTMA represents 396 textile mills, out of which 315 are spinning, 44 weaving and 37 composite units.
The total installed capacity of APTMA member mills accounts for 9,661,366 spindles, 61,608 rotors, 10,452 shuttle less/airjet looms and 1897 conventional looms.
The association’s members produce spun and open-¬end yarn, grey, printed dyed fabrics and bed linen.
Levi’s 501 jean has kept up with the evolving styles of young pioneers. It is a mix of both vintage and current, as it continues to reinvent itself to be more relevant in the modern age. It’s worn by artists to athletes, activists to heads of state, including Hollywood icons James Dean, Marlon Brando, and Marilyn Monroe.
It was 144 years ago when Levi Strauss and Nevada tailor Jacob Davis partnered in 1873 for the first riveted pockets on men’s pants. The number 501 was assigned to the world-renowned copper riveted waist overalls as lot numbers were then used to classify products made by the duo.
Seventy years later, in 1943, the classic Arcuate design on the back pockets of the 501 jeans was registered a trademark and remains to be the oldest one still in use today. In 1964, a 501 pair entered the Permanent Collections of Smithsonian Institution.
The iconic 501 is where vintage meets classic. In 2000, Time magazine named the 501 jean as the fashion item of the 20th century, edging out the miniskirt and the little black dress.
In celebration of its 144th year in the market, Levi’s has launched a celebration collection featuring limited edition jeans, shorts and vests. The brand also released its fifth and latest episode of the 501 Documentary Series, The 501 Jean: Stories of an Original, Music, which explored its relationship with music history.
Wool and Woollen textiles is a rural based, export oriented industry in which the organized sector, the decentralized sector, and the rural sector complement each other. India is 7th largest producer of wool and contributes 1.8 per cent to total world production of wool. In 2014/15, India achieved total wool production of 48 million tonnes, because of 3rd largest sheep population in the world. Out of this about 85 per cent is carpet grade wool, 5 per cent apparel grade and remaining 10 per cent coarser grade wool for making rough Kambals( blankets) .
Currently, Rajasthan is the largest wool producing state in India. There are 70 wool processing units in the state, and with over 15 million tonnes wool production ever year, Rajasthan represents over 30 per cent of the wool production in India. The state has eight different breeds of sheep that are well-known for producing high quality carpet wool.
According to the recent figures from the Government of India, the India’s top 10 wool producing states in 2014 and 2015 were Rajasthan, Karnataka, Jammu & Kashmir, Telangana, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh.
The top 5 states account for over 80 per cent of the total wool production in India, while the top 10 wool producing states represent nearly 95 per cent of the total wool production in the country. Punjab alone represents over 40 per cent woollen units in the country, while Haryana accounts for 27 per cent, Rajasthan for 10 per cent, and the remaining 23 per cent are for the remaining states.
The textile industry wants the proposed 18 per cent GST rate on manmade fibers and yarns to be reduced to at least 12 per cent. The industry says fixing the GST rate for manmade fiber at 12 per cent will encourage companies to diversify from the cotton-based textile segment.
While the GST for cotton fiber and yarn is five per cent, the same as now, the tax rates for manmade fiber and yarn have been fixed at 18 per cent. Although the current tax incidence for manmade fiber and yarn producers is roughly around the same level, it doesn’t bridge the existing duty differential with cotton fiber and yarn.
The industry says the excise duty on manmade fibers is preventing domestic synthetic fiber producers from scaling up operations. They say the huge duty difference has ensured that India’s textile market remains cotton-driven, in a stark contrast with the trend globally, and has eroded the country’s export competitiveness in the manmade fiber segment.
While manmade fibers account for around 60 to 70 per cent of the world’s total fiber consumption, they make up for just 30 to 40 per cent of Indian fiber demand (with cotton textiles contributing the rest).
While the GST rate for job work in textile yarn and fabric manufacturing segments has been announced, the tax rates for job work for garments and made-ups have yet to be declared.
The textile embroidery hub in Surat has decided to agitate against GST from June 24. Embroidery job work attracts a five per cent GST rate. Owners of units say profit margins range from 50 paise to Re1 per meter and if they are supposed to pay five per cent GST, their operations would be crippled.
Surat is the country’s largest textile embroidery hub. There are 1.5 lakh hi-tech embroidery machines installed in over 60,000 embroidery units spread across the city. The daily turnover of the embroidery sector is pegged at Rs 4 crores. The embroidery sector employs around four lakh workers, including one lakh women who work from their homes.
The revolution in the embroidery sector started way back in 2006 with the installation of 3,000 computerized embroidery machines known as multi-headed and Schiffli machines imported from China and South Korea. In the last decade, entrepreneurs have infused investments worth Rs 6,000 crores in the sector.
The number of machines has nearly doubled in the last five or six years, which has led to the steep fall in job work rates. Job work rates which were prevailing at Rs 2 per 1000 stitches around ten years ago have dipped to around 50 paise per 1000 stitches.
Many of the world’s leading garment sourcing hubs are ranked among the worst places in the world to work in. Bangladesh, the Philippines, Turkey and Egypt are ranked among the top ten worst countries in the world to work in. All are sizeable garment sourcing locations, Turkey is Europe's largest exporter of garments and Bangladesh is the second largest garment exporting country in the world.
In many countries, fundamental democratic rights are undermined by corporate interests. Attacks on union members have been documented in 59 countries. Bangladesh and Cambodia have seen an escalation of anti-union violence in recent years, despite talk of labor reform from these countries.
While the legislation may spell out certain rights workers have effectively no access to these rights and are therefore exposed to autocratic regimes and unfair labor practices. There has been a decline in labor standards over 12 months, with the number of countries experiencing physical violence and threats against workers having risen by ten per cent in just one year.
Denying workers protection under labor laws creates a hidden workforce, where countries and companies refuse to take responsibility, especially for migrant workers, domestic workers and those on short term contracts.
The International Trade Union Confederation has been collecting data on violations of workers’ rights to trade union membership and collective bargaining around the world for more than 30 years.
Vietnam’s textile and apparel sector has set a target of seven per cent growth over 2016. Currently, Vietnamese garment and textile products are available in 40 countries and territories around the world, with major markets including the United States, Japan, the Republic of Korea, China and the EU.
Vietnam is one of the five largest textile and garment exporters in the world. However the country is also one of the world’s leading importers of fabrics and materials. The shortage of high-quality materials for production is the biggest barrier to Vietnam’s textile and garment industry, hindering the country from taking advantage of free trade agreements.
Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City will build large centers for designing fashion, trading garments, textile material and accessories to become the country’s future garment, textile material and accessory hub.
Ho Chi Minh City has set targets of meeting 80 to 90 per cent of Vietnam's demand for garments and textiles by 2020 and supplying 100 per cent of accessories for the country’s garment industry.
According to approved plans, the city has 23 industrial parks and export processing zones, of which 17 are operational. Most garment and textile firms are now located in the export processing zones of Tan Thuan and Linh Trung, and the industrial parks of Tan Thoi Hiep, Tan Binh, Tan Tao, Tay Bac Cu Chi and Dong Nam.
The Children’s Place has entered into a development agreement with Gill Capital covering Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines. The first retail stores are to open in Indonesia, with a plan to open 25 locations in Indonesia, followed by openings in the other countries in the development area.
The Children’s Place is the largest pure-play children’s specialty apparel retailer in North America. It caters to children up to 14 years. It designs, contracts to manufacture, sells and licenses to sell fashionable, high-quality merchandise at value prices, primarily under the proprietary The Children’s Place, Place and Baby Place brand names. As of April 29, 2017, the company operated 1,033 stores in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico, an online store and had 156 international points of distribution open and operated by its six franchise partners in 18 countries.
The store environment is pleasing and friendly, with bright, airy spaces that allow the merchandise to speak for itself. Total coordination and visual display make shopping easy. Clothes and accessories are conveniently arranged in separate departments: for boys, size 4 to 14; girls, 4 to 14; toddlers, 3 to 36 months, and newborns, 0 to 12 months.
Gill Capital has a proven track record of operating successful brands in south east Asia.
The UK Fashion and Textile Association (UKFT) has secured significantly increased export funding from the government for international trade shows. Grants will be available to help designers and manufacturers with the costs of exhibiting at fashion and textile trade shows around the globe. For 2018, additional shows include kidswear show Pitti Bimbo in Florence, CIFF, CIFF Kids, CIFF Raven and Revolver in Copenhagen, and menswear show Chicago Collective.
Not only does export funding via the program provide vital financial support to companies, it also provides a significant return on investment for government – every pound of support generates a return on investment of between 40 pounds and 70 pounds. With these additional shows UKFT will be able to offer Tradeshow Access Program support to an even wider range of excellent British brands and designers who are keen to get their collections in front of the right international buyers.
The UK Fashion and Textile Association is the most inclusive British network for fashion and textile companies. UKFT brings together designers, manufacturers, agents and retailers to promote their businesses and throughout the UK and internationally.
Membership of UKFT allows companies and associations access to an unrivalled community of contacts throughout the fashion and textile system.
