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National Institute of Fashion Technology, New Delhi, is number 19 in CEO World magazine's list of the best fashion schools in the world for 2017. Parsons School of Design, US, has grabbed the first position and Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Antwerp, follows second. London College of Fashion, University of the Arts has taken the third position, while the Fashion Institute of Technology, New York, is ranked fourth on the list. Royal College of Art, London is ranked tenth.
The list comprising 110 fashion schools from around the world was formulated by CEO World based on six performance indicators. These include academic experience, placement rate, admission eligibility, specialisation, recruiter feedback and global reputation. Data collected from over 20,000 recruiters, 32,000 industry professionals and more than 30,000 students has been compiled to formulate the list.
NIFT New Delhi was set up in1986 and has emerged as the premier institute of design management and technology. It has produced a number of alumni over the years like Rohit Bal, Ritu Beri and Manish Arora. People from varying backgrounds come together and create a diverse yet collective environment. A variety of teaching and learning techniques are employed to impart knowledge and skills to students.
"The lost sector seems to be back to its roots with textile manufacturing gaining momentum owing to faster delivery requirements as well as customisation. Reshoring Initiative data reflects it ranks number six in industries that have reshored with 17,166 jobs by 287 companies since 2010. Local sourcing is meeting the needs of today’s ‘on-demand’ apparel consumers."
The lost sector seems to be back to its roots with textile manufacturing gaining momentum owing to faster delivery requirements as well as customisation. Reshoring Initiative data reflects it ranks number six in industries that have reshored with 17,166 jobs by 287 companies since 2010. Local sourcing is meeting the needs of today’s ‘on-demand’ apparel consumers.
For clothing startups, local for local i.e. reshoring enhances efficiencies with smaller batches, offers greater flexibility for customization and style changes and speeds delivery to customers. Yogasmoga, a three-year-old startup, was initially motivated to manufacture in the US to develop their technical performance fabrics and protect intellectual property. Rishi Bali, Founder & CEO, saw local manufacturing is the only way to monitor quality, overcome communication issues and have the flexibility to quickly scale up his business. Because of this, he is able to meet demand much quicker.
Buck Mason, Sasha Koehn's and Erik Schnakenberg’s apparel startup, set up their manufacturing unit for T-shirts, jeans and button-downs in LA. They were able to manufacture their first batch of T-shirts for just $5,000 locally. They estimated that overseas travel to simply research an offshore factory would cost about that amount. Close proximity made production easier to manage and ensured against risky, unethical workforce practices that could potentially damage their brand.
Established brands’ strategies
Brooks Brothers, a clothing manufacturer in the US since 1818, reshored 70 per cent of suits from offshore locations due to rising wages, quality issues and lead-time. Reshoring increased employment from about 300 to 530 workers at their Haverhill, Mass. plant. They produce about 6,000 button-down shirts weekly at their Garland, NC factory, which employs about 200 people. John Martynec, Sr. VP-manufacturing, elaborated design and production teams work closely to be more responsive to changing trends with increased flexibility and much shorter lead times. If there's a need in the marketplace, the company can respond quickly. They are looking into converting their factories into duty free sub-zones.
Kevin Plank CEO, Under Armour converted a former South Baltimore bus garage into an innovation center called ‘City Garage’ with an aim to bring manufacturing back home. Located inside City Garage is Under Armour’s UA Lighthouse, a 35,000-sq. ft. design and manufacturing center. In addition to a home for UA Lighthouse, Plank’s vision was to create a maker space for entrepreneurs and startups. The idea is to bring design and manufacturing under the same roof to drive innovation and collaboration, attract talent and shrink the supply chain to deliver products to consumers faster and more efficiently. They found that design, prototyping and production were reduced from 18 months to just 4 months.
Retailers gearing up
Walmart has commited to source an additional $250 billion in products made, assembled or grown in the US over 10 years ending 2023. The Reshoring Initiative estimates that amount of purchases will create about 250,000 US manufacturing jobs. According to Walmart research, manufacturing goods closest to the point of sale allows for quicker turnaround time from factory to shelf.
No nonsense brand made by Kayser-Roth launched a ‘Sock Initiative’ in cooperation with Walmart. With an investment of up to $28 million in its existing facilities in Burlington and Asheboro, N.C, the collaboration increased domestic production and created about 100 US jobs. The initiative enabled No nonsense and Walmart to offer more America-made products to consumers.
With the growing expanse of e-commerce and new technologies like sewbots and 3D printing, faster delivery and customisation are becoming increasingly important to the fashion industry. US-based Ziel, an on-demand manufacturer, fulfills orders in quick rotation. They are a turnkey service offering design, manufacturing, and online/offline sales to activewear brands. Marleen Vogelaar, CEO & Founder, Ziel, stated it’s retail as a service for smaller and midsize brands. Cutting, dying and sewing are all done from a few different factories throughout the US. There are no minimum orders and lead-time is under 10 days.
According to a recent nationally representative study by Consumer Reports, almost 8 in 10 American consumers say they would rather buy an American-made product than an imported one, and more than 60 per cent say they are even willing to pay 10 per cent more for it. Americans believe that US-made products are more reliable (84 per cent), they want to keep manufacturing jobs at home (88 per cent), to help the economy (87 per cent) and to keep America strong in the global economy (84 per cent).
Pitti Immagine Uomo is taking place in Italy, June 13 to 16, 2017. This is an international men’s wear trade show devoted to the spring ’18 season. Big names such as Paul Smith and Tommy Hilfiger, both of whom came back to the show for a second season after returning for autumn ’17, dominated the walkways as plenty of newness in the product attracted buyers to the stands. While the Hilfiger denim customisation station drew crowds, Z Zegna provided a tempting lure with a nautical-themed showcase that featured an impressive wall of pouring rain – a welcome respite for sun-baked visitors.
Alongside nautical references, pale pastels – particularly pistachio green and rose tones – were another key trend of the day, as seen at Farah, Fred Perry and Richard James, among others. The atmosphere was generally positive. Many exhibitors reflected on Pitti’s importance in the trade show calendar for attracting top tier European and international buyers. Buyers were seen from Italy, US, Russia, Japan and Australia and the Far East.
New to the show this year was the Make hall, which featured artisan creators from around the world. These included Lamler, a new British outerwear company showing at Pitti for the first time.
J Crew has asked creditors to agree to an out-of-court restructuring that would extend the maturity on bonds to 2021.
This would give the US fashion retailer more time to turn around its business and boost declining sales.
J Crew has also asked for the withdrawal of a lawsuit seeking to block its move of its intellectual property to an affiliated company. The retailer plans to pay the separate company for the use of its brand, which was opposed by some of the term loan holders, spurring the lawsuit.
GSO Capital Partners and Anchorage have already agreed to swap their bonds for the new ones and to end the lawsuit. The backing of these two creditors is important, because together they hold 28 per cent of J Crew's 1.5 billion dollar term loan and 67 per cent of the company’s approximately 500 million dollars in bonds.
J Crew is slashing prices in an attempt to tackle slumping sales and waning customer interest.
America’s favorite basics store is known for its lace jogging pants, skirts, tank tops, tees, dresses, fine Italian cashmere sweaters, sequin and lace-detailed skirts and playful jewelry.
J Crew has been an institution since 1983. It is renowned for its fresh, luxurious take on everyday staples.
"Online shopping isn’t as easy as it seems, it requires a lot of brainstorming because it actually is out for public. Numerous concerns faced by shoppers need to be addressed these include: fit, comfort, and how the fabric actually feels. Retailers have to deal with returns when shoppers realise something that looked great on site doesn’t translate well to their not-quite-model bodies."
Online shopping isn’t as easy as it seems, it requires a lot of brainstorming because it actually is out for public. Numerous concerns faced by shoppers need to be addressed these include: fit, comfort, and how the fabric actually feels. Retailers have to deal with returns when shoppers realise something that looked great on site doesn’t translate well to their not-quite-model bodies. Paco Underhill, Founder, Envirosell, highlights what's troubling with these new initiatives is: if a customer has two failures in a row that's the proverbial cliff...If the shopping apps fail twice, it's easy to be disloyal.
Initiatives to null shoppers concerns
To deal with shoppers issues retailers are looking at innovative ways. For example, Rent the Runway (RTR) has deployed SnapChat and Instagram to give shoppers a better idea of how their dresses will fit. Consumers are able to easily visualize themselves in a certain dress if shown on a live person via Instagram Stories versus viewing it on Rent the Runway’s site. Likewise, Amazon’s Outfit Compare lets users send Amazon photos of themselves wearing two different outfits, and an Amazon stylist gets back to them to say which looks better. As Underhill points out, when a person is buying socks, underwear, etc, there’s not much thought, one just needs to find the right size. When it comes to special occasion dresses, one has to be doubly sure before buying.
Therefore, smart designers and retailers are recognising they have to go beyond just selling their brand to appeal to today’s shoppers. That’s because 97 per cent consumers say fit is the most important factor in their apparel purchase decision, according to Monitor™. That’s followed by comfort (96 per cent), price (94 per cent), quality (93 per cent), durability (91 per cent), colour and style (both 87 per cent), and softness (79 per cent).
Some new technologies are is helping to more accurately determine what consumers want, need or prefer. Amazon’s Echo Look device acts as a standalone selfie machine, and its companion app allows users to view and take full-length pictures of their outfits and compare styles. The Style Check feature uses a combination of machine learning and advice from live specialists to help users figure out what to wear.
What lies ahead…
Underhill feels there will eventually be a personal shopping bot that’s familiar with sizes, measurements, closets and it will use history in helping one choose a wardrobe. Call it a closet consultant that functions electronically. So rather than have the bot run by the retailer who’s always trying to make the sell, they want tech on their side. The retailer can say, that dress matches those shoes in the customer’s closet. Once the bot is accepted by consumers, there will be a code on clothes that informs the bot of color, size and other information that can be taken into consideration for purchase. And that will really simplify and help online sales.
The conference which was held on June 11 of the GST Council, addressed a lot of rate issues where representations were received from trade and industry. It was demonstrated both pragmatism and flexibility of the government.
The government was receptive in sectors with considerable employment potential. It was felt that a lot of the value addition in the sector is carried out by workers in their own homes or in small outsourced premises. Similarly, rates fixed for processed foods such as ketchup, jam etc. have been brought down to give a fillip to the food processing industry. This is again an industry with considerable employment potential.
By reducing the duties, it is expected that the lower price points in India may help to expand the market and create a favourable ecosystem for foreign investment in the food processing sector. At the council it was addressed that the issue of the inverted duty structure in a number of sectors.
The Council has reduced the GST rate on clearly identifiable tractor components from 28 per cent to 12 per cent, likewise the duty rates for certain inputs have been brought down in the pharmaceutical industry.
To benefit a large number of SMEsthe government has also responded to wide appeal of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to reduce their compliance burden in the GST regime. These will now have to file simple compounding return, without having to give details of invoices. The rate has been fixed at a flat rate of 1 per cent for the traders, 2 per cent for the manufacturers and 5 per cent for the restaurants.The SMEs would have to handle things on their own as the big firms have the opportunity to use the services of the GST Suvidha Providers and authorized Suvidha Providers
To help them, the GSTN has created an offline utility to which small and medium industries can upload their returns and from which the GSTN portal will convert the same into their standardised formats.
Large projects like electronic voting and Aadhaar, seeks some hopeas, the past experience in executing.
Synthetic fabric manufacturers feel that with the new GST rates, the cost of imported fabric will become much lower than the domestically manufactured variant.
The industry fears that cheaper imports will hit their production. Under the GST structure, an 18 per cent tax on domestically manufactured synthetic fiber and yarn has been imposed, making imported fabric cheaper than domestically manufactured fabric.
As per the new tax structure, synthetic fabric can be imported at a basic rate of customs duty, which is 7.5 per cent plus the five per cent GST rate. In the current regime, synthetic fabric is being imported at a compounded duty of approximately 26.75 per cent, which includes a 7.5 customs duty, 12.5 per cent countervailing duty and four per cent special additional duty.
Synthetic fabric manufacturers say they are already reeling under the pressure of cheaper imports, mainly from China and that Chinese manufacturers, who enjoy roughly 22 different subsidies from the government, produce the fabric much cheaper.
The GST rates for the entire value chain, after considering the input tax credit, will make synthetic fabric costlier by five or six per cent. Though service tax has been lowered to five per cent, made-ups and garments have not been mentioned in the list and this will further escalate price of garments.
With the goods and service tax expected to roll out next month the rebate on the state levies (ROSL) scheme may be readjusted. Under the ROSL scheme, a rebate on state levies is provided such as value-added tax and central sales tax on inputs, including packaging, fuel, and electricity duty, accumulated through various stages of production, from yarn to finished garments. For exporters, the scheme offers enhanced duty drawback cover on inputs.
Already Rs 400 crores has been released under the scheme and around Rs 1,500 crores have been earmarked for the ongoing financial year.
The industry fears that with GST subsuming state taxes, the scheme could be withdrawn prematurely. Under the ROSL scheme, exporters get incentives worth around four per cent of the export value.
The ROSL scheme is an integral part of the Rs 6,000 crore special package announced by the Center last year to strengthen the textile and apparel sectors to improve its global competitiveness. It has set a target to generate an additional 30 billion dollars in exports and create a crore of jobs over a three-year period. The special package had helped apparel exports to record a 31 per cent growth in April over the previous year.
Colorjet will display the TXF digital textile printer at Heimtextil, New Delhi, June 20 to 22, 2017. Colorjet has manufactured the digital printer incorporating the latest Japanese technology, which imparts the printer with the power to print brilliantly and flawlessly, with reduced maintenance.
Colorjet is India’s largest manufacturer of digital printers. The TFX is primarily for home textile applications and fashion designers. Since the printer is apt for printing with all inks, whether pigment, reactive or disperse, all types of fabrics, including polyester, cotton, silk, viscose, rayon or wool, can be printed, which opens huge avenues for different applications.
The digital printer is apt for printing with pigment inks which can print practically on any type of fabric including polyester, cotton, silk, viscose, rayon or wool. Pigment printing has an advantage as the fabric does not necessarily require pre- or post-treatment, thereby saving on production times and reducing water pollution.
The TXF can also work with reactive inks for printing on to natural fabrics and also disperse inks for printing on to polyester fabrics. The printer offers speeds of up to 24 square meters per hour with pigment inks.
At the exhibition, Colorjet will give live demonstration of home textile printing on products like bed sheets, pillow covers, curtains, table covers, etc on TXF.
India’s blanket making units face a bleak future following the decision to cut the levy of import duty and GST from 29 per cent to 16 per cent on all imported blankets and fabrics. These units produce nearly 1.5 lakh mink blankets every day, out of which 15 per cent are exported to North America, Europe, Russia and Australia.
It is feared the decision to decrease customs duty and other taxes under the GST regime will shut down over 50 large scale mink blanket manufacturing units in the country as these units will find it difficult to compete with cheap imported mink blankets after the GST rollout.
They cannot compete with mink blankets imported from China as these would be cheaper by at least 13 per cent due to decreased duties on imported blankets from July 1. Jalandhar-based Shital Fibers is a mink blanket manufacturing unit that contributes around 70 per cent to India’s mink blanket exports. The company produces nearly 45,000 blankets a day.
The textile industry employs nearly six crore workers. Under the GST regime, not only the mink blanket industry will suffer huge losses but the textile, yarn and fiber industries, too, will incur losses.
Most blanket manufacturers in Panipat have now shifted to making quilt.
