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Despite talk about robots stealing jobs, some folks in the fashion industry aren’t perturbed at all. In fact, four women have embraced the idea. They believe new technologies like 3D printing could accelerate and transform production in the apparel industry.
Last week, a Fashion Group International of Los Angeles (FGILA) panel came together to discuss how this could happen. The discussion centred around Fashion Technology Innovation, Challenges and New Frontiers.
There was much talk of how advances in 3D printing and robotics could change the labour market. The answers to these queries were ideas such as sew bots and 3D printers replacing traditional sewing factories.
Pat Trautman, president of Global Garment Engineering said that in the US, people don’t have anybody those who want to sew. That’s why they needed sew bots to have a competitive advantage over foreign production.
“We need people to monitor the machines,” observed Irina Palmer, a technical designer for the Kendall + Kylie clothing brand.
Also in the panel were architects Julia Körner and Jenny Wu who discussed how they already use 3D printers to create their unique fashion pieces. Julia Körner is the founder of JK Design GmbH which specialises in digital design for 3D printing. She’s been trying to move 3D printing from catwalk to the streets. In 2015, she launched sporophyte which is a ready-to-wear, 3D printed collection.
She has also won awards for her use of 3D printing such as the Rising Star Award at the Global 3D Printing Awards by the 3D Print Show London 2014.
35-year-established Italian technology developer for the denim and apparel market, Tonello recently inaugurated a new area within their company in Sarcedo in the very heart of Veneto known as Italy’s blue jean region.
“Our Tonello Atelier is the place where garments at a gestational stage can see the light,” commented Alice Tonello, R&D manager of the company.
“They can be analyzed, studied, optimized, changed and tested. Here insiders will be able to have a complete view of all treatments and thousands of special effects they can explore and, thanks to Tonello machines, easily achieve.
This new Creative Area is the natural outcome of our philosophy: a concrete service for our customers that goes beyond the simple fact of being manufacturers of machines,” he added.
The new company’s section is dedicated to research and experimentation and is a direct offshoot of its R&D Center that has been appreciated for its ability to develop various innovative and sustainable, energy-saving and healthy garment innovation including, for instance, Ecofree, Nostone and Core.
Their new creative area was developed in collaboration with denim expert Piero Turk and aims to become a school, a training place and a craft shop where masters of denim can meet and pass on their experience and knowledge.
Vietnam will host a textile and garment expo, April 5 to 8, 2017.
Saigon Tex 2017 will showcase high-end machinery and equipment and feedstock for the textile and garment industry.
The expo is expected to attract nearly 1,200 exhibitors from 23 countries and territories. It will also feature several seminars, including those on increasing value for Vietnamese textile and garment products, challenges and investment opportunities in the textile and footwear sector, trade barriers from the free trade agreement between the EU and Vietnam, as well as today’s global apparel and fashion market.
Saigon Tex will offer garment companies a gilt-edged chance to foster relations with foreign enterprises and seek investment opportunities while enhancing technology transfer to increase local content in garment products and improving product quality to meet the needs of local and international buyers.
This will enhance the value of Vietnamese garment and textile products, contributing to the development of the industry amid the country’s international integration.
For 2017, Vietnam’s textile and garment sector aims for a growth rate of seven or eight per cent. Garment and textile exports in the first half of this year showed a year on year increase of 4.72 per cent and accounted for 41 per cent of the sector’s target for 2016.
Qatar has been invited to invest in synthetic fiber production in Bangladesh. The reason is that Qatar is a known producer of petrochemicals. Petrochemicals are raw materials of synthetic or artificial fiber and Bangladesh is the second-largest apparel manufacturer in the world after China.
Bangladesh is looking to export construction and building materials like cement and ceramics to Qatar. There is a growing demand for building and construction materials in Qatar. Qatar is hosting the 2022 FIFA World Cup and about 20 factories in Bangladesh are producing jerseys.
Bangladesh has requested Qatar for a display center at Doha airport where apparel products can be showcased round the year. Qatar has significant oil and gas reserves. Energy production per head dwarfs the other Gulf countries. Top exports of Qatar are petroleum gas, crude petroleum, refined petroleum, ethylene polymers and nitrogenous fertilizers. Top imports are cars, planes, helicopters, and jewelry.
Top export destinations of Qatar are Japan, South Korea, India, China. Top import origins are China, France, United Kingdom, the US and United Arab Emirates.
After registering a positive growth of 2.75 per cent in fiscal year 2014, Pakistan’s textile and garment exports registered a negative growth of 4.88 per cent in 2015 and 12.11 per cent in 2016. The major reasons for the decline were low commodity prices, slowdown of the Chinese economy and the euro zone debt crisis.
In order to restore competitiveness and boost exports of the country, a package has been prepared. Salient features of the package are zero rating of machinery imports, withdrawal of duty and sales tax on cotton imports, withdrawal of duty on imports of manmade fibers, release of pending liabilities of textile policies, release of pending sales tax refunds, drawback of taxes.
Projects like technology upgradation, product development, branding and certification have been taken up. The sales tax zero-rating regime for five export oriented sectors covers textiles, leather, carpets, surgical and sports goods.
To reduce the cost of doing business, the electricity tariff has been cut by Rs 3 for industrial units. Fuel adjustment has been passed on to the consumer to further reduce the cost of production. Pakistan will conclude bilateral agreements with major players in Asean and will then engage with Myanmar. FTA negotiations with Turkey and Thailand are at an advanced stage.
The St. Petersburg State University of Industrial Technology and Design organised the Admiralty Needle contest for young fashion designers in Saint Petersburg. The jury was international including fashion-focused figures from Russia, Japan, China, Germany, Denmark, Hungary, Italy and France. CPM – Collection Première Moscow was also on site and presented two great young talents with a prize in the designer contest.
Over 300 applications were received from young designers from Russia, Japan, China, Hungary and Poland to participate in the contest. Designer Liang Yo from Japan won the contest’s main prize with his collection Open The Heart. In addition to the award ceremony it was also possible to gain an overview of coming trends and future-oriented fashion as well as draw inspiration from other cultures.
For the coming year organisers of the Admiralty Needle promise a new and interesting competition format. Further, CPM – Collection Première Moscow will once again be represented in the jury to focus their special attention on great young designers from the fashion world.
The next CPM – Collection Première Moscow will be held at Moscow’s Expocentre exhibition centre from August 30 to September 2, 2017. National and international manufacturers will present their collections here for the 2017/18 autumn/winter season.
Gap has been consistently posting gross profit.
Earnings per share (EPS) stands at 0.51 for the previous quarter. P/E or the price to earnings ratio stands at 13.65.
The Trailing Twelve Months operating margin is 7.7 per cent. The return on invested capital is 17.6 per cent, which is good, compared to its peers.
Stock is currently moving with a negative distance from the 200 day simple moving average of approximately -3.4 per cent, and has a solid year to date (YTD) performance of 2.81 per cent, which means the stock is constantly adding to its value from the previous fiscal year end price.
The stock diminished about -0.91 per cent in the past five years. This negative value indicates that the stock is constantly going down in previous years as well.
Looking at the current price of the stock and the 52 week high and low, it suggests that the stock is likely to go up in future.
The company’s revenues are expected to rise by 6.71 per cent a year over the next five years.
A wide range of industries in the UK could be damaged if there is no free trade deal in place in two years’ time. Fashion will be among the major industries to suffer. The EU was Britain’s biggest market for textiles and apparel, accounting for 74 per cent of those exports. Britain’s exports to the EU rose 36 per cent from 2012 to 2016. The rise was boosted by an increased interest in heritage UK manufacturing and the creativity of British fashion designers.
The UK is currently seen as a gateway to the EU and losing this status if it has no fee trade deal could jeopardise one of the key contributors to the sector’s growth. With attention focused on protecting Britain's trade in financial services, non-financial exports are at risk. Such industries make up around one-third of total UK exports and currently run a trade surplus, another major reason for them to be protected.
Not only would exports be hit but EU copyright protection for designers could be at risk and that could mean effectively closing down London Fashion Week as a platform to promote British businesses. However, industries like fashion may do better than aviation or broadcasting in the absence of a free trade deal. Fashion can fall back on World Trade Organisation rules.
China hosted Spinexpo from February 28 to March 2, 2017. This is an exhibition for fibers, yarns, knitwear, knitted fabrics and creative machinery. Collections presented by exhibitors improved in quality and R&D, ranging from innovative and sophisticated products to stock service items that can be delivered at pace.
Sustainability remained a fundamental concern in fiber selection as well as the use of gentle technology to enhance wearers’ experience. Together with functionality, moisture management type fibers, extendable and movement oriented yarns, the growing concern for more caring and responsible products was visible through all the collections.
Spinexpo registered a growing number of visitors from Bangladesh and confirmed the growing importance of the country as the new manufacturing base after China. China registered the highest number of visitors. There was a growing number of key visiting companies from the US and Europe. The Spinexplore area continued to forecast the trend segmentation of the coming season.
There was emphasis on recycled and sustainable yarns and fibers, particularly if they bring innovative qualities to the products, through varied recycling processes. The show recorded 11,457 entries, a five per cent increase compared to the last autumn/winter and spring/summer. A positive attitude to construct the future was what characterised this season.
Pakistan’s textile exports are not growing. Pakistan is the fourth largest cotton producer in the world after China, India and the US. Despite having this advantage, Pakistan has been unable to compete with Bangladesh, a country that imports almost 95 per cent of its cotton.
One of the biggest problems for Pakistan is that its annual cotton production has dropped from about 15 million bales to just 10 million bales. As a result, the country imports cotton and this increases the cost of production. The textile industry contributes about 60 per cent to Pakistan’s total exports.
China, the world’s largest apparel exporter, is facing problems due to rising labor wages. The rise in labor wages meant apparel manufacturing, a 80 billion dollar industry in China, could no longer be done cost effectively. The area was left vacant for Bangladesh, Pakistan and Vietnam, where wages are far lower than China’s. After China, only these three had the economies of scale and the idle labor capacity.
But much of the share has gone to Bangladesh and Vietnam. Ironically neither is a cotton producer, which Pakistan is. Nor do they have a large-scale upstream industry such as ginning, spinning, weaving and fabric processing, which Pakistan has.
