FW
Athleisure grows, and grows. Brands and supermarkets in the UK are jumping on the athleisure bandwagon as it continues to grow and evolve. Today’s young people are more health and wellness minded than previous generations.
From mums in leggings at the school gate to yogis donning their harem pants at the coffee shop, athleisure has been an inescapable fashion trend in the last couple of years.
Sales of sports clothing by specialists has grown 44 per cent since 2011. About 14 per cent of shoppers bought sportswear from a fashion retailer in 2016.
The athleisure trend has an added bonus for fashion retailers who have long battled unpredictable weather. People buy it regardless of the weather.
The desire to look fashionable while working out first invaded the world of fitness, but active wear has fast become an everyday, must-have, fashion item. Customers wear athleisure and trainers not just to the gym but also out shopping, meeting friends and around town.
There is no sign of athleisure’s appeal waning any time soon but retailers that want to capitalise on the trend need to innovate in terms of design, fabric and even wearable technology to keep up with pacesetters. Newness and product differentiation are critical. People are looking for color and print and differentiation in athleisure. It’s not just about black leggings.
Acanthurus GmbH will soon introduce its innovative nanothermal warming textile technology Nanogy at the Berlin FashionTech exhibition. An innovative warming technology was developed by Chinese market leader j-NOVA for the European market, under the brand name Nanogy.
This will make freezing a thing of the past, explains Carsten Wortmann, founder and CEO of Acanthurus GmbH. The ultra-light, high-tech textiles can be integrated into any garment including that go-to jacket everyone loves to wear on chilly days. All you need is a standard power bank to feel the warmth flow through your body, even on the coldest of days.
The innovative, lightweight technology is completely non-metallic, meaning it emits no radiation. The non-metallic nature of the technology is also said to allow it to be washed at any temperature. The technology is thin and flexible and, as there is no metal included, can be scrunched or crumpled without damaging its function.
According to the manufacturer, Nanogy textile measures an energy conversion rate of over 90 per cent, making it one of the most sustainable and environmentally friendly warming solutions ever developed, the technology is recyclable, so consumers can dispose of it as they would any other garment.
Jeni Odley, Director of Acanthurus GmbH says that the company focuses on providing world class technology and also to improve people’s lives without harming the environment.
As expected for any modern tech company, users can even control the temperature of the textile with a mobile app, making the integration of Nanogy a simplified, one-touch experience.
The Jasper Infotech board has rejected an initial offer, estimated at $800-900 million, for its troubled online marketplace Snapdeal, from rival ecommerce company Flipkart, according to people briefed on the matter. The development comes days after Bengaluru-headquartered Flipkart, the country’s largest online retailer, completed its commercial and legal due diligence of Gurgaon-based Snapdeal, a process that started about eight weeks back.
According to two sources aware of the developments, talks between the parties are expected to continue. It is, however, yet unclear if and when Flipkart will come back with a revised formal offer.
Flipkart, which had an exclusivity period to make a formal offer till July 3, had appointed global professional services firm EY to conduct the due diligence on its behalf, while Snapdeal had hired Deloitte. The Tiger Global-backed domestic online retail giant has been the frontrunner to acquire the Kuna lBahl and Rohit Bansal-founded Snapdeal in a deal anticipated at $700 million-1 billion, and which was being steered by SoftBank, the largest stakeholder in Snapdeal.
While the rejection of its initial offer is not expected to draw curtains over the deal, the delay will further add to SoftBank’s ongoing wait for the transaction to close, given that the Japanese investor has been looking to clean up its largely underperforming portfolio in the country.It is yet unclear if the decision to reject the Flipkart offer was a unanimous one. When contacted by ET, a SoftBank spokesperson declined to comment, while, both, Snapdeal and Flipkart did not respond to emails asking for greater clarity.
An offer has to be first accepted by the Jasper Infotech board, and then shared with its 20-odd investors, who have to sign off on it.
Katie Smith, senior analyst at retail analytics firm Edited, says that the challenge is that brands are either neglecting the male plus demographic altogether or focusing only on certain types of apparel while ignoring others, like activewear and formalwear. While women’s plus-size apparel offerings have grown by 375 percent in the last five years, plus-size menswear has actually shrunk by 54 percent, according to data from Edited.
Kelvin Davis, founder of the plus-size fashion blog Notoriously Dapper, says that to the dearth of brands that sell larger sizes, the retailers that are experimenting with plus-size styles don’t have an adept sense of sizing. A common practice is to conflate “big and tall” with “plus-size,” though Smith says that there is no global data that correlates the two.
As a result, Davis also says that brands like Asos, which launched its first plus-size men’s line in December 2016, tend not to fit his 5-foot-9-inch, 240 pound frame. The problem is these are typically designed with a taller man in mind.
Bruce Sturgell, founder of the plus-size menswear blog Chubstr, says while progress may appear slow, there have still been promising advancements in the past year, including the rise of smaller, lesser-known brands that are breaking into the market.
He further adds that there are a rise of bloggers and influencers advocating for plus-size menswear, societal pressure to adhere to ingrained gender norms is still a significant barrier to advancement in the market. He says it’s less culturally accepted for males to speak out about body positivity than women, which makes it difficult to gain visibility and generate the public demand that helps encourage fashion brands.
The size of India's textile market is expected to touch 250 billion dollars in the next two years from 150 billion dollars now. The domestic market is currently estimated at 110 billion dollars and exports at 40 billion dollars.
In the last two years, a lot of buoyancy has been created in the textile sector. Various schemes have been launched, not only to upgrade technology, but also to extend financial aid to the sector. The capital investment subsidy has been introduced in segments like weaving, garment, technical textile and made up.
Attempts will be made to modernise machines and add state-of-the-art facilities which will help the sector. A Rs 6000 crores special package was announced for the industry last year.
Rebates on state levies have been introduced to encourage exports. There is an additional 10 per cent subsidy for the garment and made-up segments, which means the home textile industry will get an effective 25 per cent capital investment subsidy on the new machines they bring in, leading to efficiency and modernisation of the sector.
Subsidies have proved be very beneficial for the sector and led to an increase in employment and attracted huge investments.
The textile industry needs to utilise the various schemes launched by the government for the benefit of customers.
Australian textile major Woolmark is eyeing an entry into the handloom and weaving clusters of Gujarat and Manipur to increase the import of its premium merino wool into India.
In its efforts to explore other markets for wool, Woolmark has also entered into a collaboration with the Tirupur Exporters Association. As of today, seven companies have begun manufacturing knitwear using wool.
To further boost imports, Woolmark has also announced the second phase of its Grown In Australia, Made In India initiative. The campaign will highlight the farm-to-fashion journey of merino wool from Australia to India. The campaign aims to connect stakeholders, including brands, manufacturers and the government, across the supply chain with consumers joining the journey from this year.
The campaign will be a four-month long project starting from September and ending in December. Through this initiative, the company will bring to light the different stakeholders of its journey– the Kullu weavers of Himachal Pradesh, the wool shawl and knitwear industry and its collaboration with commercial brands who have endorsed merino wool in India.
Merino represents 55,000 wool makers of the island country. While a majority of India's suit and knitwear products already use Australia's premium merino wool, Woolmark anticipates further growth in the domestic market share.
Textile major Arvind focuses on multipronged strategy for its growthand intends to become a strategic partner with its customers, a top company official. Chairman and Managing Director Sanjay Lalbhai says that the company’s strategy is to build on four planks that is sustainability, innovation, verticalisation and multi-fibre.
He further says that sportswear is the fastest growing segment and clothing is going to become "intelligent". The company have identified ten major buyers and are making large amounts of fabrics.
Lalbhai, however, says that the textiles industry has got the flexibility in the labour laws it was looking for. One of the biggest problems was the labour laws and luckily it is a concurrent law. All the progressive states have given us the flexibility that the company is looking for. There are fixed term contracts available. There is no need to have a labour liability on your balance sheet, headded.
He also mentioned that in the world market, Indian textiles industry is competing with Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. These three countries have free trade agreement with the European Union (EU). As per him the country should sign a free trade agreement with the United Kingdom in order to boost textile exports. Further a competitive and logical exchange rates could be an enabler for the industries.
A fashion show will be organised at the famous Times Square in New York during the upcoming International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) celebrations later this month.
Indian e-commerce platform Myntra, the official style partner for the Bollywood awards ceremony, will organise the fashion show.
Drifting away from conventional shores, the fashion show will symbolically unramp, where models will express their distinct styles while having fun on the go, walk in groups, which is a break from tradition.
The looks put together will be assorted from the outfits and accessories available on the Myntra platform by the team of in-house experts. The curated attire will showcase everyday wear, airport looks with funky add on to amp daily clothing.
There will be a Bollywood showstopper who will be walking for the fashion show. The fashion showcase at New York Times Square articulates Myntra’s commitment to making global fashion available to shoppers. The experience of shopping the looks online while the show is on will allow Myntra consumers to engage with fashion like never before.
The IIFA weekend will host a range of activities from July 13 till July 16. Myntra brings the best of fashion under one roof, while IIFA brings the best of Bollywood.
Textile merchants of Surat and Ahmedabad are set to prolong their ongoing agitation against implementation of the goods and services tax (GST). Traders are sticking to their demand for exemption for the industry for at least one year to understand and implement the new rules. Over 80,000 merchants of Surat have refused to open their shops since the last three days and are threatening to keep their shutters down indefinitely if the government does not consider their demand. Nearly 30,000 merchants from Ahmedabad too have joined the protest from Tuesday. “Process of GST is too tedious for small merchants. We need some time to understand it and we are only demanding one year for that.
Traders are not against the law, says Tarachand Kasat, president of Vyapari Sangarsh Samiti (VSS). It may be mentioned that the ongoing strike in Surat had taken a turn for the worse on Monday when police resorted to lathi charge on thousands of traders who had gathered in the heart of the city in a bid to force them to reopen their establishments.
Kasat says that it is difficult to say that how long the strike will continue but merchants are not happy with government’s attitude. They are small traders and want some time to understand the new things. Textile industry is the second-largest employer in India after agriculture, and the government is not even listening to our demand.
However, the agitation is peaceful in Ahmedabad so far. Textile traders assembled in the main cloths market in Ahmedabad and chanted slogans against the GST. The merchant associations also met the Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani, deputy chief minister Nitin Patel and officials of GST council to represent their demand. Textile traders in Ahmedabad are planning to review the situation on Wednesday before deciding their future course of action. The association is preparing a fresh representation to the Union government.
"Total ethical spending in the UK is now worth £54billion (2016) and represents around 7 per cent of all UK consumer spending. The value of overall ethical sales grew by 8 per cent to £38 billion in 2015, during a period when inflation barely rose above 0.5 per cent, says the new Ethical Consumer Markets report. In this era of enhanced sustainability, consumers have adopted the philosophy of ‘buy less, buy better’."
Total ethical spending in the UK is now worth £54billion (2016) and represents around 7 per cent of all UK consumer spending. The value of overall ethical sales grew by 8 per cent to £38 billion in 2015, during a period when inflation barely rose above 0.5 per cent, says the new Ethical Consumer Markets report. In this era of enhanced sustainability, consumers have adopted the philosophy of ‘buy less, buy better’. Talking about S/S’18 trends, sustainability or responsible innovation is by far the biggest trend in the industry right now, highlights Eva Kruse, Chief Executive of Global Fashion Agenda, which organises the Copenhagen Fashion Summit.
Sustainable expanse
Throughout 2017, the British Fashion Council has been celebrating ‘Positive Fashion’ best practice, creating a dialogue and providing a platform to tell good news stories that help facilitate change. Sustainable has now become stylish and affordable. There are signs that people are buying less but buying better - Mintel found this was true for 69 per cent of women aged 25-44. A report on the shopping habits of millennials says 70 per cent indicate a willingness to spend more with brands that support ethical causes.
Contemporary women’s wear brand Skunkfunk, family owned and designed in Bilbao and distributed to UK retailers by Love Brands, has collections, which is 50 per cent ethically sourced. It offers technical outerwear and innovative fabrics to women’s wear, even involving regional artists to design original prints. Besides tracing their supply chain back to the source, this GOTS certified Fairtrade fashion brand uses a unique pattern cutting processing which aims for Zero Waste.
Not only has ethical become affordable but availability, supply and choice is fuelling increased demand, 54 per cent of consumers today, according to Unilver. Kevin Chesters, chief strategy officer at Ogilvy & Mather London, says, the shift has definitely come from consumers demanding more transparency and more responsibility from retailers.
