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More than 100 fashion brands across 42 companies are now publishing lists of their suppliers, representing a dramatic increase in transparency in the past 18 months.
Fashion Revolution assessed 40 leading fashion brands in 2016 and found that only five brands published a list of their manufacturers and only two published the names and addresses of sub-contractors or fabric/yarn suppliers. Follow up research in June this year found a dramatic push towards transparency, with106 brands across 42 companies/parent groups disclosing at least some of the facilities making their clothes.
Since the beginning of 2017 brands that have published a supplier list for the first time include ASOS, Berghaus, Benetton, Brooks Sports, Joe Fresh, Hugo Boss, Uniqlo and others.
Over the past year Marks & Spencer has published an interactive map of its suppliers in both food and clothing, which spans 53 countries and covers 1,229 factories employing 787,331 workers. Gap, C&A, VF Corporation (which owns more than 20 brands including The North Face, Timberland, Vans and Wrangler) and Australia's Jeanswest have all revealed the names and addresses of the factories that manufacture their clothing around the world.
Publishing supplier lists is important because it helps NGOs, unions, local communities and even workers themselves to alert brands of any potential human rights and environmental issues in their supply chains.
"Through its various manufacturing shows, and in parallel to its shows proposing specific materials, the Premiere Vision group aims to implement an international sourcing strategy to serve increasingly global and multi-product fashion brands. The goal is to help international fashion brands save time in their sourcing research thanks to a qualified, readable and structured offer and a strong fashion/product orientation."
Through its various manufacturing shows, and in parallel to its shows proposing specific materials, the Premiere Vision group aims to implement an international sourcing strategy to serve increasingly global and multi-product fashion brands. The goal is to help international fashion brands save time in their sourcing research thanks to a qualified, readable and structured offer and a strong fashion/product orientation.
Next September, at the Parc des Expositions de Paris Nord Villepinte will develop a transversal manufacturing offer the strategy is to enrich the sourcing offer in terms of geographic regions, as well as market segments and product specificities and to meet the needs of changing markets. Beside Premiere Vision Manufacturing, the show of fashion manufacturing specialists from the Euro-Mediterranean basin and the Indian Ocean, the group is boosting its manufacturing sourcing proposals through three initiatives.
Increased focus on Sourcing
A specialised space called “The Sourcing Connection” is the Asia Pacific Sourcing Show that participates Première Vision Paris as a specialised space. Confirmed by an audit by Bureau Véritas the show offers a unique selection and have 65 per cent compliance with the market standards.
Talking about the Premiere Vision Manufacturing area it presents the techniques and know-hows of manufacturers from the Euro-Mediterranean basin and Indian Ocean. Every season, this selection of fashion-manufacturing specialists provides solutions regarding fabrication, supply chains and services to fashion, lingerie, sports and accessories brands. They represent proximity sourcing, enabling rapid responses and greater control of manufacturing quality, organisers explain.
The show has been reorganized since the February 2017 edition, buyers can quickly grasp and locate the know hows of the manufacturers they can work with, as the offer is now broken down by activity sector.
Euro-Mediterranean business Order writers are committing themselves less in advance and are increasingly turning to Euro-Mediterranean sourcing, organizers explain. The Mediterranean countries gained market share. The importance in terms of imports to Europe has increased from 17.6 per cent in 2015 to 17.9 per cent in 2016.In 2016, European clothing imports totaled EUR 81 billion compared to 2015.
The latest edition of White, which ran from June 17 to 19 in line with the men's fashion week recorded a 20 per cent increase in participants, with 300 brands showcasing as compared to 250 in June 2016.
The enriched White Man and Woman show was dedicated to menswear and women's pre-collections, as well as special projects and international collaborations that attracted more foreign visitors through its doors this season. However, the tradeshow was rejected by Italian guests, recording a 12 per cent decrease in local attendance numbers compared to last year. After hiring Muriel Piaserin a consultant role, White was bent on attracting more international guests. The fair continued its relationship with Danish tradeshow Revolver, which bought around forty brands to Milan to showcase in a special space compared to the ten or so brands to come to Italy last season.
In another White initiative, some twenty Korean brands came together for this edition. Besides, the tradeshow continued to collaborate with the Italian Fashion Chamber (CNMI) with two runway shows from its official calendar: Danish brand Wood Wood and POAN, the fashion label launched in 2015 the talented Austrian designer Georg Weissacher.
Other labels worth noting included Nehera, which shows in Paris and participated at White for the first time, and the Finnish label Aalto, which also shows in the French capital. In a stand, the hat brand Regen was also a standout; the milliner being a finalist this year at the Hyéres Festival in the accessories category.
The brand new section dedicated to sport was another interesting addition.
Victoria's Secret has learnt a lesson about paying its employees and not messing with their time. The company has reached a 12 million dollar settlement for their use of call-in shifts.
A call-in or on-call shift is where a retail store will over schedule hours in case the store is busier than expected at a given time. Employees call in a few hours before the on-call time posted on their schedule, and they are told whether or not they are needed. If they are not needed, they are not compensated for their potential scheduled time.
In 2014, a Victoria's Secret employee named Mayra Casas decided this was unethical and unfair to employees, so he hired a lawyer and took on Victoria's Secret in a class action lawsuit. The employees involved in the suit declared that call-in shifts required them to mold their lives around the possibility that they might have the chance to work more hours.
The lawsuit originated in California. According to California labor law, employees must be paid for reporting time for on-call shifts, equating to payment of half the shift if they don't end up working, or equal to two hours if they are called in for less than one hour of work.
This ongoing lawsuit has affected the scheduling practices of several retailers in the US. Six retailers have agreed to stop using on-call scheduling following an inquiry by a coalition of nine attorney generals.
MODINT, the Dutch association for the Fashion and Textile industries and lead of the fashion mission and Sistema Moda Italia (SMI), have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which highlights the growing interaction between the Dutch and Italian fashion and textile industries. On the occasion of the State Visit to Italy by Their Majesties TheKing and Queen of The Netherlands and a Dutch trade delegation led by the Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, Lilianne Ploumen, the Italian and Dutch fashion and textile industry will join hands.
During the Best of Both event to be held on June 23 in Milan, the minister and a delegation of Dutch and Italian VIP’s and innovators active in the fashion and textile industry will witness the signing of a promising memorandum of understanding (MoU). The MoU defines actions by MODINT and SMI to help the Dutch and Italian fashion and textile industries work together on recycling, labour standards, sustainable raw materials and domestic production. MODINT and SMI are both members of the International Apparel Federation (IAF), an international organisation that supports industry development by helping to build intelligent connections among its members. In the MoU, Italian and Dutch businesses will explain how they cooperate, how they can support sustainable value chains, how they envision their business growing together in the coming years, and what their respective governments can do to support that growth.
The MoU as well as the event will support working towards the ‘Best of Both’, a cooperation for improving sustainable business practices.
Because the apparel and textile industry business models are relying more and more on sustainability and transparency, responsible production within Europe is gaining popularity and Dutch and Italian supply chains are becoming more intertwined.
Monforts has published a magazine on Indian textile producers. Monforts is a leading manufacturer and exporters of textile machines in Germany.
The 32 page magazine highlights the latest solutions and production techniques with a number of leading textile producers in India; placing special emphasis on textile finishing with the company’s range of Montex stenters, Thermex continuous dyeing, and Eco-Line ranges.
It includes articles on increased production capacity for Nahar Fabrics, a second production line for the Vardhman Group, five new Monforts units for Trident’s new bed linen division, expansion by Himatsingka Linens and first time investment in Monforts for Premier Fine Linens to improve quality control.
An in-depth technical article on cost savings for continuous dyeing with Monforts Econtrol T-CA and Eco Line finishing is featured. The magazine also includes a report on the country’s first Eco-Line installed at Arvind’s Ahmedabad mill.
Monforts new Advanced Technology Centre features descriptions of fabric processing including denim coating, elastane treatments, over-dyeing, and the creation of special surface effects and more.
The company is known for quality in fabric treatment, energy efficiency in production, uncomplicated service and more environmental compatibility in exhaust air treatment. It has developed innovative technologies and concepts that revolutionise the textile finishing market.
Indian customers are becoming more fitness oriented and adopting yoga in their daily lives. There has been a remarkable traction in products ranging from yoga mats to athleisure wear.
Yoga products under the sports category have seen a growth of over 225 per cent year on year. Urban cities have dominated this category with a 40 per cent demand; the top four cities being Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Hyderabad. The other 60 per cent comes from Tier I, II and III cities. Yoga mats lead this category.
The introduction of an International Yoga Day and the fitness wave among millennial have made active wear more mainstream. With running, cycling and yoga becoming part of individual lifestyles, and corporates pushing fitness, active wear is fast replacing casual attire.
Active wear has become a new segment of casual or even professional wear, which is slowly eating into the share of regular T-shirts. For every four T-shirts bought, the third or fourth is a sporty or a yoga T-shirt. In bottom wear, yoga pants are eating into the share of formal trousers, khakis or denims. Denim players are coming with yoga pants-like variations in denims.
While active wear is at a 30 per cent premium compared to its casual counterparts, the category is witnessing a compounded annual growth rate of 25 per cent.
Textile traders from Surat, Gujarat want fabric and job work to be exempt from Goods and Service Tax (GST). They are fine with the 18 per cent GST on yarn but are opposed to any tax on fabric. They also say it won’t be possible for retailers to comply with GST regulations.
They say the sector is predominantly unorganised and any attempt to convert it into an organised sector at one go can potentially destroy the sector. If this happens, they fear that instead of an expected rise in the country’s GDP, the economy will take a hit, creating job losses on a massive scale.
Under GST, manmade fiber yarn will be taxed at 18 per cent while its end product, fabric, will be taxed at five per cent. Tax differential leaves integrated textile firms which produce yarn and use it to make fabric at an advantage over those which buy yarn to make fabric. Also, cotton made yarn and fabric will attract five per cent duty.
This imbalance is expected to hit small textile companies which buy manmade yarn to weave fabric. In addition, since imported fabric will attract 15 per cent effective duty, cheaper Chinese goods may also pose a serious threat.
Fake labels or cheap imitations may seem a tempting deal but wearing such a garment can be dangerous to health. A racket has been unearthed in Bangalore. Clothes are purchased in bulk from Tirupur and other places. Chemicals and dyes are used to give the garments a fresh and unwrinkled appearance before being passed off as products of well-known brands.
Garments were seized with tags of Louis Philippe, Allen Solly, Puma, Nike, U.S. Polo and other famous clothing brands.
It’s suspected that these chemicals can harm the wearer of the garment. For one the chemicals used for enhancing the texture and color of garments can cause dermatitis. These chemicals can cause infections and allergy and can lead to complications in some cases.
Most of these fake products are sold in rural areas. Even the actual manufacturers find it very hard to differentiate between the original and fake products.
There is a huge market in India for fake copies of luxury brands selling everything from clothes, shoes, watches, accessories, phones and other electronics.
Bangalore is turning into a hub for counterfeits as the demand for goods, especially high-end footwear, clothing and accessories, is high. In some cases, the fakes are brought in from other states but a number of manufacturing units that specialize in copies have also opened up in the city.
Lenders to Alok Industries will start corporate insolvency proceedings against the textile firm. The textile company reported a consolidated loss of Rs 3,071 crores on an income of Rs 8,919 crores in 2016-17. It had booked a loss of Rs 4,367 crores on revenue of Rs 12,929 crores in 2015-16.
The company created large capacities through debt funding to cater to global demand, but with the slowdown in international markets, it was hit badly. This capacity creation was accompanied by a large accumulation of debt. Now, it faces a mismatch in timing of cash inflows and outflows, creating severe financial stress.
The company, in its 2015-16 annual report, listed factors such as demand slump, investment calls going wrong and fluctuations in foreign exchange as key reasons for its poor performance.
Its investments in retail, both in India and the UK, did not pan out as expected. While it closed operations in India, the UK business is still burning cash. The diversification into real estate, although intrinsically value creating, failed to give any asset appreciation and essentially locked up large capital.
Alok is a fully integrated textile company with a dominant presence in the cotton and polyester segments. The company is engaged in manufacturing of textile, including mending and packing activities, leather and other apparel products.
