FW
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.
The Wool Lab Autumn/Winter 2018/19 presented seven fashion-oriented themes, presenting a collection of the latest commercially available wool fabrics and yarns. In addition, The Wool Lab Sport and The Wool Lab Denim will return this season, with each of the popular books updated to include the latest innovations and technical fabrics. Created in collaboration with the most innovative and quality-oriented spinners and weavers from across the world, The Wool Lab is an inspirational sourcing guide available for designers and brands to view.
1. VISIONARIE (DAYDREAMING)
The rigour and clean shape of tailored suits take place in unexpected landscapes, creating a new world where everything is possible. Escape from reality with sophisticated irony.
Materials:
100% wool, wool/cashmere, wool/silk, wool/mohair
Structures & Patterns
Pinstripes, checks, flannel, Glen check, Prince of Wales, classical revised Jersey & Knitwear
Lightweight knit
Colours
Blue, grey, cold brown, deep green
2. MONOCHROME
The elegance in simplicity. The game of contrasts of materials in monochromatic layering. Fluid fabrics for sophisticated dresses are combined with bulky knits and soft coats with different volumes, completing the feminine figure.
Materials:
100% wool, wool/cashmere, wool/silk, wool/mohair
Structures & Patterns
Satin, sequins, crape, double weave, coats, flannels
Jersey & Knitwear
Bulky knit, boucle yarn, hand knitting, soft jersey
Colours
Pastels, M lange grey, deep green, teal, grape
3. BAUHAUS
Shapes and colours inspired by European art movements of the early decades of the 1900’s that were the expression of a crucial moment in the 20th century, creating a new interaction between technology and culture. Form and function are represented in geometries and evident colour contrasts, colour inserts in unique pieces and in jacquard knitwear.
Materials:
100% wool, wool/cashmere, wool/silk, wool/cotton, wool/polyester
Structures & Patterns
Double weave, velour, brushed coats, stripes, checks, graphic jacquard
Jersey & Knitwear
Jacquard, cut & sew
Colours
Primary & bright colours
4. FIESTA PATRONAL
Taking inspiration from traditional colours, patterns and techniques of South American cultures which are blended with the most traditional fabrics and textures for a contemporary and ethnic style. An international urban vernacular.
Materials:
100% Wool, wool/alpaca, wool/cotton, wool/cashmere, wool/synthetic fibres
Structures & Patterns
Jacquard, embroidery, prints, embellished, checks, classic woollen patterns, flannels
Jersey & Knitwear
Jacquard
Colours
Neutrals, bright colours
5. LONDON SMOKE
The fascinating and dark British atmosphere during the industrial revolution. Jackets with fitted cuts inspired by the end of 18th century clothing are paired with loose-fit trousers for a modern mysterious time-traveller dandy.
Materials:
100% wool, wool/cotton, wool/linen, wool/hemp
Structures & Patterns
Jacquard, tweed, Houndstooth, salt&pepper, flannels
Dyeing & Finishings
Overdye, washed, used
Colours
Black, grey, deep colours
6. CO-LIVING
Living spaces are designed to bring people together. A generation of young people who have common interests share their workspaces, their dining rooms are their facilities, creating a new sense of community. A new and essential way of life more oriented to the inner being than to appearance.
Materials:
100% wool, lambswool, wool/cotton, wool/mohair, wool/linen
Structures & Patterns
Plain, twill, flannel, fleece, denim
Jersey & Knitwear
Soft knit, rib jersey
Dyeing & Finishing’s
Soft hands Colours
Black, grey, blue, brown, ecru, camel
7. LAB
A new way in fashion, old techniques, experimental technologies, fresh minds all mixed creating and transforming materials into unique products. It’s the new generation of artisans that creates their own style like modern alchemists in their laboratories.
Materials:
100% wool, wool/silk, wool/linen, wool/cotton, wool/polyester
Structures & Patterns
All possible surfaces
Techniques
Hand prints, hand stitching, hand embroidery, coating, hand dyed
Colours Grey, black, blue, red, orange, silver, gold
8. THE WOOL LAB SPORT
Active
The most technically performing wool fabrics and yarns, mixed with technical fibres, to ensure the best results during physical activity.
Examples of this theme highlight the technology enriched with the most innovative finishing treatments, suitable to match every climate and discipline, indoor and outdoor.
Materials:
100% wool, wool/polyester, wool/polyamide, wool/polypropylene, wool/polyurethane, wool plus cordura
Structures & Patterns
Plain, checks, double weave
Jersey & Knitwear
Seamless, plain, rib knit, Rome stitch, fleece, fake fur
Colours Black, grey and all bright colours
9. ATHLEISURE
Riding the wave of this increasing trend, athleisure blurs the line between fashion and activewear, with the latter being used in a non-active, casual way with a modern, stylish look. Merino wool’s ability to combine comfort and flexibility with casual elegance positions it well to cater to this growing market.
Materials:
100% wool, wool/polyester, wool/silk, wool/polyamide, wool/tencel
Structures & Patterns
Boucle panama, herringbone, diagonal, houndstooth, jacquard, padded wool Jersey & Knitwear
Fleece, piquet, open knit, double jersey, fake fur
Colours
Neutrals and colour accents
10. THE WOOL LAB DENIM
Wool Denim fabrics are a new approach to improving the aesthetics of traditional denim fabric. New technologies allow fabric to be naturally dyed indigo. Garments in 100% Merino wool, or wool blended with cotton, acquire a modern look keeping all the natural qualities of this fibre.
Denim_01
Materials: 100% wool, wool/cotton, wool/polyester, wool/linen, wool/silk Structures & Patterns: twill, plain, jacquard
Colours: black, blue
Denim_02
Materials: 100% wool, wool/cotton, wool/polyester, wool/linen, wool/silk Structures & Patterns: twill, plain Jersey & knitwear: plain knit
Colours: indigo blue
"China is the number one textile and clothing exporter to the world, producing more than 43.1per cent of global demand. As per the 13th five-year plan of Chinese Government for the year 2016 to 2020 period, China strategically is moving towards more value adding tech intensive products. The plan is to maintain traditional market share and to grow more on the high value adding product range. But real market data shows that the country is losing its export market drastically from 2015 in almost all product sectors in the textiles and clothing arena."
China is the number one textile and clothing exporter to the world, producing more than 43.1per cent of global demand. As per the 13th five-year plan of Chinese Government for the year 2016 to 2020 period, China strategically is moving towards more value adding tech intensive products. The plan is to maintain traditional market share and to grow more on the high value adding product range. But real market data shows that the country is losing its export market drastically from 2015 in almost all product sectors in the textiles and clothing arena.
Textile & clothing industry is too much stretched in China and there are eight major categories such as garment, cotton fabrics, chemical fabrics, wool fabrics, silk fabrics, knitted fabrics, textile machinery and bast fibre. Production capabilities of all categories T&C is unparalleled in the world. According to China Textile Industry Development Report (2014/2015), textile fibre production in China exceeded 50 million tonne, accounting for 54.36 per cent of world share. As much as 64.2 per cent of the world’s chemical fibres, 64.1 per cent of synthetic fibres and 26.2 per cent of cotton were produced in China. On the other hand, apparel production in China reached 29.9 billion units in 2014, which is 10.4 per cent higher from 2013. This massive production capacity of China is showing a clear view that very likely China will remain the top apparel-sourcing goal for world’s buyers.
Hi-tech gaining a stronghold
Total value of China’s exports of apparel and clothing accessories in the world was $147.79 billion in 2016, which was $162.35 billion in 2015 and $173.44 billion in 2014 and $165.04 billion in 2013, according to ITC (International Trace Corporation) data from World Trade Organization (WTO). This data clearly shows that Chinese apparel export was having sharp growth till 2014 and afterwards it is having sharp decline. In 2014, Chinese global apparel export was the highest ever and afterwards in two years, it has lost 14.79 per cent of its exports.
In March 2016, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) released its development plan, the 13th Five-Year Plan for period 2016-2020, for the apparel and textile industry, where China itself is expecting a slower growth for the industry (growth rate was 8.5per cent in 2011-2015 whereas the plan set a 6-7per cent goal for next five-year). Similarly, fibre end-use ratio and annual labour productivity growth rate were set lower than previous plan. Making the T&C industry sustainable, the plan set a conservative target for energy and water consumption (per unit of industrial value added) and emission of total pollutants. At the same time, China set a target to build a more tech-intensive textile & clothing industry.
Investment scenario
Textile industry of China is shifting gears for several reasons such as higher costs of production and scarcity of a skilled labour force. Exports are on a decline but the sector still maintains its pole position in the world market. On the other hand, textile production in 2017 will continue to update with depreciation and the rise of cotton prices. However, whatever the export growth or decline is, China as a vibrant manufacturing country will surely maintain core value adding sustainable business portions in textile and apparel value chain. With great rise in domestic consumption, Chinese companies are becoming global giant day by day.
Cotton has traditionally been an important cash crop in Malawi. The crop is grown on about 30,000 hectares and supports about 1,20,000 small holder farmers, three ginning companies and three main input providers.
Because of a number of cotton development initiatives, the average yield has increased. The crop is often cultivated with maize and other drought-tolerant small grains.
Cotton production has declined largely because of mixing of different grades, limited grading by farmers and polypropylene contamination, declining productivity, low Ginning – Out – Turn etc. Recent years have also witnessed a decline in area under cotton cultivation due to a shift from cotton production to other crops because of reduced international prices and the inefficiencies in the sector.
Agriculture accounts for 33 per cent of GDP while manufacturing accounts for only 12 per cent. Nearly 22 per cent of the GDP comes from the distribution sector and is mainly accounted for by trading.
Under utilisation of ginning capacity is a matter of concern. The textile industry too has been declining. Until the 1990s there was an integrated cotton textile and garment chain in Malawi with inter-sector linkages. Since then the chain has in effect been broken.
Presently, the garment industry is small and is generally focused on low value garments suitable for the mass market and discount stores.
During the first 11 months of the current fiscal year Pakistan’s textile and clothing exports fell 1.98 per cent year-on-year to $11.234 billion mainly due to lower proceeds from raw material and low value-added products, such as cotton yarn and fabrics.
The decline in export proceeds was also evident in rupee terms during the July-May period of 2016-17.On a month-on-month basis, the export proceeds fell 12.24pc in May negating the government’s claim of reviving the growth in the sector despite offering huge subsidies.Overall export proceeds in July-May were down 3.13pc to $18.540bn.
Product-wise details show exports of ready-made garments rose 4.15pc while those of knitwear dropped 1.85pc in July-May. In primary commodities, exports of cotton yarn witnessed a year-on-year decline of 3.64pc while those of cotton cloth and yarn dropped 5.81pc and 27.32pc, respectively.
Exports of raw cotton also recorded a year-on-year decline of 47.14pc and made-up articles grew 52.85pc. Proceeds from textile exports declined 33pc while the preferential access to the European Union under the GSP+ scheme hasn’t boosted proceeds due to a slump in demand.
From Jan 15, the government has not only increased the rebate to 7pc for readymade garments, but also allowed cash support of 4pc on yarn and grey cloth under the Rs180bn package announced by the prime minister. Also an amount of Rs12.5bn was the annual allocation for drawbacks on export of non-textile value added sectors.
Spinning and ginning sector have been included in the long term financing facility. The export finance rate is currently at 3pc, which is the lowest in a decade.The duty free import of textile machinery was continued for fiscal year 2015-16. The sales tax zero-rating regime for the five export sector was continued in the fiscal year 2017-18.
According to recent statements from Denis Manturov, Russia’s Minister of Industry and Trade Russian government is considering creating the ideal conditions for attracting foreign investment in its laundry and cleaning industry in the coming years.
The current situation in the Russian laundry and cleaning industry remains complex, as the majority of local players experience a shortage of funds needed for their further development even though the ongoing recovery of the Russian economy from the financial crisis and its consequences.
The reason is because of the inaccessibility of cheap Western loans and poor lending conditions in Russia. As per the latest predictions of analysts of the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade, the industry has good conditions for further growth, due to the ever-recovering demand for laundry and cleaning services in Russia.
In the case of foreign investment, it is planned that particular attention will be paid to attracting investors from China. The plan is the majority of these laundries will be established in large cities. In the meantime, the authorities of Moscow and St. Petersburg have already promised investors benefits for the implementation of the project, in particular tax and customs remissions and exemptions.
According to Minister Manturov, the development of the laundry and cleaning industries has never been among the priorities for the Russian government. On the other hand, there is a possibility that such a situation will change in the near future, as the government is considering providing support to both foreign and domestic investors, which plan their development in this field.
BhimYudhistira an economist, of BhimYudhistira Institute for Economic Economics and Finance (INDEF) has asked the Indonesian government to be more firm in opening imported faucets mainly from China. Bhima has also helped changing the orientation of Indonesia's cooperation with China which has tended to be lame. He says that the government's main problem with Indonesia's trade with China is supply chain imbalance.
According to Bhima, most of Indonesia's export products to China are raw products such as coal, CPO, and rubber. For the moment, China then exports finished materials with added value to Indonesia. The government is asked to provide incentives to local producers in order to compete with Chinese products. Not vice versa, where the incentive for import is actually multiplied.
Indonesia's trade balance trends continue to show a surplus until May 2017, but the numbers continue to be thinning. The Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) recorded a trade surplus value in May 2017 of 470 million US dollars, down from the previous month's surplus of 1.33 billion US dollars. While the value of Indonesian imports in the same month was recorded at 13.82 billion US dollars, up 15.67 percent compared to April 2017.
BPS Deputy for Social Statistics Sairi Hasbullah says that the realization of Indonesia's imports since the beginning of 2017 to date was recorded at 52.32 billion US dollars, up 11.39 percent from last year's realization of 46.97 billion US dollars. Imports of consumer goods rose 11.78 percent, from 5.05 billion dollars to 5.64 billion dollars.
Meanwhile, imports of raw materials / auxiliary materials during January-May 2017 was recorded at 47.24 billion US dollars, up 17.63 percent from 40.16 billion US dollars last year. Meanwhile, capital goods imports stood at 9.48 billion dollars, up 9.13 percent from 8.69 billion dollars last year.
Japan occupies the second position as the country of origin of the largest imports with a value of 5.82 billion US dollars or 11.12 percent of all Indonesian imports. Followed by Thailand with import value 3.77 billion US dollars or 7.21 percent.
