FW
"Gone are the days when almost 95 per cent sold in America was a product of the New York City’s Garment District spread over 7.7 million sq. ft. of manufacturing space, generating over 100,000 jobs. Today, the space has shrunk to mere 1.1 million sq. ft employing just above 7,000 people. However, realising the need to salvage ‘Made in New York’ apparel manufacturing, several designers and labels are initiating measures."
Initiatives to boost ‘Made in USA’
Gradually, apparel manufacturing activity which had moved out of the US is returning back to the nation for good. Even consumers are now demanding fashion Made in USA. Other than ‘Made in USA’, ‘Made in New York’ according to the experts carries its own sentimentality. Five factory owners, for example, came together in 2007 to launch ‘Save the Garment Centre’, a nonprofit organisation to promote manufacturing in New York. And Stefan Siegel, a former model turned investment banker based in London founded ‘Not Just A Label’ (NJAL) in 2008 - a global platform to promote domestic products and works of emerging designers. NJAL has also opened pop-up stores in Berlin, Dubai, Venice and finally in New York.
Stakeholders are putting in serious efforts to revive New York’s manufacturing hub. The Garment District houses many design offices including Public School to Engineered Garments and Aimé Leon Doré, whose production still happens in NYC. For designers ‘Made in New York’ means something close to their hearts than the ‘Made in USA’ label.
For instance, designers like Greg Rosborough, who focus on ‘Bespoken’, a label that won GQ’s ‘Best New Menswear Designer in America’ award in 2014, and Abasi Rosborough, his own line of futuristic clothes designed with his partner Abdul Abasi, call ‘Made in New York’ label something akin to being made in Paris instead of France.
High production costs, not a deterrent
While the cost of making garments in New York is not less since it involves high production costs and rentals, among other things. However, despite being the most expensive place to make clothes, designers like Dominic Sondag, manufacturing in New York is of advantage since he can oversee everything and if a sample is not according to his expectations, he can quickly work upon it. So while the cost of the end-product tends to be a little higher, making in New York also helps these designers support the local economy.
Also since designers are involved at every level of production process, it also means they can be responsible for everyone, who is a part of the supply line resulting in fair wage practices and unity among workers. Also the garment district’s artisans possess the required skill-sets to create an ensemble so the designers don’t really have to depend upon a factory and its workers at some faraway place, whose skill-sets are not known. Workers in the garment district are experienced pattern-makers and tailors, whose skills are polished since they are engaged in the business for last several decades.
Garmentech will be held in Bangladesh from January 13 to 16, 2016. This is an apparel machinery trade show which brings technology suppliers, agents and garment manufacturers under one roof.
More than 200 exhibitors will be there at the fair this year. Also the 2016 edition will be 20 per cent bigger than last year. There will be eight halls in total at the show. The previous show witnessed near about 12,851 visitors. The new venue which is closer to many buying houses and garment factories will attract more visitors. It is more comfortable and organised and therefore, it will be beneficial for exhibitors as well as visitors.
Companies such as Duerkopp Adler, Eastman Technocraft, Typical, Juki, Vibemac, ASS, Focus, New Tech and many more are set to exhibit their latest products and technologies at the show.
Garmentech has been the most preferred technology and machinery sourcing forum in Bangladesh for the past 14 years. Among the exhibits are international and domestic machinery, chemicals, accessories and allied products. Manufacturers and distributors will showcase their latest products and services to the tanning and finished leather, footwear and leather goods manufacturing industries in Bangladesh.
In 2015, readymade garment manufacturers in Bangladesh had to work to restore retailers’ confidence in workplace safety. People across the globe raised questions about readymade garment workers’ rights and safety plus electrical and structural integrity. The sector was able to restore buyers’ confidence through improvement of safety standards over the last few years to ensure a safer workplace.
In 2016, Bangladesh will focus on skills development, efficiency improvement, productivity and use of modern technology to save the environment. Another challenge is to relocate shared building factories to make them fully compliant.
In 2016, the RMG sector expects buyers to come to Bangladesh and place more orders. But manufacturers want better prices since factories have invested a lot on improving safety standards. If buyers do not increase prices, manufacturers say they do not want to hurt their competitive edge and will just say ‘no’.
Meanwhile the industry is preparing to concentrate on product and market diversification along with product upgradation as Vietnam, a major competitor of Bangladesh, is being connected with the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
The RMG sector in Bangladesh contributes over 81 per cent to total export earnings and over 10 per cent to GDP. The sector has 40 lakh workers, of which 80 per cent are women, mostly from rural areas.
Yiwu Tex accommodated 160 exhibitors to showcase over 550 professional textile machineries, and attracted 9,985 local and international trade visitors from 25 countries and regions. Over 70 industrial associations and enterprise delegations visited and sourced at the exhibition.
This was a four day machinery show held in China in December 2015. It included knitting and hosiery machinery, sewing and automatic garment machinery and dyeing and finishing machinery.
Theme zones at the show displayed exhibits on advancement, energy saving and automation technology.
As a specialised show focusing on knitting and hosiery, Yiwu Tex provides a one-stop platform running through the knitting and garment industry.
The exhibits were of very high quality though there was a slight decrease in exhibitor number compared with previous editions.
There were a number of events like Green and Sustainable Textile Technology Forum, Fashion Trend Forecast Forum, and Using Internet to Realize Textile Transformation and Upgrading.
Companies used the show to maximise business prospects, promote their technology and strengthen their brand image.
The trend of textile machinery development is to be safer, more eco-friendly and easier for operation. More equipment with high performance and low energy consumption is expected for Yiwu Tex, June 14 to 16, 2016.
www.yiwutex.com/
World cotton mill use is likely remain unchanged from 2014-15 at 24.3 million tons. International cotton prices have remained similar to those registered last season, while polyester prices have continued to fall. After decreasing steadily since 2010-11, China’s mill use was stable at 7.5 million tons in 2014-15, but is projected to decline by three per cent in 2015-16. India’s mill use is forecast to increase by three per cent while Pakistan’s may decrease by 12 per cent.
While cotton consumption is expected to overtake production in 2015-16, the global supply of cotton is still abundant. World stocks at the end of 2015-16 are forecast to be 20.6 million tons, 58 per cent of which will be in China.
World imports are projected to decline in 2015-16 by four per cent. While imports outside of China are forecast to increase by six per cent, this rise will not offset the decline in China’s imports, which are expected to decrease by 34 per cent.
Production in Australia is forecast to increase by 11 per cent in 2015-16. A 13 per cent reduction in harvested area in the United States coupled with lower yields due in part to excessive rains in autumn are expected to lead to a fall in production of 18 per cent.
Centre for Sustainable Fashion (CSF), part of the London College of Fashion, to support the United Nations Climate Change conference COP21 has launched its ‘Dress For Our Time initiative’ that aims to address climate change. The initiative by Professor Helen Storey will be released in a series of chapters, the first of which is a dress that has been produced using a tent gifted by United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and fitted with digital data displays that clock the effects of climate change if we do nothing, with the aim of fuelling a conversation on the important topic.
The Dress For Our Time was placed on display at London’s St Pancras train station during the COP 21 summit to create a stir among the delegates and dignitaries passing through the station to Paris where the conference was taking place. The dress has been developed in partnership with interactive creative agency Holition and uses data from a study conducted by a team of global scientists and provided by the Met Office. It hopes that by giving the tent a second life as a public fashion art installation will represent the “importance of nurturing and protecting all people and safeguarding generations to come”.
The project has been two years in the making and was born from a meeting where Professor Storey gathered climate scientists and researchers to look at how we are or are not responding to climate change. In collaboration with different backgrounds, from business, science, technology and fashion to humanitarian work, the Dress For Our Time project was born as a way to engage a public debate that uses the power of fashion to allow people to connect with the issue in a different way.
Sustainable-fashion.com
In its move to crackdown against non-compliant garment making units in Bangladesh, the North American retailers' group Alliance decided to stop work with almost two-dozen garment exporters. Earlier, European buyers-led Accord too took a similar action against eight local garment makers.
The Alliance has published the names of 23 factories on its official website. “The listed factories have been suspended from the Alliance compliant factory list because of their lack of progress in one or more Alliance programs, thereby failing to make progress in ensuring a safe working environment,” the Alliance said. The reasons of suspension included failure to comply with the review panel's recommendations and respond CAP meetings and lack of adequate remediation progress, according to the website.
Contrary to the action taken by these two agencies, Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed recently said that no extension will be granted to Accord and Alliance to monitor Bangladesh’s readymade garment factory conditions. Speaking at the inauguration ceremony of an international exhibition on building and fire safety at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in Dhaka, he said that the country’s garment factories have undergone a transformation.
Bangladeshaccord.org www.
bangladeshworkersafety.org
Covestro has been cooperating with IAF last year with a series of workshops in which it featured as an excellent example of the value of innovation in raw materials for the apparel industry. Central in its presentation was the new waterborne method for PU coatings used mainly in artificial leather that it had developed. In this method, the PU-coated fabrics are processed entirely without solvents, which remove hazardous substances from the material manufacturing, eliminates environmental pollution risks, and greatly reduces the amount of water and energy needed.
One of the world’s leading polymer materials suppliers, from September 1, 2015, Bayer MaterialScience started operating under the Covestro name. The company is now legally and economically independent from Bayer AG and has a new logo and vision.
The workshops organized by IAF and Covestro not only involved showing what the technology could do, but also addressed the model used by Covestro to overcome current supply chain constraints to the implementation of new technologies. Covestro has launched a technology and services model under the brand name INSQIN in 2014. It combines the technology itself with a high level of co-creation of new materials together with customers and downstream players.
iafnet.eu
"Intertextile Shanghai concluded its 2017 Autumn Edition on October 13 with strong business results and praise from worldwide participants once again. Once again they affirmed its reputation as the most effective apparel fabrics and accessories trade event for boosting sales and product sourcing. Knowing the fair covered an all-encompassing range of products that cater to all sourcing needs, 77,883 came from 102 countries and regions to Shanghai to source."
Meanwhile, 4,538 exhibitors from 32 countries and regions enjoyed the surge of business potential brought by this large number of high-quality trade buyers. The strong line-up of exhibitors, included 10 country and region pavilions viz. France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Korea, Milano Unica (Italy), Pakistan, Taiwan and Thailand along with 10 Group Pavilions organised by foremost industry leaders like DuPont, Hyosung, Invista and Lenzing, who presented a full-spectrum of innovative and fashion offerings in 11 halls across 276,000 sq. mt. (gross) exhibition area, an increase of nearly 6 per cent compared to 2016.
While the nature of textile trade fairs has evolved over recent years, exhibitors’ success at this year’s Intertextile Shanghai confirms it is still the industry’s most effective order-writing and business development trade show because it remains the event where the global industry gathers to make purchasing decisions. As a result, many exhibitors see the fair as their business growth engine and reported positive outlooks for sales after the fair.
Talking about the trade show’s importance, Erika Jimenez, Development and Purchasing Department, Luca Cuccolini, Spain (SalonEurope), said, “A few years ago, we decided to explore the Chinese market. Knowing that Intertextile Shanghai is the most comprehensive fair of its kind in Asia, there was no doubt that this would be the fair to expose our brand. Throughout the years, we have been satisfied with the visitor flow and business opportunities, especially this year.” Happy with the response, Jean Denerolle, GM, Dormeuil, France (Premium Wool Zone) said, “Joining Intertextile Shanghai is an effective way for us to develop the Chinese market. We are happy that the organiser referred a VIP buyer to us. Overall, we succeeded in receiving orders and promoting our brands, so I am pleased with the result this year.
Exhibitors look to positive business
A veteran participant, Luca Maderna, New Age srl, Italy (Verve for Design) explains, “It’s our 10th year exhibiting at Intertextile. Given the large scale, we can always find new contacts here, and it’s also a great opportunity for us to present our new collection to regular customers.” Another participant, Kang Nan Hee, Assistant Manager, R&D Textile, Korea (Korea Pavilion) observed, “This is our 10th year at Intertextile Shanghai. Every year, we participate in both the spring and autumn fairs and they have never let us down. Not only can we meet numerous new buyers in each edition, we can also keep pace with the ever-changing market trends in the fabric industry.”
Ederhard Ganns, MD, Union Knopf (HK), Germany also averred, “Our target clients are mainly brand owners and resellers. I have successfully met them and have some promising contacts. We have also developed some new connections with both domestic and overseas customers. Intertextile Shanghai is no doubt the world’s number one show.”
Taku Ito, Manager, Sojitz Vancet (Shanghai) Trading Co, Japan (Japan Pavilion) pointed out, “We exhibit at this show to find new customers and sales channels in China. We’ve been joining the show for a while now, and we continued this edition as we can always meet new customers – I mean, really ‘new’. This year, there were about 400 companies that visited our booth. It’s also interesting that we are getting more online apparel shops visiting us lately.” On similar lines Susan Hon, B2B Marketing Communication Director, North Asia, Invista, Hong Kong opined, “Intertextile has always been one of the most important trade fairs for us because of its strength in attracting a wide range of buyers, including an unrivalled number of market-leading brands that no other fairs can offer.”
GTalking about the interesting trait of the show, Martin Yang, Marketing Manager, Nilit Nylon Technologies (Suzhou), Israel (Functional Lab) said, “Its ability in gathering large number of trade buyers makes it one of the best trade shows. Moreover, majority of them are quality buyers who aren’t only our target customers but also keen to place orders.” Štěpán Kučera, MD, Preciosa Components, China (Accessories Vision) adds, “This has been Preciosa’s third consecutive appearance at the autumn edition of Intertextile Shanghai, where we continue to see an increase in attendance by our target customers, namely high-end fashion brands from both the Chinese and international markets.”
Shanshan Lu, Client Manger, Beijing Ecocert Certification Centre, China (All About Sustainability) was of the opinion “As Intertextile Shanghai is the largest fair of its kind, we can always find our target customers here, which are manufacturers from the Greater China area and the Asia Pacific region. The All About Sustainability zone has enhanced the exhibiting effectiveness as it creates a strong theme that attracts the right visitors to our booth. I think the visitor flow is stronger than last year.”
Impressed buyers
While exhibitors highly valued the fair’s ability to attract quality, genuine buyers from around the world, buyers were pleased to find all categories of apparel fabrics and accessories from the entire industry under one roof. As Johnny Lau, Head of Material Management, Quiksilver Asia Sourcing, Hong Kong puts it, “The strongest trait of Intertextile Shanghai is its scale and aptitude in gathering the entire industry in one place. I believe no matter which sector of the industry or market you belong to, suiting, casual wear or ladieswear; high-end or fast fashion, you are ensured to find the right suppliers here.” Luis Alfonso Yepes Londono, Manager, Yetex SAS, Columbia said, “Among all trade shows, Intertextile Shanghai is the most influential one for my business, even compared to the European shows. Not only can I find local suppliers, but the fair literally puts brands from around the globe under one roof.”
Sharing similar sentiments, Zhou Jie, GM, Shenzhen New Look Fashion, China pointed out, “Intertextile Shanghai is a comprehensive trade fair, and what’s unique about is its unparalleled ability in gathering both domestic and premium international apparel fabrics and accessories suppliers. Therefore, the sourcing options in this fair caters to all market demands.”
The next Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics Spring Edition will be held from March 14 to 16, 2018. Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics is co-organised by Messe Frankfurt (HK); the Sub-Council of Textile Industry, CCPIT; and the China Textile Information Centre.
“All Repreve fibres have a traceable element. From the moment we make yarn, we can trace it all the way through to the final product. So we can go to someone’s closet, take out a product, analyse it and say if it contains Repreve or not. avers Dederick Yansen, Director, Brand Sales, Europe.
Certified by the Scientific Certification Services, Repreve fibre brand is made totally from recycled material. The company, catering to some of the biggest clothing brands, is known as the largest manufacturer of recycled polyester fibres.
“All Repreve fibres have a traceable element. From the moment we make yarn, we can trace it all the way through to the final product. So we can go to someone’s closet, take out a product, analyse it and say if it contains Repreve or not. This traceability gives our customers and brands and retailers the chance to see if a product that claims to be a Repreve product does come from a mill that uses Repreve. It is like an insurance policy they get from us,” avers Dederick Yansen, Director, Brand Sales, Europe.
Largest recycled polyester manufacturer
The company makes several versions of Repreve but it is divided as: polyester yarn and nylon yarn. Polyester yarn is made from recycled PET bottles and nylon yarn is made from recycled industrial waste. The manufacturing facilities for both are different. Elaborating on the processes, Yansen says, “Polyester yarn is made from mechanical recycling. No chemicals are added. We take the polyester bottles, the bottles are washed, they are chopped and broken into chips. We transform the bottles into chips. We turn the chips into yarn and then the same polyester manufacturing process is followed. In case of nylon, it’s bit tricky. We use a chemical recycling process, add chemicals to break down the nylon into its components. Then we polymerise.”
Waste used to create Repreve yarns is sourced from industrial processes. Polyester yarn is made from consumer waste and nylon yarn is made from industrial waste. “Our global capacity for Repreve polyester is 50,000 metric tons a year. That makes us the largest recycled polyester manufacturer in the world. We have several production facilities. The main one is in the US. We also have facilities in China, Turkey, Central America and South America. The US represents 70 per cent of our production and China is 30 per cent. But China is growing faster than the US. And our production in Asia is pretty large compared to many of our competitors,” he adds.
The company’s nylon production capacity is much smaller, about 10,000 metric tons a year since nylon waste is not easily available. Repreve yarns boast of top quality and come with added functions like moisture management, UV protection and different touch and feel factors produced with Repreve polymers.
Repreve yarns stand out amid competition
Explaining the reason behind the popularity of Repreve yarns, Yansen says, “It is because of the marketing efforts, labelling and tagging program that people can use distinguishes Repreve from other polyester fibres. We support brands and retailers with our branding and name. It helps them promote recycled polyester.”
The raw materials used by the company are a bit expensive than virgin polyester and the manufacturing process is slower and more controlled. This leads to a rise in pricing. The upcharge on the final product is not as high as what you see on the yarn itself. The upcharge is five to ten per cent on the average product. With brands world over committed to using more sustainable materials, recycled polyester yarns are in demand. The company supplies yarns to global names such as Nike, Reebok, North Face, Quick Silver, Peak Performance and Adidas.
“We also serve retailers like H&M. We work very closely with brands and retailers. We ensure they take advantage of the Repreve brand name. We offer them free tags. We offer them a website presence. We are very active on social media. We sponsor sports events. We spread awareness that a plastic bottle can be turned into a very cool product like a T-shirt or a pair of trousers. We convey the message that Repreve doesn’t rely on natural resources, that it consumes less water and energy and releases less greenhouse gases,” Yansen exclaims.
www.repreve.com
