FW
"Organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), the 25th Hong Kong Fashion Week Spring/Summer ended recently. The four-day fair held from July 9-12, 2018 attracted around 11,000 buyers from 65 countries and regions. The participating countries included: Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Russia, Thailand and Vietnam recorded considerable growth. Around 15 fashion events, including fashion shows, industry forecasting and fashion tech seminars, a buyer forum and a networking reception were held during the fair to generate business opportunities for industry professionals."
Organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), the 25th Hong Kong Fashion Week Spring/Summer ended recently. The four-day fair held from July 9-12, 2018 attracted around 11,000 buyers from 65 countries and regions. The participating countries included: Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Russia, Thailand and Vietnam recorded considerable growth. Around 15 fashion events, including fashion shows, industry forecasting and fashion tech seminars, a buyer forum and a networking reception were held during the fair to generate business opportunities for industry professionals.
As Benjamin Chau, Deputy executive Director, HKTDC said, “The global economy is now facing significant
challenges, with the impact of the Sino-US trade friction. Hong Kong companies should stay competitive by launching diversified products and designs, and by exploring emerging markets. Besides participating in trade fairs, they should also engage in promotions with online sourcing platforms and social media, to reach more global buyers.”
Fashion and technology have merged and formed a new trend in recent years, where more and more innovative technologies are incorporated in fashion design, manufacturing, sourcing and sales. During the fashion week, HKTDC organised seminars such as 'The Next Wave in Fashion Technology' and 'Online Shopping Reshapes the Fashion Industry' so as to discuss the latest fashion tech applications and explore marketing strategies for online fashion sales, offering useful insights for both exhibitors and buyers. ‘The next wave in fashion industry’ seminar session explored wearable tech in thermostatic clothing and how to get the accurate shapes and sizes using smart 3D human modelling technology.
On-site orders received
The four-day fair brought latest market intelligence and fashion tech to buyers and created many sourcing opportunities for the industry. Mohamed Sadhique, a buyer from UAE’s Lamia Garments Manufacturing, said it was his second visit to the fair to source laces and other fabrics. He had already placed on-site orders with two suppliers from Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland. The orders from Hong Kong supplier were worth about $250,000, while the order from Chinese mainland supplier was around $45,000.” He said Hong Kong is an excellent place to source fabrics and expects to develop business with more new suppliers for a mix of laces and fabrics.
Variety of products on display
The Hong Kong exhibitor MsEnvy has been displaying at the fair for many years and leveraged the platform to launch an array of silk womenswear each year to capture buyers’ attention. This year, the company offered womenswear with 300 styles to buyers. Jun MK Wong, MD, MsEnvy, said that a number of new customers including buyers from Canada, Japan, Singapore and other Southeast Asian countries showed interest in their designs. A new buyer from Italy was keen on purchasing some styles in silk and polyester, and the order was expected to be finalised within three to six months. She also pointed out existing customers from Italy and Australia returned to make new orders, while the company has established cooperation with another new Australian company to develop new collections.
To cater to the demand for sourcing in small amounts, the show once again set up the hktdc.com Small Orders zone, featuring nearly 100 showcases and garment racks with close to 300 products, which are available for orders in minimum quantities of between five and 1,000 pieces. During the four-day event, 2,700 buyers visited the zone and 6,000 connections were established. The third edition of CENTRESTAGE, a platform for international, especially Asian fashion brands and designers to promote their brands and launch their collections, will be held September 5-8, 2018.
Kenya is planning to modernise Rivatex factories and adopt high-yielding seeds to revive the ailing cotton sector. Through this upgrade, whose cost will add up to Sh3 billion by the end of the year, the textile firm plans to spur production from the current 1 tonne of lint, equivalent to 6,000 metres, to over 12 tonnes or 40,000 metres of finished products in a day.
Rivatex currently consumes 10 bales of cotton daily, but this is expected to increase to 70 bales once modernisation of equipment is complete. Kenya wants to take advantage of global markets with the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) to change the fortunes of the sector. Under AGOA, goods of more than 6,000 product lines, mainly textile and apparel, accounting for 65 per cent of the total exports, are granted quota and duty-free access to the US market.
Robert Graham, one of the global consumer brand subsidiaries under the umbrella of Differential Brands Group Inc, has signed a licensing agreement with Peerless Clothing International, for manufacturing and distribution of its men’s and boys’ tailored clothing, suit separates and top coats. The distribution functions and operations by Peerless will commence across the United States and Mexico for the product line Spring 2019. This new collection will be sold in luxury specialty stores and department stores. It will be produced in the Canadian factory of the Peerless group with detailing of half canvas make and sartorial hand finish by experienced workers while using the finest of the Italian raw materials.
This announcement follows recent partnership deals signed by the Corporation that include: Komar (loungewear), Nouveau Eyewear (ophthalmic and sunglasses), Prodigy Brands (footwear), and Royal Heritage Home (complete bedding and decorative pillows), and bids well for the organisation’s strategic focus on expanding Robert Graham’s lifestyle products offering.
Tirupur knitwear exporters are positive about Bangladesh losing its duty-free access from the EU for readymade garment (RMG) in 2020 as the country is expected to move up from being a ‘least developed nation’. However, Tirupur exporters can reap the benefits of Bangladesh’s loss only if the Union government provides adequate support to the industry. According to United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTD), Bangladesh’s per capita income stood at $1,355 in 2016, a 39 per cent increase compared to 2013 ($974). At the current rate, by 2020, its per capita income is predicted to overtake India’s, which stood at $1,706 in 2016. As per the World Trade Organisation, if the country’s per capita income has remained more than $1,000 continuously for three years, it could be classified as a ‘developing nation’.
Indian garments attract about 10 per cent import duties in the EU while Bangladesh enjoys duty free status in many developed markets, including the EU. In fact, Bangladesh’s duty-free access was one of main advantages for RMG manufacturer, while Tirupur knitwear exporters had been repeatedly asking for a level playing field. They have been urging the government to provide adequate sops to sustain the industry. Experts say if Bangladesh loses duty free access, it will provide opportunities to countries like India to compete and buyers will then chose where to source the apparels. However, Tirupur Exporters’ Association president Raja M Shanmugham feels the situation may not really turn in favour of India. For example, when China started losing market share from 39 to 35 per cent in global market, India was expected to gain and improve its share by 3.5 per cent. However, Chinese RMG firms’ then moved manufacturing to labour-rich countries like Vietnam and Cambodia.
The US tariffs on Chinese products will damage the global economy. The most immediate threat is of disruption to a global economy which is enjoying its most sustained synchronised recovery since the international financial crisis. Unilateral tariff imposition is not merely against the interestof any one country but against the interests of all states.
Just the threat of tariffs led to hundreds of billions of dollar losses for investors – even before damaging tariffs were imposed. German companies fear they could suffer considerable collateral damage because machines and cars made by their subsidiaries in China and exported to the US could end up being hit just as hard as Chinese products.
But even greater than the immediate damage to the world economy is the strategic threat. By definition, international trade is multinational, and must, therefore, have mutually agreed rules.
If any one country is allowed to set the rules, or to act outside a mutually agreed framework, it would inevitably manipulate the situation to its own advantage. Any US action outside the World Trade Organisation therefore strategically threatens the multilateral trade framework on which every economy’s prosperity depends. While the US tariffs will damage the global economy, they will not reduce the US trade deficit.
Uniqlo parent Fast Retailing is strengthening its partnership with a Japanese machinery maker to develop new products and on-demand production. The move follows Japanese online retailer Start Today's launch of custom-fit clothing brand Zozo earlier this year, and shows how fashion companies are increasingly using data to meet individual customers' needs.
Zozo, which offers affordable clothes based on individual size measurements taken using a special bodysuit and a smartphone app, is seen as a potential threat to Uniqlo. Fast Retailing machinery partner Shima Seiki supplies equipment used in clothing factories, including WholeGarment seamless knitwear production gears. The two companies have a joint venture since 2016.
Fast Retailing markets WholeGarment products only under Uniqlo U, a high-end brand led by French designer Christophe Lemaire sold at Uniqlo stores. The Japanese company is looking to use more WholeGarment products in its brands.
This suggests Fast Retailing is eyeing customized clothes to fit consumer's different needs, at a mass scale. WholeGarment machines are used by various brands. Customers enjoy the comfort, while apparel manufacturers benefit from the automation.
Customization is a recent trend in the fashion industry, for customers who are looking for things that meet their individual needs. The difficulty for apparel companies has been to produce customized products at mass scale, to lower costs.
Turkish denim mill Orta Anadolu has launched Zeromax from the company’s fabric segment. The fabric offers maximum soft share with the use of TENCEL™ Lyocell, which drapes next to skin with a shaping stretch. It’s the revolutionary soft denim that has zero cotton and leaves.
It’s a zero cotton product that offers maximum feeling delivered with the luxurious next-to-skin gentle hand. Zeromax is the ultimate sustainability co-op in the denim industry combined with Indigo Flow and coupled with conscious luxury and sophisticated structure. This family is woven with minimum impact to share the future of denim due to no use of cotton, which contributes to environmental pollution through the use of water, pesticides, land use and chemicals in its production process. Moreover, it’s crafted with unique twill and elasticity fusion that has a softer luster on the face.
German affordable textiles chain, Kik, has halted plans to enter the US due to the threat of higher tariffs. Instead, the company plans to focus on its Europe expansion. Kik aimed to conquer the US by opening its first 10 stores in the Midwest during 2019. The US market offers unlimited growth potential. Now, however, trade policies of President Trump have thwarted plans of the chain that hoped to emulate the success of German grocery retailer Aldi in the US.
Compared to the difficulties felt by other retailers, Kik and fellow discount chains have grown in Germany over the past years. Germany-based company, The Boenen operates more than 3,500 stores in Europe, which all offer a very similar range of low-priced clothing and home textiles, thus enabling the company to obtain low buying prices. Facing possible tariff costs, this strategy might not work in the United States anymore.
The global technical textile market is expected to reach $244,032 million by 2022 from $158,429 million in 2015 with a CAGR of 6.4 per cent from 2016 to 2022. The market is driven by increasing demand for hometech textile and mobiltech textile. The application of technical textile in mobiltech segment is crucial, as it reduces the weight of vehicles by providing light advanced material that is strong and durable. The Asia-Pacific region generated the highest revenue in 2015, which is expected to grow at CAGR of 7.8 per cent from 2016 to 2022. Asia-Pacific is expected to maintain its dominant position during the forecast period.Europe and North America are the second and third leading regions in the technical textile market respectively.
The global technical textile market is segmented based on type, end user industry, and geography. Based on type, the technical textile market is segmented into nonwoven, composites, and others (weaving, knitting and braiding).
Russia plans to double textile exports by 2025. Last year, exports of Russian-made textile products were almost 20 per cent higher than in 2016. However, despite this, textile products as a proportion of all Russian exports last year accounted for only 0.4 per cent. The plan is to make this about two per cent by 2025.
One key to this growth and planned export expansion has been the devaluation of the Russian currency in recent years. This has made exports more attractive for Russian textile producers, even compared to deliveries to the domestic market.
A decade ago, condition of Russian textile industry was catastrophic. It was badly affected by the decline of the Russian economy in the 1980s and 1990s. Many textile factories went bankrupt, while the market was occupied by cheap textile goods from South East Asia. However, the situation has changed significantly since then, while Russian textile goods have begun to enjoy significant demand both in the domestic market and abroad.
Russian exporters face good prospects because of an increase in labor costs in China and some South East Asian production hubs, the prices of Russian goods becoming more competitive as a result.
