FW
India has launched an initiative to help small industries adopt sustainable and efficient textile technologies. This initiative called Saathi is expected to benefit the almost 25 lakh powerloom units in the country which produce 57 per cent of the total cloth in the country. The use of efficient equipment would result in energy savings and cost savings to the unit owner who would in turn repay in installments to Energy Efficient Services over a four to five year period.
The provision to repay in installments is a novel idea as it will not cast undue burden on small power loom owners since they will not be required to incur any additional capital expenditure. This initiative is a step in the right direction as there is enormous scope for increasing the production and exports of fabrics from India in view of the abundant availability of raw materials and technical skills in the country. Exports of fabrics can be increased substantially if they are treated on par with garments and made-ups in terms of incentives.
However, despite these advantages, and even though weaving capacity has increased by 12 per cent over the last seven years, woven fabric production has decreased by 3.58 per cent as fabric export has become uncompetitive due to various added costs, non-refund of state levies and duty free access enjoyed by countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, Vietnam in the EU market.
The US wants to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with Canada. When NAFTA came into effect in 1994, the Canadian apparel industry took a hit as the terms of the agreement specified only garments made in Canada were considered eligible for free trade across the border. But there is no Canadian manufacturer of denim, so Canadian companies manufacturing denim products have to go abroad to source it.
Thanks to the agreement’s tariff preference levels (TPL), wool, cotton and other manmade apparel made from imported textiles can be exported duty-free to the US. That means Canadian apparel manufacturers can source materials from places like Bangladesh or Sri Lanka, make the products in Canada, and still reap NAFTA's benefits when exporting duty-free to the US.
If NAFTA is fully reorganized or revoked, Canadian apparel companies could lose their competitive edge. Canadians making goods in Canada would then either make goods in the United States or make goods off-shore and further perpetuate the decline of manufacturing in Canada.
Removing the TPL would prevent US companies from enjoying the duty-free shipment of products made with internationally-sourced materials. The only ones who would benefit would be companies that both source and manufacture domestically.
Kingpins Amsterdam was held from October 25 to 26, 2017. The first day was very crowded and lively, while the second one slightly slower, though busy. Most companies presented products and projects focused on sustainable practices and eco-friendliness.
Lenzing’s new fiber Refibra based on a circular economy pattern debuted at the show. Refibra launched a new special collaboration collection. It included different indigo fabrics and jerseys as well as denims employing different mixes of Refibra with other recycled or sustainable fibers, but also made with 100 per cent Refibra. Many companies offered their own interpretation of Refibra fiber for jeanswear and casual wear.
Invista presented the final results of a study done in five countries (Germany, Spain, US, China and Brazil) in 2016 among women wearing stretch jeans. To better advise consumers in choosing the best jeans Invista teamed up with an online publication and curated a shop hosting jeans from 19 brands mostly sold in the US. Invista also shared the results of the study with brands and retailers informing them about how to choose the best bi-stretch for their needs per each trouser’s silhouette.
The plan is to expand Kingpins shows throughout China, Europe and US, and enlarge their commitment to sustainable jeanswear on all fronts.
Fashion trade show Pure London has created a new sourcing event called Pure Origin. This is a platform to unite suppliers, buyers and brands and bring all aspects of fashion sourcing and manufacturing under one roof. Pure Origin was created following extensive research into the marketplace.
Pure Origin will be held alongside Pure London and Pure Man on February 11 to 13, 2018 with over 40 manufacturers. British manufacturers will be also represented at the show. The event will feature global manufacturers, exclusive briefings, content from WGSN and color methodology and forecasting workshops. Visitors will be also able to benefit from one-on-one advice and tutorials about the fast growing menswear market.
Pure London is expected to welcome over 800 brands from 48 countries and over 10,000 UK and international visitors. The trade show hosts a variety of companies across women’s wear, men’s wear, young fashion, athleisure, footwear and accessories.
Offering efficiency and time-saving benefits, Pure Origin will showcase a curated selection of international manufacturers, textile producers and white labels. Pure Origin was created to deliver all aspects of fashion sourcing and manufacturing under one roof.
The United Kingdom is renowned for its world-class retailing, booming e-commerce sector, innovative independents and resilience.
European and Asian countries are increasingly placing orders for Myanmar garments. In 2015, export earnings from garments accounted for 10 per cent of the nation’s total export value. Exports of garments to the EU increased 80 per cent.
The number of garment factories increased in recent years to over 400. In 2016, the garment sector employed up to 3, 50,000 workers, about 90 per cent of them women. Foreign direct investment in Myanmar’s garment industry has been significant. As of mid-2015, about 55 per cent of registered garment firms in the country were fully or partly foreign-owned. Among them, a quarter came from China, 17 per cent from Hong Kong, 29 per cent from South Korea and 12 per cent from Japan.
Foreign-linked firms supply almost all garment exports and these have surged in recent years. The lifting of EU and American sanctions has helped further boost export growth. Currently, Japan and European countries are placing the largest orders for garment shipments. Additionally garment exports also go to South Korea, China and America.
Myanmar’s garment industry is focused on cutting, making and packing, which is a basic contract garment assembly system that allows international garment companies to reduce their labor costs.
Iran is showing strong potential for luxury markets. Early last year, Iran re-entered the global economy after more than 30 years of isolation and austerity. With an educated, surging middle income population of almost 80 million, and a GDP of more than $400 billion, a number of brands are reportedly interested in returning to Iran or increasing their physical and digital presences there.
The young generation is hungry for luxury goods and wants to distance itself from the austerity of the ruling regime. Brands like Versace and Roberto Cavalli are expanding their brick-and-mortar networks in the capital Tehran. Iran is the second largest economy in the Middle East following only behind Saudi Arabia. The capital Tehran is home to luxury malls featuring major Western brands.
However, a grey market and a significant market for counterfeit goods have flourished. Grey market goods are typically defined as genuine branded goods obtained from one market that are subsequently imported into another market and sold there without the consent of the trademark holder.
So, Iranian consumers have grown used to a market littered with fake goods. Many wealthy Iranians are not well informed about the change in the retail landscape and still assume luxury goods in local boutiques are convincing fake versions of the Western brands they profess to be.
Free Trade Agreements may not take Sri Lanka far. Signing an FTA with India for instance means India has to absorb Sri Lanka’s exports. But Lanka’s export share to India is as low as five per cent of total exports and has not grown over the years. This is simply because the type of products exported are not the ones that India is capable of absorbing.
So a FTA will not necessarily work wonders in promoting Sri Lanka’s exports. Over the years, manufacturing exports from Sri Lanka have seen a significant decline. Even if the proposed FTAs generate demand, it’s doubtful whether the country can cater to this increased demand. The country could cater to this increased demand. Signing more FTAs to tackle the trade deficit would be like applying medicine to the head to heal a wound in the leg, only resulting in making matters worse.
Some FTAs may work, while some may not. Therefore, the best way forward is via unilateral and multilateral trade agreements. Around 60 per cent of women in Bangladesh’s apparel companies can't read or write. It takes around six months to train them, whereas in Sri Lanka, the same training takes only one and a half months.
The Confederation of Indian Textile Industry has hailed the revision of customs duty on import of textiles goods. Countervailing duty and special additional duty applicable on imports have been abolished making imports cheaper by about 15 per cent. CITI says this has given the textile fabric industry a big relief as it was going through tremendous pressure post-GST regime and it will also help the industry to strengthen itself in the domestic as well as international markets.
The announcement is expected to help increase fresh FDIs especially in the fabric sector which will help the textile industry enhance its capacities to meet future challenges and opportunities arising in the domestic and foreign markets. The duty increase is mainly in manmade fiber-based fabric, which is a weak link in the country and needs a lot of investment to increase the Indian textile industry’s share in the manmade fiber category.
CITI hopes the problem of non-refunded GST on inputs for fabric manufacturers gets resolved at the earliest so that the disadvantage against imports is taken care of. However, there is a big issue of imports from FTA countries like Bangladesh and Sri Lanka where there is full exemption from basic customs duty. This is a gateway for Chinese fabrics entering India duty-free in the form of garments.
India expects a bumper cotton crop during the 2017-18 season. This will make India the biggest producer of cotton for the third consecutive season. Mill consumption will be around 300 to 310 lakh bales. Cotton sowing has reached a record high of 122.6 lakh hectares in the country during the just concluded kharif season on the back of good rainfall in key growing regions.
Cotton acreage too has increased by about 20 per cent during the season. Good cotton prices during the last three years and poor remunerative prices from alternative crops encouraged farmers to grow more cotton. About 70 per cent of the cotton is brought to the market by farmers between November and February. The value of this cotton would be about Rs 58,300 crores.
A similar situation is expected in other cotton growing countries, resulting in 75 per cent surplus cotton globally for 2017-18. Due to oversupply in domestic and global markets, and liquidity issues, there would not be sufficient buyers in the lndian market which would affect the cotton farmers badly. So the Indian Cotton Federation says that if the Cotton Corporation of India were to procure 100 lakh bales, this would help in a big way to maintain stable cotton prices throughout the year and create a win-win situation for farmers and the entire textile chain.
For British brands the US market is an absolutely critical one.
Walpole, an alliance of British luxury brands, celebrated a British luxury inaugural trade delegation to the US last week. It aimed to highlight the best of British luxury in order to support the global expansion of British brands, deepen critical relationships in the US market and encourage the US to purchase more British luxury goods.
The alliance pointed out that there is something authentic about the timelessness of British luxury and craftsmanship and that the experience of being in a hotel like Claridge’s, or in a Bentley, or when drinking an English sparkling wine can’t be reproduced. The special emotional connect was stressed. Keen storytelling and branding are the main points of differentiation for British brands to capitalize on.
Due to the current, complex political climate Brexit has made Britain look like an inward-looking nation. But Britain has a very long history of looking out to the rest of the world for incredible ideas to show off its point of view.
There is a sense of uncertainty in the world and business doesn’t like uncertainty. But the context of luxury in an otherwise uncertain world is especially compelling. And the heritage of Britishness has a very stable and timeless quality and appeal.
