FW
Mug, the designer of her Japanese born-and-bred brand G.V.G.V., launched the brand in 1991 after graduating from Kuwasawa Design School, G.V.G.V. has now become one of the most attractive Tokyo fashion label. G.V.G.V. has also injected its creativity into other fashion brands through design collaborations, like with UNIQLO's designer's invitation for their 2007 S/S collection and also producing for UT, the T-shirt for concept of UNIQLO t-shirts for spring and summer 2008. And for Spring/Summer 2010, she has participated as a buyer at grapevine by k3 Daikanyama, selecting wonderful creations from around the world.
G.V.G.V stands for flavor of grape wine, and is an established designer label that is sold in Japan, USA, China, Hong Kong and Italy.
Mug's world is represented by a mix of femininity and masculinity, with free sensitivity that is present in every season's collection. She thinks that in women in Japan and also globally want to feel and sense masculinity through some elements of menswear. “I add in my womenswear range a touch of masculinity through the kinds of fabrics like wool and designs like military styles of designing etc” she adds, “the trend globally is also a sense of genderlessness and blurring of lines between the two sexes” .
Her collections consist of colour palate of pink, green, blue , purple and some glitters usually in stretch , soft chiffons and muscular fabrics made in wool. For her latest collection for disco she has organza, satins, lame and fake fur fabrics. “ I love fake furs, as these give a very good and fluffy feel and look gorgeous on women” Says Mug. “ I am excited to be here first time as a VIP Judge tonight for Young Designers’ Contest at CENTRESTAGE
Tasha Liu, Founder of multi brand Chinese designer store C. Dong Liang is unconventional and unreasonable as she believes, “Being unreasonable means believing in things that most people think hard to realise. But if you believe and are convinced of those things then you should try to accomplish them.” A pioneer in seeking potential Chinese designers, Tasha established C. Dong Liang, in 2009 in Beijing. And the concept has strengthened over the time. Today, she manages two large format C. Dong Liang, villa stores in Shanghai, where 40 Chinese ready to wear designers and 20 fashion accessories designers are retailed. Soon, C. Dong Liang stores would be showcased on T-Mall.
The target audience are: well traveled Chinese buyers who shop for brands and designer wear globally and value Chinese designs. The stores also have a showcasing program called ‘Lablehood’, where emerging designers who participate in Shanghai Fashion Week, showcase their creations. Earlier, the store took Chinese designers to London Fashion Week and also Los Angles to showcase their products. The team also visits Paris Fashion Week and other international events to spot Chinese designers, who participate internationally.
Tasha, a recipient of the British Council's 2014 Young Creative Entrepreneur in China award, is a marketer entrepreneur, having worked with Pepsico earlier. She has believes Chinese designers for Chinese buyers is a good and unique proposition as they understand the same cultural values better compared to global designers and brands selling in China. “C. Dong Liang is a bridge between Chinese designers and Chinese buyers” she opines.
“I am looking forward to meet young Hong Kong designers tonight at Young Designers’ Contest at CENTRESTAGE, these designers would surely find a much bigger market in Mainland China” she sums up.
British Wool is hosting the 2017 National Golden Fleece competition on November 8. All producers marketing their wool through British Wool are invited to enter. The key objectives of this competition are to showcase exceptional high quality of British wool and highlight the difference that fleece presentation can make in terms of increasing the value of producers’ wool.
A maximum of two fleeces per producer can be entered. These fleeces must be packaged separately to the remainder of the wool clip and be accompanied by a complete entry form. All individuals involved in the chain, from intermediate depots and collection points to on-farm collections, are making allowances for these separately packed fleeces.
On receipt of the competition entry, the fleece will be allocated to the appropriate category of the competition, either traditional carpet fleece or specialty/knitwear fleece. This is an important competition for both British Wool and its producers with entries being received from the length and breadth of the country. Producers in England are being encouraged to enter their fleeces and showcase the exceptional high quality of British wool.
To take home the title of British Wool National Golden Fleece Champion really is the ultimate accolade of superb quality wool for wool producers across the UK.
Archroma has progressively acquired 75 per cent shares of the M Dohmen group. Archroma and M Dohmen are now free to operate as partners. Archroma, based in Switzerland, is a global leader in color and specialty chemicals. It operates with 3,000 employees over 35 countries and with 24 production sites. Its three businesses – Brand & Performance Textile Specialties, Packaging and Paper Specialties, and Coatings, Adhesives and Sealants – deliver specialized performance and color solutions to meet customers’ needs.
M Dohmen, also based in Switzerland, specializes in the production of textile dyes and chemicals for the automotive, carpet and apparel sectors. M Dohmen serves textile markets worldwide from production facilities in Switzerland, Germany and Korea, and maintains sales organizations in the US, Korea, Germany, Italy and China.
The stronger ties between Archroma and M Dohmen will allow both companies to make the most of a product portfolio in which they ideally complement each other, especially in the area of dyes and chemicals for synthetic fibers and wool, including for the automotive sector. They have a shared commitment to customer focus, innovation, world-class quality standards, high service levels, cost-efficiency and sustainability. So they can exploit further synergies between their production capabilities, product portfolio and competitive positioning.
Companies have long been experimenting with newer versions of T-shirts to lure consumers. Of late, graphic, logo and tie-dyed tees are in trend especially among kids, hippies, jocks and gamers. The entire fashion diaspora seems to have catapulted with the popularity of athleisure and has attracted the attention of luxury designers and celebrities. Anthony Moni, men’s stylist, Rag & Bone’s SoHo, New York, says graphic tees are important right now, especially among the youth. Most of the T-shirts at Rag & Bone are made of 100 per cent cotton.
They also retail at a higher end price point, too: base tees retail for $75 while fun graphic models go for about $120 and its signature dagger embroidery tee sells for $125.
Compared to clothes produced with manmade fibers, more than eight in 10 consumers say cotton is the most comfortable (87 per cent), according to the Cotton Incorporated Lifestyle Monitor Survey. Consumers also say it’s the most sustainable (85 per cent), trustworthy (85 per cent), soft (85 per cent), authentic (83 per cent) and reliable (81 per cent). Another research points out all consumers want the authenticity of natural fibres. Nearly six in 10 (59 per cent) say they are actually bothered when brands and retailers substitute manmade fibres for cotton in their T-shirts. Women are significantly more likely than men (64 per cent versus 53 per cent) to be irritated by this. Additionally, the majority of consumers (65 per cent) are willing to pay a premium to keep their T-shirts cotton-rich. Additionally, more than seven in 10 say better quality garments are made from natural fibers like cotton. Going by demand, Off White, A Bathing Ape and OVO (October’s Very Own) all have graphic, message, fun or irreverent tees that are all-cotton or cotton rich. Supreme also deals in 100 per cent cotton in its t-shirts, although every item it offers is completely sold out.
Fashion fixation
For G-Star RAW, camo-style tees are trending for men. Tees are a basic staple. Some look at logo tees and say it’s not something they will want to wear. But it’s an entry-level item, especially if someone’s shopping at a big brand or designer label. So, if a tee has a logo, some shoppers will get it just for that. Even more popular though: limited edition ‘Star Wars’ collection tees ranging from $95 to $150. They sold out online almost immediately. Marcus Wainwright, CEO, Founder & Creative Director, Rag & Bone, grew up with the ‘Star Wars’ movies and loved them. He decided to do a little collaboration to share how he felt about the franchise through his clothing. He wanted to incorporate Star Wars in a way where it wasn’t so uniform, but rather could be worn everyday. It’s also going to be very significant to the company because it’s all cotton.
In the first six months of 2017, the turnover from Vietnam’s exports of textiles and garments rose 10 per cent year-on-year. Despite increasing export turnover, development in textile and garment industry’s is hampered due to numerous reason. The industry wants wage increases to be put on hold and says any raise would increase the total production expenditure of textile and garment enterprises by 2.9 per cent. It wants minimum wage increases to be put off until 2020 or 2022. Simultaneously, enterprises say the minimum wage should not be used as the initial basis to build the payroll as well as the basis for contributing premium rates.
In the 2007-17, Vietnam saw regional minimum wages increase on an average 21.8 per cent for domestic enterprises and 15 per cent for foreign direct investment enterprises. Enterprises using domestic fabric sources to manufacture exported products want to be exempt from the value added tax.
Vietnam is one of the five largest textile and garment exporters in the world. Vietnam’s textile and apparel sector has set a target of seven per cent growth over 2016. Currently, Vietnam’s garment and textile products are available in 40 countries around the world, with major markets including the United States, Japan, the Republic of Korea, China and the EU.
Woolmark has produced a range of wool shoes in collaboration with knitting machine manufacturers such as Shima Seiki, Stoll and Santoni. These shoes are comfortable and breathable and also resistant to odor and wick away moisture. Several shoe prototypes have been created using advanced wool yarns to enhance the inherent benefits of the fiber. For example, by combining yarns together and 3D knitting, the entire upper can be free of cutting and sewing.
Comfortable for wearing next to skin by using a 100 per cent merino wool yarn as an inner surface layer, the latest spinning technology helps knit the fabric on to the outer face of the shoes’ upper, enhancing abrasion resistance. Post-workout muscle recovery can also be improved by using a combination of far infrared material with wool.
Woolmark has used the natural properties of wool – such as odor resistance, breathability, comfort and shape retention – for the ultimate in footwear. By working closely with its suppliers, it has been able to develop technically advanced yarns to be incorporated into the upper, inner and liner for a range of machine washable footwear.
The rise of wool sneakers is part of a larger trend, with merino wool continuing to cement its place in the growing sports and active wear industry.
CENTRESTAGE ELITES, a major fashion spectacular, took to the stage on 6 September, showcasing the latest Spring/Summer 2018 collections of Hong Kong brand FFIXXED STUDIOS and Korean label JUUN.J.
The opening gala show was a highlight of CENTRESTAGE, the event aims to further reinforce position of HK as an international fashion capital.
CENTRESTAGE ELITES showcased Kain Picken and Fiona Lau's FFIXXED STUDIOS, as well as the works of Juun.J.
The Korean designer staged his first Hong Kong runway show, which was made possible through a collaboration with the brand's partner JOYCE and the HKTDC. JUUN.J's 2017 Fall/Winter collection is also currently on offer at JOYCE.
The Economic and Technology Co-operation Agreement (ETCA) with India is expected to increase Sri Lanka’s competitiveness in industrial exports and help Sri Lanka gain better access to India’s rapidly growing market. Another area Sri Lanka is looking forward to is a free trade agreement with China, where the focus will be on apparels, tea, gems and jewelry, rubber products, coconuts and spices as key industries.
Together the Chinese FTA and the Indian ETCA are expected to give Sri Lanka preferential access to a market of 2.5 billion people and an emerging middle class larger than the whole of the EU. Sri Lanka has also launched negotiations on a free trade agreement with Singapore and is particularly focused on encouraging Singaporean investment into Sri Lanka and new concepts such as re-manufacturing industries.
Sri Lanka’s FTA with Pakistan also provides an opportunity for Indian investors to access that market on a preferential basis by locating to Sri Lanka. There is a possibility of redirecting some of Indo-Pakistan trade currently transmitting through Dubai. The SAARC region is one of the fastest growing regions of the world. India accounts for 78 per cent of the region’s GDP followed by Pakistan and Bangladesh at 10 per cent and eight per cent.
India’s export growth slowed to an eight-month low of 3.94 per cent in July while trade deficit widened on account of high gold imports. Exports to GDP ratio of India has to improve substantially. Action has to be taken on several other fronts, including bringing in a new industrial policy, improving logistics for exporters, formulating an agri export policy and integrating into global supply chains.
Global supply chains are now a reality. India is part of this in auto components and generic formulations. These chains offer a great opportunity for Indian exports as well as upgrading capacities in terms of technology. Logistics are being added in the rules of business of commerce now. Logistics will be brought to the forefront and will be worked on as there is a direct link between competitiveness of exports and logistics.
To promote investments, a district-wise industrial plan will be prepared as local situations like human resource availability, law and order conditions and natural resources help attract investors more. Support measures are being devised which can facilitate a quick increase in exports both in terms of volume and value. The intention is to rev up the country’s exports in the shortest possible time.
