FW
Den/IM is an innovation in athleisure made with stretch indigo denim on seamless circular knitting machines. It debuted last year and has been embraced by consumers. Lenzing, Tonello, Santoni and Unitin partnered to create DEN/IM, a studio-to-street collection designed to show knit denim’s potential as a viable alternative and competitor to traditional active wear bottoms and to classic woven denim.
The new collection employs body mapping for superior fit and performance, the efficiency of seamless knitting from Santoni and new sustainable wash treatments from Tonello, innovations in garment processing from Unitin and the addition of Tencel branded lyocell fibers.
The collaboration started with the idea of traditional sportswear— made with the cut and sew concept—which couldn’t provide the comfort expected by a certain kind of active fashionista. The range associates terms such as compression, ventilation, moisture control, thermal conductivity and body mapping with traditional denim terms such as indigo shade, fade-down and laser marking.
Each knitted garment in the Den/IM collection incorporates different combinations of fibers and knitted structures to create a unique cross-over concept. It’s all about integrating several sportswear benefits into the authentic denim world. The seamless functional features of Den/IM provide superior moisture wicking by incorporating Tencel in a unique two-layer construction. These high performance yarns provide superior temperature regulation and a perfect microclimate for the skin.
"After scouting for the most promising location for her swimwear line, Sama Danesh set up a factory in Istanbul in 2015. Being in the business, she knew Turkey is home to many fashion houses but she was apprehensive about the fate of a small start-up. Admiring Turkish workers’ craftsmanship, as they focus a lot on detailing in pattern-cutting and construction using sculptured fabric, wiring and boning, which is needed to create the silhouettes for her swimsuits. Her swimsuits cost about $385."
After scouting for the most promising location for her swimwear line, Sama Danesh set up a factory in Istanbul in 2015. Being in the business, she knew Turkey is home to many fashion houses but she was apprehensive about the fate of a small start-up. Admiring Turkish workers’ craftsmanship, as they focus a lot on detailing in pattern-cutting and construction using sculptured fabric, wiring and boning, which is needed to create the silhouettes for her swimsuits. Her swimsuits cost about $385.
Dealing with uncertainties
Major political upheavals and volatile economic climate always overshadows Istanbul’s potential and that’s what is marring industrial growth in the region. Due to political uncertainties, Danesh reminisced it used to be a nightmare to do business in the city. There were delivery delays. Many pieces in Danesh’s initial 2017 summer collection were so delayed they had to be released as part of her subsequent cruise collection. Owing to this, she has moved shipping to Britain, which eats into margins but has also reduced the risk of delivery delays.
Amid this chaos, Istanbul is finding its feat in establishing itself as the upcoming fashion hub. A manufacturing center for mass-market retailers like Marks & Spencer and Inditex, as well as luxury labels like Burberry and Hugo Boss, today the city has become a hub for the fast-growing Modest Fashion Movement geared to style-conscious Islamic women. It is also home to a slew of designers with a Western aesthetic who have expanded their businesses internationally.
Starting small
There are other small design studios that still upbeat about the fortunes of the city. Manu Atelier is a small, family-run accessories label housed in an 18th-century building on a paved street in the Beyoglu district, an ancient quarter known for its leatherwork trade. Founded in 2014 by Merve and Beste Manastir, daughters of a leather craftsman who personally signs off on every piece, the company has grown rapidly in the last three years, thanks to savvy use of social media. Manastir says locally, people have been less keen to go out and spend money, and visitor numbers are down. While they are proud of Turkish manufacturing roots, in terms of their identity, they consider themselves a global luxury lifestyle brand.
Ece and Ayse Ege too feels the same, they set up their couture and ready-to-wear label Dice Kayek in 1992, and celebrated. Although they split their time between Paris and Istanbul, their atelier has always been in the heart of their home city. For them, it has become cheaper to make garments, which they can sell in Euros. They supply all of the raw materials and produce everything in Turkey. She also added that the company was more vulnerable to the volatility within the broader fashion industry than that of the Turkish political situation.
Many homegrown designers are upbeat about the evolutionary landscape that the city is witnessing and are ready to take the much needed risk to offer locals most stylish & trendy clothes. It’s just a matter of time when the political instabilities settle down and they can establish their market in this upcoming fashion hub where fashion & tradition go hand in hand.
There is still no clarity on what’s to become of the Trans Pacific Partnership, the Pacific rim trade deal that would have been the world’s largest, covering roughly 40 per cent of global GDP. Had TPP proceeded as planned, as a 12-nation trade agreement, Vietnam was expected to reap the biggest gains from being afforded greater access to the US market.
Now Vietnam may want to follow the United States’ path out of the deal. With the US out, TPP just isn’t as lucrative for Vietnam. The deal for Vietnam was essentially it would implement difficult reforms on state-owned enterprises and labor and other areas in exchange for greater access to the US market, particularly for textiles and footwear.
Malaysia, too is having doubts about continuing with TPP. Meanwhile Peru and Indonesia are working on an alternative. Peru is working on a aggressive trade agenda, which includes the start of negotiations on a free trade agreement with Indonesia. Peru’s aggressive plans for trade also include efforts to reduce trade barriers between Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Canada and the Pacific Alliance bloc including Peru, Mexico, Chile and Colombia.
The value of US manmade fiber and filament, textile and apparel shipments increased 11 per cent in 2016 compared to 2009. Investment in fiber, yarn, fabric and other non-apparel textile product manufacturing climbed 75 per cent from 2009 to 2015.
On technology front, an international research team has developed high-tech yarns that generate electricity when they are stretched or twisted. Researchers describe twistron yarns and their possible applications, such as harvesting energy from the motion of ocean waves or from temperature fluctuations. When sewn into a shirt, these yarns served as a self-powered breathing monitor. Normal breathing stretched the yarn and generated an electrical signal, demonstrating its potential as a self-powered respiration sensor.
The yarns are constructed from carbon nanotubes, which are hollow cylinders of carbon 10,000 times smaller in diameter than a human hair. The researchers first twist-spun the nanotubes into high-strength, lightweight yarns. To make the yarns highly elastic, they introduced so much twist that the yarns coiled like an over-twisted rubber band.
In order to generate electricity, the yarns must be either submerged in or coated with an ionically conducting material, or electrolyte, which can be as simple as a mixture of ordinary table salt and water. The investigators have filed a patent on the technology.
Hosiery Purchasing Expo (CHPE) will take place in China from March 26 to 28, 2018. This is a socks and hosiery exhibition meant to be an efficient trading platform for both exhibitors and purchasers. More than 500 companies will be exhibiting their latest socks and hosiery trends and technologies. Exhibitors from Turkey, Pakistan, Korea and Japan will showcase hosiery brands and present latest global fashion in hosiery products.
The expo will include a comprehensive display of manufacturing chain, from yarns, finished socks/hosiery products, hosiery machines, to packaging machines. CHPE 2018 will also hold special exhibitions of a wider range of textile products, such as hats, scarves and gloves, as well as augmented products of the hosiery industry.
There will also be a VIP buyers club, hosiery industry development forum, hosiery fashion show, cross-border e-commerce forum and an overseas business matching meeting. These events will not only provide exhibitors and visitors with the latest industry news but also give them a great opportunity for face-to-face interactions.
As a major textile exporting country, China also ranks as the top hosiery exporting country in the world. Its unique industrial advantages have helped establish specialised manufacturing sites around the country.
TUV Rheinland will work with the Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts (EPCH) to build capacity and capability in the Indian handicraft sector. TUV Rheinland is a subsidiary of the German group, a worldwide leader in testing, training, inspection, consulting and certification. EPCH is an apex organization engaged in the promotion of exports of handicrafts from the country and project India’s image abroad as a reliable supplier of high quality handicraft goods and services.
The partners will create awareness and disseminate knowledge to handicraft exporters on issues relating to supply chain standardization, processing, product certification and testing. This would be done through multiple industry connect interventions like workshops, seminars and awareness programs to enable the Indian handicraft sector to meet international benchmarks.
Both organizations will also work cohesively to set up testing labs for the handicraft sector and provide product testing services to handicraft exporters at standardized rates.
Based in Bangalore, TUV is active in more than 100 locations in India. Being a prominent service provider in the testing, training, inspection, consulting and certification industry, it has one of the most advanced testing capabilities in India. It is the only certification body in India that boasts of an accredited welding institute offering welding courses to the industry in order to enhance the technical skills of its employees. The company plans to set up laboratories in other parts of India as well in the near future.
Bangladesh Denim Expo will be held in Dhaka from November 8 to 9, 2017. The expo will highlight the importance of the need for transparency within the entire denim development chain, showing the progress made by Bangladesh denim mills and factories towards achieving greater transparency.
The demand for transparency in textile and garment supply chains is growing and today more and more customers want to know about the origin of products and the conditions in which garments are produced. The core objective of having transparency as the main theme is to empower the apparel industry in Bangladesh through three key actions--promoting transparency in practice, growing enthusiasm toward transparency and transparency through public dialogue.
A transparency wall will give a graphic and detailed display of the progress in transparency made by the Bangladesh denim industry. There will also be a 3D virtual tour of denim mills, jeans factories and laundries in Bangladesh. Also on display will be denim outfits made transparently. Eight seminars and workshops are planned to run across the duration of the two day event covering issues regarding sustainability innovation and development.
A trend zone will show the latest novelties in denim fabric, garments and washing for spring/summer 2019.
Exports of readymade garments from Tirupur dipped to eight per cent in 2016-17 from 10 per cent of the previous year. Readymade garment exports fell 15 per cent in July compared to a year ago. From October, export incentives will be slashed, including the duty drawback scheme, from 11.2 per cent to around five to six per cent. This, along with rupee appreciation, will be a deterrent to exports.
Exporters feel cut in incentives will reduce price competitiveness of Indian products in global market. The threat is forcing exporters to go slow on orders. From second largest exporter after China in 2005, India has fallen to the sixth position now, behind Cambodia, Vietnam, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Soon, India could slip to the ninth position, behind Myanmar and Ethiopia.
At Rs 25,000 crores, Tirupur accounted for 45 per cent of total exports of readymade garments from the country last year. Exports fell short of the targeted Rs 30,000 crores with Brexit and subsequent fall in the pound value upsetting exporters calculations. Trade has already seen export revenue fall in the first five months due to confusion over GST.
Indonesia’s upstream textile industry wants raw materials supplied by local manufacturers to be exempt from VAT. Currently, tax exemption for imported raw materials is provided only to those companies that use these relatively cheap imported raw materials for output that is shipped abroad. However, domestic textile manufacturers supplying raw materials to domestic facility owners are subject to a 10 per cent value added tax.
For facility owners, this situation makes it attractive to opt for imported raw materials instead of buying from local suppliers. Scrapping the 10 per cent VAT is expected to boost demand for local raw materials. Indonesia’s textile and garment exports increased 0.62 per cent in the first half of 2017.
Boost in exports is also said to be a result of the introduction of automated processes in textile and garment manufacturing. Automation has made the exporters even more competitive in terms of pricing and delivery, thereby boosting the country’s exports.
The country is looking to attract foreign importers with improved economic and political stability. This could, in turn, be a deciding factor in reinforcing Indonesia’s position in global textile and garment industry. The country’s clothing and textiles go mainly to the United States, Japan, Turkey, China, and Germany.
Taiwan’s textile exports showed steady signs of recovery in July amid improving industry sentiment. Exports rose 0.73 per cent year-on-year from July 2016. Exports from January to July edged up 0.05 per cent year-on-year. This was an improvement from a 0.04 per cent annual decline in the first six months.
Taiwanese textile and fabric makers are likely to benefit from rising demand ahead of next year’s FIFA World Cup. The Taiwanese textile industry has developed environmentally-friendly concepts and done recycled polymer and polymer blends. From yarns for apparel to industrial and sport accessories, recycled yarns are growing in importance and are a core part of Taiwan’s textile industry.
Mixtures of new technologies and fashion allow new design elements that were hard to imagine in the past. Polymer based yarn developments in polyester, nylon, recycled and blended with natural fibers, lead the way. It is possible to have the look and feel of natural fiber fabrics with the performance and flexibility of synthetics. Comfortable, breathable, wind and water resistant textiles are mixed and matched in breathtaking design elements. Odor control and a myriad of product enhancements allow new and innovative design directions bringing the consumer endless options.
The final piece of Taiwan textile value equation is the vertical integration of many of its core textile suppliers into the finished garment business.
