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Although carbon fibers may not be the material of the future, the industry is still continuing to flourish. Continuous and chopped ceramic fibers are right at the cusp of some significant expansion. These have so far been trapped in the usual catch-22: manufacturing and cost advancements cannot occur without scaling, but scaling cannot occur without orders.
Slow growth and closed-door early adopter industries they have been operating in will finally start to come out of research and qualification to hit large-scale production volumes.
It is also expected that next generation materials will start progression away from dumb structural parts and towards multifunctional products. Functionality will be incorporated in fiber composites for energy storage, sensor technology, energy harvesting or many more reasons. CFRP has long been used and is very much the industry standard in certain application sectors. However, beyond these core sectors, newer areas including rail transport, civil engineering remediation, spars in wind turbines, prosthetics, UAVs, and pressure vessels are all looking at this as their needs and the material maturity start to align.
Alternatively, if properties or price are not currently to the end user’s standards, then hybrid parts are becoming increasingly viable options. There are numerous ways that dissimilar materials or fibers can be combined to optimise the product with an ever-increasing number of success stories.
Bangladesh's exports of apparel items to the European Union remained sluggish in fiscal 2016-17. Exports grew only 3.49 per cent year-on-year in fiscal 2016-17 while the growth was 11.66 per cent in the year before. The Brexit in June last year was mainly responsible for the slowdown in garment exports to the EU, where nearly 60 per cent of garment products are shipped in a year.
Last fiscal, garment exports to the UK declined 5.97 per cent. The year before, they registered a 21.37 per cent year-on-year growth rate. The UK is the third largest garment export destination for Bangladesh. However, it has been suffering from high inflation stemming from the free fall of the pound against the euro and the dollar.
The country’s garment exports to some major EU members increased slightly between three and five per cent year-on-year. Bangladesh logged in $34.83 billion in export receipts for fiscal 2016-17, up 1.69 per cent year-on-year. Had there been favorable exchange rates, earnings could have been at least $3 billion more as volume of shipments increased. But the receipts belied it. Competing countries like China, Vietnam, Cambodia and India can supply to retailers and brands at a shorter lead time but Bangladesh is still lagging behind due to lower productivity, port congestion and poor infrastructure.
Aditya Birla Cellulose is a global leader in viscose staple fibers. Its premium brand, Liva, launched in 2015, is all about extending a comfortable clothing experience while being responsible toward the environment without compromising on fashion.
A new variant the Liva Crème has now been launched. It’s a premium fabric with perfect drape, fall and fluidity. Liva Creme is about luxurious softness. The signature collections are designed by fashion designers like Nikhil Thampi (Allen Solly), Shivan-Naresh (Van Heusen) and Ka-sha (Shoppers Stop). These collections were launched on the same day as Liva Crème and these designers have brought in their own personalities and unique creativity in the collections.
Liva is a high quality fabric made using natural cellulosic fibers. It is delivered through an accredited value chain. Unlike other fabrics which are boxy or synthetic, Liva is a soft, fluid fabric which falls and drapes well.
Birla Cellulose which represents the pulp and fiber business of the Aditya Birla Group is India's pioneer in viscose staple fiber. Birla Cellulose fibers are of 100 per cent natural origin, highly absorbent, having a good feel, and are completely biodegradable. As an extremely versatile and easily bendable fiber, VSF is widely used in apparels, home textiles, dress material, knitted wear and non-woven applications.
Michael Kors confirmed $1.2 billion purchase of luxury shoe brand Jimmy Choo. While Michael Kors brand has been struggling with overexposure that’s resulted in uninterested shoppers and slumping sales, Jimmy Choo is a footwear darling. The coveted, high-end, red-carpet-friendly brand will certainly give Michael Kors the much-needed reputation boost in fashion space.
Michael Kors CEO John Idol says it’s part of a larger strategy and this will not be the last acquisition for the company, which he hopes to turn into a ‘luxury group’. With Kate Spade joining the brand, Coach will be the first New York-based house of luxury lifestyle brands says Coach CEO Victor Luis.
While brands like Kate Spade, Stuart Weitzman, and even Jimmy Choo fall short of the names in LVHM and Kering's portfolios, the budding empires of Michael Kors and Coach are battling for a different type of customer.
It is a guess on who will be the next acquisition in the war between Michael Kors and Coach to become the great American luxury conglomerate as Coach reportedly tried and failed to buy British heritage brand Burberry late last year but they continue with the fights.
Turkey's clothing sector, a main driver of foreign sales, may miss this year's export target if a row with Germany is not resolved. Despite signs of a sales turnaround to other countries, some German buyers have canceled trip to Turkey after a rise in political tension between the NATO allies. This may make it hard to match exports of $17 billion in 2016 which were already about a billion dollars short of an initial target due to the attempted military coup of last July.
Relations between Turkey and Germany deteriorated after Turkey arrested 10 rights activists, including a German, three weeks ago as part of a wider security crackdown. Turkish exports were hampered by last year’s coup attempt, which continued into the first and second quarters of the year. Some German companies have canceled their visits recently. Germany is Turkey’s biggest export market for ready-to-wear clothing.
Ready-to-wear clothes constitute Turkey's second largest export sector after automotives. The European Union buys more than 70 per cent of Turkish clothing exports, with 2.5 billion dollars going to Germany. In the first six months, Turkey’s total exports increased by 8.2 per cent while readymade clothing and apparel exports fell by 5.8 per cent.
The Target Accelerator Program’s fifth edition is set to pioneer new technologies for both their business and the garment sector including AI and machine learning. Target India has selected eight companies to work on the planned technology solutions and a rigorous four month program will be carried out. During the program, the eight companies will refine their technologies and pilot them at Target stores and headquarter locations. The fields in which the eight companies selected reside include artificial intelligence (AI), analytics, digital experience, computer vision, natural language processing, and machine learning.
The eight companies selected by Target India include Jumper.ai which enables shopping on social media using hashtags, Streamoid which uses natural language processing to create personalised product recommendations, and vPhrase which uses structured data to give insights into natural language. Also, Light Information Systems will use natural language processing to add to customer support functions and Cognitifai will enable video analytics on both live and recorded video footage.
The addition of these new technologies to the online retail experience will certainly transform the e-commerce landscape in India. AI is increasingly being used in online stores. With the rise of e-commerce and online payments as a whole, Target India is backing development in a sector sure to continue expanding.
Taiwan is presenting innovative products at the ongoing Outdoor Retailer Summer Market in US on from July 26 to 29. New product categories include cutting-edge fabric printing technology; smart textiles measuring heart rate and motion data; textile innovations utilizing fewer chemicals, water and raw materials while preserving function and complex colors; and the world’s first PFC-free durable water repellant polyester filament, PFC-free soil release polyester filament, and bio-based membrane and foam from coffee oil.
Taiwanese suppliers have devoted research and development to green technologies to meet demand and achieve sustainability goals and corporate social responsibility. Taiwan’s competitive advantage in functional, environmental, and smart fabrics comes from its strong development of functional artificial fibers, which helps produce a wide variety of fabrics. Taiwan’s fabric industry also incorporates semiconductor, biomedical and cross-industry innovations.
The output value (including overseas production) of Taiwan's functional fabrics accounts for roughly 50 per cent of the global output value of functional fabrics, making Taiwan the world’s largest functional fabric production base.
Outdoor Retailer Summer Market connects outdoor gear manufacturers with retailers. From small shops and regional chains to retailers, the event attracts buyers looking for outdoor products, services, fresh ideas, apparel launches and outdoor innovation. The bi-annual event connects around 46,000 attendees for its summer and winter shows every year.
Southern Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SGCCI) and Pandesara Weavers jointly submitted a representation to the Ministry of Commerce and the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) demanding imposition of import duty on Chinese fabrics to protect small and medium enterprises in Surat. The SGCCI has raised concerns that import of heavily under-invoiced fabrics from China has crossed Rs 5,500 crores in the last one year, but could be worth Rs 10,000 crores.
SGCCI president P M Shah stated the government of China provides heavy subsidy to its textiles industry. This has reduced the production cost per unit in China making difficult for the powerloom weavers to survive here.
Pandesara Weavers president Ashish Gujarati says the quality of fabrics imported from China are made of man-made and synthetic fibres as cotton is expensive in China compared to India. This fabric has caused a surge in demand to India's SMEs in Surat.
He stated India despite having production capacity has lost production leading to massive unemployment. Import of fabrics are taking place at unit price of Rs 5 to Rs 15 per square metre. This price is unbelievably low for any kind of fabric as a simple handkerchief costs more than Rs 5 per piece in the market. Therefore, the cost of fabrics should be at least Rs 50 per metre.
Pakistan’s textile and garment industry will stress on value addition and promoting and facilitating exports in order to enhance the country’s overall shipments. Incentives will be given to the garment industry to help it enhance value addition capacity.
Pakistan’s overall exports have gone down from around $24 billion to around $20 billion a year over the past few years of which textile exports constituted more than half of the total shipments. The fast widening trade deficit is a big challenge.
Issues like electricity tariffs, sales tax, high cost of doing business, including the burden of surcharges in electricity bills and levy of taxes on the export-oriented industry will be taken up. The priority is to facilitate textile sector and help it gain competitiveness to enhance the country’s exports.
Existing power looms will be upgraded to switch to technical textiles in addition to producing traditional cheap grey cloth. The old, obsolete and depreciated machinery will be replaced to increase the profitability of power loom owners. There will be comprehensive value addition in the shape of fashion garments. This is necessary to earn optimum profit from the textile chain. It is the last stage of cotton that brings the maximum profit.
LVMH posted a 15 per cent increase in revenues in the six months of 2017. Profit from recurring operations rose by 23 per cent. Its largest division, fashion and leather goods, saw revenues move up by 17 per cent. LVMH is the world’s largest luxury conglomerate and boasts of the largest market capitalization of any company in France.
Selective retailing, which includes cosmetics chain Sephora and international luxury chain duty free, saw sales surge 15 per cent. Perfumes and cosmetic sales advanced by 14 per cent. Wines and spirits grew 12 per cent, powered on by the recovery of demand in China. Finally, watches and jewelry advanced 14 per cent as Bulgari registered an excellent first half.
LVMH enjoyed an excellent first half, to which all its businesses contributed. In the current climate of geopolitical and economic instability, creativity and quality, the group’s founding values have become benchmarks. Increasing digitization of activities reinforces the quality of experience it brings to customers.
LVMH controls luxury’s greatest shelf brands. Its extensive portfolio includes Dom Pérignon, Ruinart, Hennessy, Louis Vuitton, Céline, Kenzo, Givenchy, Fendi, Emilio Pucci, Marc Jacobs, Parfums Givenchy, Parfums Kenzo and Perfumes Loewe. LVMH also controls Chaumet, Zenith, Fred and Hublot.
