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Advanced Functional Fabrics of America has nearly 100 members from a diverse group of manufacturers, startups and institutes of higher learning.
It is leading a 317 million dollar private-public effort to drive innovation in textile and fiber manufacturing. The institute has already produced a major benefit in helping bridge the information gap between universities and manufacturers. New networking opportunities have been created that have the potential to drive innovation.
AFFOA’s new fabric discovery center will provide a base for prototyping ranging from fiber design to new textile products. Other centers will open later this year in Georgia, North Carolina and Pennsylvania.
The fabric discovery centers will serve as regional incubators and accelerators for start-up companies in advanced fabrics, provide rapid prototyping facilities and house training facilities for educational outreach and workforce development.
It’s hoped that a decade from now AFFOA will have secured an important place in the history of textiles and apparel by rapidly deploying and funding existing research and turning it into innovation and jobs. It’s all about taking the technology that’s already in labs.
The apparel industry is new to the innovation game.
Brands are taking ideas from the defense industry and other industries. Everything in a home, including the car, is connected. If people are living in a smart world they expect their clothes to be connected too. And that is where brands step in.
Japan’s Toray Industries will acquire a stake in Hong Kong’s Pacific Textiles. This will enable Toray to pursue its global strategic expansion and synergy effects through supply chain integration and collaboration.
By leveraging Toray’s strengths in raw materials and Pacific Textiles’ value-added knitting services, both groups are positioned to innovate and improve products to their end clients as well as penetrating into new geographies and adjacent segments.
Engaged in the manufacturing and trading of textile products since 1997, Pacific Textiles is a leading manufacturer of customised knitted fabrics with a focus on complex, value-added fabrics. It has a high profit yield thanks to its enhanced operational efficiency and effective cost control measures.
Its principal manufacturing facility located in China is well-equipped with advanced production facilities, including a scalable water treatment facility and cogeneration power plant. In addition, it also has a manufacturing plant in Vietnam.
Pacific Textiles and Toray have been developing new fabrics together, and Pacific has been indirectly supplying fabrics to Toray. Through this strategic investment, Toray expects to strengthen its business relationship with Pacific Textiles and further align the interests of the two groups.
Toray has signed a share purchase agreement today to acquire 28.03 per cent stake in Pacific Textiles from Far East Asia. Closing is expected to occur mid-July 2017.
The 41st Texworld Paris will introduce a new segment on denim - Texworld Denim. The four day programme beginning from September 18, 2017 attracts ever-increasing numbers of international manufacturers specialising in fabrics, trimmings and accessories. Over 910 exhibitors from various parts of the world will present at the textile exhibition.
On the occasion of the 41st Texworld Paris show, Messe Frankfurt France is introducing a new segment that goes by the name of Texworld Denim. The denim sector has always provided a tremendous impetus for generating business. Denim has gained even more importance as a staple of our wardrobes. It has become an emotional driver with its language and lifestyle. It is a world of its own that we now wish to showcase separately to accord it due recognition for its traditions and attitudes. The spirit of openness to change and new development is one of the vital aspects of the winning formula provided by Texworld Paris, as indicated by the record number of exhibitors who have registered so far. Michael Scherpe, president, Messe Frankfurt France says that Texworld Paris has become an unmissable event for the fashion sector.
Texworld Denim will assemble 80 textile and clothing exhibitors who are experts in denim. Over 100 exhibitors will attend the show for the first time. This new segment will have a new trends forum - created by the artistic directors of the show; Louis Gerin and Gregory Lamaud.
Accompanied by national groups and associations for the textile industries, South Korea, Thailand, Pakistan and India will again offer pavilions with more than 20 exhibitors. A series of lectures about the latest developments in the sector, news from exhibitors, catwalk shows and the Trends Forum will be held at Texworld Paris 18.
Luxury menswear industry is showing vast gains that point to cultural shifts in the way men dress and experiment with style. Menswear is forecasted to grow at a faster rate than womenswear over the next three years, with net gains of 2.3 percent and 2.2 percent respectively, according to data from retail analytics company Edited. Additionally, the menswear market is estimated to be valued at $33 billion by 2020, an increase of 14 percent from 2015.
The expansion of the market can largely be attributed to social media’s role in building visibility around men’s style, says Tammy Smulders, global managing director of LuxHub. As an increasing number of men’s fashion influencers crop up in social feeds, fashion has become a growing interest for male consumers. At the same time, designers who previously only made women’s clothing have started trying their hand at men’s collections.
Alexa Tonner, co-founder of influencer network collectively, says that while fashion magazines tailored for men have long been hailed as arbiters of style, social platforms have allowed male shoppers to discover luxury apparel in new, innovative ways. Apps like Instagram present a more diverse array of perspectives than are accessible in major fashion publications, she added.
According to Jonathan Feinberg, chief men’s merchant at Givenchythe market is expanding, growth is mostly in the casual wear sector, a reflection of the toned-down ensembles of professionals,. To meet increasing demand, price points across most apparel items have risen significantly in the last five years, but particularly among products like bomber jackets and sneakers.
Tonner further says that the social media has also helped perpetuate a culture of urgency, which has helped pave the way for luxury casual wear. Whereas suits and evening wear require an often lengthy and expensive tailoring process, high-end casual apparel is easier to obtain quickly without jumping through hoops.
Looking to the future, Smulders says that the menswear industry in recent years will continue to grow. As demand increases, so will investment in advertising and influencer marketing, leading to even greater visibility.
Pakistan has adopted a comprehensive strategy to revive the textile sector.
Existing power looms will be upgraded to switch over to technical textiles in addition to producing the 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 the optimum profit from the textile chain. It is the last stage of cotton that brings the maximum profit.
The organized weaving sector has sufficient resources and capacity to upgrade its production but the unorganized sector needs facilities and incentives for the replacement of old and depleted machinery.
Small weavers have to be convinced to replace the old machinery with high tech and sophisticated machinery.
Linkages will be established with technical textile centers in order to adopt new technologies. The process of upgradation will begin with an increase in profits of small, medium and micro units.
The future objective will be to produce and export garments and fashion garments instead of exporting raw cotton yarn or low priced finished and semi finished products.
The cotton chain will be diversified. Polyester will be mixed with cotton to produce a wide range of textile products which cater to the needs of different markets.
Luxury fashion and accessories brand Mulberry has added another joint venture (JV) in Asia with news that it has signed an agreement with existing license partner Onward Global Fashion to form a 50:50 JV company to operate its business in Japan.
UK-based Mulberry says that the new company will benefit from its digital and brand building capabilities coupled with Onward’s experience in distributing luxury brands across the Japanese market.
The new company will be called Mulberry Japan and will have its HQ in Tokyo. It will develop the Group's retail, digital, omni channel and wholesale business in the Japanese market and is expected to be “profit-neutral” for Mulberry during the initial two-year development phase.
Mulberry and Onward will be equal partners, each owning 50 per cent of the share capital of the new company. On this the Mulberry’s CEO Thierry Andretta stated that the luxury firm sees Japan as a “significant growth opportunity” and that in Onward it has “a partner which has extensive luxury goods experience and a robust infrastructure which will enable us to advance our international retail and omni channel strategy in this key market."
Mulberry Japan will manage all retail, digital fulfilment and wholesale distribution for the Japanese market. A general manager has been appointed to build a local team, based in the Tokyo head office with the firm expected to be up and running later this year. The Japan deal comes as Mulberry makes growth in Asia a priority. Earlier this year it set up Mulberry (Asia) Limited as a JV with Challice Limited to operate the group's business in Hong Kong, China and Taiwan. That launch also came along with “significant” marketing investment in North Asia. In addition to local marketing initiatives, Mulberry plans to invest around £3 million in additional support over the next two years.
Milano Unica will be held in Italy, July 11 to 13, 2017. This is a textile trade show for the autumn/winter collections. It’s a benchmark event for Italian fabric manufacturers and it is meant to promote their expertise. This time the fair is being held two months before its traditional September session, much earlier in the season and well ahead of other textile shows.
The organisers chose to go for an earlier date to address the market’s new needs and respond to the constant change taking place in the fashion world though this put a good deal of pressure on textile manufacturers, who needed to have their new collections ready by July, and not September, as before.
The industry has responded favorably, though, judging by the number of exhibitors registered. Their total has in fact grown by 20 per cent with 77 new entries added, for a total of 459.
In addition to new exhibitors, there will also be five textile designers.
There has been a 29 per cent rise in exhibitors in the women’s wear sector and a 19 per cent rise in exhibitors for accessories.
As in previous editions, there will be some 60 Japanese and South Korean companies.
The EU and Japan have entered into a trade agreement. The EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement will boost the EU’s economy. It will remove the vast majority of duties paid by EU companies. Exports to Japan from the EU could increase by as much as 22.8 billion dollars, which could pose a direct hit to US manufacturing.
Japan will have cut out customs duties on 97 per cent of goods imported from the EU. Tariffs on textiles and clothing will be fully abolished and for leather and shoes the existing quota system will be done away with once the agreement takes effect. Tariffs on shoes will come down from 30 per cent to 21 per cent right away and the rest of the duties will be eliminated over ten years.
Tariffs on EU exports of leather products, like handbags, will be eliminated over ten years as will gear like sports shoes and ski boots, which have traditionally been highly protected by Japan.
The agreement should come into force early in 2019.
When it comes to labeling, things will continue to be easier to facilitate trade. In March 2015, Japan adopted the international textiles labeling system similar to the one used in the EU. Textile labels therefore no longer have to be changed on every single garment exported to Japan, as was the case before.
Ethiopia has launched a strategy to make the most of its potential in the textile sector. The industry has advantages like power abundance and a growing human and material capital. It is witnessing rapid growth as a number of domestic and multinational firms are engaged in production of textiles, garments and apparel for domestic and global markets.
The country has Africa's largest industrial park. This flagship industrial park is capable of hosting gigantic multinational firms. It has a state-of-the-art waste treatment plant, the first of its kind in Africa.
The other striking thing about this industrial park is the integration of products in a complementary manner. For instance, there are companies like PVH that manufacture readymade apparels and such firms get their textile inputs from a gigantic Chinese textile manufacturer also in the same premises.
With about 194 medium and high level textile and apparel manufacturers operational so far in the country, the sector has created job opportunities for nearly 90,000 citizens and secured hard currency revenue of 81 million dollars in the last eleven months.
The Ethiopian textile sector is attracting top international firms amid the nation’s bid to industrialize. The sector is expected to facilitate technology transfer and capacity development through training and experience sharing.
Global fashion retailer C&A is committed to the Transparency Pledge. In line with this C&A will disclose details of more than 2000 supplier factories in all its 40 sourcing countries around the globe. The list will be included in the company's new sustainability report.
The Transparency Pledge was launched by a coalition of trade union organisations and NGOs. It establishes a floor for supply chain transparency, through companies publishing important information about supplier factories and authorised subcontractors.
C&A will reveal its suppliers’ factory names and addresses, number of workers and product category of 100 per cent of its Tier I and Tier II production units. Its priority is to ensure that working conditions in its supply chain are upheld to its standards and social and environmental performance are continually improved.
By being transparent about where its products are made, it hopes to reassure its customers and stakeholders that it is making good choices in the partners it works with and how its clothing is made.
C&A's supply chain encompasses more than one million people, employed through 788 global suppliers, across four different sourcing regions.
C&A started trading in 1841 as a textile warehouse and has a history spanning over 170 years and five generations of the same family.
