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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.
British shops enjoyed their biggest rise in June sales in six years. Fashion sales increased 1.4 per cent, while home ware sales were up 0.5 per cent. It is possible the rise in sales was helped by warm weather and weak numbers in the same month last year.
Retailers will take heart from consumers’ willingness to spend, but there is evidence shoppers are delving into their savings, which is clearly not a sustainable position.
Britain’s economy has slowed as the rise in inflation since last year’s Brexit vote and modest pay growth have hurt consumer spending. There has been a sharp drop in consumer confidence.
A large number of UK brands are now upping their game and taking steps to improve customer experience by providing effective returns messages.
Returns have long been perceived as a headache for brands rather than an opportunity to really impress their customers, build trust and loyalty, and subsequently encourage repeat purchases and growth overseas.
For successful e-commerce brands it’s all about enhancing the customer experience and if they aren’t happy with large aspects of the buying process, including returns, customers are ripe for the picking from the many competitors in the market.
Some Bank of England officials believe the consumer slowdown will be offset by higher exports and investment.
Pakistan’s bed wear textile exports grew by 3.22 per cent in July to May 2016-2017.In term of volume, bed wear textile exports rose by five per cent.
During May 2017, bed wear textile exports fell 16 per cent compared to May 2016. Quantity of bed wear textile exports plunged by 16.38 per cent in May 2017 compared to May 2016.
Bed wear and bed linen, which includes bed sheets, pillow covers and quilts, is an important sub sector for Pakistan’s textile industry. Most of Pakistan’s bed wear and bed linen production is provided by the informal sector where small manufacturers cut, stitch and package apparel but purchase the fabric. The higher quality market segments are supplied by vertically integrated units which monitor product quality.
Pakistan is helping out the entire chain of the textile sector to adopt and upgrade to new technology. Funds have been allotted to carry out research activities and bring about a qualitative improvement in industry-academia linkages.
One of the reasons for the decline in Pakistan’s textile exports is that preferential access to the European Union under the GSP Plus scheme hasn’t boosted proceeds due to a slump in demand.
In March 2017 exports of bed wear edged up 5.4 per cent while those of towels rose 15.8 per cent.
May retail sales in Australia jumped 0.6 per cent. It follows an enormous one per cent surge in April, which was the largest monthly increase in over two years.
As a result of the recent spending spree, the year-on-year increase rocketed to 3.82 per cent, the fastest pace since April 2016.
In May sales of household goods, clothing, footwear and personal accessories, cafes, restaurants and takeaway food and food retailing all increased. Sales of furniture, floor coverings, house wares and textile goods also rose by two per cent while those for hardware, building and garden supplies increased by a slightly smaller 1.5 per cent.
Sales in New South Wales jumped by 1.3 per cent, the fastest of any state or territory. Sales increased by 1.2 per cent in Victoria and Tasmania, and by one per cent in the ACT. South Australia and Western Australia also pitched in with gains of 0.8 per cent and 0.3 per cent respectively.
Those strong results helped to offset a drop in sales in Queensland and the Northern Territory of 1.1 per cent and 0.5 per cent.
Questions remain whether one-off factors have driven retail sales higher over the past two months, but recent economic data, particularly around the labor market, new car sales and tourism, has been pretty strong.
And Australia’s population is currently growing far quicker than what many previously thought.
These are all factors that would generally support retail sales growth, and with consumer confidence also edging higher, it suggests that perhaps the outlook for retailers is not as bad as expected.
Arvind’s fall/winter ’18 range is called Senses. The idea is to explore the aesthetics of denim, turning to new textures and hues and bringing them to life in a range of silhouettes. What sets the collection apart is its extensive line of fabrics with tencel lyocell fibers in various blends, which Arvind tapped has into to give its denim greater dimension plus that ever-softer hand-feel that consumers are constantly after.
Senses takes global influences and connects them with local values. The combined narrative is a sensory exploration of the denim fabric for the fall/winter season.
Arvind, which has been in business for more than 70 years, aimed its expertise at producing denim 30 years ago and now produces more than 110 million meters of the fabric each year. The focus at Arvind is to keep technology ultra-modern, ideas innovative and denim at the forefront of what the market wants.
The collection has traditional twills in different weights along with a few novelty weaves. The focus has been on sustainable fibers and achieving better wash-downs and color casts.
Tencel fibers have been extremely popular in women’s fashion, thanks to luster, drape and softness. However, it can be used successfully in menswear fabrications, taking advantage of its strength and comfort. So Arvind developed a men’s collection called Tencel Fibers Y Not.
Bangladesh’s overall export earnings in financial year ’17 were 1.68 per cent higher than they were a year ago.
But export earnings from the apparel industry rose only by 0.20 per cent. Of the total amount, knitwear products earned three per cent more than in the same period a year ago. Woven products’ earnings fell 2.35 per cent compared to a year ago.
June export earnings fell 15.27 per cent compared to the same period last year.
Among the reasons for the lackluster export growth are a fall in the average price of products, ongoing structural reforms in the apparel industry, an economic slowdown, a sluggish demand in export destinations, devaluation of the euro and appreciation of the currency against the dollar.
Readymade garment manufacturers are working hard to face the challenges by introducing production engineering, technological upgrades etc.
Special incentives, including a five per cent cash incentive on the value of Freight on Board, may be offered for at least the next two years. To bring about sound export growth, one of the possible measures is a long-term policy support, including tax holiday for ten years, for new investors to attract investment.
The country may focus on readymade garment product diversification.
American Eagle Outfitters debuts its new campaign for fall 2017 with an inspiring cast and innovative denim. The New American Jean, a collection of denim including new fits, washes and fabrications, is made to move without compromising design. As a recognized leading denim destination, the American Eagle Outfitters' back-to-school collection marks its largest denim offering yet, with a range of 15 fits for women and 11 for men that hits stores and online July 8th.
Handpicked for their ability to break stereotypes and credibility in their multi-hyphenated careers, the fall 2017 campaign features a new cast of millennials from varied industries and backgrounds including model-actress-vlogger, Amanda Steele, champion bull rider-model, Bonner Bolton, professional basketball player-artist, Brandon Ingram, model-inclusivity activist, Halima Aden, model-body positive activist, Iskra Lawrence and rapper-actor, Joey Bada. Shown in unretouched, motivational imagery and video, the campaign captures the cast alongside a backdrop representing their particular style, passion and personality.
In addition to the campaign soundtrack, each cast member adds their own personal style to the fall 2017 back-to-school collection and the brand's advanced denim -- The New American Jean. The updated jean collection, which sets new standards in style, fit, comfort and wash, is made for this generation and how they move and create. New fits and styles for fall include five rises in the best-selling Jegging, new destroyed washes and the brand's interpretation of the Tom Girl and Mom Jean for women. For men, the brand debuts extended black denim, slimmer fits and an expanded assortment of its popular flex denim.
Chad Kessler, American Eagle Outfitters Global Brand Presidentsays that the company is continuously evolving the technology to represent a new standard in denim and hopes inspire this generation to make their mark through creativity and self-expression.
Zara would go slow on expansion, due to lack of availability of high quality retail spaces, which can generate reasonable sales throughput and global fashion retailer Hennes & Mauritz plans to open eight stores in the second half of 2017, while Inditex Trent is the joint venture between Zara brand owner Inditex and Tata Group’s retail arm Trent. When it entered India in 2010, Zara was an oasis to Indians thirsting for fashion. Long lines of shoppers queued up at malls, in a frenzy only a few brands in India have managed to replicate. It was instant retail success for Inditex, Zara’s Spanish-based parent company, and for a long time, sales were phenomenal.
But almost six years later, growth at the world’s largest fast-fashion brand has slowed down a notch in India, as a shortage of new shopping malls makes it hard for Zara, which has more than 2,100 stores in 88 countries, to keep adding outlets in India. For the year ending March 31 2016, Zara’s revenue in India grew 17 per cent to Rs842.57 crore, trailing the 24 per ecnt growth reported a year earlier. Further Zara clothes are much more upmarket in terms of fashion which is also a reason for the brand unable to expand in smaller cities.
Arvind Singhal, chairman, Technopak, says that many malls are on revenue sharing basis and given the strong sales performance shown by H&M many mall owners are ready to offer them cheaper rentals compared to its rivals, which is helping the company to focus on aggressive expansion.
H&M has signed leases for eight new store locations, to open in the second half of 2017, and is also planning its online shop launch in 2018. With an accumulated space of more than 160,000 sqft, these stores will be launched in new cities as well as cities with currently operational stores, said a spokesperson of the company. H&M will continue its strong expansion in new cities. The brand plans to open two more store in the Southern part of the country.
An American clothing company Miami Fitwear removed leggings carrying images of Lord Ganesha from its website after Hindus objected.
Hindus in the US found images of the deity on leggings highly disrespectful. Ganesha is revered in Hinduism and worshipped in temples or homes.
Miami Fitwear is an athleisure and lifestyle company. Its products include leggings, capris, pants. It claims to handcraft every legging. The now removed True Wisdom Ganesha leggings were priced at 98 dollars and its description included: “We hope our hand-drawn Ganesha leggings help you remember how beautifully strong and wise you are when you decided to use your energy in a positive way.”
There are about three million Hindus in the US. They said the lord can’t be adorned on legs and that inappropriate use of Hindu deities or concepts for commercial or other agenda was not okay. They suggested corporations send their senior executives for training in religious and cultural sensitivity so that they have an understanding of the feelings of customers and communities when introducing new products or launching advertising campaigns. They say Hindus are for free artistic expression and speech as much as anybody else if not more. But faith was something sacred.
Hinduism is among the oldest and the third largest religion of the world with about 1.1 billion adherents.
