FW
Bangladesh’s exports of garments to the United States and the United Kingdom have decreased significantly.
The average production cost has increased from eight per cent to ten per cent every year.
In July-March, the UK economy decreased by 6.82 per cent, Canada’s at 6.441 per cent, Australia’s at 9.47 per cent and Brazil’s at 26.77 per cent.
Export earnings in the last fiscal year 2015-16 amounted to 34,257 million dollars. In the current year 2016-17, export targets have been set to target 37,000 million dollars. Export earnings achieved in July-March of fiscal year 2016-17 are 25,946 million dollars.
During the July-March period of fiscal year 2016-17, export earnings were 16.1 per cent more than the same period last year. The contribution of the sector to the country’s total exports was 41.37 per cent.
In the July-March period, exports of net garments were 4.85 per cent more than the same period last year. During this period, the contribution of the sector to total exports was 39.90 per cent.
During the last ten years, export growth in the garment industry was an average of 13 per cent.
There is fear that if the export growth of the garment industry is not increased, the country will find it difficult to reach export targets.
With an aim to promote sustainable clothing, India’s leading lifestyle and fashion conglomerate, Arvind, showcased its eco-friendly garments at the Sustainable Apparel Coalition annual member meeting in Bangalore.
The display included sustainable collection of products by Arvind such as denim, tops and khadi clothes.
A 45-minutes fashion showcase was divided into three brief segments in order to present a comprehensive sustainability-focused product portfolio by Arvind.
The first part emphasised sustainable input material that included clothes manufactured by using environment-friendly cotton, recycled polyester etc. The second segment focused on various practices that play a significant role in producing sustainable garments. And the last piece promoted the Indian craftsmanship approach by showcasing clothing made from khadi and local handlooms.
Arvind is one of India’s largest integrated textile and apparel companies. The company is also one of the largest producers of denim fabrics and is supplier to a large number of fashion brands in the world.
Arvind’s textile business (denim and fabric) contributes 60 per cent to total revenue and the rest is by brands and retail business.
The Ahmedabad-based company has a portfolio of owned and licensed brands. Its own brands include Flying Machine, among others, while its licensed product brands include Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein, Arrow, Gant, Nautica, Gap, and Aeropostale.
"After the Rana Plaza garment factory collapse three years ago, it was presumed that the country would be rolling in stricter measures to ensure safety and security of its employees. Yet, recent data is quite startling. A research identified 3,367 women and girls in the survey areas who reported being employed in the apparel industry. Of them, 3 per cent were between the ages of ten and 13, and 11 per cent were 14-17 years old. Of the 861 girls below the age of 18 who were engaged in any kind of work, 28 per cent said they worked in the garment industry."
After the Rana Plaza garment factory collapse three years ago, it was presumed that the country would be rolling in stricter measures to ensure safety and security of its employees. Yet, recent data is quite startling. A research identified 3,367 women and girls in the survey areas who reported being employed in the apparel industry. Of them, 3 per cent were between the ages of ten and 13, and 11 per cent were 14-17 years old. Of the 861 girls below the age of 18 who were engaged in any kind of work, 28 per cent said they worked in the garment industry.
As part a recent nationwide census, data collected from thousands of mothers and girls in Bangladesh’s three industrial districts with the highest concentration of ready-made garment factories (particularly those operating outside the Export Processing Zones): Ashulia, Gazipur, and Narayanganj. The majority of the country’s female garment workers are concentrated in these areas.
From the survey, it was quite evident that Bangladesh’s garment factories are employing child labour (particularly young girls) persistently. The majority of young girls working in Bangladesh are from poor families. Even in garment manufacturing areas, relatively better-off families rarely send their daughters to work in factories. Although recent initiatives have lowered the cost of schooling for girls (through cash stipends and the elimination of school fees), many young women still drop out of secondary school, even without the opportunity to engage in paid work. In a fix between opting for factory work or marriage, the fundamental need is to lay greater emphasis on poverty reduction in rural areas.
Growth estimate
Bangladesh’s garment industry is expected to quadruple in size over the next two decades, attracting millions of female workers, young and old, to production floors. As per estimates, one of every 10 of these new employees will be between 10-17 years of age. In the light of this, the garment industry needs to act quickly to gain major market access.
Heimtextil and Ambiente will be held in New Delhi, June 20 to 22, 2017. These home fashion business platforms will feature record-breaking shows, product launches and special zones.
Over 180 companies from India, Bangladesh, China, Korea, Nepal, Thailand and Turkey will participate in the event to display their living, home textiles and furnishing collections.
Visitors can see the first look of new collections by top fashion players including D’décor, Welspun, Reliance, Raymond, AWKenox Steel, Flair Houseware, Organic Home (Stonemen Crafts), Lifestyles 360 Degree and Gomaads, among others, at the twin fairs.
The world's largest cushion curated with fabrics from D’decor will be used at the event as a record-breaking art installation. One of the central attractions at the show, the ILA Experience Zone will feature innovative concepts in interior spaces through a design face-off between product and textile designers.
Representing international design trends, these concepts will be based on four themes such as Exploration with Nature, Illusion, Heritage and Planet.
Live demonstrations of different art forms such as hand work cushions, handbag stitching, hand embroidery and the art of creating small artefacts with the use of techniques such as tie-dye, batik on fabric, applique and embroidery etc will be given by a group of specially-abled children at the special skills zone.
Iconic American denim brand Wrangler has launched a pilot program to help US cotton farmers reach the next level in sustainable growing practices.
Wrangler purchases roughly half of the cotton for its products from US growers. The brand is working with a cotton growing family to explore the best way to implement and measure the effects of robust soil practices like no-till, crop rotation and cover cropping.
The family will work with Wrangler to unlock further improvements in cotton yield, irrigation water, energy inputs, greenhouse gas emissions and soil conservation. Forty-thousand pounds of the cotton will be used to make a special collection of Wrangler denim jeans that will be sold in 2018.
Wrangler hopes to have dozens of growers in the program within a few years.
Greater attention to soil health can further reduce the water and energy inputs required to grow cotton and other crops. The pilot program builds on Wrangler’s long-standing commitment to supporting US farming communities.
Wrangler’s sustainability work is focused on three areas: land, people and industry. In addition to the cotton pilot project and soil health education, other programs include a commitment to 100 per cent renewable electricity by 2025, zero waste facilities and manufacturing and technology improvements that have saved three billion liters of water over the past decade.
The textile sector in Pakistan is battling with problems such as severe competition from neighbors, high cost of doing business, shortage of raw materials, high tariffs and delays in sales tax refunds.
During the first ten months of the current financial, the trade deficit rose by 40 percent compared to the corresponding period of the last financial year. Textile exports for the same period have fallen by one per cent from the corresponding period of last year.
Because of all this, the textile industry in Pakistan is running below capacity.
Pakistan’s textile sector contributes 60 per cent of the country’s foreign exchange earnings and provides more than 38 per cent employment in the manufacturing sector.
The industry wants tax free imports of cotton and polyester staple fiber since the country has suffered huge losses due to failure of cotton crop for the last two consecutive years. So it feels that imposing customs duty and sales tax on imports of cotton would be suicidal.
It also wants zero rating of all inputs including packaging materials, spare parts and fuel and energy and that the turnover tax be reduced to 0.25 per cent from the existing one per cent.
The industry has also asked for long term loans and working capital at competitive rates.
Resil Chemicals has tied up with Acticell to develop environmentally-friendly, sustainable textiles.
Resil Chemicals is a textile finishing chemicals and auxiliary manufacturer. Acticell is an Austrian chemical research company.
The collaboration is focused on developing a range of green, sustainable chemical solutions for the denim industry.
This process of denim treatment helps to create a new look as well as replicate denim effects similar to that of hand sand and PP process on denim garments.
Resil Chemicals is a manufacturer of silicon and other finishings. It provides finishings to brands. Growth would be achieved by introducing new finishings and promoting new applications of similar chemicals in products like plastic water tanks and mattresses. The company also considers its own backward integration as an added advantage. At present about 15 to 20 per cent of its business comes from exports to countries in Asia-Pacific, Middle East, Europe and Africa.
Acticell develops chemical procedures for the innovative surface treatment of cellulosic material. It creates tailor-made solutions for manufacturers of denim fabrics and denim clothes. Its products can be used as an enzyme booster to decolorize jeans, as a bleaching agent to replace harmful bleaching technologies and as a dyeing pre-treatment in the textile industry. Products are 100 per cent safe, non-toxic, and environmental-friendly.
Levi Strauss is granting more than $350,000 to the inaugural class of LS Collaboratory fellows who are working to create a more sustainable apparel industry. The funding will go towards new approaches and innovations in the apparel supply chain. Projects include expanding a natural indigo dyeing facility, creating products that are less water-intensive and making wastewater treatment solutions more accessible to small artisan workshops.
The collaboratory is an annual fellowship program for entrepreneurs and social entrepreneurs who see design and sustainability as inextricably linked and are working to create a more sustainable apparel industry. Each year the program tackles different social and environmental sustainability challenges facing the industry, with this year's inaugural class focused on an area that is critically important to the future of the apparel industry and the planet.
Following the collaboratory workshop weekend held at Levi Strauss Eureka Innovation, fellows submitted project proposals for reducing water usage or improving water quality with the opportunity to receive funding from Levi Strauss. to implement their solutions. The ideas selected represent some of the boldest, leading-edge ideas from leaders who represent the future of the apparel industry.
Kevin McCracken, co-founder of Social Imprints mentioned that working with the company has changed and looks forward in educating and challenging the team to think in a more holistic way about our impact. With access to funding and mentorship from the most innovative team in the apparel industry, the company has an opportunity to make a real difference in what they do and produce products.
Kavita Parmar, founder and creative director at the IOU Project further added that to have the support of the entire team at an iconic brand and industry stalwart like Levi Strauss believe that the company can truly make a difference in the apparel industry.
This year's collaboratory fellows had the unique opportunity to work through ideas and challenges with Levi Strauss. Leaders and employee mentors along with sustainability and apparel industry experts as they developed concrete, tangible plans for reducing their organization's water footprint.
The company is getting the next generation of global leaders to share ideas, aspirations and innovations for achieving a common goal of accelerating the sustainability of the apparel industry,says Paul Dillinger, vice president and head of global product innovation, Levi Strauss
Laos’ trade value with China and the other nine Asean countries is increasing. Laos’ imports from China had a value of about 2.94 billion dollars in the four years from 2013-2016. The value has increased considerably each year and last year it stood at over 769.7 million dollars, up from about 581 million dollars in 2013.
There were about 110 types of import products with the main ones being electronic goods followed by vehicles, steel, paper and spare parts.
Laos’ exports to China were about 372.5 million dollars in 2013 and soared to over 1.13 billion dollars last year. The total value was around 3.25 billion dollars in the four years from 2013-2016 from 112 types of export products, mainly copper, crops, rubber, furniture and ores.
Laos also has made progress in its trade value with the other nine Asean countries.
The value of Laos’ exports was 2.65 billion dollars last year, up from about two billion dollars in 2013. The four years from 2013-2016 saw a total value of more than 9.11 billion dollars.
In these four years, Laos exported the highest value of goods to Thailand, followed by Vietnam and Cambodia. The main exports are electricity, copper, spare parts, crops, garments, drinks, rubber, livestock, sugar, furniture and ores.
In terms of imports to Laos from the nine Asean countries, the bulk of the imports came from Thailand, followed by Vietnam and Indonesia.
The main imported products were electronic goods, fuel, vehicles, drinks, spare parts, steel, cotton, plastics and food.
J Crew is slashing prices in an attempt to tackle slumping sales and waning customer interest. Following a six per cent sales slump in 2016, the company is investing in retuning J Crew’s identity as an affordable and accessible brand for everybody — not just the fashion-forward crowd.
J Crew is now trying to compete without marking everything down by 40 per cent every other week. It has created an analytics team to research and optimize the cost of each item. It also plans to switch up its supply chain beyond China so that clothing will arrive in stores faster.
America’s favorite basics store is known for its lace jogging pants, skirts, tank tops, tees, dresses, fine Italian cashmere sweaters, sequin and lace-detailed skirts and playful jewelry.
J Crew has been an institution since 1983. It is renowned for its fresh, luxurious take on everyday staples.
Pricing at J Crew has become a major grievance for a brand that used to be known for selling trendy, affordable basics.
The brand was always interested in quality, often focusing and investing on small details. But then it came into competition with a new class of trendy fast fashion retailers who operate at lightning speed. Also, design details such as nicer buttons and richer colors are less apparent on the internet.
