Fairtrade in India promoting sustainable fashion
The Indian branch of Fairtrade is promoting sustainable fashion through initiatives and campaigns. The campaign ‘Show Your Label 2019’ encourages people to wear their clothing inside-out to show its label and see if it bears the Fairtrade mark. The initiative is intended to make people feel proud of wearing sustainable fashion. The campaign ran across Bangalore, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Goa with a number of interactive events in schools. Students promoted the Show Your Label campaign and wore 100 per cent sustainable Fairtrade school uniform T-shirts. Going forward, Fairtrade will deepen engagement to minimise exploitation and maximise positive impact across the entire life-cycle of fashion products.
Fairtrade, for instance, aims at reducing the social and environmental costs of cotton production. On a social level, genetic modification of cotton seeds has wreaked havoc in traditionally agrarian communities. In India, the second biggest cotton producer in the world after China, there has been a surge in farmer suicides. These tragic deaths are linked to genetically modified cotton and the ugly cycle of dependence on special seeds and chemicals into which many farmers fall. Cotton accounts for 24 per cent of global sales of agricultural insecticides and uses a huge amount of water.
Copenhagen Fashion Summit celebrates a decade, focus on sustainability
Copenhagen Fashion Summit held from May 15 to 16, 2019 attracted 1300 guests, and 78 high-level speakers who talked on topics spanning executive leadership, design, manufacturing, policy and investment. Discussion topics ranged from climate change and circular economy to the power of creatives and how fashion can address overconsumption.
Fashion leaders, policymakers, NGOs, creative directors and innovators from across the globe convened to demand urgent action on sustainability in the fashion industry. The event marked the summit’s 10th anniversary and provided a platform for companies to unveil new solutions, launch new commitments, collaborate with industry peers and partake in agenda-setting discussions. Discussions and debates emphasised that companies must collaborate now, more than ever, to rectify the harmful consequences of the fashion industry and combat the climate crisis, resource scarcity and social issues. The summit provided a forum for stakeholders to come together and rewrite fashion to safeguard the planet.
At seven leadership roundtables, select fashion leaders, NGO representatives and government officials met to discuss the fashion industry’s most pressing sustainability issues and to collaborate to push the agenda forward. At this year’s roundtables senior participants from fashion companies of diverse sizes, segments and geographies discussed climate change and the circular economy.
Tufts University develops color-changing dyed threads
Tufts University engineers have developed dyed threads that change hues when exposed to carbon monoxide and other hazards. With these gas sensing washable threads, the sensor can be embedded into something one would already be wearing, such as a shirt.
The developers hope the threads can eventually be woven into smart clothing to benefit workers in a variety of fields. This clothing could potentially be even more affordable and easy to use than current methods of gas detection. Researchers studied three kinds of dye: MnTPP, methyl red and bromothymol blue. MnTPP and bromothymol blue detect ammonia, while methyl red detects hydrogen chloride, both of which can harm the eyes, skin and respiratory tract.
They used a special process to bind the dye to the thread by treating it with acetic acid, which makes the thread coarser and allows for a firmer attachment. They then applied a polymer to the thread to create a water-repellent seal. This way, the resulting garment can be washed without the dye leaching out.
The color change that happens when the threads are exposed to gas can be seen by the naked eye, or with a smartphone camera. The camera allows for even more sensitive detection, reading subtle color changes occurring when dangerous substances are as low as 50 parts per million.
Burberry shuts unprofitable outlets
Burberry is working on a plan to wind up 38 stores. Five, in Brazil and Spain, have already been shut. This is part of the luxury fashion brand’s move to go more upmarket and turn its flagship stores into luxury destinations for well-heeled shoppers. Burberry wants to go super-luxe, in the same league as Gucci and Dior, which have higher prices and profit margins. Like the rival brands, Burberry wants to be able to design coveted leather handbags that can command price tags of up to 2000 pounds.
Burberry is known for its trench coats and signature check. The 163-year-old company replaced its longstanding creative supremo Christopher Bailey with another Italian, Riccardo Tisci, last year, and is in the process of rolling out his debut collection. Bailey, who was credited with helping to transform Burberry from a small UK company into a global fashion brand, left last year. The clothes and accessories designed by Tisci have been a big hit with shoppers, delivering double-digit sales increases on the equivalent ranges in 2018. Tisci is revitalising a brand that was at risk of becoming outdated and repetitive. His dark grungy styles, previously seen at Givenchy, have provided a welcome update to Burberry’s classic tailoring and neutral tones.
Asia Pacific drives wool worsted yarn
The Asia Pacific region accounts for a major share of the wool worsted yarn market, followed by North America and Europe. Worsted yarns are made from high quality wool. These yarns differ from other woolen yarn based on their weight, type, and quality. The fabric made from worsted woolen yarn is stronger, smoother, and finer than normal wool. Worsted fabric is primarily used for men’s suitings. Compared to normal woolen yarn, worsted woolen yarn tends to be costly as the sheep from which the wool is taken is of higher breed. Also worsted fabric needs more processing, as a result its price tends to increase. These yarns are not carded; instead they are washed, gilled, and combed using heated long-tooth metal combs, later oiled, and spun.
The worsted wool yarn market can be segmented into tropical worsted wool and plain weave worsted wool. They differ based upon the type of fibers used for their production, combinations of fibers used, and blend of fibers used for weaving. Tropical worsted wool is designed to be worn in hot climates. This wool is light, smooth, breathable, and easy to maintain. Tropical worsted wool fabric finds application in making trousers and skirts, among others. Plain weave worsted wool fabric finds application in suits and other upholstery fabrics.
Intertextile Pavilion Shenzhen: Exhibitors ready to tap China’s market potential
With around 30,000 designers and 2,000 retailers, Shenzhen has around 70 per cent share of China’s high-end women’s wear market. The city benefits from the South China’s status as a significant trading hub and a key area of the central government’s new Belt and Road Initiative, supported by Guangdong’s solid garment manufacturing industry.
With around 30,000 designers and 2,000 retailers, Shenzhen has around 70 per cent share of China’s high-end women’s wear market. The city benefits from the South China’s status as a significant trading hub and a key area of the central government’s new Belt and Road Initiative, supported by Guangdong’s solid garment manufacturing industry. To exploit the market potential of this city, Messe Frankfurt (HK) has teamed up with Sub-Council of Textile Industry, CCPIT; the China Textile Information Centre and the Shenzhen Garment Industry Association to organise Intertextile Pavilion Shenzhen from July 4-6, 2019 at the Shenzhen Convention & Exhibition Center.
Around 1,000 leading exhibitors will participate and display a wide range of fabric product categories including man-made, knitted, silk, linen / ramie, wool, denim, sportswear / functional, lace & embroidery and swimwear / lingerie, as well as yarn and fibre and accessories. They will also feature new product groups including OEM, sewing equipment and textile additives to further fulfill buyers’ diverse sourcing needs.
International pavilions
Domestic exhibitors in this exhibition will be housed in Halls 6 – 9, while Hall 9 will house the International
Zone. This year, international pavilions at the event include:
• Taiwan Pavilion: Organised by the Taiwan Textile Federation, this zone will feature knitted, jacquard, lace and embroideries, woven fabrics, functional and denim fabrics.
• Korea Pavilion: Organised by Korea Fashion Textile Association (KFTA) and Daegu Gyeongbuk Textile Industry Association (DGTIA), this zone will display a wide range of ladies wear fabrics, such as man-made fashionable fabrics, knits, embroidery jacquard, tri-acetate woven and printed fabrics. Some exhibitors will also showcase functional fabrics and faux fur.
• Fine Japan Zone: This zone will cover a range of high-quality cotton and man-made fabrics for ladies wear as well as casual wear, with the ability to handle small order quantities, product-in-stock orders and quick delivery service.
Japan Pavilion to feature noted exhibitors
The Japan Pavilion at the Intertextile Pavilion Shenzhen will feature noted exhibitors like Kokka, Sojitz, Stylem, Sun Fashion, Sunwell, Uni Textile and Yonezawa. This pavilion will be a prime platform for Japanese exhibitors to meet high-end Chinese fashion brands, as well as high quality overseas trade buyers.
France to stop companies from destroying unsold goods
As per a French government official, France plans to stop companies from destroying unsold items. The government has urged brands to tackle the matter at the industry level and also revealed that it too would pursue a ban. This pledge comes after Burberry Group Plc revealed its plan to end this practice last year after the disclosure that the UK trenchcoat maker had destroyed almost $37 million worth of unsold goods in 2017.
While mass-market apparel brands often mark down goods until their shelves are cleared, luxury labels have long preferred to burn some unsold items or bury them in landfills rather than risk damage to their image that might come from having them spotted in discount bins.
Finding other ways to dispose of $2,500 jackets or $1,000 shoes will be challenging for luxury brands that don’t want to give away unsold items, since the array of materials in them could make recycling difficult.
Global polyester polyol grows at five per cent
The global polyester polyol market is growing at 5.3 per cent. Polyurethane elastomers that are extracted from polyester polyols are highly preferred materials used in manufacturing shoe soles and other footwear products. They are a preferred option as they are tough and durable, which is a core requirement for footwear items. Polyester polyols are also inexpensive in nature and their specialized application capabilities make them perfect for soft material footwear applications. Besides, polyester polyols are known to create apposite and translucent thermoplastic elastomers. Moreover, polyester polyols also offer greater thermal stability as compared to polyether polyols, which makes them a preferred option in several industrial applications. However polyester polyols also display moisture absorption propensities and to an extent demonstrate toxicity. These adverse characteristics have been hindering application of polyester polyols in various industries to an extent.
To cater to the growing needs of consumers and the vertical industries, manufacturers of polyester polyol are focusing on production expansion along with product portfolio expansion. This will help them not only in expanding their consumer base but also retain their position in the market. Manufacturers of polyester polyols concentrate on using eco-friendly raw materials, for example, bio-succinic acid for manufacturing of polyester polyols, thereby decreasing the environmental footprint significantly.
India’s apparel imports increase 47 per cent in 2018-19
As per Clothing Manufacturers Association of India (CMAI) data apparel imports increased nearly 47 per cent to $1 billion in 2018-19 (April 2018-February 2019) even as exports fell five per cent. This surge in imports is mainly due to big retailers opting more for low-cost foreign garments. Imports from Bangladesh increased 96 per cent. Besides, imports from Sri Lanka and Hong Kong have also shown a significant rise of 120 per cent and 171 per cent, respectively.
Industry sources say imports from India's neighbouring countries are flooding the domestic market and defeating the purpose of Make in India. Leading retail stores in India setup by foreign brands are sourcing apparel from Bangladesh. This could be detrimental to the Indian garment sector's growth. Vietnam and Cambodia are the other two major countries that export to India.
Increasing imports from Bangladesh is a looming threat and could eventually hit India's exports too. Moreover, jobs in the sector might take a hit and non-confirmation of orders could have a cascading effect till cotton farmer stage, thereby affecting the economy significantly.
L Brands’ stocks decline over 5 per cent
Stocks of Victoria’s Secret owner L Brands declined by over 5 per cent after the recent announcement by China to impose retaliatory tariffs on US imports next month. L Brands, which also owns Bath & Body Works and Victoria’s Secret’s Pink brand, is heavily reliant on its Chinese suppliers, and counts the nation—along with the US, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, and India—as one of its main sources of imported goods. The brand plans to open another 15 stores in China, in addition to the 53 existing stores.
While China sales have lifted L Brands’ international business, the segment still only accounts for 6 per cent of the company’s overall sales, meaning that tariffs won’t necessarily be devastating. They could, however, put a damper on an already struggling brand’s plans to get a hold of a valuable market, and raise prices for its US customers
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Wrangler’s Rooted Collection highlights its varied supply chain
Wrangler® has recently introduced The Wrangler Rooted Collection™. The collection features five state-specific pairs of jeans — the Alabama Jean, the Georgia Jean, the North Carolina Jean, the Tennessee Jean and the Texas Jean
The design for each of these state-specific jeans includes unique wash, trim and patch details featuring the state’s silhouette and other embellishments. In addition, the collection includes two T-shirt designs for each state, as well as three national designs.
The idea for the Rooted Collection was conceived of by the Wrangler Science and Conservation team — a collaborative group of scientists, farmers, nonprofits and industry experts working to identify and encourage best practices for land stewardship to maintain healthier soils and more viable and productive farms. This team helped Wrangler contract with some of the most sustainable cotton producers in the United States for the Rooted Collection.
Wrangler Rooted Collection™ also features T-shirts manufactured using 100-percent US-based supply chain. The T-shirt program uses a North and South Carolina manufacturing supply chain and features cotton grown by fifth-generation farmers Vance and Mandie Smith in Big Springs, Texas.
The collection reflects the brand’s commitment to strengthening local communities and supporting U.S. farmers. Its introduction aligns with its goal to continually improve the environmental performance and traceability of our products.”
Redress announces top ten Design Award 2019 finalists
Redress has announced the list of finalists for the Redress Design Award 2019. The organisation shortlisted top 10 design talents from hundreds of applicants from across the globe who are ready to transform fashion’s waste into want.
The finalists, who also include menswear designers, have 11 weeks to bring their concepts to life before presenting their collections in Hong Kong at the live Grand Final where the winners will be announced.
Using circular design strategies, these designers will showcase solutions for the handling the textile waste created by the fashion industry on a daily basis. The Redress Design Award 2019 receives major sponsorship from Create Hong Kong and Eastman NaiaTM and partners with over 130 educational institutes across the world. The competition spotlights the boundless creativity of emerging sustainable designers with a particular focus on the low waste design techniques of zero-waste, up cycling and reconstruction, while providing critical knowledge and skills to a wide range of emerging fashion professionals through a range of educational activities and resources.
The finalists, selected by the International panel of judges made up of fashion’s finest sustainability experts, will compete for the first prize - to join leading fashion house JNBY Group to design a sustainable collection for retail. The runner-up winner will receive a professional development mentorship from Orsola de Castro, with multiple other prizes up for grabs.
EU exports up seven per cent
The European Union’s textile and clothing exports grew by seven per cent compared to last year. Employment in the EU’s textile and clothing industry registered a small dip compared to 2017 but remained essentially unchanged over the last five years – a remarkable achievement for a sector that keeps realizing labor efficiencies. Over the last ten years, turnover and value-added per employee have increased by over 30 per cent.
European high quality textiles and premium fashion products are in growing demand, both in high income countries such as the United States, Switzerland, Japan and Canada, and also emerging countries such as China and Hong Kong, Russia, Turkey and the Middle East.
Since 2015, export growth slightly outpaced import growth, which means the EU’s trade deficit stopped widening. Rather than an absolute import growth, recent years have brought important shifts in the main import countries. While China remains by far the number one import source, lower cost countries such as Bangladesh, Cambodia, Myanmar and Vietnam have gained in relative importance, especially for clothing.
For 2016, EU industry turnover of technical textiles was about 27 per cent of total textile industry turnover. Over the years this percentage has steadily grown and is expected to continue to do so in the future.
EBA review sours Cambodia’s ties with EU
In February 2019, the European Union launched an 18-month process over whether or not to maintain Cambodia’s preferential access to the EU market under the Everything But Arms (EBA) trade scheme.
An EBA withdrawal can deprive hundreds of thousands of Cambodians of decent jobs. About 28 per cent of the population, the extremely vulnerable, could be thrown into poverty. This could create conditions for social unrest and political instability. The EBA scheme allows Cambodia to export anything to the EU market, with the exception of weapons, duty-free and quota-free. Cambodia was granted access to the scheme, offered to most least developed countries, in 2001.
In 2018, exports to the European Union accounted for more than a third of Cambodia’s total exports. Textiles and footwear, prepared foodstuffs, vegetable products, rice and bicycles represent 97 per cent of Cambodia’s exports to the European Union. The textile and footwear industries alone employ more than 7,00,000 Cambodians. Losing EBA preferences can result in slower export growth for Cambodia, increase tariffs by 12 per cent in the garment sector and by 8 per cent to 17 per cent in the footwear sector.
In the meantime the EBA review has soured Cambodia’s relations with the EU, rendering Cambodia more dependent on China.
