Global apparel retailers are now realizing that what you see is not always what it seems and are seeking to verify the authenticity of their products from supply sources to protect themselves from fabric mislabelling and fraud. Many premium brands are implementing strict regulations and monitoring processes throughout their global manufacturing process to put an end to the mislabelling of a garment that claims to be what it is not.

Fragmented supply chains create confusion on garment labelling

The complex and fragmented supply chains of global brands sometimes rely on just a literal paper documented trail although each step in the chain is happening in a different country or factory which is helping to evade responsibility and mislabel garments. The Textile Fiber Rule requires that certain textiles sold in the US carry labels that specify the generic names and percentages by weight of the constituent fibres in the product, the manufacturer or marketer name, as well as the country of manufacture.

US retailer Target severed ties with textile manufacturer Welspun India in 2016 after realizing that over 750,000 bedlinens such as sheets and pillowcases were fake and mislabelled as Egyptian cotton and they were not the pure long- and extra-long-staple Egyptian cotton after all.

Further on, the Cotton Egypt Association estimated that 90 per cent of global supplies of Egyptian cotton in 2016 were actually fake. Not just Egyptian cotton, recently in 2020, the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) opined around 20,000 tonnes of Indian cotton had been incorrectly certified as premium organic cotton which translated to a sixth of the country's total production. A famous silk brand from Vietnam also owned up that over half of its silk was inferior silk from China. Animal rights activists supported several British retailers in 2018 who withdraw their faux fur winter garments which were found to be from actual dead and skinned animals. Even synthetic fabrics such as polyester fabrics are mislabelled as over 60 per cent of those claiming to be from recycled plastic bottles with lower carbon footprint were made from virgin plastic.

High-tech tracing technology to verify authenticity

There is always a gap between how much fibre is naturally produced globally and how much brands and retailers actually use in their finished products. The brands sometimes themselves don't know exactly where the fabric in their products comes from as only a third of the top 100 apparel companies track their supply chains.

As Crispin Argento, MD, The Sourcery point out there are indicators, from self-reporting of various fabric mills, spinners, farmers, brands, that the vast majority of cotton that is presented to consumers as organic is not, in fact, organic cotton. The Sourcery is an Amsterdam-based company for helping brands source organic cotton direct from growers- in a news report.

The way forward is for brands and retailers to focus on using tracing technology to verify the authenticity of their products and the first step would be to map out the whole supply chain. Companies must build large provenance databases to ensure each product's fingerprint is truly unique. Manufacturers may go have to go out and get soil samples from all the different major cotton farms in the world to build up these tracing systems. While forensic tracing methods like isotope analysis tend to work well with natural materials like cotton, silk and wool, they cannot trace synthetic materials which are mostly oil-based.

With a typical supply chain in the textile industry being very complex, with seperate facilities in different countries that complete each step in the process, fabric mislabelling and fraud is not an easy segment to tackle. However, the hundreds of hands that an item passes through before it comes into the consumer's hands are now being authenticated and the passing the buck on days may just be numbered.

Soorty’s new denim collection highlights the value of design and emphasizes Soorty’s commitment to making quality clothing.

Soorty, one of Pakistan’s largest vertically integrated denim companies, launched this collection in partnership with Lycra, Lenzing, Marmara Hemp and Jeanologia.

The capsule collection brings fiber innovation and bright laundry together and utilizes fabrics woven with the conscious fibers from Lycra, Lenzing, Marmara Hemp as well as recycled cotton that is produced in Soorty’s state-of-the-art recycling facility. The laundry and finishing was conducted by Jeanologia technologies such as G2 Dynamic and Laser. Focused on small-scale, and to-the-point production, the collection highlights that the route to circularity and sustainability is made possible when working collectively and producing responsibly.

Jeanologia provided the technologies, innovations and machineries that helped process both the fabric produced and the garments sewn together. Two sets of the collection were produced, with one finished by Soorty in Pakistan which owns a laundry set up that ensures lowered impact and responsible innovation while the other set was finished by Jeanologia. The impact of each piece was measured to ensure that each garment of the collection secures environmental and social safety. To tie in the main goal of transparently communicating sustainability, the supply chain partners attached labels to each garment where consumers can review not only what goes into making them but also how they were treated.

Intertextile Shenzhen Apparel Fabrics will be held in China, November 6 to 8, 2023. This is a global textile show.

The aim is to help industry players tap into market recovery and regain international orders. The fair provides a platform for exhibitors to showcase their latest products to quality buyers from across the globe.The previous fair welcomed over 880 exhibitors from eight countries and regions, while there were over 42,000 visitors from 26 countries and regions.

Intertextile Shenzhen is the best place to meet influential buyers and trend-setters, including some of south China’s leading garment manufacturers. China’s fastest growing city has designs on becoming a global fashion capital. Shenzhen is now home to over 2,500 clothing brands.

In the first three quarters of 2022, the city’s garment exports increased by nine per cent year on year. Notably, there was a sharp rise in exports to Asean countries, the UK, and the US.As China has removed pandemic restrictions for inbound travelers, its textile industry is on track to benefit.

The Chinese textile market is predicted to grow at a CAGR of over five per cent from 2020 to 2026. Despite the challenges facing the global economy, China’s textile industry aims to return to its pre-Covid business results.

Knitwear accounts for more than 55 percent of Bangladesh’s total garment exports.

In the 1980s, woven garments such as shirts and pants were the main export products of Bangladesh. At that time, the share of woven garments in total exports was more than 90 percent. After that, the capacity of knitwear is also created in Bangladesh. Gradually, the participation of woven and knit garments in the total exports was equalized.

However, this picture has changed in the last decade.More than 80 percent of the products exported from Bangladesh in the world market are readymade garments. These are basically divided into two categories based on type—woven garments and knitwear. Generally, T-shirts, polo shirts, sweaters, trousers, joggers, shorts are called knitwear. On the other hand, formal shirts, pants, suits, denim jeans are known as woven clothes.

The use of casual wear has started to increase since the Covid period. Also, the demand for people’s everyday clothes is also increasing. Most of these clothes are knitwear. Besides, the demand for manmade fibers is increasing in the international market, most of which is knitwear. As a result, the overall demand for knitwear is increasing in the global market.