The bamboo apparel market is growing at six per cent a year.

Manufacturers’ green approach in product processing and manufacturing is paving the way for market growth. China and India are the biggest manufacturers of bamboo apparel and the biggest importers to the US.

The bamboo apparel market is gaining popularity due to eco-friendly sustainable production which is trending in many countries. Bamboo fiber has tinier pores and gaps than any other material, allowing for improved ventilation and moisture absorption. Apparel made of bamboo is entirely natural, silk-soft and biodegradable. Bamboo clothing is made from bamboo pulp, which is incredibly soft. Bamboo is an excellent fabric for clothing because of its great breathing qualities provided by its hollow fibers.After that, mechanical combs are used to separate natural fibers into yarn. Such transparency into the manufacturing processes is generating a loyalty factor among consumers toward manufacturers and increasing the product demand.Fashion designers are increasingly choosing bamboo textiles.

Well-known fashion designers frequently use bamboo materials in their collections. Use of blended fabric is the highest among different fabrics in the bamboo apparel market with a revenue share of around 62 per cent. In India, Tirupur garment manufacturers are now finding a wider use of natural products like banana fiber, hemp, bamboo, and coconut fiber

The luxury market segment is like a pendulum swinging to and fro from a sea of sameness to something extremely different and value-creating that identifies a person. The segment is all about delivering on a promise of emotion and about the client only but it’s now in a turmoil as it focuses on the Gen Z-influenced world that lives in the now and is focused on what’s in it for them. Without clarity about the emotion and experience it can offer, many market analysts feel that over 50 per cent of luxury brands will disappear soon.

Global personal luxury goods sale to increase by 22%

However, opinions differ. Many feel spending on luxury goods is growing faster than ever before on the back of post-pandemic splurges and shifting demographics as happening customers buy on-trend tiny handbags instead of large ones and streetwear style trends. Items like outerwear and handbags command higher prices due to their intricate construction and expensive textiles, including fur and exotic skins.

Global sales of personal luxury goods including leather accessories, clothes, footwear, jewellery and watches are expected to grow by 22 per cent this year, to around $367 billion from $290 billion in 2021, says a Bain Consultancy study commissioned by Altagamma Association the Italian luxury brands committee composed of companies in the fields of design and fashion of high-end producers. “Consumption is back at pre-crisis levels, but it is also a rebirth, since there is a new consumer base that is younger, and some pockets of consumers that have been unlocked during COVID are here to stay and growing, like subcultures and ethnic groups in the US,'' said Bain partner Claudia D'Arpizio, Co-author.

This tremendous growth is a result of a sharp 2021 recovery from global pandemic lockdowns which has created a strong trajectory despite an expected recession in 2023 due to higher raw material and energy prices. Bain predicts the segment will expand to between €550- 570 billion in the next five years.

Rising prices makes segment uncertain

The rise of demand in the luxury segment is also co-related with EDITED Global data and analytics company, which says the global average luxury prices in 2022 are at a four-year high, which is 7 per cent above 2020 and 25 per cent more expensive than in 2019. But that is not deterring consumers in the ultra-luxury bracket of Louis Vuitton, Balenciaga's City, Fendi and Prada among others. Even the prices of items which represent an accessible buy into designer brands have seen a significant upsurge proving that luxury fashion has become even more exclusive after Covid times.

T-shirts for men are 55 per cent more expensive than in 2019 and 15 per cent more for women. While four years ago, a cotton jersey tee with a logo at Prada was once $740 online, now it retails at $924, a 25 per cent increase, and yes, people are still buying. However, all is not well as lockdowns in China have halted spending, oil prices rising and store closures and embargoes in Russia and Ukraine and other war-ravaged zones have upset the apple cart globally.

Prices have not yet stopped rising as global markets are expected to experience continued economic fallout through the next few years of the post-pandemic situation and Ukraine war backlashes. Retailers can't keep passing these high costs on to well-heeled customers and the luxury segment has to become more inclusive to maintain itself. Style may be a way to say who you are without speaking, but luxury brands still have to re-invent themselves in a changed world.

Traders in Pakistan are against the imposition of regulatory duty on yarn and thread. They say, yarn and thread are the raw materials of the textile sector and duty on them is not acceptable as the imposition of duty will adversely affect textile exports and throw people in the textile sector out of employment.

Since the textile sector is the backbone of the country’s exports, and most of the export earnings come from this sector, the imposition of duty on this sector would cause the sector to suffer from a severe financial crisis which will directly harm the economy.

Pakistan is an importer of polyester filament yarn which is the main raw material in textiles because yarn is not a finished product. Cotton has been replaced by yarn and the textile industry in Pakistan is largely dependent on imported yarn. Pakistan has a 17 per cent general sales tax on textile exports. To improve the liquidity position of exporters and competitiveness in the global market, and to prevent fraud and smuggling, the textile industry wants zero rating to be brought back. Due to the ongoing economic crisis in Pakistan, a shortage of gas and expensive electricity, the cost of production is already at high levels and due to the financial crisis most of the textile mills have closed down and more are on the verge of closing down.

Victoria’s Secret will not use cashmere any more in its products. The brand joins dozens of other companies that have banned cashmere. China and Mongolia are responsible for 90 per cent of the world’s cashmere but the goats in cashmere farms are subject to unethical treatment. Terrified goats are pinned to the ground while workers rip out their hair with sharp metal combs so violently that the animals scream in pain and sustain bloody cuts. The negative environmental impact of cashmere production is greater than that of any other animal-derived material.

The industry is a significant contributor to soil degradation, which turns grasslands into deserts, including in Mongolia, where 90 per cent of the land is in danger of desertification. Alternatives to animal-derived materials exist in the form of vegan fabrics including soy cashmere, recycled polyester, organic and sustainably farmed hemp, bamboo as well as modal, Tencel and viscose made from sustainably harvested wood.

Victoria’s Secret owns the brands Victoria’s Secret and Pink. After nearly a year and a half as an independent, publicly-traded company, the company continues to make significant progress in its transformation and mission to celebrate and champion all women. It has created a solid financial platform with a new, more agile operating structure.