Premiere Vision Blossom becomes annual
Premiere Vision Blossom will be held in France, December 14 to 15, 2022.
Premiere Vision Blossom, a trade fair for materials and services for the fashion industry, was launched in 2016 and is devoted to collection launchesaimed at international upmarket, luxury design brands.This trade show is dedicated to spring/summer 2024 pre-collections of fabric, leather and accessories. The event is expected to host about 100 exhibitors, many of them from outside France, for an edition that will introduce a change in the event's calendar.
Premiere Vision Blossom was previously held every six months, but this year it has become an annual event, as Première Vision Paris, the organisers’ main trade show, has shifted from a September slot to a July one, much earlier in the seasonal calendar. Among the exhibitors expected to take part in Premiere Vision Blossom are 66 fabric manufacturers, 16 leather specialists, and a dozen producers of accessories and garment finishing supplies.
Italy will once again be the most represented country among the exhibitors, with 58 producers on show. There will also be 27 exhibitors from France, and others from Portugal, Spain and Germany. From outside Europe, there will be three Japanese companies and a Turkish leather specialist.
Yarn market grows at five per cent
The global yarn market is growing at five per cent a year.
Innovations in the textile industry are one of the prime reasons driving the yarn market. Also, capacity expansions by vendors in the textile industry and personalisation and customisation of home textile products lead to sizable demand in the market.Continuous research and development, a thrust on innovation by textile companies in yarn and a thrust on sustainability are also contributing to more demand of various types of yarns.
The global wool yarn market is growing by four per cent a year. The increasing preference for upholstery fabrics among consumers to enhance the appearance of their home interiors is creating a lucrative impact on the wool yarn market, as wool yarn is used in the manufacturing of curtains, carpets etc. Owing to this, textile manufacturers are demanding raw materials such as wool yarn.
Thus the growing textile industry is acting as an influencing factor for the global wool yarn market.Increasing disposable income and per capita consumer spending on clothing and other textiles, coupled with the growing youth inclination toward fashion trends, has escalated the consumption of wool yarn. Growing retail sales infrastructure, such as malls, is creating a positive influence on the wool yarn market.
Fila appoints design head
Torsten Hochstetter is Fila’s design head.
He is a top-notch designer who will oversee Fila’s creative team. Hochstetter is in charge of Fila’s creative strategy and of the design office whose job is to rejuvenate Fila’s international apparel, footwear and accessories lines. He is in charge of the entire product range. All of Fila’s product licensees are under his direct control. His first collection will be the fall/winter 2023-2024. He has studied fashion design.
Renowned for his talent, Hochstetter has extensive experience in the fashion and sportswear industries. For eight years, until 2021, he spearheaded the conception, design and development of all product lines at German sport apparel and equipment brand Puma. Previously, he had worked from 2010 to 2013 as creative director at Californian board sport specialist O’Neill. Hochstetter has also had a distinguished career at Adidas. He worked in Germany, the US and Japan as creative director of sport performance and creative director of sport style, for lines like Originals, Y-3 and Porsche Design.
Italian sportswear brand Fila is focusing more than ever on creativity. Fila is operating against the backdrop of an intensely promotional market, especially in the US.The sports and leisurewear operator has benefited from its well diversified business portfolio with resilient royalty income.
MarediModato present beachwear at Texpremium
MarediModa will present a selection of fabrics and accessories for beach, underwear and athleisure at Texpremium.
Texpremium, to be held in London, UK, December 13 to 14, 2022, is an event exclusively dedicated to high-end fabrics and more than 70 exhibitors will present fabric and accessory collections for spring/summer 2024.
The British capital has always been an incubator of new fashions and is the birthplace of dynamic and innovative brands, and MarediModa intends to offer a comprehensive overview of its exhibition offerings. All visitors to MarediModa will receive access to 2024 trends and David Shah's video presentation.
These are inspired by the best trend forecaster and indispensable tools to plan the new collections.The goal of this project is to provide a quality tool that can spark creativity, gain access to new visions and accompany the creative process till its end starting from a social background up to the fashion themes to come. MarediModa makes its trend book available to creative talents worldwide as a source of inspiration and a true index for designing a beachwear, underwear or athleisure collection featured by explorations into the closest territories.
The positive synergy between nature and technology is perceived inside the bet on a more optimistic future. The boundaries suggested by science, technology and design are explored to create thoroughly natural fabrics to dribble reality, enliven static data and subvert our perceptions.
Orders for denim fall
Ahmedabad’s denim exports have fallen. Till last year, when the domestic market was still crawling out of the shadow of Covid, export orders proved to be a boon for manufacturers in India’s denim capital. Denim demand was growing. However, a year down the line, the tables have completely turned, at least when it comes to the demand in the international market.Thanks to the Russia-Ukraine war, economies globally have faced many disruptions — currencies across the world have depreciated, energy costs have skyrocketed, mass layoffs have continued, and industrial production has shrunk.
As a consequence, demand has plummeted in key export markets —Turkey, the Middle East, the US, and Europe. Recession fears looming in these countries have had a direct impact on denim makers in Ahmedabad, causing export volumes to decline by an estimated 25 per cent till the second quarter. The seasonality factor, in addition to cotton price fluctuations, is also one of the key reasons for the decline in export orders.
The second quarter is typically a dry season when demand drops. Geopolitical factors, coupled with a lean season,have amplified the adverse effect on export orders. However, in the premium textilesegment, manufacturers have been able to command better prices in the export market since spending on the part of premium segment customershasn’t gone down.
Asahi Kasei to exhibit at ISPO Munich
Asahi Kasei will feature its key brand Roica at ISPO Munich, November 28 to 30, 2022.
ISPO Munich is a fashion and textile fair dedicated to sportswear and athleisurewear. Roica, the premium stretch fiber, will introduce an interactive booth inviting visitors to explore its evolution path where sustainability and well-being values will be represented through a complete and traceable supply chain from the final sportswear outifits back to the fabrics first and then yarn.On show will be a wide fabric range that includes smart fibers belonging to the RoicaEco-Smart family comprising two responsibly made yarns. Roica EF is a sustainable recycled stretch yarn obtained from pre-consumer materials and Roica V550 is a sustainable degradable stretch yarn which smartly breaks down without releasing harmful substances.
This year, 2022, is a special time for Asahi Kasei as it celebrates its 100th anniversary. Asahi Kasei has achieved growth by constantly transforming its business portfolio to meet the evolving needs of every age and proactively taking on challenges in new fields leveraging its capability to change and its diversity. Asahi Kasei’s culture of open communication and challenging spirit are a precious heritage embodied in its group values of sincerity, challenge, and creativity.
Uster provides shield against contamination
UsterJossi Vision Shield provides for contamination control in yarn production.
Correct positioning of the fiber cleaning system – at the point where the fibers are most open – is crucial. Contaminants might otherwise be hidden inside bigger tufts, but not with UsterJossi Vision Shield at the fiber opening stage. UsterJossi Vision Shield is better than conventional camera-based systems. Operating across a much greater wavelength, Uster’s spectroscopes can find contamination even within the invisible range of IR and UV light.
Fragments of contamination in light pastel colors and white also pose no problem.Any remaining contamination or defects will then be identified and removed by the final-stage check at the Quantum 4.0 yarn clearers, which will ensure the yarn meets customer requirements.The good news for spinners wondering about capacitive or optical clearing for a new production line, or for retrofit, is that Uster Quantum 4.0 has both capacitive and optical sensors, applicable to different yarns and changing conditions.
Uster Jossi Vision Shield and Uster Quantum 4.0 are two perfectly-linked systems in the production process, minimizing the risk of foreign matter quality issues and focusing on defined quality and profitability.Total Contamination Control is an Uster Value module with Quality Expert, which also reveals optimization potential to save costs.Total Contamination Control balances ejections in the blowroom along with cuts in winding in the most advanced way.
ReshaMandi app gets wide response
ReshaMandi’s app, launched in 2020, has witnessed an increase in participation from farmers, reelers, yarn manufacturers, weavers and retailers.
The app is in five Indian languages, Hindi, Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi apart from English, and 34,000 stakeholders of ReshaMandi have installed the app with 40 per cent of them using the app’s payment system and receiving the payment acknowledgements on the app.Currently, 95 per cent of ReshaMandi’s wide farmer base is using the app to map the transactions on the platform.
The weaver community has listed more than 5000 sari SKUs on the app and is able to directly connect and distribute to the large retailer base. The support on the app has now expanded to four broad categories,saris, apparel, home and living and fabric.The level of engagement the app has seen over two years indicates ReshaMandi’s ongoing efforts to empower stakeholders and provide them with a greater range of business opportunities. Through the app, 20,000 tons of cocoon, 1500 tons of raw cotton, 6000 tons of cotton bales, eight lakh saris, five lakh apparel and 150 lakh meters of fabric have been sold and transacted. ReshaMandi, based in India, is a farm-to-fashion digital ecosystem for natural fibers.
Emporiom expands TCNS’ digital presence
Emporiom Digital and TCNS Clothing have had a successful partnership.
Emporiom Digital manages the digital aspects of TCNS Clothing’s business including social media marketing and influencer marketing. With this partnership, TCNS has managed to showcase its work to more people through social media channels than ever before. Digital agency Emporiom has helped TCNS spread its story of fashion innovation in the online ecosystem.TCNS Clothing which runs brands like W, Wishful, and Aureliacelebrates womanhood and provides trendy and contemporary fashion wear for women.
The association of TCNS Clothing with Emporiom Digital was a fruitful step in acknowledging the benefits of a digital-first approach that plays a key role in mapping the success story of a brand in the ever-changing media landscape. In the past year, Aurelia and W’s digital reach has expanded by a whopping 62 per cent and 181 per cent respectively.
And Aurelia’s and W’s Instagram follower count has grown by 47 per cent and 21 per cent respectively in the past one year.Propelled by cutting edge expertise and know-how in the digital marketing sphere that Emporiom Digital enjoys, brands like W, Wishful and Aurelia have been able to showcase their delightfully modern and contemporary fusion women’s wear, foot apparel and beauty products to a wider audience.
Bangladesh sees the brighter side
Despite the global economic downturn and the decline in orders, manufacturers in Bangladesh hope for a positive future.
They are confident buyers still trust Bangladesh and expect their share in the global apparel market to increase to eight per cent in 2021 from 6.26 per cent in 2020 and further rise in 2022 and onwards. No work orders have shifted from the country to competitors like Pakistan or Vietnam. The supply of electricity has improved and the gas supply is expected to be improved soon.There is a turbulent situation in the global economy and none of Bangladesh’s competitors have seen positive growth in recent months.
In the midst of several factors affecting the global economy, manufacturers in Bangladesh are now focusing more on branding both Bangladesh and the apparel industry of the country in the hope this will get more work orders. Bangladesh is now the second largest garment exporter in the world after China.Although there are some signs of a slowdown in garment exports now, because of the war-related crisis, the global economic turmoil, and a record inflation affecting retail businesses, it is expected that the shipment to new destinations, particularly to Asian markets, will witness growth.
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Bodyline makes a difference
Bodyline has launched a series of CSR initiatives.
The apparel maker has done tree planting, beach cleaning, raising funds for school supplies of students and also opening a forest and constructing toilet facilities at a hospital. Bodyline has created over 60,000 direct employment opportunities In Sri Lanka and India and is making a positive impact on stakeholders, customers, shareholders, employees and community by being the go-to partner for world-renowned brands, providing concept to delivery solutions through a global co-creation center.
Local communities also cherish the company for its legacy projects which include the building of homes for soldiers, the building of a pediatric High Dependency Unit as well as the uplifting of sports like boxing in local communities by building a boxing ring. The company has only been able to withstand economic and political impacts on the industry but has maintainedits contribution to the community. Bodyline is a subsidiary of South Asia’s largest apparel tech conglomerate MAS Holdings and is celebrating its 30th anniversary. Bodyline is a joint venture between MAS Holdings, Triumph Germany and Mast Industries USA. The company has the capacity to produce garments from concept to delivery. It is renowned as the leader in producing fitted garments that provide superior next-to-skin performance wear. It is also the go-to vendor for bra innovations.
Burberry plans to double sales
Burberry plans to increase sales in a big way.
The plan is to double sales of leather goods, shoes and women’s clothing and expand outerwear sales by 50 per cent in the next threeor five years.Longer term, the aim is to increase accessories from 36 per cent of sales to over 50 per cent. Leather goods are the profit drivers of the industry, with successful handbags generating gross margins of over 80 per cent so if the company can sell more It bags, that goal looks realistic. However there are obsacles. For one there’s a downturn in luxuryparticularly in the US.
There is less demand for expensive high-end items as more marginal luxury buyers begin to feel the pinch. So the fashion house best known for its black, white, tan and red check has its work cut out. Previous marketing and advertising efforts were disjointed. Focusing on Burberry’s heritage and made-in-Britain status should give the fashion house more of a coherent identity. Also, to ensure Burberry meets its targets, the Chinese market needs to reopen. Burberry is one of the few high-end brands unencumbered by a family shareholding.This British institution is yet to live up to its full potential.
India should focus on emerging as the world’s largest producer and exporter of hosiery, says Rikhab Chand Jain
Good times are spinning for the Indian hosiery industry expectations unfold for a ten-fold growth in the next 25 years with focus on a long-term adoption of good cotton farming practices and India becoming more self-reliant. Like a fish in troubled waters, now is the time for India to increase its global exports with many countries unwilling to import apparel from China after the Covid years as well as the disruption in the supply chain in Europe after the Ukraine war.
Focus on self-reliance and pan-India cotton mills
Taking advantage of Prime Minister Modi’s various all-inclusive schemes such as ‘Sabka Sath Sabka Vikas’ and self-reliance of ‘Make in India’, and ‘Self-Reliant India’, the hosiery industry should leap forward and increase its global export rankings, emphasized Rikhab Chand Jain, Former President of the Federation of Hosiery Associations of India (FOHMA) in his address at the Golden Jubilee Celebration in, Kolkata. The event took place on November 12, 2022. Jain said, the best is yet to come and the hosiery industry waits in anticipation in the post-covid years that have just begun
He said, although hosiery production has grown in Delhi-NCR, Ludhiana, and Bangalore over the last 30 years, a lot more is yet to happen. There should be more hosiery mills and focus in Jaipur, Indore, Pune, Kanpur, Varanasi, Nagpur, Surat, Bhubaneswar, Guwahati, Patna, and Ranchi among other cities. Industry leaders along with the Apparel Export Promotion Council (APEC) and the country’s youth should now focus on making India the world's largest hosiery producer and exporter.
Indian manufacturing for all segments of cotton industry
Jain said, “FOHMA should get due active representation in AEPC and other institutions. FOHMA should organize exhibitions and organize delegations for industry contacts abroad and be a part of effective research projects and programmes. FOHMA had made significant efforts to demand the establishment of a separate Ministry of Textiles as well as that it should have a rank of a cabinet minister.’’
Even after 75 years of independence, over 80 per cent of sewing needles, sewing machines, knitting machines, processing machinery, and knitting needles and other items essential for the hosiery industries are still imported from China and Taiwan at very high prices. A now self-reliant India must stop imports and substitute them by introducing local manufacturing by European brands or its China-Taiwan versions.
“For the last few years, with the price increase of 250 per cent in cotton fiber in past nine to ten months, the entire textile industry has been tremendously affected and exports fell drastically. The world's largest cotton and commodity traders have made huge profits from speculation and hoarding. Future trading was banned for seven items that had much lesser price hike than cotton, but cotton future trading was not banned,” Jain highlighted.
Jain summed up saying, it is time for foreign trade to be focussed on and free trade agreements with the US, Canada, Japan, Europe, South Korea, and the UK should be done soon. The government should allow export income to be tax-free for 10 years. Incentives such as a tax-free income for five years for new industries, allowing shareholders for tax rebates on the value of investment done and withdrawing the proposal to increase the GST rate on hosiery and apparel from 5 per cent slab should all be done soon. Instead of simply raising cotton pricing, delving deeper into the root causes and making the whole industry self-reliant is the way forward for the cotton industry.
Clean Clothes Campaign red flags Pakistan on safety
Since 1989, Netherlands-based Clean Clothes Campaign has been working for the interest and betterment of workers in the textile and garment industries. It is now a global network of 235 organizations across 45 countries, helping identify work-force related issues that workers in these industries face and provide support and assistance to find solutions that improve working conditions and quality of life. In 2021, Clean Clothes Campaign introduced the International Accord on Health and Safety that became a binding contract for both, brands and local unions. Now, the South Asian Coalition of Clean Clothes Campaign has placed Pakistan on the radar as reports show regular violation of safe working conditions for its labor force by brands that have signed the Accord as well as brands that are outside the agreement.
Rampant disregard
In 2012, a factory in Karachi burnt due to arson and in what is described as the worst incident recorded of a factory fire, 264 factory workers perished. In a country mired with many problems that affect the manufacturing sector, safety hazards are ignored or lie unattended due to a lack of concern by proprietors and lack of awareness of workers about their rights to work in a safe environment. Deadly incidents are quite frequent and due to their numbers, the media don’t attach much importance to such news.
Clean Clothes Campaign tracked as many as 36 such incidents since January 2021. Tracking showed that most of these deadly incidents could have been well-avoided if basic safety measures were put in place. Plans have been underway since 2018 as garment workers unions in the country have been calling for signing the Clean Clothes Campaign International Accord on Health and Safety but four years on, obstacles prevent the introduction of the Accord. It is a surprise that brands such as Levi’s, GAP, Lee and Wrangler have a bad track record in Pakistan.
A vocal General Secretary of National Trade Union Federation in Pakistan, Nasir Mansoor has often stated how the signing and establishment of the Accord on an urgent basis is the need of the hour. He feels that it is right of every Pakistani factory worker to work in a place where their life is not in danger and he urges owners of manufacturing units to cooperate with the authorities in getting their premises inspected and faults fixed immediately. Ineke Zeldenrust, International Coordinator at Clean Clothes Campaign, supported Mansoor by stating that brands must act immediately in scrutinizing their supply chain to ensure that workers in their supply chain are not putting their lives on risk.
Stalled Accord
Whilst Clean Clothes Campaign says establishment of the Accord in Pakistan is in advanced stage, there are hurdles that keep stalling its implementation. The authorities are yet to decide when to launch it and a definite date is not in the horizon. Additionally, workers don’t know when and how they can seek protection of their rights from the program. Moreover, many stakeholders are opposed to an Accord built on the lines of the one established in Bangladesh as they feel the socio-political environment of Pakistan is unique in its own way. Thus the Accord is being redesigned to fit the Pakistan context and data collection is ongoing to get it right to enable just and legal representation of workers’ rights.
