APPAREL VIEWS / JULY

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3 JULY 2017, VOL.- XVI / ISSUE NO. 07 Editor & Publisher ARVIND KUMAR Associate Editor B.P. MISHRA Asst. Editor SWATI SHARMA Editorial Adviser RAJESH CHHABARA Sub Editor - Creative JOHN EDWARDS Art Director SANJAY BHANDARI Sr. Correspondent ASHWANI KUMAR Correspondent DEEPTI Creative - Head SREEKUMAR. M Sr. Layout Artist JATIN JAIN Sr. Designer RAJEEV KUMAR Production Manager MUKESH POKHRIYAL e-magazine SUMER SINGH Business Promotion BOBBY BAKSHI (DELHI) MEENAKSHI SINGH (DELHI) RAHUL SINGH YADAV (DELHI) N. SABARI SELVAM (TIRUPUR) PAVITHRA R. (TIRUPUR) Circulation ARCHANA (DELHI) V. MURUGESHWARI (TIRUPUR) Accounts Head ANJU CHAUHAN TONDAK Head Office 138/2/9, First Floor, Kishan Garh, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi , INDIA Tel.: , info@apparelviews.com, edit@apparelviews.com subscription@apparelviews.com Regd. Office C-46, DGS Housing Society, Plot No. 6, Sector-22, Dwarka, New Delhi Regional Offices Tirupur No. 23, Ground Floor, Indra Nagar, Avinashi Road, Tirupur Tel.: , , tirupur@apparelviews.com Kolkata Tapan Kumar Bangalore B.P. Mishra , Overseas Office Apparel Views Bangladesh Limited Section-1, Road-1, House-21, Priyanka Housing, Mirpur-1, Dhaka 1216, bangladesh, Bangladesh, Tel.: / / / marketing.bd@apparelviews.com / bangladesh@apparelviews.com from the editor... Indian garment exports has clocked 18 per cent growth since January 2017 after having remained stagnant for past three years and we hope that similar trend may continue for remaining period this year. India has a huge potential to capture the market space by focusing on manmade fibre (MMF) that is vacated by China in the international textile market due to declining China s textile exports. Synthetic textiles made from MMF account for 70 per cent of world textile supply and the rest is cotton. China's annual exports are estimated to be $150 bn. Given the scale of exports from China, even a 1 per cent shift means 10 per cent increase in India's export. Meanwhile, the textile industry is demanding exemption under the GST. They are claiming that fabric will become per cent expensive, making the Indian textiles globally uncompetitive. On this, the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has assured that the GST rates are equal or lower than the pre-gst tax incidence and the price of fabrics are not likely to go up. Further he said that nil GST on fabrics will result in zero rating of imported fabrics, while domestic fabrics will continue to bear the burden of input taxes. The industry needs to utilise the various schemes launched by the government and should also look at entering into CIS, Africa and Far East markets to increase garment exports, apart from our traditional markets of the US and Europe. Speeding up negotiations with regard to free trade agreements (FTAs) with the EU and Canada and labour laws reforms and logistics improvement are essential for the growth of textile sector. However, there is a need to go for innovation in fabrics, integrate value chain and investment in skill development to boost exports from the country. Arvind Kumar, Editor & Publisher Owner, Publisher, Printer & Editor - Arvind Kumar, printed and processed by him at Sterling Publisher Pvt. Ltd., A-59, Okhla Industrial Area, Phase - II, New Delhi , published from C - 46, DGS Housing Society, Plot No. 6, Sector - 22, Dwarka, New Delhi Reproduction of any of the content from this issue is prohibited without explicit written permission of the publisher. APPAREL VIEWS / JULY

4 Contents Globe trotter 4 Domestic update 16 GST on textiles, clothing job work, MMF - Problem areas 30 Japan recycling old clothes to make fuel 32 Rajdhani Creations installs Durst machines to cater to increasing market demand 34 Classify the fault Defects in garment manufacturing 38 Indian Yarn & Fabric industry Optimistic about future growth 42 Interfilière Paris - Show report Hong Kong Fashion Week S/S New trend ideas forges boundless opportunities 64 Greenshowroom and Ethical Fashion Show Berlin 66 Sewbots filling automation gap in garment manufacturing 68 Textile India 2017 Country s largest textile trade show concludes on a high note 70 India International Garment Fair Gets encouraging response at new venue 76 Forthcoming trade events 78 4 APPAREL VIEWS / JULY 2017

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6 Bangladesh provides training to farmers in modern cotton cultivation Bangladesh Government has set up 3,050 demonstrations plot for a project which has been initiated to increase cotton production for which they have provided training to over 60,000 farmers in modern cotton cultivation, said Begum Matia Chowdhury, Agriculture Ministry of the country. Chowdhury also added that the government has initiated multiple programmes and projects such as Expansion of Cotton Cultivation Project (Phase-1) which was undertaken in financial year at an investment of Taka 105 cr. In Bangladesh, there are around 5,000 garment factories and over 450 spinning mills. The country aims to export readymade garments worth $50 bn by Chowdhury further added that cotton is the essential raw material used in the textile industry of Bangladesh, to fulfill its demand they needs to import from other countries To replace Indian cotton import, Bangladesh should cultivation cotton within country. Rajshahi, Rangpur, Dinajpur region can be utilise for its cultivation. If requires, jute cultivation should be lowered and replaced by rice cultivation and some rice areas in North-West should be brought under cotton cultivation Pak-Turkey to sign FTA on 14th August Pakistan and Turkey s Free Trade Agreement (FTA) will be signed on August 14, for enhancing the bilateral trade between two countries. The seventh round of negotiations between the two countries on Free Trade Agreement (FTA) was milestone to reach the final agreement. Secretary Ministry of Commerce Younas Dhaga led Pakistan s delegation in negotiation on FTA between Pakistan and Turkey. Pakistan and Turkey discussed the specific sectors including textile sector during the negotiation, a senior official of Ministry of Commerce said. The two sides exchanged provisional lists for a final agreement in round of negotiation. Pakistan s trade balance with Turkey remained positive until 2011, however, it started decreasing since 2011, when additional duties on various commodities were imposed by the two countries. Pakistan s major imports from Turkey include manmade textiles, towels, steel structure, tanning and plastic chemicals, processed milk and whey. Whereas, the country s major exports to Turkey are denim PET, ethanol, cotton yarn, fabric and rice, garments, leather, carpets, surgical instruments, sports good, chemicals. The official said that after signing the FTA agreement Pakistan will get market space in agriculture and pharmaceutical sector in Turkey Garment and textile exports from Sri Lanka slide Sri Lanka saw its textile and garment exports slide in the first four months of the year as a result of the seasonal buying patterns of its export countries, which were lower earlier in the year, but saw a moderate increase for the month of April. Textile and garment exports for the period from January to April amounted to $1.71bn, a drop of 4.9 per cent on $1.63bn a year earlier, figures from the Sri Lanka Central Bank show. Garment exports alone were down 5.1 per cent to $1.61bn.For the leather, travel goods and footwear industry, exports dropped 1.2 per cent to $49.8mn. For the month of April, textile and garment exports registered a moderate increase of 3 per cent year-on-year to $340.5mn. The leading markets for merchandise exports during the first four months of 2017 were the US, the UK, India, Germany and Italy together accounting for about 51 per cent of total exports. For the same period, Sri Lanka imported $120.2mn worth of clothing and accessories, a 19.4 per cent increase on the prior year, while textile and textile article imports dropped 4 per cent to $896.8mn. In May, the European Union (EU) reinstated Sri Lanka's GSP+ duty-free trade concession, in a move that mainly benefits the country's leading garment export industry. The EU is Sri Lanka's biggest export market accounting for nearly onethird of Sri Lanka's global exports. In 2016, EU imports from Sri Lanka amounted to 2.6 bn euro with textiles and clothing making up 61.9 per cent of the total with a value of 1.58 bn euro Indonesian textile demand down but rise in exports Indonesian textile exports to key markets have declined as many countries have reduced imports of textiles in the first half of 2017 amid bleak global economic conditions. Shipments to the USA fell 3.6 per cent (y/y), to the European Union by 4.0 per cent (y/y), and to Japan by nearly 5 per cent (y) in the January-June 2017 period. According to Ade Sudrajat, Chairman of the Indonesian Textile Association (API), the apparel trade balance of Indonesia has improved markedly since the start of the year as the government has discouraged cheap imports into Indonesia to protect local industries. Meanwhile, more than 50 clothes factories have been relocated to Central Java where they started using more efficient technology and therefore their output is more competitively prices on the world market, hence boosting demand A small 0.62 per cent year-on-year (y/y) growth was detected in Indonesia's textile exports in the first half of This modest growth was supported by a 20.4 per cent (y/y) rise in knitwear exports. Ade Sudrajat, Chairman of the Indonesian Textile Association (API), said that Indonesia's downstream textile manufacturers were actually pleased with this result as it exceeds expectations amid bleak textile demand from various countries. However, improved competitiveness (in terms of price and delivery) explains why demand is negative but Indonesian exports are positive, Sudrajat said. Moreover, foreign importers may now be more confident in Indonesia's economic and political stability. Based on data from Indonesia's Industry Ministry, the textiles and textile product sector contributed $11.87 bn in terms of foreign exchange earnings, or 8.2 per cent of Indonesia's total export earnings in Meanwhile, investment in this sector reached IDR 7.54 tr (approx. $567 mn) in Indonesia is one of the world's largest textile manufacturers and exporters although trailing far behind China 6 APPAREL VIEWS / JULY 2017

7 Chinese, Korean apparel makers lured to open plants in Ethiopia Apparel manufacturers from China, South Korea, India and other countries are lured to open new plants in the continent's second most populous nation Ethiopia which is fast developing into a dynamic apparel sourcing hub and with growing number of European and US brands sourcing garments there. A significant factor in Ethiopia's emergence on the clothing scene is the planned opening of a new railway line to a port in neighboring Djibouti, located on the Horn of Africa in the Arabian Sea. The railway will facilitate transport of goods from the landlocked country's industrial areas, like the Bole Lemi Industrial Park, an hour's drive from the capital Addis Ababa. Opened in 2015, the sprawling 150-hectare park is bustling with Chinese, Taiwanese and South Korean production facilities, conveniently clustering factories for textiles, apparel products and leather shoes in one area. At a factory operated by Shin Textile Solutions, a South Korean company, workers sit at long rows of machines sewing mainly sportswear. According to the General Manager, the plant's entire output is exported, with about 60 per cent going to Europe, 20 per cent to the US and the remainder to Asia. Japan's Fast Retailing, which manufactures and sells casual clothes under the Uniqlo brand, is among the many apparel makers that have shown interest in the plant, the Manager said. Arkebe Oqubay, special adviser to Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, has pledged to transform Ethiopia from a farm economy into an industrial powerhouse. As part of its efforts to turn the country into a thriving, middle-income economy by 2025, the government has been building industrial parks. The newest is Hawassa Industrial Park. Among the 15 companies with manufacturing facilities there is PVH, a US apparel company which produces garments for a number of international brands including Calvin Klein, then exports them to Europe and the US PVH has work force of around 280 to produce garments H&M plans to enter Ethiopian textile industry Alot of Swedish companies including the global Swedish clothing manufacturing company H&M has keen interest to enter the growing manufacturing sector, textile industry in Ethiopia, said the outgoing Swedish Ambassador Jan Sadek. Sweden also seeks to increase its economic ties with Ethiopia. This hopefully will be important in terms of raising hard currency, catalyzing the industrial development of Ethiopia and in creating massive jobs. These opportunities further enhance the two countries economic cooperation, according to the Ambassador. The bilateral relations between the two countries started in the mid- 19th century when Swedish Missionaries had come to Ethiopia. Ethiopia and Sweden have many global issues to hold-on actively including the climate change, migration and global peace and security affairs, Ambassador Sadek mentioned. As both Ethiopia and Sweden are currently non-permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), it is the right time to act jointly in the global arena to promoting climate smart economy, peace and stability.according to National Palace Protocol Affairs Head Ashebir Getnet, Swedish Government has approved a development cooperation to Ethiopia worth for a billion Krone spanned from Currently, the bilateral relationship is hiking to investment and common global concerns APPAREL VIEWS / JULY

8 Egypt aims to double its high quality cotton production Agriculture Ministry of Egypt Hamed Abdel-Dayem recently said that production of their silky soft cotton once known as white cotton should rise to 1.4 mn qintar (160 kg) in the fiscal year that started in July from 700,000 qintar a year earlier. The government aims to increase the price of the long staple cotton to more than 3000 Egyptian pounds ($168.07) per qintar, which will all be exported. Production of the cotton, used in luxury bedding, has fallen sharply since 2011, a year of political upheaval that coincided with looser regulations that degraded the quality of local cotton. Egypt's sunny skies and superior seed help it grow cotton known for unusually long fibres that produce a light durable fabric with an attractive sheen and soft touch. Long-staple sells at 155 US cents per lb, about twice the price of common short-staple cotton.its return to world markets could provide a lucrative export opportunity at a time when Egypt has a huge trade deficit and is seeking to relaunch its stagnant economy. In 2016 Egypt banned all but the highest quality cotton seed, dramatically shrinking the area under cultivation but restoring quality, in a bid to save its historic crop. This year Egypt grew about 220,000 acres (89,000 hectares) of long-staple cotton compared with 130,000 acres (52,600 hectares) in , Abdel-Dayem said. Cairo forecasts MY2016/17 cotton area harvested to increase by 20 per cent or 20,000 hectares to 120,000 hectares. Post attributes the increase in area to farmers willingness to grow more cotton with expectations that the government s cash subsidies will continue for the MY2016/17 crop. In addition, the government s takeover of the distribution of cotton seeds addresses farmers concerns on seed quality, which was deteriorating under private operators. Although the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation (MALR) did not announce the targeted area for the MY2016/ 17 crop, announcements made by some local agricultural officials in some governorates support FAS Cairo s forecast for area harvested in 2016/17. Local agricultural officials in Sohag Governorate, Southern Egypt, announced that their targeted area for MY2016/17 crop is 840 hectares compared to 281 hectares in MY2015/ 16. In Kafr El-Sheikh Governorate, located in the Delta region north of Cairo, local agricultural officials announced that their target area for the 2016/17 crop is 35,700 hectares compared to 32,000 hectares in 2015/16. In spite of forecast increases, Egyptian cotton production is still trending downward. Cotton area in MY2016/17 is projected to be 24 per cent lower than total cotton area harvested in 2014/15 which was at 157,000 hectares. After backtracking on its previous policy, the government is once again providing cash subsidies for the MY2015/16 crop, a positive signal to producers that will encourage them to increase planted area in MY2016/17 Afghanistan exploring measures to revive its textile industry Afghanistan Government has called on industry owners to present plans and recommendations for ways to revive the textile industry in the country, as it harvest almost 60,000 tonne of cotton a year but there are no factories in the country to process cotton, a Finance Ministry spokesman Ajmal Hamid Abdul Rahimzai said recently. Industrialists have been asked for their recommendations on Kandahar and other textile companies so that the issue is discussed by the high economic council and it should be both in the interests of government and the private sector. But the Industrialists Union has said that government does not have the capacity to ensure textile factories are well run. If government gives textile companies to the private sector, with the help of modern technology and latest management skills they can revive Afghanistan's textile companies which will create jobs for thousands of people, said Sakhi Ahmad Paiman, Head of the Industrialist Union. In the past, there were at least seven textile companies in Afghanistan in Kabul, Parwan, Balkh, Kandahar and Baghlan which employed more than 30,000 people at one time in these factories but over the years these were destroyed in the various wars GMAC opens apparel manufacturing training institute The Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) has opened its first garments manufacturing training institute in the country. This is an initiative to increase the productivity of the garment manufacturing units by improving skills of its workers through training. Further, the institution will also increase the scope of employment. Initially, over 160 workers from 14 factories from various parts of the country will be imparted training at the Cambodian Garment Training Institute, according to a report. Singapore-based fashion institute TaF.tc International will impart technical knowledge to the students at the institute. Apart from training the garment workers, the institution will offer courses for high school and university students. Three different diploma programmes will be offered at the institute which also gives 27 short term courses that will also focus on manufacturing skills. These courses are based on the jobs that are lacking the most in the industry, said Andrew Tey, the institute s Director. The institute offers 'Train and Place' programme that will give employment to the students and workers as management trainees at the garment factories. With over 700,000 workers, garments manufacturing industry is currently the largest formal private sector in Cambodia.Compared to 2015, there was 2.9 per cent decline in the number of workers in 2016, according to the sixth edition of the ILO's Cambodian bulletin Eddie Lampert says might consider deal with Sears Canada Eddie Lampert's ESL Partners LP and Fairholme Capital Management LLC said they are considering a potential deal with Sears Canada as the retailer looks to restructure itself under bankruptcy protection. Lampert is the Chief Executive of US-based Sears Holdings Co, from which Sears Canada was spun off in Sears Canada sought creditor protection last month after suffering a steady decline in sales due to competition from big-box retailers and online merchants. ESL Partners and Fairholme, which together own about two-thirds of Sears Canada, said recently they had engaged a legal adviser and were "evaluating, discussing and considering a potential negotiated transaction" with the retailer. The firms did not provide any details on the kind of transaction they were looking at, but said the talks could include financing, purchase and sale, or restructuring transactions. ESL, however, warned that the discussions may not result in a deal 8 APPAREL VIEWS / JULY 2017

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10 EU technical textiles & menswear exports up in 2016 Technical textiles and menswear exporters in EU-28 nations registered good performance in 2016, according to The European Apparel and Textile Confederation, Euratex. Technical textiles sector is a pillar of textile exports outside the EU with a 38 per cent share in 2016, while menswear exports accounted for 23 per cent of total clothing exports. Technical textiles exports outside the EU-28 once again increased year-on-year to almost 10 bn euro, an increase of 2.4 per cent in value. With 20 per cent of technical textile purchases from the EU-28, the US was far and away the main client, Euratex states in its Bulletin 2017, which provides an indepth analysis of the EU textile and clothing external trade for The report includes trade trends by sector, i.e. fibres, yarns, fabrics, carpets, technical textiles, home textiles, home textiles, workwear, mens and womenswear, by products and by EU main trading partners. Menswear exports outside the EU-28 amounted to more than 5 bn euro. with a 2 per cent year-on-year increase. The leading buyer of menswear, Switzerland, reduced its purchases in value by 3.9 per cent. However, there was noteworthy double-digit growth in the value of exports to South Korea, Australia, Mexico, Serbia, Israel and Ukraine. The three major menswear products for export were: Trousers (32 per cent of category exports), shirts (19 per cent) and coats (17 per cent). Purchases of all three were up owing to the weak euro. Furthermore, exports of rugs and carpets outside the EU-28 expanded again strongly in value by 5.5 per cent. This sector represented 4.3 per cent of all textile exports outside the EU. Customer-wise, the four main buyers the US, Switzerland, Norway and Russia absorbed 49 per cent of exports of rugs and carpets outside the EU Trützschler T-Blend ensures guaranteed blending accuracy When it comes to tuft blending with T-Blend, Trützschler relies on blending accuracy and reproducibility. The self-monitoring system convinces with flexible application when blending natural and man-made fibres of different lengths, finenesses and colours. Compared with previous Trützschler tuft feeding installations, the performance of the pans of the new tuft blending system has doubled. The filling process is automatically optimised and weighing is performed more quickly due to a vibration-free threepoint suspension. All of this combined results in increased weighing per unit of time and more volume per discharge. Naturally, the evaluated information is also made available to the higher level Data Management System T-Data. To ensure the observance of the blending ratio, the only technologies considered suitable are those that precisely weigh the individual components. For this reason, the new Trützschler tuft blending installations T-Blend are also based on the weighing principle. T- Blend allows exact dosing of the individual components and - during the second step - blending to a homogeneous material. Thus, precise adherence to the blending ratios over long periods of time and/or within a lot is ensured. The result is always a perfect dosing of the blending components. This rules out a gradual deviation, like for instance with volume measurement, that cannot be avoided due to deviations in degree of opening or ambient atmosphere. Blendcontrol monitors each individual discharge and automatically and permanently corrects any deviations Alessandro Zucchi becomes new President of ACIMIT ACIMIT, the Association of Italian Machinery Manufacturers for the Textile Industry members assembly held on 27 June, 2017 and called Alessandro Zucchi to succeed Raffaella Carabelli as President of ACIMIT. Born in the province of Bergamo in 1958, Zucchi is married and a father of two children. He has garnered multi-year experiences in the textile machinery sector, and is currently Managing Director and a partner at Ferraro, a manufacturer specialising in finishing machinery. In addition, he is a shareholder in another company in the sector, Burocco Valvole, of which he is Executive Vice President. Zucchi has long been active in the life of the association, lending his support to outgoing President Raffaella Carabelli over the past two years, as Vice President. Since 2015, he has been involved with ACIMIT s delegation at Cematex, the Committee of European Textile Machinery Associations. ACIMIT represents an industrial sector comprising around 300 manufacturers (employing close to 12,000 people) and producing machinery for an overall value of about 2.7 bn euros, with exports amounting to more than 85 per cent of total sales. Creativity, sustainable technology, reliability and quality are the characteristics which have made Italy a global leader in the manufacturing of textile machinery US denim retailer True Religion files for bankruptcy protection Religion Apparel Inc. said recently that it has filed for bankruptcy protection and signed a restructuring agreement with a majority of its lenders. True Religion, a company whose denims have gradually fallen out of style, filed for creditor protection under Chapter 11 in the US bankruptcy court in the District of Delaware, and listed assets and liabilities in the range of $100 mn to $500 mn. The restructuring agreement with lenders, including TowerBrook Capital Partners, will slash the company's debt by over $350 mn. It said in a statement. "After a careful review, we are taking an important step to reduce our debt, reinvigorate True Religion's iconic brand and position the company for future growth and success," True Religion Chief Executive John Ermatinger said in a statement. True Religion said its trade creditors critical to the business were expected to be paid in full and the company would continue to operate business as usual. The denim retailer's financial struggles are due in part to consumer tastes shifting toward online shopping and away from the brick-and-mortar shops and department stores where the company's jeans have been primarily sold. True Religion has secured post-petition debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing from Citizens Bank for up to $60 mn, the retailer said. The restructuring plan provides for full payment of claims of True Religion's continuing trade creditors, which includes continuing vendors, suppliers and landlords. True Religion said the pre-arranged plan could take about 90 to 120 days to receive confirmation from the bankruptcy court. In October that the retailer had hired a legal adviser to explore several debt.restructuring options 10 APPAREL VIEWS / JULY 2017

11 Italian motorcycle maker Ducati to launch its apparel line Ducati fans in India have more than bikes to look forward to the Italian motorcycle maker is bringing its apparel line to the country in an exclusive licensing deal with ecommerce giant Flipkart, two people aware of the development said. "Flipkart has signed a licencee deal with Ducati that allows them to manufacture Ducati's T-shirts, shirts, jeans and its entire apparel line," said one of the persons cited earlier. Ducati, which had launched its superbikes in the country some years ago, also sells jackets, Tshirts, caps and motorsports gear. Among Ducati's Indian clients are cricketer MS Dhoni and Vikram Oberoi, Joint Managing Director of the Oberoi Group of Hotels, who earlier this month bought a limited edition Ducati Superleggera 1299 superbike for `1.1 cr. "There is a latent demand for such motorbikes. There are thousands of people in India who wanted these motorcycles," said Harminder Sahni, Founder of Retail Consultancy firm Wazir Advisors. "However, the demand for their apparels is very limited here. It is a very limited market even globally." In India, Flipkart's rival Amazon sells various Ducati-branded clothing products on its website. There are also markets where people sell knock-offs of popular brands, including Ducati. In 2011, US-based superbike company Harley-Davidson had dragged Big Bazaar to Delhi High Court alleging trademark violation and in a bid to restrain the hypermarket chain from selling shirts and T-shirts with the images and trademarks of the iconic motorcycle's brands. The case was closed in an out-of court settlement when Kishore Biyani's Future Group agreed to stop selling products with pictures of Harley-Davidson and its trademarks, including Bar and its Shield logo, on T- shirts. Flipkart, India's largest e-commerce company is planning to enter the brick-and-mortar space with Giordano-branded outlets, joining a clutch of firms such as Myntra and Urban Ladder to shore up growth XAAR S new customer waveform tool saves time for OEMS Anew Customer Waveform Tool (CWT) has been launched by Xaar to help its OEM customers deliver Xaar-enabled print systems which are highly tuned to each customer application. End users buying machines which have been developed using the CWT can expect to see a higher degree of print performance. Furthermore, the new CWT will provide more development flexibility and decrease time-to-market for OEMs developing new printers. Waveforms are electrical drive signals which are applied to the channel walls inside a printhead to create a movement; this in turn produces the acoustic (pressure) waves used by most of Xaar s printheads to eject the ink or fluid from the nozzles. The new Customer Waveform Tool enables Xaar s customers to finely tune these electrical drive signals in-house to produce the best possible jetting characteristics. OEMs using this tool will see their product development shorten as they will have more control over time needed for this aspect of the product development cycle. This is an exciting development for Xaar and its OEM partners, says Alan Mutch, Senior Product Manager at Xaar. We are delighted to be able to respond to customer demand with the launch of the CWT. This tool helps our customers to leverage their own technical capabilities and address the needs of their own customers. It also helps them to bring their products to market more quickly. We are launching the CWT as part of our ongoing commitment to working more closely with, and delivering the very best service to, our global OEM customer base. The new CWT is available to Xaar s OEMs and Ink Partners at two levels - Authorised or Certified. Authorised practitioners can develop and test waveforms for internal use; Xaar will then approve them if external distribution is required. OEM and Ink Partners who meet certain technical criteria can become certified practitioners, which mean they are technically qualified to develop and distribute waveforms as well as delivering service level CWT support. Xaar will continue to work closely with its select partners to ensure quality, consistency and maximum added-value to its customers and markets ITMF annual conference 2017 ITMF is much honored that Sri MulyaniIndrawati, Minister of Finance, Republic of Indonesia, will deliver a keynote address at the Opening Session of this year s ITMF Annual Conference. On the second day, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, Professor of International Relations and Diplomatic Affairs, former Secretary General of NATO and former Foreign Minister of the Netherlands, will deliver a keynote speech with the title Technology, Trade, Climate: Reshaping the Geopolitical Landscape. The ITMF Annual Conference 2017 will be held in Bali/Indonesia from September 14-16, 2017 hosted by the Indonesian Textile Industry Association (API). The general theme of the conference Technology, Trade, Climate Orientation in Disruptive Times indicates that the global textile industry is facing a variety of challenges resulting from changes that are often described as disruptive because their consequences are fundamentally changing the way textiles are produced, sourced, sold or bought. With a long and complicated supply chain the textile industry as a whole from fibre to retail is required to look holistically at these disruptive challenges as most of them require a comprehensive understanding and often a cooperative approach to develop an efficient and sustainable supply chain. In disruptive times, a better understanding of the entire textile supply chain is becoming more important than ever. Therefore, the ITMF Annual Conference is inviting experts from the entire textile value chain. Approximately 250 participants from around the world will attend. The conference will cover the following areas in open general sessions: fibres, textile supply chain, retail/ecommerce,technical textiles & nonwovens Since the conference will be held in Indonesia, a special focus will be on the Indonesian fibres, textile and apparel industry. In this context, ITMF is delighted that both the Minister of Industry, Erlangga Hartarto and the Minister of Trade, Enggartiasto Lukita, will address the conference APPAREL VIEWS / JULY

12 Caulfeild Apparel enters partnership with Outland Denim Caulfeild Apparel Group has announced its new partnership with Outland Denim, the profit-forpurpose premium Australian brand using jeans as a vehicle for social change. In two transactions, Caulfeild Apparel has invested as a minority shareholder in Outland, and signed on as the North American distributor launching for fourth quarter "I am very excited to be involved in this brand personally and corporately," said Michael Purkis, President of Caulfeild. "Outland is a one-of-a-kind brand, a game changer, and like nothing I have seen before in the premium denim world. I know the North American consumer will appreciate the premium product and fit, and that the product will earn its place in the market on its own merits, but it will also earn its place into the hearts and minds of our partners and customers as they all participate in changing lives around the world." "I've always lived in jeans. If you were going to produce anything, why wouldn't you produce the most staple part of a person's wardrobe? Jeans aren't a throwaway item, but something you keep for years," said James Bartle, Founder of Outland Denim. After years of development, James took the denim project to scale in 2016 and launched Outland Denim with the intent on creating a sustainable business that could create opportunity and rescue women from slavery for years to come. The partnership with Caulfeild marks the next exciting chapter for the young brand. "Our chance encounter with Caulfeild in New York City last October has led to a strong alignment between our companies," said Bartle. "We are excited to partner with a company that has a great historical record in the apparel industry and believe this alliance will be crucial in our endeavour to provide more employment opportunities and combat slavery." Outland Denim is committed to sourcing the most ethically and environmentally sound raw materials in alignment with the world's best sustainability practices with a vision to create a long-term position in the premium denim market for the consumer who loves denim and wants to contribute to a better world Abercrombie ends talks with potential buyers, retail shares dip Shares of Abercrombie & Fitch Co plunged 21 per cent recently and dragged down other stocks in the battered retail sector as the US teen apparel maker terminated talks over a potential sale. Investors saw Abercrombie's failure to sell itself as yet another blow to a retail sector already struggling to cope with changing consumer tastes and growing pressure from Amazon.com Inc. and other online retailers. Shares of Gap Inc., American Eagle Outfitters Inc. and Express Inc. all fell more than 4 per cent. Abercrombie, which has a market value of $650 mn., had said in May it was in talks with several bidders regarding a potential sale, a day after Reuters reported that the retailer was working with an investment bank to field takeover interest from other retailers. Private equity firm Sycamore Partners came closest to acquiring Abercrombie, but could not meet the company's valuation expectations, people familiar with the matter said. Sycamore agreed two weeks ago to acquire US office supplies chain Staples Inc. for $6.9 bn., the biggest deal in the buyout firm's history. American Eagle had also looked at striking a deal for Abercrombie in partnership with private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management LP, sources previously. Chinese firm to invest $600mn in Kano textile industry AChinese multinational company, Shandong Ruyi Technology Group, is set to invest $600 mnin the textile and garment industry in Kano state. Already, talks between officials of the company and the Kano State Investment Promotion Agency had reached an advanced stage. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the investment between the two parties would be signed in the next few months. The agency s Chairman, AlhajiIsyaku Umar Tofa, made this known during the presentation of Certificates of Occupancy (C of O) to two investors, by Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, at the Government House in Kano. We are about concluding talks with them and they were encouraged by the commitment of the Ganduje administration to provide tax incentives as well as free land for their huge investment, he stated. Tofa further revealed that government would give out free land to two companies, Black Rhino/ Dangote Group to construct a 100 megawatt solar power plant, at a cost of $150 mnand St. Meer International Investment and Management Company which would invest $120 mn to finance a similar project in the State. Presenting the Certificates of Occupancy to the two investors, Ganduje said the decision to give them 207 hectares and hectares respectively, for free, was part of effort at engendering competition and attracting foreign direct investment. It is in our interest to encourage investment in areas which have potential multiplier effects on the growth of the economy, including employment generation. The two companies would generate solar power that would help in addressing the State s energy deficiency. We are willing to remove any stumbling blocks towards the success of your investments because of benefits that will come to our State, the governor stressed. Ganduje maintained that his administration Several teen retailers have struggled as their primary customers have abandoned malls in favour of fastfashion chains such as European brand Zara, while the rise of online dropping has forced retailers to slash prices to compete. Aeropostale Inc., Wet Seal and BCBG Max Azria Group LLC are among the retailers that have filed for bankruptcy over the past two years.new Albany, Ohio-based Abercrombie defined teen apparel in the 1990s with its risque advertising and its large logo on apparel, but has been hit hard as a new generation of shoppers avoids heavy branding in favour of more independent style. In response, Abercrombie has attempted to reinvent itself, and dropped its logo in Abercrombie said it will focus on its surf-wear brand Hollister, the one bright spot of growth for the company. Abercrombie also said it will "continue to refine and implement strategies to position the Abercrombie brand for revitalised performance" for its eponymous brand, which has reported falling quarterly sales since 2014 decided to engage an industrialist as Chairman of the State Investment Promotion Agency in addition to actively involving representatives of what he called The main industrial blocs in the state, to hasten attainment of its desire to reposition the economy of the state 12 APPAREL VIEWS / JULY 2017

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14 Austrian fibre maker to open plant in Thailand Austrian Lenzing Group is planning to open a facility to produce Lyocell fibres in Thailand, the company announced on June 29. Plans are to design the plant for a capacity of up to 100,000 tonne of the cotton-like cellulose fibres annually. For this purpose, Lenzing is establishing a subsidiary in Thailand and purchasing a commercial property in an industrial park in Prachinburi East of Bangkok. In the coming months, the required permits and licenses, as well as technical planning, will be finalised, the company statement said, adding that a definitive decision on constructing the new production plant will be made in the first quarter of 2018,, and, in this case, completion is scheduled for the end of The company s board of Directors already approved the project, Lenzing Group stated. In particular, the factory will produce Tencel fibres, an environmentally friendly botanic fabric regenerated from wood cellulose and a Lenzing trademark. It is used in textile production throughout Asia, for example by the world s largest fashion company Inditex (known for its label Zara), as well as by jeans maker Levi Strauss. For Lenzing Group CEO Stefan Doboczky, choosing Thailand s Eastern Seaboard to set up a production facility was a logical next step to provide fabric to the many textile and garment producers within ASEAN, such as Cambodia, Vietnam and Indonesia, as well as in China. Furthermore, Prachinburi provided good infrastructure, room for expansion and energy supply from renewable sources, he added. The company will invest around $500 mnin the facility, Doboczky noted. The expansion to Thailand represents the next consistent step in the implementation of our strategy of increasing the share of speciality fibres and expanding our geographical footprint. With Asia accounting for 70 per cent of total Lenzing Group revenue, it is logical that we will construct the next production plant for Tencel fibres in Asia, he said Hyosung partnering with Sofileta expands in Europe Hyosung Creora partnering with Sofileta, a famous fabric company from France specialising in textiles and dyeing, presented fabrics at the world's largest lingerie and swimwear exhibition Interfiliere Paris 2017 that was held from July 8 to 10 in Paris, France. Creora products exhibited by Hyosung at the Interfilere Show are functional spandex products including Creora Fresh, Creora Highclo, Creora Eco-Soft and Creora Colour +. Creora Fresh with the slogan "Stay fresh all day long" is yarn that neutralises substances that cause sweat odour and foot odour. The product is applied mainly to underwear and activewear. In addition, CreoraHighclo used mainly for swimwear is yarn developed to reduce garment damage caused by chlorine. The product has a slogan "From athletic swimwear to fashion swimwear. In addition, Creora Colour Plus shows a deeper and brighter colour when dyed, while Creora EcoSoft is a functional spandex material that allows people to feel its softness. Hyosung is strategically cooperating with Sofileta to approach its European customers, including those in France. Marketing Director Ria Stern of Hyosung Global said that Hyosung has been collaborating with Sofileta since the birth of Creora, and they will continue to maintain partnerships to keep pace with rapid changes in the apparel industry H&M scraps monthly sales figures but promises more transparency H &M shares have underperformed the broader market with a 17 per cent slide this year, further fuelling calls for greater transparency about its business.fashion group H&M said recently it would stop publishing monthly sales figures but also announced it would break tradition and begin holding capital market days in a bid to assuage investors clamouring for more information. Sweden's H&M, the world's secondbiggest fashion retailer, has seen sales growth stall amid tougher competition, and some analysts had said it might prefer to drop the monthly data."the reasoning is that a month is far too short a period over which to assess how sales are developing," H&M said in a statement. "Instead sales development should be viewed over a longer period of time, such as over a season or a quarter." The retailer, which does not publish guidance and whose CEO until last month did not take part in public conference calls about its results, has been criticised by analysts and investors for being too tight-lipped on strategy and outlook. H&M shares have underperformed the broader market with a 17 per cent slide this year, further fuelling calls for greater transparency about its business. The retailer, which has never held a capital market day for investors and analysts covering the company since its listing in 1974, said it would begin to do so in order to provide "more in-depth information about the business. H&M also confirmed a preliminary June local-currency sales growth reading of 7 per cent Lectra and Armani encourage pattern-making in students Lectra, a leader in integrated technology solutions for industries using fabrics, leather, technical textiles, and composite materials, and Armani, fashion retailer selling high-end apparel and accessories, recently organised a competition at IstitutoSecoli, Italian fashion school, to encourage patternmaking among students from cutting-edge technology. Lectra has developed partnerships with over 850 fashion schools across the world, providing them with solutions and expertise to help the teachers prepare students with the skills they require for the workplace. Working with leading education partners, Lectraorganises regular student competitions in association with customers. The latest competition with IstitutoSecoli, renowned for its pattern-making savoir-faire, and organised with Armani, is a clear example of industry and education working hand-in-hand to nurture young fashion designers. Students at Istituto Secoli developed their collections using Lectra s Modaris and Diamino solutions to create their patterns, prototypes and markers. In addition, students from the master s programme in menswear cut their creations with Vector, Lectra s state-of-the-art fabric cutting solution. Thanks to the trusted relationship that Lectra has with its customer G.A. Operations of the Giorgio Armani group, one of the winning students, graduating in menswear, has the opportunity to take up an internship in the collection development department. Giorgio Ferremi, Industrial Director G.A. Operations at Trento said, We were very pleased with Lectra s initiative and were delighted to offer educational internships at G.A. Operations. We chose the winning student for his creative skills and for his training on Modaris and Diamino. This gives us the important advantage of bringing somebody with proven technical skills into our team. Fabio Canali, Managing Director Lectra Italy said, The role of Lectra must increasingly be to promote and support dialogue between fashion schools and companies. We are delighted that Armani has accepted to support the fruitful collaboration we have with Secoli, and help their students to develop their professional skills 14 APPAREL VIEWS / JULY 2017

15 Cherokee in license agreements for Hi-Tec, 50 Peaks Cherokee, a global brand marketing platform that manages a growing portfolio of fashion and lifestyle brands, has entered into license agreements for its Hi- Tec and 50 Peaks brands with the Tharanco Group for men s and women s apparel and Interbrand for accessories including socks, gloves, and hats, marking broadening of Hi-Tec and 50 Peaks beyond footwear. Cherokee, a global brand marketing platform that manages a growing portfolio of fashion and lifestyle brands, it has entered into license agreements for its Hi-Tec and 50 Peaks brands in several key growth categories. The new licensing agreements with the Tharanco Group for men s and women s apparel and Interbrand for accessories including socks, gloves, and hats, mark a significant step toward broadening the Hi-Tec and 50 Peaks brands beyond footwear leveraging the brands existing strong position in the outdoor and active markets. Henry Stupp, Chief Executive Officer of Cherokee Global Brands stated, As part of our strategic post-acquisition plan for Hi-Tec, we are partnering with industryleading footwear, apparel and accessories specialists to ensure that the full potential of our Hi-Tec portfolio is realised. We have completed this important initial phase in just over six months through our agreements with Carolina Footwear, Tharanco and Interbrand. These deeply-connected, retail-savvy partners will allow us to quickly scale our newest outdoor and active lifestyle brands across multiple channels and categories. The new collections will be available in national department stores and specialty and outdoor retailers throughout North America beginning early Tharanco s President and CEO, Michael Setola said, We are proud to announce the launch of our outdoor division in partnership with Cherokee Global Brands. Hi-Tec is a powerful outdoor lifestyle brand and the partnership couldn t be better timed. Bill Hackett, President of Tharanco Outdoor said, The outdoor recreation industry is booming and we are well positioned to fully participate in the opportunity through our partnership with Cherokee Global Brands. We look forward to delivering great functional apparel at a compelling value. Tharanco specialises in providing fashionable clothing that utilises the latest trends and fabric technologies. Over the course of its 25-year history, the company has become a force in the apparel and retail industry through its broad distribution of men s and women s national and private brands in all retail tiers throughout North America and internationally. Robert McMeekin, CEO of Interbrand said, As the market for outdoor lifestyle brands evolves and grows, Hi-Tec represents an important partnership for us. Hi- Tec s history of providing high-quality products and promoting social consciousness fits perfectly with our culture. Our strategic positioning is also well aligned as consumers seek greater product versatility and value. Interbrand is a global accessories company with specific expertise in socks, headwear, gloves, scarves, and leather goods. Interbrand designs, markets and distributes products in over 35 countries, through department stores, regional specialty, national athletic, big box outdoor, mass retailers and wholesale clubs in over 8,000 doors nationally. Ed Van Wezel, CEO of Hi-Tec Sports International Holdings added, Our portfolio of brands enjoys an authentic and rich heritage. We are proud to have the opportunity to expand our vision through these new partnerships APPAREL VIEWS / JULY

16 VDMA marks 125 years of progress On the occasion of its 125th anniversary, the VDMA has put together a series of multimedia reports. Published on a new website the reports show. Machines are not an end in itself for the machinery engineering industry. Regina Brückner, Vice-Chairperson of the VDMA Textile Machinery Association and Managing Associate of Brückner Trockentechnik, explains: Machines are the means to make progress come true for people and to meet challenges like energy, mobility, infrastructure and health. Textiles and textile machinery play sometimes hidden a major role in improving daily life. Textile machinery is, for example, a starting point for resource-efficient construction. Lightweight construction materials based on knitted, woven or nonwovens fabrics enable enormous savings potential in aerospace. 1,974 ltr of kerosene can be saved per aircraft per year with 20 kg less weight on the A320. Infrastructure maintenance is currently time consuming and costly because the reinforced concrete that has been used in many structures, contains steel reinforcing bar that can corrode, making the concrete structure crack. Textiles offer a robust alternative by replacing steel with carbon. Carbon concrete is durable and versatile in its uses. The carbon used to reinforce concrete is even stronger than steel, but at the same time much lighter and more durable since it does not corrode. Building elements made of carbon concrete can thus be thinner, reducing demand for raw materials and, as a result, energy use and CO 2 emissions are cut almost by half. These materials that help maintaining bridges and buildings are made on warp knitting machines, where yarn is processed into net-like cores or even three-dimensional spacer fabrics. Walmart pulls onesie after complaints garment was offensive to Indigenous people W almart Canada says it is pulling an onesie off its shelves after receiving complaints that said the garment was offensive to Indigenous people. The onesie had the phrase, I Still Live with My Parents written on it with illustrations of teepees and an arrow. Walmart Canada says the graphic on the item does not represent its beliefs and has no place in its stores.some people took to Twitter saying the garment was offensive because Indigenous children disproportionately go to foster care.others suggested it was insensitive given Canada s history with residential schools. Anika Malik, a spokeswoman for Walmart, says the company apologises for any unintended offence 2017 Apex Award presented to AATCC AATCC has won yet another Apex award for its Jan 2016 feature article in the AATCC Review by Amanda Cattermole. The annual Apex Awards are sponsored by Communications Concepts, Inc. Close to 1,400 entries were submitted for the 2017 contest. 543 Awards of Excellence and 100 Grand Awards were presented to recognise exceptional and outstanding work. Transparency is the New Green was selected for an Award of Excellence in Writing in the subcategory of Green Writing. This latest award is a welcomed addition to the many previous Apex and Tabbie Awards for writing the Association s publications have enjoyed over the years. As well as publishing original features on major topics of interest to professionals in the textile, apparel, and related industries, AATCC Review also contains technical articles, and AATCC news and information. Launched in Jan 2014, the AATCC Journal of Research, a sister publication, is exclusively for peer-reviewed research papers In medical technology, textiles play a vital part, too. The use of textile-based implants, such as stents, heart valve replacements and artificial cartilages or tissues, is growing strongly in modern surgical techniques. Garments with integrated sensors are already commercially available, including T-shirts that can measure pulse, breathing and body movement. In the working world, textiles are both ubiquitous and practically invisible: Even in modern production sites, workers need professional and protective clothing to protect them from injury and safeguard against hazardous environments. Air conditioning is meanwhile becoming widespread in the modern working world even in regions with no weather extremes. Air and dust filters made of nonwovens are most of the time not visible but they are there and help to protect staff, as well as sensitive equipment, in production plants Workshop to build Bangladeshi apparel brands and sell abroad Bangladesh Apparel Exchange (BAE), a private initiative to promote Bangladesh apparel industry, is going to organise a workshop on how to develop an apparel brand.the day-long workshop titled, "How to Build Your Own Apparel Brand and directly address to European & US Consumers" will be held on July 29 at Gardenia in Dhaka.The objectives of the workshop is to disseminate the knowledge on how to develop the next growth strategy of the country s apparel sector by designing locally owned international brand and selling directly to Western consumers. By participating the workshop, an entrepreneur will be able to gain insight knowledge on how the global renowned brands are conceptualised and designed. It will help to create own brand as well as to take the opportunity of e-commerce in selling directly to consumers.bangladesh, the second largest exporter of clothing products, produces apparel items for global retailers such as Zara, H&M, Marks & Spencer, Gap and many more, Mostafiz Uddin, the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of BAE But the Bangladeshi manufacturers which make clothes for the world s famous brands yet to establish any global brand originated from Bangladesh, said Mostafiz. Considering all these aspects, the BAE has taken the initiative to shares experience and advice for building a brand from purpose to product for entrepreneurs, fashion aspirants, and everyone with a dream to build their own brad, said Mustafiz. As per the industry insiders and experts, by creating brands Bangladesh can increase profit margin the margins by utilising the strength and intelligence of the local business, which would impact on the country s economy in a greater content. The workshop will help you start your next growth strategy by providing insight on designing own brand and selling it directly to western wholesalers and end consumers. In just concluded fiscal year, Export earnings from the clothing industry have seen only a 0.20 per cent rise to $28.15 bn, the lowest in the last one and a half decades.while, the overall Bangladesh's export earnings also stood at $34.83 bn, which is 1.68 per cent higher than the $34.25 bn a year ago. At this situation, Bangladesh should focus on higher end products to come out from the sluggish export growth, said Mostafiz, also Managing Direcor of Denim Expert Limited. Mostafiz has been successfully exporting to and selling his denim brand in Europe since 1999.I think, the workshop will help RMG people to focus on building brand to get better prices, he added 16 APPAREL VIEWS / JULY 2017

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18 Bangladesh keen to expand relationship in textile sector The Bangladesh Government officials and textile industry stakeholders see a huge potential for synergies between the two countries Bangladesh and India. Bangladesh is among the world s second largest exporters of apparels, and India is the second largest producer of man-made fibre and textiles fabrics. According to Gopal Bhattacharyya, additional Secretary of Bangladesh's Textile Ministry, there is a lot of scope for synergies between India and Bangladesh and huge potential to expand the relationship in textile sector. Bangladesh is keen to collaborate with India on various fronts such as creating supply chain, technology and textile education. Syed Mohammed Tanvir, Director, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), a leading trade body in the neighbouring country said that India and Bangladesh should work together for creating supply chain. Bangladesh can source raw material (cotton and man-made fibre), yarn and textile from India and convert them into fashion apparels Surat textile traders call off strike against GST Thousands of textile merchants and traders in Surat had shut their shops since the last two weeks protesting against the new tax structure have today called off their strike following the centres assurance to look into their demand for its roll back. The announcement to withdraw the protest was made today by the traders who met Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in Delhi recently. Manoj Agrawal, a textile trader said that during the meeting, Jaitley assured them that the issue of the GST on cloth will be taken up in the next GST Council meeting to be held on August 5. Thus, they have decided to call off the strike till that date. If no favourable decision comes in that GST council meeting, they will think of going on strike again to raise their demand for abolishing the 5 per cent GST, he said. Surat has one of the biggest textile markets in the country. On July 3, thousands of protesting traders had gathered near the Ring Road in Surat, where the main market is situated, demanding scrapping of GST on textiles. On July 8, the textile traders organised a silent march here to protest against five per cent GST imposed on the sector Garment exports likely to register per cent growth India's garment exports are expected to register a per cent growth in FY 18 as against $17 bn registered last year, a Senior Government official said. "We have clocked 18 per cent growth in garment exports since January 2017 and we hope that similar trend may continue for remaining period this year. Last year our garment exports stood at $17 bn." Textile Commissioner Kavita Gupta said. "Rebates on State levies have been introduced to encourage exports. There is an additional 10 per cent subsidy for the garment and made up segments, which means the home textile industry will effectively get 25 per cent capital investment subsidy on new machines they bring in, leading to efficiency and modernisation of the sector," said Gupta. Subsidies have proved be very beneficial for the sector and led to increase in employment and attracted huge investments, she added. The textile industry needs to utilise the various schemes launched by the government for the benefit of customers, the commissioner added. The industry is looking at entering into CIS, Africa and Far East markets to increase garment exports, apart from our traditional markets of US and Europe, Gupta said. To showcase business opportunity, Clothing Manufacturers Association of India (CMAI) has organised three-day national garment fair, the largest apparel trade show in Mumbai. The B2B fair will be spread over approximately 6 lakh sqft, covering all the halls at the Bombay Exhibition Centre. "We hope to generate 10 per cent increase in trade at `750 cr from this fair, which will have 881 stalls displaying 1,005 brands by 822 exhibitors," CMAI President Rahul Mehta said. Whilst welcoming the GST, Mehta said the government needs to reduce the GST applicable on job work for garments and made ups from 18 per cent to 5 per cent. The 18 per cent GST would be a major blow to the small manufacturers, most of whom follow the job work basis of manufacturing, he added Textile industry market size likely to touch $250 bn The Indian textile industry sees tremendous growth potential and its market size is expected to touch $250 bn in the next two years from $150 bn now. The domestic market is currently estimated at $110 bn and exports at $40 bn, said Textile Commissioner Kavita Gupta speaking after inaugurating the 6th edition of 'HGH India 2017', the annual trade show for home textiles and home décor held in Mumbai Gupta said that in the last two years, a lot of buoyancy has been created in the textile sector. Various schemes have been launched, not only to upgrade technology but also to extend financial aid, to the sector. The capital investment subsidy announced by the Centre has been introduced in segments like weaving, garment, technical textile and made up, which has helped the sector. They are also looking at modernising the machines and trying to add state-ofthe-art facilities, which will help the sector. In addition, the government announced `6,000-cr special packages for the industry last year. Rebates on state levies have been introduced to encourage exports. There is an additional 10 per cent subsidy for the garment and made up segments, which means the home textile industry will get an effective 25 per cent capital investment subsidy on the new machines they bring in, leading to efficiency and modernisation of the sector. Subsidies have proved to be very beneficial for the sector and led to increases in employment and attracted huge investments. The commissioner added that the textile industry needs to utilise the various schemes launched by the government for the benefit of customers. The three-day HGH India event provides a platform to traders across segments to explore new business opportunities in the Indian market. The exposition has attracted 500 brands, manufacturers and importers 18 APPAREL VIEWS / JULY 2017

19 Ethiopian Industry Minister keen to promote trade Ethiopia is one of Africa s fastest growing economies and one of the region s most attractive destinations for foreign investment which aims to become a major sourcing hub for the global textile and garment industry within the next decade. A high level of Ethiopian delegation led by the honourable Bogale Feleke, State Minister, Ministry of Industry, is in India for a five-day mission to promote investment in his country s cotton, textiles and apparel sector. The mission aims to raise Indian investors awareness of the opportunities on offer in Ethiopia. The country s textile and clothing industry is burgeoning, aided by the presence of competitive labour costs and a skilled and motivated young workforce. The availability of raw cotton and other natural fibres, as well as preferential access to regional and international markets, create enormous export potential for the sector. The Ethiopian s mission, includes visits to Delhi, Ahmedabad, Dindigul and Coimbatore, is being facilitated by the International Trade Centre s Supporting Indian Trade and Investment for Africa project (SITA) with the support of Indian business and industry associations. SITA, which is funded by the United Kingdom s Department for International Development, has as one of its aims to improve the competitiveness of value chains in a number of East African countries. In Ethiopia, it is supporting the development of the cotton, textile and apparel value chain through partnerships with business and trade and investment support institutions in India. SITA works with the Government of Ethiopia and industry stakeholders to promote investment in the sector and facilitate technology exchange from India. The delegation will attend a series of workshops in each of the four cities. In Delhi and Ahmedabad, they will be hosted by the Confederation of Indian Industry; in Coimbatore, by the South India Mills Association; and in Dindigul, by the Tamil Nadu Spinning Mills Association. The workshops will provide a platform for engagement between Indian textile and garment manufacturers and the Ethiopian delegation where they can explore partnerships and opportunities for Indian companies in Ethiopia No change in GST rate for textile Union Minister for Finance, Defence and Corporate Affairs, Arun Jaitley recently said that the GST rate structure for the textile sector was discussed in detail in the GST Council Meeting held on 3rd June, 2017, wherein the Council recommended the detailed rate structure for the textile sector. The demand of textile traders to exempt fabrics under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) system cannot be met with as manufacturers will then not be able to claim credit of tax on previous stages. Jaitley said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha that nil GST on fabrics will result in zero rating of imported fabrics, while domestic fabrics will continue to bear the burden of input taxes.the textile industry has been demanding exemption under the GST, saying that the sector has never been taxed. They are claiming that fabric will become per cent expensive under the new regime due to the tax rate as well as the compliance cost, making the Indian textiles globally uncompetitive. He said that it is not correct to say that textiles sector was never taxed in Independent India. In fact, during , the entire sector was subjected to central excise duty. The Minister assured that the GST rates are equal or lower than the pre-gst tax incidence and the price of fabrics are not likely to go up. The organised traders and unorganised sellers i.e small retailers in textile sector have not been affected by the Goods and Services Tax (GST) APPAREL VIEWS / JULY

20 AEPC demands the continuation of ROSL at old rates AEPC has asked the Ministry of Finance for the restoration of the previous rate of ROSL at 3.9 per cent and revocation of the requirement of certificates for claiming the duty drawback. The Council has also requested that for GST on job work and stock transfer, where drawback is not available, the facility of ITC credit should be allowed for those availing the drawback route. Earlier the Ministry of Textiles through a notification issued on 27 June, 2017 had notified the interim ROSL scheme at 0.39 per cent and through another notification dated 30th June, 2017 had made it compulsory that the exporters have to give a declaration and certificates in a prescribed format at the time of export for claiming the duty drawback. In a letter written to GK Pillai, Chairman of the Drawback Committee of Ministry of Finance, AEPC Chairman, Ashok G Rajani has stated that the declaration and certificates will increase the compliance burden on exporters as well as transition cost considering the fact that GST has been rolled out only a few days back and the offices are not ready for providing any additional certificates. Talking about the issue, Ashok G Rajani, Chairman Apparel Export Promotion Council said, The Government has continued the interim duty drawback under GST regime for 3 months i.e. up to 30th September, 2017 which is indeed a welcome step. However the interim ROSL rate which has been notified at 0.39 per cent- a sharp reduction of 90 per cent from the previous rate of 3.9 per cent- is not acceptable to us. Similarly Industry is not in a position to provide certificates for claiming the duty drawback as GST has been rolled out only 4 days back and the offices are not in a position to provide any additional certificates. On the issue of GST on job work and stock transfers, Rajani said, Earlier the industry was not subjected to any tax on Job work and stock transfers. These new cost does not get captured in the drawback route allowed in the transition period. We have suggested for inclusion of tax incidence on job work and stock transfers under the GST regime in the drawback provisions during the transition period. AEPC has been at the forefront in demanding the continuation of ROSL and duty drawback under GST regime. However the interim ROSL rate of 0.39 per cent will adversely affect the apparel exports. The Association wants the government to look at the issues raised by it which would provide temporary relief to exporters and enable them to retain their competiveness in world markets India has huge potential to capture market space in MMF sector India has a huge potential to capture the market space by focusing on man-made fibre (MMF) that is vacated by China in the international textile market due to declining China s textile exports, said Sunil Arora, CEO, Impluse Buying House while speaking at a seminar on "India as a sourcing hub and investment destination" on the last day of Textiles India 2017 in Gandhinagar. Synthetic textiles made from MMF account for 70 per cent of world textile supply and the rest is cotton. China's annual exports are estimated to be $150 bn. Given the scale of exports from China, even a 1 per cent shift means 10 per cent increase in India's export. MMF and synthetic textiles is the future, Arora said. Contrary to the global trend, cotton still commands more than 50 per cent of India's textile production. However, the synthetic textiles segment is gradually growing. The whole world is shifting towards MMF and India, too, has tremendous potential of growth in this segment, said Rakesh Mohan Joshi, Chairperson, Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT). According to Gautam Nair, Managing Director, Matrix Clothing, textile exports from India increased by 18 per cent in February-April 2017 period after having remained stagnant for past three years. With China's share in textile exports coming down, India has the potential to cater to the demand and cloth the world, Nair said. However, experts believe that there is a need to go for innovation in fabrics, integrate value chain and investment in skill development to boost textile exports from the country Five P Venture signs pact with Central Silk Board to boost handloom silk Erode-based Five P Venture India Private Ltd has entered into an agreement with Bengaluru-headquartered Central Silk Board (CSB) for development and commercialisation of handloom silk products. Silk is a niche fibre, which they have not ventured into this far. With the board s technical support, they will be able to develop new, niche products, said Bharathi Chinnuswamy Chief Executive, adding this development (referring to the MoU with CSB) could also help revive the heritage skills of the handloom weavers in Chennimalai belt. This MoU was signed at the first-ever mega trade fair for the textile sector organised by the Ministry of Textiles at Gandhinagar early this month. It would go a long way in boosting the eco-system of Chennimalai handloom cluster, which hitherto has not worked with any other fibre other than cotton, said Bharathi. By making such value added products will not only take the company to the next level but also enhance the income of the handloom weaving community and improve their living standard. Bharathi also expressed her awe over showcasing the company s in-house brand Nool By Hand at the Lakme Fashion Show, held during the Textiles IndiaFair. The apparel adorned by the men and women were of handwoven organic cotton; they were thrilled to see top models wearing their apparel. At Five P, they had earlier introduced fibres such as linen, recycled cotton, Tencel and Modal and developed a variety of fabrics NIFT-TEA plans to open two outreach centres to impart skill training Tirupur garment exporters have been promoting the NIFT-TEA Knitwear Institute situated in Tirupur, Tamil Nadu to open two outreach centres outside the State. The present plans are to set-up one NIFT-TEA Skill Development Centre in Telangana and another one in Odisha, both on the invitation by the government authorities in the two respective States. Shanmugam, who is also the Chief Mentor of NIFT-TEA Knitwear Institute, and his team from Tirupur had completed discussions on the planned skill development centre with KT Ramarao, Minister for Industry and Information Technology in the Telangana Government. According to Tirupur Exporters Association President Raja Shanmugam, the centres will impart skill training to industrial workers on apparel manufacturing, Shanmugam said that the training would be in the areas of tailoring, pattern making, designing and quality checking, and thereby, make the people employable for the textile sector. Shanmugam also hinted that plans were afoot to organise a Textile Research Conclave in Tirupur shortly. He further added that different stakeholders in the textile industry will be involved in the event which was aimed at dissemination of new technologies that came out of research. A latest invitation has also come from Telangana for imparting skill enhancement training is in view of the textile park coming up at Warangal. On the invitation of the government officials in Odisha, training methodologies similar to Tamil Nadu would be adopted in there too 20 APPAREL VIEWS / JULY 2017

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22 Foreign buyers seek low prices post GST on knitwear Global buyers are regularly calling suppliers in the buzzing town of Tirupur, India s biggest knitwear hub that boasts `25,000 cr exports every year. International callers, familiar with GST benefits, are very clear about what it means for them. They want a cut in prices, says S Sakthivel, Secretary of the Tirupur Exporters Association. The knitwear industry is clear about long-term benefits, but Sakhtivel also has other callers: Exporters want details about tax implications for the industry that has numerous workers and units involved in different parts of the chain such as printing, embroidery, washing, dyeing etc., which are taxed at 18 per cent, while jobs related to yarn and fabric enjoy a 5 per cent rate. They are still coming to terms with the new system. We are caught between buyers and suppliers not knowing what to do, he rues although the industry is cautiously optimistic about GST. In the Southern States, the optimism is shared by many. Several businesses in Kerala are happy as they depend on other states for supply of many consumer goods, poultry, cosmetics and other items; pump manufacturers in Coimbatore, the country s biggest hub of the industry, are happy their tax rates haven t changed much and all firms are gaining from easier truck movement although they are concerned about the nitty-gritty of the new tax. At Tirupur, apart from the massive export orders, domestic knitwear sales amount to another `12,000 cr. Unlike for exports we don t get input credit for domestic sales. So the 18 per cent tax for job works will have to be borne by the manufacturer which naturally will raise the manufacturing cost and affect the fund flow. Unless all the works are brought under a single slab of 5 per cent, we have no option but to pass it on to the consumer, said Raja M Shanmugham, a leading exporter and the President of the association. Shanmugham says nobody has a clear picture of GST. Our suppliers are confused. They approach us and when we need clarification we go to tax officials. But even they cannot give us the solution. They refer to the higher authorities, he said. The industry has been expecting a sales boost after the GST for readymade garments below `1,000 was fixed at 5 per cent, some are concerned about flood of imports. Higher cost of Tirupur garments may make the big retailers to turn to cheaper ones from Bangladesh, which has already captured 25 per cent of the market in the country, says T R Vijayakumar, who heads CBC Fashion Asia Pvt. Ltd. The pump and motor manufacturers in Coimbatore are not unduly worried about GST as the 12 per cent and 18 per cent slabs for each are only 0.5 per cent higher from before. Incidentally, Coimbatore accounts for 45 per cent of total pumps and motor production in the country amounting to `3,500-4,000 cr yearly. The problem again is job works by vendors, which is taxed at 18 per cent ITF and TEA representatives meet FM Arun Jaitley Representatives of Indian Texpreneurs Federation (ITF) and Tiruppur Exporters Association (TEA) met Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to present three subjects thank the FM and put forward two appeals on behalf of the industry. Jaitley listened patiently and asked feedback about the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) in ground level. The ITF and TEA representatives Prabhu Damodaran, Raja Shanmugam, Krishna Kumar, and Shrihari expressed sincere thanks from the industry for the fantastic work by GST Council and the Finance Ministry for lowest slab of 5 per cent without any exemption for cotton textile sector. On behalf of their sector, they made two appeals to the Finance Minister reduction of GST rate to 12 per cent from 18 per cent for MMF yarns, and reduction of tax rate for job work for apparels and made ups from 18 per cent to 5 per cent. The Minister explained the basic logic of GST and how it will help India s economy to grow. The meeting assumes significance as the textile business in many parts of the country has come to a virtual standstill following protests and strikes by small manufacturers and traders over various aspects of the recentlyintroduced GST India, Russia textile trade likely to reach more than $1bn The textile trade between India and Russia currently stands at $161 mn, but has the potential to reach more than $1 bn with a huge market of winter wears in Russia, said JK Dadu, Additional Secretary, Union Ministry of textiles while speaking at a country session of Textiles India With over 10 months of extreme cold climate in Russia, India can has the potential to cater to this weather through items such as leather jackets, caps, boots, pashmina shawls and various other woolens, which it can export. Also with Russia's push to become environment friendly, India can provide it with jute bags, Dadu added. Experts at the session also discussed how high import duties in Russia are impeding exports from India Khadi products may exempt from GST Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Minister Kalraj Mishra expressed hope that khadi products will be exempted from the GST which came into effect from July 1. Different khadi and village industries products attract GST of 5-12 per cent. Addressing a meeting of khadi institutions here, Mishra said that for the larger interest of weavers and spinners associated to khadi industry, the GST panel had started analysing the pros and cons of the new tax on various products. "Even the Finance Minister had assured me to give a GST exemption for the financial development of otherwise economically backward lot of weavers and spinners," he said. Further, the Minister stressed upon organising exhibitions at different Embassies and High Commissions to make khadi a global brand. Expressing concern over decreasing numbers of artisans in the khadi sector, Minister of State for MSME Giriraj Singh said that all-round development of the sector would remain a mirage, without providing a sustainable economic growth to the artisans. No one knows the reason that how the number of artisans came down from 11 lakh in 1950 to nearly 2 lakh at present, he said. Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) Chairman Vinai Kumar Saxena said the time has come to work for the enhancement of their wages. "Lower wages with respect to other organisations, not only blow down the morale of our adroit workers, rather it also has stopped paving ways for the new generation of entrepreneurs in this particular segment," Saxena said. On the non-profitable and dormant assets of Khadi institutions, he said a plan was being chalked out to make the optimum uses of those assets. "We need to either revamp or dispose off these assets to deposit our long-pending liabilities as loans from different institutions," he added 22 APPAREL VIEWS / JULY 2017

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24 JCPenney building cutting-edge tech platforms in Bengaluru In less than a year of opening its technology centre in Bengaluru, US retailer JCPenney has made it the hub of fundamental engineering solutions, one that works very closely with the tech team in Plano, US. The $12.5-bn US retailer has 400 people in India now, with 100 of them part of its omni-channel strategy, building solutions that integrate multiple retail channels such as physical stores, home delivery, the Web, and the mobile. The Bengaluru facility has the capacity to hold 1,000 people, indicating the extent of hiring the company plans. Like several American retailers including Target, Macy s and Sears, JCPenney has been struggling in recent years against the onslaught of online retail and changing consumer preferences, and it sees India s technology prowess as key to recovering lost ground. Michael Amend, Executive Vice-President of omnichannel in JCPenney, calls his omni-channel initiative Project Pulsar, and a significant part of this team and the leader who runs it sit in Bengaluru. We have built a pricing and promotion engine, we are investing in building mobile app capabilities, and improving the in-store experience. We are also rolling out an intelligent order sourcing logic that, when an order is made online, scans the entire inventory in real-time, understands the labour cost, transportation costs, value of the goods and a whole host of factors to figure out what is the best place to source the order from, he told on a recent visit to Bengaluru. The complex algorithm has turned the traditional order-sourcing system upside down. The team here have done an amazing job of improving the accuracy and relevance of our search through some new tech, including machine learning and advanced algorithms, Amend said. The pricing and promotion engine wasn t part of the roadmap initially. But looking at the talent, the global leadership has fast forwarded the journey. Way beyond what we expected, said Dhritiman Saha, SVP digital at JCPenney. Flipkart, Snapdeal and other e-commerce players in India have produced a ready pool of talent, and JCPenney has attracted some of them. Many leaders sitting here are playing a global role. My engineering head sits in Bengaluru, but she has a team back in Dallas. My search engine leader sits here, he has a team here and in Austin, Saha said. Snehil Gambhir, MD, JCPenney Bangalore, provides another instance of how the teams here are driving tech solutions for the company s global markets. Code-named Project Delphi, the machine learning algorithm calculates the total price of items in a cart after applying local coupons real-time. Prior to that, we had legacy technologies that weren t scalable. It wasn t cloud-based and we couldn t drive personalised promotions, Gambhir said Walmart set to establish 15 outlets in Maharashtra The American retail chain Walmart will be investing `900 cr to open 15 outlets catering to wholesalers in Maharashtra. Chief Minister of the State, Devendra Fadnavis and top officials of Walmart recently signed a MoU for opening these Cash & Carry stores. According to Additional Chief Secretary of Industries Department, Sunil Porwal, Cash & Carry stores will cater to wholesalers, retailers and hotels. They already have two stores in Aurangabad and Amravati respectively, and want to expand to other cities. A MoU has been signed to set up stations at Mumbai, Pune, Thane, Solapur, Nagpur and other places. Walmart India currently owns and operates 21 best price modern wholesale membership clubs across nine states, offering nearly 5,000 items. The company plans to open 49 more such outlets by The deal is the first one after the implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST). For retailers GST is considered a boon as it reduces the need for setting up warehouses in every State, now that taxes are standardised. This helps them in economies of scale as they can choose to set up bigger warehouses in fewer locations. Each store would be spread across 50,000 sq ft and will provide employment to nearly 50,000 people. In , there was a lot of opposition to the foreign retail stores and Foreign Direct Investment in retail. At present, Indian laws do not permit full foreign direct investment in single brand retail due to which many global brands are operating in the cash and carry format, which serves only wholesalers AMI to host 12th apparel trade fair in Chennai Apparel Manufacturers of India (AMI), the leading apparel group of manufacturers and traders, will conduct its 12th edition of trade fair in Chennai next month. After successfully wrapping up its last fair at Kochi, team AMI is all set to provide a larger and bigger platform to add meaning to the entire value chain of readymade apparel market in Tamil Nadu. The 3-day event will begin on August 1, in the presence of leading manufacturers and traders of readymade and unstitched garments of women's, men's and kids wear. Young and talented designers will be showcasing their styles and patterns for the upcoming festive season. More than 100 renowned apparel brands including Ethos, Geevankee, Era, Final Choice, Torso Shirts, Diya Design Studio and All Timez will be showcasing their newly launched collection to attract retailers and MBOs across Tamil Nadu. "We have always received an overwhelming response in Tamil Nadu and therefore we keep coming back here. This will be our 5th fair in Chennai, in the past 2 and half years, and we look forward to a great response this time too," said Nikhil Furia, Key Organiser, AMI. "We started AMI with the aim to offer a massive platform to upcoming brands and build a strong network of retailers and manufacturers for the overall growth of the industry. We are now strongly connected to a network of more than 8,000 retailers and MBOs in the South and we hope to scale across India," added Furia. AMI is founded by Dharmesh Nandu of Femi Design and today the team includes Kamlesh Nanda of Fayon Troupe & Sequins, Umesh Bani of Baaniz (Mangalam), Nikhil Furia of Era, Rajesh Gala of Final Choice, Nitin Kankaria of Big Brother, Nitin Shah of Hansi Clothing and Milind Desai of Mahudi Designer. AMI kicked of its first exhibition in January 2015 with the aim of bridging the gap between retailers, agents and suppliers. Its core purpose is 'to grow together' and build a strong network for mutual growth and it believes that entrepreneurs can easily make their dreams a reality if each one helped other, enough to achieve their goals. It provides with the latest festive collections by talented designers and their brands. Till date, AMI has conducted 11 fairs across Kochi, Chennai and Hyderabad and reached out to more than 8,000 retailers and MBOs 24 APPAREL VIEWS / JULY 2017

25 MoU signed between BUFT and NIFT India BGMEA University of Fashion & Technology (BUFT) signed MoU with National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), Ahemedabad, Gujarat on July 1, facilitating an academic exchange and faculty training programme. The MoU will extend the current agreement between the two universities for another five years. The agreement was signed by Founder Chairman, Board of Trustees of BUFT Muzaffar U Siddique and Textile Minister of Gujarat. The objective of this agreement is to encourage international cooperation, and strengthening two institutes in the following areas: NIFT will provide a semester study for BIFT students while BIFT will facilitate NIFT students to carry out Internship and Graduation Project/ Research Project in Apparel Industry at Bangladesh. Exposure to workshops, exhibitions and conducting special lectures, joint industrial projects and joint research activities. BIFT faculty / faculty groups may go to NIFT for training or NIFT may send experienced faculty members to BIFT to train the faculties of BIFT. NIFT will offer a semester input to BIFT Students at NIFT India and BIFT will facilitate NIFT students to carry out Internship, Graduation Project and Placement in Apparel Industry in Bangladesh. Special arrangements for groups of students from one institute to another for the purpose of short-term visit (workshops, exhibitions, industries exposure) may be negotiated in a separate agreement. Founder trustees of BUFT Faruque Hassan, S M Mannan Kochi, Zarina Siddique and Pro-VC of BUFT Prof Dr. Engineer Ayub Nabi Khan were present on the occasion Anita Dongre becomes 1st Indian designer to open store in New York Grassroot by Dongre is a con scious expression of sustainable fashion that celebrates the universality of traditional Indian crafts. Sharing her thoughts, she says, "To the city that never sleeps, Grassroot brings a world of patience and crafts that don't submit to a schedule. Every piece of fabric woven, block printed or embroidered is done by a group of artisans who give it the time and attention it deserves. This marriage of two distinct worlds is like a dream come true." Anita's youngest brand, Grassroot was launched in India two years ago as the embodiment of her core passion -- to design clothes that are beautiful and hold a purpose. This sustainable luxury brand that celebrates Indian craft through contemporary clothing is now in the heart of New York's fashion circuit with a store in SoHo's Broome Street. The 1500 sq ft space is located in one of SoHo's historic 1890 Romanesque Revival masonry building designed by architect Alfred Zucker in brick and sandstone. Grassroot by Anita Dongre's flagship space is designed by architect ShonanTrehan to a brief that parallels the clothes themselves. The space is bathed in natural light and accented by elements in rose gold, cork and recycled wood. Every detail is special in this store, from custom-made racks that give a nod to the humble shuttle (used to handweave fabric) and dreamy wall panels of handwoven chanderi and khadi that tell the journey of the brand. Anita's newest store in New York forms the ideal stage to introduce the world to a fashion principle built on patience. It takes an average of three months for each of these small batch production pieces to be made subverting the ecological damage and mass production of fast fashion APPAREL VIEWS / JULY

26 Khadi range to be launched by Raymond Textile and apparel major Raymond Ltd will launch 'Khadi by Raymond' on October 2.Raymond was first to forge the first partnership with Khadi & Village Industries Commission (KVIC) and will promote the fabric in India and global markets. "We have decided to launch the khadi range on Gandhi Jayanti on October 2. We will launch it through 300 exclusive stores and about 10 KVIC stores across India. It will be introduced to international markets also in near future," Raymond VP & head sales Ram Bhatnagar told. "The range will be in the mid to premium segment," he said. He did not rule out exclusive Raymond Khadi stores in future. "Initially not, but we cannot rule it out in future. We have to be cautious about expansions due to supply limitations. As the products are 100 per cent handmade, production cannot be raised in short period," Bhatnagar said when asked about exclusive Khadi stores from Raymond. Raymond's offering in Khadi range will begin from `700 onwards for a metre of fabric. It will also offer premium product Khadi lines including suits. All Khadi items will be 100 per cent hand woven and handmade.the company is initially working with 40 khadi clusters across India and will expand gradually. Raymond will procure silk fabric from Murshidabad and muslin cotton from South India khadi clusters, officials said. Under the partnership, Raymond has guaranteed a minimum procurement of Khadi and Khadi products for a period of five years with primary purchases in muslin cotton, wool blends and silk. The company will also bring in design interventions at Khadi manufacturing clusters along with technical expertise Designers to showcase at Collection Première Moscow Three Indian designers: Meera Mahadevia, Priyadarshini Rao, Gaurav Jai Gupta will showcase ethnic textile and craftsmanship in a contemporary way at the forthcoming Collection Première Moscow (CPM), a fashion trade fair. The fair will be held from August 30-September 2. The Trade Promotion Council of India (TPCI) with the support of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry is organisinga India Pavilion at CPM. Other countries participating at CPM are: Austria, Belgium, China, Croatia, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine, Britain and the US. Designer Gaurav Jai Gupta, is best known for his brand Akaaro. The brand has already made a mark and is continuously growing and evolving voice of contemporary Indian fashion. It understands Indian textile in a fresh, new contemporary manner by drawing inspiration, from harmony and balance; handcrafting each garment from yarn to a finished piece of clothing. Priyadarshini Rao, who has completed 20 years in the fashion industry, focuses on women who have refined their fashion taste to embrace what is considered contemporary and modern, amalgamating their Indianness with a broader view of the world. She is using new age Indian fabrics like modals, viscose and fine khadi cotton with various surface textures for line being shown at CPM. The prints and the detailing are vintage India, but the silhouettes are contemporary and global. Tanieya Khanuja, will present a collection which has global acceptance in terms of style and silhouettes by using Indian textiles and Indian craftsmanship Arvind focus to build multipronged strategy for growth Arvind Limited, textile major intends to become a strategic partner with its customers by focusing on a multipronged strategy for its growth. Their strategy will be built on four planks sustainability, innovation, verticalisation and multi-fibre, company s Chairman and Managing Director Sanjay Lalbhai said in an interview. He said that sportswear is the fastest growing segment and clothing is going to become intelligent. They have identified ten major buyers and are making large amounts of fabrics about 25 mn mtr a month. If the company offers one stop solution, it should be strategic to its customers. Lalbhai, however, said that the textiles industry has got the flexibility in the labour laws it was looking for. One of the biggest problems was the labour laws and luckily it is a concurrent law. All the progressive states have given them the flexibility that they were looking for. There are fixed term contracts available. That means they do not have to have labour liability on their balance sheet. He said added that a competitive and logical exchange rate could be an enabler for the industries. In the world market, Indian textiles industry is competing with Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. These three countries have free trade agreement with the European Union (EU). The largest share of India s exports is with the EU. If India strikes a free trade agreement with it, there will be a huge upside which India can hope to achieve in the immediate future. That country should also sign a free trade agreement with the United Kingdom in order to boost textile exports 26 APPAREL VIEWS / JULY 2017

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28 H&M to open 8 new stores in India over 6 months Swedish fashion retailer Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) has decided to open eight new stores In India over the next six months focusing on tier II cities. The addition of new stores would take its count to 24. H&M would add 1.60 lakh sq. ft. of retail space by the end of 2017, totaling 6.50 lakh sq. ft. within two years of starting its operations in India. "This autumn, H&M will have eight more stores across Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi NCR as well as Indore, Coimbatore and Amritsar. Adding a total of 1,60,000 sq. ft. of retail space," H&M India Country Manager Janne Einola told. "We do see India as an important part of our global expansion; we aim to grow with our business concept of fashion and quality at the best price in a sustainable way," he was quoted as saying. H&M India clocked sales of approximately `435 cr from December 1, 2016 to May 31, The company also plans to go online in India from The Swedish firm said that to start online sales from 2018 is a move to tap the growing e-commerce segment. "India will be a new H&M online market in Additional new online markets will open in 2018," the company said in a report. "H&M is especially excited to expand its reach in India, a market that poses tremendous potential both in tier I and tier II cities and now online," Einola said. In the first half of 2017, H&M rolled out six new online markets - Turkey, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macao, Singapore and Malaysia. It has plans to add Philippines and Cyprus later in 2017 Spykar presents latest women s line at National Garment Fair From unveiling the latest trends to bringing back the classic styles, Spykar has always been the youth s go-to fashion brand. The India s only high fashion denim brand continues to raise a notch above the rest with their effortless fashion that leads the trends. Young, trendy, fashion forward. Spykar s stylish range of women s line is designed to resonate with the youthful energy of the new-age fashionistas who want to live every moment to the maximum. The exciting new denim wear line, captures the latest trends and seasonal must-haves, boldly lives the Spykar ethos to stay in sync with the young and restless spirit of the girl of today. Backed by a 25-year legacy, Spykar is certainly defining the rules of the fashion arena. Spykar leads the race by being the only Indian lifestyle brand with a focus on denim. The ensuing customer loyalty, repeat purchases and positive word of mouth are a testimony to the same. The brand combines quality, fit and style to create fashionable attire at attractive price points. Concurrently, the exceptional designers team up with the latest tech to create innovative fashion that makes the brand more iconic, and the wardrobes, more stylish. Like every year Spykar is a part of the 65th annual trade fair CMAI however this year is special as we celebrate 25 years in the industry. At the trade fair, we will be focusing on the launch of a new line for women. The collection will hit the retail outlets by July 17 end. We are glad to be a part of the 65th CMAI as this is the beginning to a lot more this year, expressed Sanjay Vakharia, COO, Spykar Lifestyle Pvt Ltd LANXESS s RheinChemie business unit combines colorant specialities Following the acquisition of US firm Chemtura in April this year, LANXESS has revised its organisational structure. The two business lines Rubber Additives Business (RAB) and Colorant Additives Business (CAB) now both belong to the Rhein Chemie business unit. LANXESS s goal with this restructuring is to adopt a more targeted approach with an even stronger customer focus. The unit will in the future cover speciality business with active ingredient compounds, speciality chemicals and processing aids for the rubber, plastics and colorants industries. The two business lines have similar requirements and the realignment caters to our specialised business, which sometimes involves small volumes, says Philipp Junge, Head of the Rhein Chemie business unit since April Junge is also in charge of Rubber Additives Business, having been responsible for this business line since the end of The new head of Colorant Additives Business is Dominik Risse, who is returning to the operational side of the business from the Mergers & Acquisitions group function to take charge of this business line. He was previously responsible for LANXESS s colorants business in his role as Head of Marketing. The name Rhein Chemie, which has been a hallmark of success in the chemical industry for over 125 years, will remain the umbrella brand for rubber and colorants business. Lubricant and flame retardant additives business, meanwhile, has been transferred to LANXESS s Additives business unit. Together, these two business units form the Specialty Additives segment in the company s extended organisational structure. The Rhein Chemie business unit currently has around 1,000 employees and supplies more than 2,000 products to over 3,000 customers in 120 countries across the globe Ahmedabad to witness its biggest ever garment technology show Ahmedabad which is emerging as a preferred destination for sourcing garments from all over India; will play host to its biggest ever garment, knitting and printing technology exhibition - GTE Into its silver jubilee edition, GTE 2017 will be held from August 18-20, 2017 at the Ahmedabad Education Society Ground on Drive-In Road, Ahmedabad. GTE 2017 will see around 260 exhibiting companies and brands showcasing a rich mix of technologies in apparel manufacturing, knitting and printing. The trade show will see renowned Indian and international companies from across the textile and apparel value chain. Technologies on show include, CAD/CAM, sewing machines, knitting machines, embroidery machines, digital textile printing, laundry machines, quilting machines, finishing equipment, spreading & cutting machines, printing & packaging machines, dyes, chemicals, fabrics, fancy yarns, spares & attachments, accessories & trims. Ahmedabad is emerging as a preferred destination to source readymade garments from all over India. Ahmedabad which was always known as a textile hub is now also emerging as an apparel manufacturing hub," Ricky Sahni, Joint Managing Director at Garment Technology Expo Pvt. Ltd. (GTE) said. "We feel proud in hosting the silver jubilee edition of GTE in Ahmedabad. Building on the success of the previous 24 editions, we offer our full assurance that buyers, will return home satisfied as they will be able to see the latest in apparel, knitting and printing technologies," Sahni added.all in all, GTE 2017 in Ahmedabad promises to be a must-visit destination for buyers from the textile and apparel industry 28 APPAREL VIEWS / JULY 2017

29 Initial challenges faced by exports sector to be addressed Ganesh Kumar Gupta, President, FIEO while addressing the exporters during the Post GST Meet on Export Compliance organised by FIEO at Mumbai recently said that introduction of GST is a path breaking reform that will only bear fruits in the long run with initial hiccups. He explained that the liquidity problem of the exporters, constraints in job work, delays in initial returns for exports in the months of July and August, procedural issues in LUT/Bond are being flagged by FIEO and he strongly highlight some of them during his meeting with Hon ble Commerce and Industry Minister recently. He appreciated that Government has considered FIEO s various request on priority by giving suitable clarifications and nominating Satya Srinivas, JS Customs as nodal point in CBEC and Ajay Srivastava, Jt. DGFT as nodal point in DGFT to answer to the queries of the exporters. PK Mohanty, Consultant, GST, CBEC, New Delhi said that GST is a great reform undertaken by Team India that will lead to greater transparency and transformation. GST will have a profound and positive effect on society, economy and tax regime and it will change the way we run our businesses and collect taxes. Once the system stabilises life will be better and ease of doing business would be certainly realised. Dedicated efforts have been made by Central and State officials for GST implementation. Rajiv Jalota, Commissioner, State Tax GST, Maharashtra informed that the Government of Maharashtra has enacted SGST Act, Rules, Notifications on the lines of central legislation and State is geared to meet the challenges of the new regime. Dr. Ajay Sahai, DG & CEO, FIEO raised the concern that GST will severely dent the liquidity of the exporter in a big way and the compliance cost of merchant exporter may go up. Export competitiveness of India may tank by about 2 per cent and this will be a big blow for the exporters. He appraised that government is looking into the various options to neutralise the effect under the new GST regime. Addressing the participants Khalid M Khan, Regional Chairman, FIEO (WR), flagged the issue that while transition input tax credits and inherent benefits of GST would lower costs; higher GST rates for products may spoil sport in some cases. Determination of price and being competitive would be critical for all enterprises especially for price sensitive products. Even MSMEs would work on pricing patterns to remain effective Grasim divests its holding in Grasim Bhiwani Textiles to Donear Buildings material and textile manufacturer Grasim Industries has entered into a share transfer agreement for the divestment of its 100 per cent holding of its wholly owned subsidiary, Grasim Bhiwani Textiles, to the Mumbai based textile company, Donear Group. "The move is part of the business portfolio review, an exercise that takes place from time to time and is aimed in the direction of consolidation and greater focus on the core businesses of the company," Grasim said in a report. Grasim Bhiwani Textiles that is engaged in the business of manufacturing and marketing of polyester viscose fabric constitutes a fairly small proportion of Grasim's consolidated financials and has a share of less than 1 per cent in the revenue and EBITDA of the parent company. Owing to its small share and the size of Grasim's total operations, the divestment will have a negligible impact on the company's financials, the report said APPAREL VIEWS / JULY

30 AEPC launches Indian AISA Programme to promote sustainable practices To promote sustainable practices in the apparel Industry, AEPC launched Indian Apparel Industry Sustainability Programme recently at FIEO Auditorium, New Delhi. On this occasion a guidance tool on sustainability was released by Ashok G Rajani, Chairman Apparel Export Promotion Council along with Dr. Ashok Kumar, Energy Economist at Bureau of Energy Efficiency. Commenting on the initiative, Ashok G Rajani, Chairman Apparel Export Promotion Council said, There is a strong emergence of sustainability requirements as an important competitiveness tool. It is a great opportunity for us to differentiate ourselves in the global market and offer a sustainable value chain. AEPC, as the apex body of the exporters, aims at providing a platform where apparel manufacturers and exporters can turn to for all the necessary information and handholding needed for being sustainable in a holistic way. I thank C-Kinetics, our knowledge partners, for developing a comprehensive guide book on the various aspects of optimisation. Through Indian Apparel Industry Sustain Ability (AISA) Programme we intend to inculcate and encourage this process-where just doing is not enough-but bringing measurability and self- Ashok G Rajani, Chairman Apparel Export Promotion Council impact assessment is also important. If we can harness the industry s collective energy, adaptability and capacity for innovation, we can play an important role in creating a sustainable, fair and low-carbon world." Through the Apparel Industry Sustainability initiative, AEPC seeks to promote greater participation and inclusiveness of the apparel industry in sustainability initiatives. The programme is an endeavour to recognise and take affirmative action to counter the challenges that restrict the apparel industry from taking bigger roles in global market on account of noncompliance to sustainable parameters. This initiative aims to be a network of individuals and institutions committed to increasing sustainable practices across various segments of apparel sector. AEPC in association with CKinetics, a leading sustainability think tank -has prepared a guidance tool on sustainability which will provide guidance to companies on how they can align their strategies as well as measure and manage their contribution to achieving the sustainable goals. The event also saw participation from the representatives of leading apparel companies such as Shahi Exports, Global Mode & Accessories Private Limited and Marks & Spencer, where they presented their case studies on sustainable apparel practices. The event was concluded with a vote of thanks, proposed by HKL Maggu, Vice Chairman, AEPC Iran to set-up its first ever apparel industrial park Iran to set up it s first-ever apparel industrial park in cooperation with public, private and cooperatives sectors. An initiative aimed at meeting domestic demand and boosting exports. A multilateral memorandum of understanding was signed recently. The signatories were Iran s Small Industries and Industrial Parks Organisation, Ministry of Cooperatives, Labour and Social welfare, Cooperative Investment Guarantee Fund, Iran s Clothing Association, and Tose eta avon Bank. The apparel industrial estate is to be built near Tehran s Imam Khomeini International Airport in a 190-hectare area (extendable to 300 hectares), with easy access to subway, highway and airlines, said Chairman of Iran s Small Industries and Industrial Parks Organisation Ali Yazdani at the MoU signing ceremony. The designing of the first phase of this industrial park is complete and the second phase is under development. The park will host over 300 apparel production units along with additional service providers, including hotels, training institutes and design centers with the participation of brands from Italy among other well-known countries in apparel industry. According to Yazdani, the infrastructures of this industrial park will be built by the public sector while the private sector is in charge of developing the trading and manufacturing spaces.the area dedicated for each service and production unit is projected to be 3,000-5,000 sqr mtr. On the whole, an area of 1 mn sqr mtr would be developed with an investment of 30 trrials ($ mn). Yazdani noted that investors from Italy, China, South Korea and Turkey have already shown interest in this project. According to Deputy Minister of cooperatives, labour and social welfare, Hamid Kalantari, who was also present at the signing ceremony, the apparel industry has the highest job creation potential among all industries in Iran. Another MoU was signed recently between Yazdani and Mehdi Hossein-Nejad, the Managing Director of Cooperative Investment Guarantee Fund, and Mohammad Hosein Moghiseh, the Managing Director of Investment Guarantee Fund for small- and mediumsized enterprises, to support players in industrial townships, areas and special economic zones, and develop joint cooperation. The accord entails promoting domestic production, strengthening domestic production chains with the aim of producing for exports, using facilities and capacities efficiently, assisting the cooperatives sector and active small- and medium-sized entities in industrial towns and special economic zones, especially export zones, via the funds services such as letters of guarantee. Industrial towns or parks may contain oil refineries, ports, warehouses, distribution centers, chemical plants, plastic manufacturers, airports, food and beverage producers and steel manufacturers, to name a few. Some industrial parks offer incentives for businesses to locate there, such as tax exemptions. Tehran Apparel Producers and Sellers Union recently launched a campaign called I Proudly Wear Iranian Clothes to support the production of Iranian clothing. According to the Headquarters to Combat Smuggling of Goods and Foreign Exchange, apparel tops the list of goods smuggled into Iran. Textile, Apparel and Leather Industry Organisation, affiliated to the Industries, Mining and Trade Ministry, had announced that about 90 per cent of foreign clothing s are smuggled into the Iranian market. The Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration to tackle the staggering rate of smuggling in the apparel market recently banned any commercial import of clothing by individuals 30 APPAREL VIEWS / JULY 2017

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32 GST on textiles, clothing job work MMF - Problem areas S.VENKITACHALAM is a senior economic journalist with more than 40 years of experience, covering Industry, Commerce & Textile Ministries. In this article the author discusses how GST going to impact crosssections of textile industry. The Central Government s decision on GST in respect of the textiles and clothing sector (T and C) is on expected lines. By and large, the industry s pleas for a lower rate of GST have been accepted. Not with standing this, two problem areas have been flagged off for the government s consideration one is job work and second is GST on manmade fibres (MMF) and yarn. What is encouraging is the statement of Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley that he is giving three months time to see the operation of GST, after which he would examine various demands raised by Southern India Mills Association (SIMA) and other textile bodies. While the GST on job work up to fabric stage has been cut from 18 per cent to 5 per cent the reduction has not been extended to apparel or garment in the textile value chain. As per the government s interpretation only services classified as job work in relation to yarn and fabrics of textiles are eligible for the reduced rate of 5 per cent. On the other hand, the industry contends that job work is a manufacturing process and, hence, should be charged at the reduced rate. In textile clusters like Tirupur, a host of operations such as garment printing, embroidery, garment washing, ironing and packing are carried out by micro units on a job work basis. Some of these processes such as checking, ironing and button fixing are actually carried out by people who take their work to their home for job work. As for the MMF segment, GST is proposed to be charged at 18 per cent on yarn and 5 per cent on fabrics. Tirupur Exporters Association President Raja Shanmugam wants the rate on yarn to be pared down to 12 per cent, if not up to 5 per cent. The customs duty on MMF also needs to be reviewed and reduced if not abolished to enable the textile sector to use more MMF and reduce dependence on cotton, a natural fibre. Currently, India he says is losing ground in the global market in respect of MMF based items. This is because the ratio of cotton and synthetic usage is 70:30. It is the reverse globally. The 18 per cent GST on yarn makes the MMF-based products uncompetitive in the global market. Domestically, smaller MMF units will be badly hit. Many a Tirupur exporter apprehends that job working units in the city will be badly affected as several owners of these units which operate out of homes and small dwellings employ family members and relatives. They are in a dilemma at the moment. Moreover many owners of job working units lack formal education and will have to employ a person for filing returns online. The working capital of micro, small and medium enterprises would be impacted as they would have to pay GST up front and later recover the Currently, India is losing ground in the global market in respect of MMF based items. This is because the ratio of cotton and synthetic usage is 70:30. It is the reverse globally. The 18 per cent GST on yarn makes the MMF-based products uncompetitive in the global market. Domestically, smaller MMF units will be badly hit. same from the principal. Coming to MMF, yarn and fabric units will find it hard to recover the GST paid as the mechanism for availing of tax credit is available only partially says, Sakthivel, TEA Executive Secretary. Customs and Excise duties that apply to MMFs are a major factor in determining the price structure, with no revision in Budget. The customs duty stands at 5 per cent. In addition, there is a 4 per cent special additional duty and an excise duty equivalent to 12.5 per cent. This brings the total duty incidence to 22 per cent. The MMF producers believe that import of fibres will be cheaper than indigenous ones even after taking into account costs involved in freight, insurance customs and countervailing duties. But with anti-dumping duties on raw materials to manufacture fibres, imported prices will be higher than domestic ones. This would significantly benefit MMF producers because of import parity. This means domestic prices are linked to imported prices. Local prices will be almost the same as imported ones enabling them to earn a higher benefit. Our current reputation in global market is basically only as an efficient supplier of fibre yarn and filament fabrics. Our presence in the final products of garments and made-ups based on MMF is limited and extra efforts are needed to market them. Obviously, the government s export incentives for these segments should be more liberal. Globally, India ranks second in man-made filament yarn production. It has 12 per cent share of global production of cellulose fibres and filaments and 7 per cent of global capacity. Installed capacity and production of viscose staple fibre is much higher than domestic consumption. This means increased availability for exports. Domestic consumption is 75 per cent of production and the rest is exported. But opposite is the case for viscose filament yarn. And import of viscose filament yarn is significantly higher than domestic consumption. The end of the quota regime meant an increase in fresh investment in the textile sector. The pace of investment needs to be stepped up. 32 APPAREL VIEWS / JULY 2017

33 Rising input costs are a major factor affecting exports worldwide. With India enjoying the advantage of its own source of raw materials, this needs to be leveraged to gain a competitive edge over other countries. Moreover, exports of cotton and cotton yarn need to be regulated in a manner that protects the domestic industry from major fluctuations in raw material prices. There is potential to increase exports by capacity build-up in the sector. For this, improving the compliance level in the factories by introduction of common code for the apparel sector is necessary Table 1.1: Installed capacity in mills (Non-SSI) No. of Mills Installed Capacity Year Spinning Composite Total Spindles Rotors Looms (Mn.) (000) (000) As of 31st march As of 31st march As of 31st march As of 31st march As of 31st march As of 31st march As of 31st march As of 31st march As of 31st march As of 31st march As of 31st march As of 31st march As of 31st march As of 31st march As of 31st march As of 31st march Table 1.2: Installed capacity of small spinning Industry Year No. of SSI Units Spindles (Mn.) Rotors ( 000) As of 31st march As of 31st march As of 31st march As of 31st march As of 31st march As of 31st march As of 31st march As of 31st march As of 31st march As of 31st march As of 31st march As of 31st march As of 31st march As of 31st march As of 31st march As of 31st march APPAREL VIEWS / JULY

34 Garment manufacturers and govt. deny unilateral time extension of Accord in Bangladesh Garment manufacturers of Bangladesh have opposed the time extension of the Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety by three more years, which was announced recently. We don t accept the new agreement. It is a unilateral decision by the Accord, said Siddiqur Rahman, President of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA). We have not been included in the board of the Accord and the signatories did not even show the draft copy of the new agreement, Rahman added. The 2012 s factory fire at Tazreen Fashions and the 2013 s collapse of the Rana Plaza made a great concern about the working conditions and labour related issues in the Readymade Garment (RMG) industry in Bangladesh, and led to the adoption of the multi-stakeholder agreements Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh (Accord) at the international level and the National Tripartite Plan of Action (NTPA) at the domestic level. The tenure of Accord will complete in the next year, according to the agreement. However, the sudden announcement of its time extension, before completing fixed five-year tenure, has really shocked the Bangladeshi s garment millers as well as the government of the country. Describing the decision of time extension of the Accord in Bangladesh as unilateral, Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed told, The signatories could have discussed (it) with the stakeholders before taking such an important decision. The accord s signatories could have sent a proposal to the government. I asked the diplomats to send the extension of the accord as a proposal. We will discuss the proposal and then take the decision. The diplomats included US Ambassador Marcia Bernicat, Canadian High Commissioner Benoît-Pierre Laramée and the EU Ambassador Pierre Mayaudon. They declined to comment, he added. IndustriALL Global Union and UNI Global Union announced a three-year new agreement at the OECD Global Forum on Responsible Business Conduct in Paris, which held was on 29 and 30 June. The leading fashion brands are redoubling their commitments to responsible global supply chains by entering into a new Accord with global trade unions, according to a statement. Local garment manufacturers, RMG industry experts and government described it as unilateral announcement, which was not expectable by them. Garments millers said they had hoped that the signatories of the new agreement would include the government and BGMEA in the executive body of the Accord. However, this has not happened. Number of industrial accident significantly been reduced in the garment sector since the Rana Plaza building collapse because of strong inspection, remediation and monitoring by the experts of the European-led Accord and the North Americanled Alliance. However, it is a great concern that the millions of workers will be handled by the Accord, as it will work on freedom of association and improvement of labour rights. According to the new announcement, the new Accord also adds new worker protections. Valter Sanches, General-Secretary of the IndustriALL, said in a statement, The Accord can be expanded to other sectors, and as worker representatives, we urge you to acknowledge the new Accord s significance as an important step towards responsible global supply chains. AK Azad, Managing Director of Ha-Meem Group, a leading garment exporter, recently said, The Accord has done excellent work in the first phase as buildings are safe now thanks to its intensive inspection, remediation and monitoring. However, we don t want the extension of the Accord in case freedom of association as it is an internal issue of Bangladesh. However, local factory owners say proper implementation of the amended labour law would protect the workers rights and the local union leaders would play a vital role in formation of trade unions at factory level and in ensuring freedom of association. They called for strengthening of the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments (DIFE) and the Remediation Coordination Cell (RCC) for fortifying workplace safety and better labour rights Trend forecaster MintModa and colour leader Archroma join hands Fashion forecaster MintModa and Archroma, a global leader in colour and speciality chemicals, announce a new strategic partnership leveraging the respective strengths of both companies in colour creativity. Combining Archroma s scientific colour expertise with MintModa s clear, narrativedriven colour forecasts provides fashion and design-related industries with an actionable and trend-right colour resource. Launched last year, Colour Atlas by Archroma offers 4,320 new shades, extending their custom colour business with a readily available, time-efficient colour management system. MintModa s ColoRevolution offers highly-curated colour analysis and direction on its cloud-based subscription trend service. Because colour plays a starring role in the visual language of social media, carefully chosen palettes are essential for capturing a new generation of connected consumers. People today are constantly exposed to a barrage of vibrant media on multiple devices. The customer is now visually sophisticated, a voracious consumer of ever-changing images depicting highly-styled products, places and people, states MintModa Founder and Creative Director Sharon Graubard. The emotional draw of colour, hardwired into humans, becomes an ever-more powerful marketing tool. The Color Atlas by Archroma represents a true labour of love, said Chris Hipps, Global Director, Archroma Colour Management. The idea is to offer our customers options they never dreamed of. We resonate with MintModa s progressive, focused approach. In fact, we met because they were searching for a specific shade of blue and couldn t find it elsewhere. This level of colour curation dovetails with our passionate drive and relentless commitment towards excellence. We were looking for a truly advanced colour service that would offer the widest possible range of colour so that we could capture those nuances in our trend forecasts, and Archroma is that, added Graubard. Both companies will be showing July at Première Vision NY, in Manhattan. Archroma with be at Booth i20 and MintModa will be at g24 34 APPAREL VIEWS / JULY 2017

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36 Rajdhani Creations installs Durst machines to cater to increasing market demand Established in the year 2007, Rajdhani Creations Pvt. Ltd., is engaged in rendering services for digital printing of fabrics and have the expertise to electronically create an exact reproduction of the most complexed original artwork under the guidance of Ved Saraogi (Chairman), and Shashank Saraogi (Managing Director), of Rajdhani Creations Pvt. Ltd. & Code of Designs Pvt. Ltd. (Sister concern of Rajdhani Creations Private Limited). The company has occupied a commendable position in the market of reactive as well as sublimation prints. Ved Saraogi, Chairman Rajdhani Creations Pvt. Ltd. Dr. Rajiv Verma, MD Durst Image Technology India Pvt. Ltd. The organisation is well-equipped with the latest digital fabric print technology and state-of the-art and has the complete facilities, under one roof, to cater to any digital printing requirement. The designers and textile experts of the company works round the clock, in close coordination with the clients, to ensure excellent services, to its esteemed clients at all times. In the year 2016, Rajdhani Creations decided to increase its production capacity, to meet the exporters requirement of 90,000 mtr within one month, as in the previous scenario it was difficult to achieve this target in such a short duration of time. Therefore, the company decided to install the latest and updated printing machines, which helps it to meet the increased market demand, early delivery of work orders. To increase the production capacity we came into the contact of Dr. Verma, Managing Director of Durst Image Technology India Pvt. Ltd., and found him quite assuring and a person of word. We got entire support, technical as well as of raw material, in procurement, installation, smooth running and after-sale-services. Durst machine with a printing capacity of 5,000 mtr per day, which is first of its kind, was installed at our factory premises in Gurugram, Haryana, said Ved Saraogi, Chairman, Rajdhani Creations (P) Ltd. & Code of Designs (P) Ltd. Durst is the world-leading manufacturer of advanced digital production technologies. Also Durst is the first choice and a preferred partner in transformation and digitization of industrial production processes. Durst has a history of 80 years, where the values are focused on innovation, customer orientation, sustainability and quality. In India, Rajdhani Creations (P) Ltd. Gurgaon unit will be the official demo center of Durst Image Technology India Pvt. Ltd. While speaking over the same, Dr. Rajiv Verma, CEO of Durst Image Technology India said, Last year we started our association with Rajdhani Creations Pvt. Ltd. & Code Shashank Saraogi, MD Rajdhani Creations Pvt. Ltd. Direct printing on fabric with reactive ink Sublimation printing 36 APPAREL VIEWS / JULY 2017

37 Post treatment Design Studio of Designs Pvt. Ltd. by installing our Rhotex 180TR, and Alpha190 Reactive Machines at their plant, with an agreement, that we will use their factory premises for demonstration of Drust Machine as well as development of technical aspects for the marketing which will be more convenient to our customers. Till now the response has been very good as many of our customers have started visiting the premises to see the machines. In fact, after this set-up we have already installed two machines in Manesar, and two machines are going to be installed in Surat and Ahmedabad. The plant in Surat will also be used as Durst s demo center. When commenting on the high speed machines not being much popular among Indian customers, he said, Earlier people were little hesitant about going for high speed machines as they were mainly going for mid segment machines, and it takes some time for customers to accept such fast technologies. I feel they are still scared and not very confident on the high speed machinery. Their main concern is in case of crushing of machine heads, high cost of heads and other raw material issues make them very uncomfortable; moreover they always try to compare digital with rotary printing. They don t see the convenience in digital printing that one can do small lots very fast, changeover the designs very quickly and can go for on time deliveries. Of course digital printing machines are eco-friendly technologies, which is the need of the hour. Our target is to bring this machine into main stream with customers. For this they can also try and run their samples at the demo center, which is now within their reach. When asked about their experience of using Durst technology, Rajdhani Creations (P) Ltd. s Managing Director, Shashank Saraogi said, After using Durst machines for more than one-and-a-half years, we have found that the machines satisfactory as performances were very good. Speaking over the future of digital printing market, he said, Digital printing is going to grow 110 per cent in future. It is an absolutely green technology, the ink that it uses has no chemicals so even washing and other things we are doing are minimal as compared to block printing or screen printing. There are lots of restrictions coming up on these units like ETP, sampling cost being very high etc. Besides, when an exporter makes catalogue for their customers using screen printing methods or somewhere else, it costs them very high. But it becomes easier with a digital printing machine in an eco-friendly way within a very short span of time. In fact our company has plans to go for bigger size machines in future as presently we can print up to 76 inches only and want to go for larger width machines for catering the growing demand of home textiles segment APPAREL VIEWS / JULY

38 Japan recycling old clothes to make fuel When Michihiko Iwamoto worked for a trading house specialising in textiles, he became involved in producing work clothes with threads made from PET bottles. This got him thinking, why not circulate everything by returning all used items to their original State and putting them into new products to sell. Ten years ago, Iwamoto Co-Founded Japan Environment Planning (Jeplan Inc.), a venture company to promote recycling. The key to Jeplan s business is maintaining Iwamoto s philosophy to circulate everything, while keeping enjoyment in mind. The firm, based in Tokyo, has expanded its business and is generating interest among the public thanks to its eye-catching projects, such as creating a replica of the garbage-powered time machine car that appeared in the 1985 US mega-hit film Back to the Future. Iwamoto, now the firm s Chairman, was formerly a sales promotion staff member at a textile trading house. He began to tackle recycling in earnest after Japan s Containers and Packaging Recycling Law took effect in The law stipulates the roles of consumers, businesses and municipalities in decreasing the volume of containers and packaging, which accounts for about 60 per cent of household garbage, according to the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. Consumers sort their refuse into bottles, cans, PET bottles and other items. Municipalities collect the garbage, which businesses then produce new products from. Iwamoto realised that the participation of several companies would be necessary to achieve his vision. Yet major companies hesitated to become involved in projects they deemed too risky, so he began to think about founding a company on his own. At that time, Iwamoto met Masaki Takao, then a graduate student at the University of Tokyo, who was majoring in technology and management. In those days, bioethanol was starting to attract increasing attention. Takao was sure that it was technologically feasible to produce ethanol from cotton, one of the major raw materials in clothing. The idea behind Jeplan was born. Many years have passed since the concept of a resource-circulating society was developed. Yet concrete progress towards this model is making too little headway, according to Iwamoto. It s because people are tackling the issue from different angles, he says. If Jeplan is successful in circulating everything and, as a result, shows its overall contribution even on a small-scale, people will easily understand what they are doing and have an incentive to participate, he explains. One example Jeplan has taken is clothing. UNEP reports that fashion feeds a growing industry and ranks textile and clothing as the world s second-biggest economic activity for intensity of trade ($353 bn in 2001). Of the world s textile products, 60 per cent are made of polyester and 30 per cent come from cotton. The environmental costs for the production of these textiles are huge, yet only a very small percentage of used clothing currently gets recycled. Jeplan places collection boxes in retail outlets, and consumers drop off clothing there for recycling. This used clothing is sent to the firm s factories in Imabari, Ehime Prefecture. There cottons are reborn as ethanol, used as an energy source. Polyester has so far been processed at the factory of a cooperative company for recycling. However, Jeplan is scheduled to complete its own factory in Kita- Kyushu this year to recycle polyester. It was not an easy road until retailers eventually agreed to put collection boxes in their outlets. As the project was unprecedented, it was difficult to obtain their understanding. It took nearly two years for Jeplan to acquire the first agreement, which came from the retailer Ryohin Keikaku Co., which trades under the name Muji. Since then, however, the number of retailers that have already set up collection boxes in their stores (or have agreed to do so shortly) has increased to 70. Jeplan is not only processing products for recycling but is also developing new products. One is an umbrella whose plastic components are strong and replaceable. The concept of this product is, Let s use it enjoyably, by replacing the plastic parts. The stance of tackling projects enjoyably can be seen throughout Jeplan s activities. Inspired by the movie, Back to the Future - in which a car that runs on garbage transports passengers from 1985 to Iwamoto directly negotiated with Hollywood companies and succeeded in conducting a joint project with NBC Universal. He purchased a DeLorean automobile to replicate the vehicle in the movie. On October 21, the destination date of the time-travel trip depicted in the second film in the series - Iwamoto held an event to drive the DeLorean on ethanol made from T-shirts. Prior to the event, he toured the country with a caravan featuring the famed car. He allowed people to climb in the DeLorean to be photographed on the condition that they donated old T-shirts- to be used as fuel for the car- and was so successful that he amassed the number of T-shirts that are usually collected in an entire year in less than three months. From the collection and recycling of used materials to the development of new products and the staging of events, Jeplan s unique ideas for circulating everything are continuing to grow 38 APPAREL VIEWS / JULY 2017

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40 Classify the fault Defects in garment manufacturing MAUSMI AMBASTHA Founder and COO of ThreadSol. Winner of the esteemed Grace Hopper Celebrations Entrepreneur Quest 2013, is an established expert in the garment industry with over 10 years of experience. Mausmi holds a Masters degree in Fashion Technology from NIFT, Delhi and is also B.Tech in Computer Science. She has written over 15 publications for several leading apparel magazines and also writes her own apparel blog called StitchDiary. In our defects article series, we have so far covered the defects occurring in knitted and woven fabrics and also in embroidery. Now, we are going to take up the defects that occur in our final garments, and how can we control or correct them. Garment defects can be caused due to the use of defective fabric, workmanship defects and handling defects, and due to the defects in the trims and accessories being used in the garment. Fabric defects Part of the defects occurring in the final garment could be caused due to the defects in the fabric being used. In our previous articles we have discussed the defects that can occur in knitted and woven fabrics, their causes and possible remedies in depth. Workmanship & handling defects Garment manufacturing is a long process compromising of various stages, pattern making, spreading, cutting, sewing and finishing. Hence, defects can creep in any of or all of these stages, so we need to stay vigilant at each of these stages to ensure the desired quality of the final garment. There are a variety of workmanship and handling defects that occur commonly in garments: Pattern stage: There are various defects in patterns that mar the garment quality. At times patterns or parts of the patterns can be missing from the marker, or if the marker wasn t correctly labelled, we can end up with mixed garment parts, which can lead to garments with wrong size of parts. In napped fabrics, if patterns are not facing the right direction, garment design can be compromised. Pattern not properly aligned to fabric s grain line, or poor line definition can lead to inaccurate cutting. Skimpy marking to better utilise the fabric by not using the patterns outside edge for cutting, or moving pattern to squeeze into smaller spaces, can lead to patterns with worn out edges or faulty and wrong sized parts, which leads to puckering or pleating when the garment parts are sewn together as they are not of correct sizes. Missing or displaced notches and drill marks, not enough knife clearance, wrong check matching, or wrong check boxing, all can hamper the quality of the final garment. Spreading stage: Narrow fabric lay, misaligned plies, or not enough plies, all can lead to missing bits in the garment parts. Incorrect ply tension leads to size variations in the parts. Also, while spreading, incorrect ply direction, splicing errors, distortion in lay due to static between plies can lead to incorrect cutting, especially if the fabric has checks or stripes. Cutting stage: Failure to precisely follow the marker lines, leaning straight knife while cutting, using round knife on a considerably high speed, misplaced or incorrect notches and drill marks, frayed or fused edges due to blunt knife, faulty marker placement, etc. lead to distorted garment parts or missing bits which leads to quality issues at later stages. Some of the defects that occur due to faulty workmanship and handling are: Shade variation Causes Shade variation in fabric Parts mixing Remedies Fabric inspection and quality monitoring Proper numbering and bundling processes Seam puckering: Bunching of fabric in a seam is seam puckering Causes High thread tension Faulty fabric feeding Using wrong thread and/or needle Remedies Maintain proper thread tension while sewing Fabric should be fed through the machine at a constant rate Choosing appropriate needle and thread thickness as per the fabric requirements Open or broken seams: Openings or unstitched parts in seams 40 APPAREL VIEWS / JULY 2017

41 Causes Faulty sewing practices Remedies Ensuring the garments are folded property and pressure is not being applied on seams Proper sewing operator training Misaligned buttons and buttonholes Broken stitches Causes Improper thread feed to machine Incorrect thread tension Abrasive handling of the piece Remedies Training workers to handle the garment properly Thread trimming should not be done aggressively Manage the thread feed and tension Skipped stitches: Irregular stitches along the seam Causes Error made by the machine operator Remedies Internal QC checks Operators should be aware of the design and dimension specifications Untrimmed threads: Extra lose thread appearing along the seam Remedies Internal QC checks Good quality trims Wrong trim: The trim used differs in colour or size, or might be missing when compared against the buyer s specification Causes Use of bent needles Incorrect tension in sewing and bobbin thread Remedies Use reinforced needles Set the needle guard to ensure needle clearance Manage thread tension Select proper thread twist and thickness Wavy seam: Wavy Seam occurs when the seam is not straight Causes Rough handling when cutting and sewing Tension applied on part while sewing is high Wrong needle size Remedies Ensure proper material handling Train operator to not pull excessively while cutting or sewing Choose the correct needle size Causes Tail ends left untrimmed post sewing Remedies Trim the threads using clipper or trimmer Out of tolerance sizing: The dimensions or measurements of the garment parts are not within the tolerance limits defined by the buyer Causes Cutting and sewing operators having incorrect information Remedies Ensure the operators have the dimension specifications Ensure correct pattern making Inspect first piece form every size in an order Trims & accessory defects At times the use of wrong colour or size of trims or embroidery or wrong placement of the same can also make the garment defective. The defects that can appear in embroidery have been discussed in depth in our previous article of this series Embroidery defects. Other than embroidery defects some of the other commonly occurring trim defects are: Broken trim: Use of broken or inoperable trim or if the trim is insecure Causes Rough trim handling Rushing through production process Causes Rough trim handling Rushing through production process Remedies Internal QC checks Good quality trims Trim bleeding Causes Trim quality not as per specification Garment finishing not appropriate Remedies Internal QC checks Good quality trims Garment label should contain care instructions Garment finishing should follow the manufacturer s care instructions for trim With the knowledge of the commonly occurring defects and their causes and remedies we can take measures to alleviate the risks of quality fallouts in our orders. Keeping the above pointers in mind, we can align the quality inspection process in our factories to produce quality output APPAREL VIEWS / JULY

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44 Indian Yarn & Fabric industry Optimistic about future growth The textile industry is the largest industry of modern India. The industry accounts for 14 per cent of the total industrial production, contributes to nearly 30 per cent of the total exports and is the second largest employment generator after agriculture. Our economy is largely dependent on the textile manufacturing and trade in addition to other major industries. About 27 per cent of the foreign exchange earnings are on account of export of textiles and clothing alone. Around 8 per cent of the total excise revenue collection is contributed by the textile industry. So much so, the textile industry accounts for as large as 21 per cent of the total employment generated in the economy. Around 35 mn people are directly employed in the textile manufacturing activities. Indirect employment including the manpower engaged in agricultural based raw-material production like cotton and related trade and handling could be stated to be around another 60 mn. The structure of the textile industry is extremely complex with the modern, sophisticated and highly mechanized mill sector on the one hand and the handspinning and handweaving (handloom) sector on the other. Between the two falls the small-scale powerloom sector. Over the years, the government has granted a whole range of concessions to the non-mill sector as a result of which the share of the decentralised sector has increased considerably in the total production. Of the two sub-sectors of the decentralised sector, the powerloom sector has shown the faster rate of growth. In the production of fabrics the decentralised sector accounts for roughly 94 per cent while the mill sector has a share of only 6 per cent. 44 APPAREL VIEWS / JULY 2017

45 Fabric industry dimensions The Indian fabric industry is currently estimated at a whopping figure of $108 bn and is likely to reach around $223 bn by The industry is one of the highest yielding industries of the nation and contributes approximately 5 per cent to India s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). A recent study shows that the Indian fabric industry has the potential to surpass the $500 bn mark. Textile is also India s dominant export good and the country has been exporting fabric and other industry related goods since ages. The current textile exports of the country stood at $40 bn. The Indian textile industry has the capacity to produce a wide variety of products suitable to different market segments, both within India and across the world. The study also forecasts a humongous rise in domestic sales to $315 bn. from currently $68 bn. and a rapid increase in the exports to $185 bn. from currently $41 bn. in the upcoming few years. Even at a glance India s textile future looks quite secure as Asian peninsula is among leading producers of the major fibres in the world. India s fabric industry revolves around cotton as India is the second largest cotton producer in the world and 60 per cent of industry is also cotton based. India exports cotton fabrics majorly to Japan, United States, United Kingdom, Russia, France, Nepal, Singapore, Sri Lanka and other countries. Even though India has largest share in the world trade of cotton yarn but its trade in garments is only 4 per cent of the world's total. Current status ofspinning industry Spinning mills that were facing a problem during the first half of FY17 due to rising prices of cotton are soon set to see a U-turn in their fortunes. In the last two months, news of good monsoon, higher acreage under cotton cultivation and better output expected for the season are harbingers of stable, if not higher profitability. From April to November 2016, cotton prices (Sankar-6 variety) soared from `90 per kg to around `140 per kg. Lower crop and tight inventory levels fuelled prices in the domestic market. Meanwhile, news of China s lower stock inventory led to hope that China s cotton imports will resume again. This too supported the high cotton prices. Spinning mills therefore bore the brunt of the high prices impacting operating margins during the last two quarters. Profitability was squeezed, as a result, of the twin problems of flat revenue growth and high input costs. The average operating margin after peaking at 15.4 per cent in the September 2016 quarter, dropped to 12.8 per cent in the December quarter and further to 11 per cent in the March 2017 quarter. But softer cotton prices in the last two months bring hope for mills. Will it sustain? Industry experts forecast a 10 per cent increase in acreage in the season after a similar decline in the previous season. Also, international prices are unlikely to firm up given the robust harvest in United States of America and also Australia. Domestic prices being linked to global indicators, they should therefore stay soft in the coming months. The key, however, is for yarn demand to increase. India s total yarn production declined to a five-year low in FY2017. The demand from mills was weak during 2016 primarily due to a steep decline in cotton yarn exports (due to weak Chinese imports), which comprises a third of the country s output. Although exports have revived in the last few months, analysts believe that it is insufficient to offset the steep decline earlier. Mills are also hopeful of higher off take by domestic fabric weavers given the festive season ahead and the pent-up demand following a near freeze in off take due to demonetisation and the uncertainty linked to the new goods and services tax (GST).Meanwhile, there is not much hope for mills in terms of realization on sales as yarn prices are expected to be range bound given moderate utilization levels and soft input (cotton) prices. ICRA forecasts profitability of spinners to remain range-bound at a modest level sustained during the past three years. Meanwhile, although the 5 per cent GST is a welcome step for the cotton textile industry, issues and costs related to compliance may lead to disruption in the supply chain for some more quarters, given the small and medium scale nature of spinners and weavers. A true picture on operating performance would be seen only from the second half of FY2018. Government Policies Many initiatives were announced in the Union Budget The Central Govt. has adopted a number of export promotion policies for the textile sector. It has Meanwhile, the size of India's textile market is expected to touch $250 bn in the next two years from $150 bn now. We see tremendous growth potential for the textile industry and it is expected to touch $250 bn in the next two years from the present $150 bn. The domestic market is (currently) estimated at $110 bn and exports at $40 bn. also allowed 100 per cent FDI in the sector under the automatic route. Govt. is also focusing on upgrading labour skills by allocating $330 mn. The Government of India plans to introduce a mega package for the power loom sector, which will include social welfare schemes, insurance cover, cluster development, and upgradation of obsolete looms, along with tax benefits and marketing support, which is expected to improve the status of power loom weavers in the country. Govt. is also encouraging new entrepreneurs to invest in sectors such as knitwear by increasing allocation of funds to Mudra Bank from $20.4 bn. to $36.6 bn.the government of India has implemented several export promotion measures such as: Specified technical textile products are covered under Focus Product Scheme. Under this scheme, exports of these products are entitled for duty credit scrip equivalent to 2 per cent of freight on board (FOB) value of exports Under the Market Access Initiative (MAI) Scheme, financial assistance is provided for export promotion activities on focus countries and focus product countries Under the Market Development Assistance (MDA) Scheme, financial assistance is provided for a range of export promotion activities implemented by textiles export promotion councils. Meanwhile, the recent govt. s decision of implementation of GST overall looks good for textiles in long run subject to restriction on movement of goods and refund process work smoothly. In case of exports it will have negative impact in terms of reduction in duty drawback rates, ROSL scheme announced on the same rates for 3 months but no more a support providing model, Merchandise Exports from India Scheme is continue but restriction to use it only in basic customs duty have reduced the value by 20 per cent. In case of apparel exports competition is global and export will have impact due to reduction in incentives. Further there will be more requirement of working capital now. Further putting job work under tax net and carrying rate of 18 per cent will be undue hardship. Now even job wok of cotton will attract 18 per cent GST if it is a related process of apparel. Example, garment sewing will now falls under 18 per cent GST. Government should look into incentives to keep Indian apparel industry globally competitive. Future outlook The domestic market for apparel and lifestyle products, currently estimated at $85 bn, is expected to reach $160 bn by This growth will be driven by the rising middle class. The government's industry-friendly initiatives like repealing of 1,200 "outdated laws" and carrying out 7,000 reforms have resulted in India becoming a preferred investment destination. The textiles industry has a pivotal position in the Indian economy. It is strong and competitive across the value chain. India has an abundant supply of raw material like wool, cotton, silk, jute and man-made fibre. In addition, India has strong spinning, weaving, knitting and apparel manufacturing capacities. Young, skilled labour is available at a reasonable cost. Meanwhile, the size of India's textile market is expected to touch $250 bn in the next two years from $150 bn now. We see tremendous growth potential for the textile industry and it is expected to touch $250 bn in the next two years from the present $150 bn. The domestic market is (currently) estimated at $110 bn and exports at $40 bn. Various schemes have been launched, not only to upgrade technology but also to extend financial aid, to the sector. The capital investment subsidy announced by the Centre has been introduced in segments like weaving, garment, technical textile and made up, which has helped the sector.the govt. is also looking at modernising the machines and trying to add state-of-the-art facilities, which will APPAREL VIEWS / JULY

46 help the sector. In addition, the government announced `6,000-cr special packages for the industry last year. Rebates on State levies have been introduced to encourage exports. There is an additional 10 per cent subsidy for the garment and made up segments, which means the home textile industry will get an effective 25 per cent capital investment subsidy on the new machines they bring in, leading to efficiency and modernisation of the sector. Subsidies have proved to be very beneficial for the sector and led to increases in employment and attracted huge investments. The textile industry needs to utilise the various schemes launched by the government for the benefit of customers. Besides, India needs to invest in research and development to develop new products, reduce transaction costs, reduce per unit costs, and finally, improve its raw material base. India needs to move from the lower-end markets to middle level value-for-money markets and export high value-added products of international standard. Thus the industry should diversify in design to ensure quality output and technological advancement. India has made little attempt to forge partnerships in equity, technology and distribution in overseas markets. The newer nuances of global apparel trade demand joint control of brand positioning, distributing and quality assurance systems. A great deal of work has been done by Indian trade and industry to comply with ecological and environmental regulations, and so Indian garments can adopt an appropriate label signifying a distinct quality. Efficiency and output of handloom and powerloom sectors also needs to be increased. The clothing sector needs the support of high quality and cost-effective cloth processing facilities. Modernisation of mills is a must. Human resource is another area of focus. The workforce must be trained and oriented towards high productivity. The business environment of the future will be intensely competitive. Countries will want their own interests to be safeguarded. As tariffs tumble, non-tariff barriers should be adopted. New consumer demands and expectations coupled with new techniques in the market will add a new dimension. E-commerce will unleash new possibilities. This will demand a new mindset to eliminate wastes, delays, and avoidable transaction costs. Effective entrepreneur-friendly institutional support will need to be extended by the government, business and umbrella organisations. Period Production of Man-made Fibre, Filament Yarn, Spun Yarn and Cloth Manmade fibre Manmade filament yarn Cotton yarn Blended & 100% Noncotton yarn Total Spun Yarn Cloth Mill sector Decentralized sector Grand Total (Exc. Khadi, Wool & Silk) Kg Kg Kg Kg Kg Sq.mtr Sq.mtr Sq.mtr (P) (P) (Apr.) (P) (Apr.) % Variation over (Figures in million) (P) Provisional Man-made fibre production decreased by 2.2% and filament yarn production increased by 6% during April, as compared to same period of the previous year. Cotton yarn production increased by 1.2% during April, Blended and 100% non-cotton yarn production increased by 4.7% during the year Cloth production by mill sector decreased by about 7.7% during April, The cloth production by decentralized sector increased marginally by 0.6% during April, as compared to same period of the previous year.the total cloth production during. April, has also increased marginally by 0.3% compared to same period of the previous year. Major growth drivers for India s textile & clothing industry Higher focus from Govt. of India on manufacturing sector, with textiles being one of the big focus sectors A relatively complete and robust fibre finished product value chain within India Competitive labour & energy costs Strong growth in domestic textile & clothing consumption, driven by multiple factors Major growth inhibitors Lack of globally competitive scale Infrastructural issues leading to bottlenecks in an efficient supply chain Relatively lesser investment in high-value added fabric & non-cotton apparel Inadequate availability of skilled workforce, leading to lower productivity Absence of free trade agreements / preferential duty access with leading importing countries like USA and European Union Production Of Fabrics In Different Sectors (Mn. Sq. Mtrs.) (April - Dec) (P) Item Mill Cotton Blended Man-Made Fibre Fabrics Total Handloom Cotton Blended Man-Made Fibre Fabrics Total Powerloom Cotton Blended Man-Made Fibre Fabrics Total Hosiery Cotton Blended Man-Made Fibre Fabrics Total All Sectors Cotton Blended Man-Made Fibre Fabrics Total Khadi, Wool, Silk. Total APPAREL VIEWS / JULY 2017

47 APPAREL VIEWS / JULY

48 India's Export of Major Textile Items Export Item Unit Quantity Value in Rs. mn % Variation Fibre Cotton Raw Incl. Waste TON Manmade Staple Fibre KGS Silk Raw KGS Wool Raw KGS Silk Waste KGS Sub-total N.A Yarn / Fabrics / Madeups Cotton Yarn TON Cotton Fabrics, Madeups Etc. N.A Natural Silk Yarn, Fabrics, Madeup N.A Manmade Yarn, Fabrics, Madeups N.A Wollen Yarn, Fabrics, Madeups Etc. N.A Other Textile Yarn, Fabrics, Madeups Etc N.A Sub-total N.A RMG RMG Cotton Including Accessories N.A RMG Silk N.A RMG Manmade Fibres N.A RMG Wool N.A RMG of Other Textile Material N.A Sub-total N.A Carpet Carpet (Excl. Silk) Handmade SQM Silk Carpet SQM Sub-total Jute Jute Yarn TON Jute Raw TON Jute Hessian N.A Floor Covering of Jute SQM Other Jute Manufactures N.A Sub-total N.A Other Items Coir & Coir Manufacturers N.A Handicrafts (Excl. Handmade Crfts) N.A Handloom Products N.A Sub-total N.A Grand Total N.A N.A. : Not available The exports of textile items (in US $ terms) in increased by 1% during as compared to corresponding period of the previous year. To know more about the present status of Indian yarn and fabric industry, we interviewed leading players from both the segments. Their views are covered in next few pages. 48 APPAREL VIEWS / JULY 2017

49 Comments from Indian yarn and fabric industry... Sri Narain Aggrawal Chairman, The Synthetic & Rayon Textiles Export Promotion Council Financial year was comparatively better than the previous year. Exports have almost recovered although we have not achieved desired level and there are signs of growth. Exports of Indian manmade fibre and blended textiles were $5, mn in value terms in vs $5, mn in , witnessing a growth of 1.50 per cent. In terms of quantity, exports have registered growth of nearly 5 per cent in compared to the previous year. Last year crude prices were in a downward trend globally and that impacted our exports too. As I understand, Indian spinning sector is also showing signs of pick up. In December 2016, cotton yarn export volume touched a high of mn kg against mn kg during the corresponding month of the earlier year, registering a 50 per cent growth. However, in value terms, the growth was only 20 per cent. Domestic market is doing pretty good for spinning segment in India as compared to exports. A large chunk of investment under TUFS has been done in the spinning sector which is now of world class standard and Indian spinners are maintaining excellent quality. Currently, India has a surplus capacity in the spinning sector which has influenced price of yarns, whereas there has been increase in cotton price thereby putting pressure on the spinners in India. In order to bring this stressed situation under control the spinning sector was likely to consider production cut of 15 per cent for financial year to sustain profit margins. Major challenges faced by the MMF sector in India are increase in global consumption of MMF Textiles, Reconsideration of lower GST rates of the MMF Textiles, Inclusion of all MMF textile items with suitable reward rates in all country, Heavy import of MMF fibres into India. GST rates for the synthetic sector were not in the desired lines. The MMF textile industry has been pleading for a GST rate which is uniform and lower to give a big push to the entire textiles sector for enhancing growth and exports. For a prosperous textile industry in India, the SRTEPC had suggested the following: A Single GST rate for all the fibres; A Seamless GST rate for all products right from fibre to apparels; Lowest GST rates; The entire MMF textile industry is disappointed with the higher GST of 18 per cent for its raw materials like fibre and yarn, which has resulted in high cost for the fabrics and apparels made of the synthetic textiles. This will lead to higher imports of cheap fabrics from China etc. resulting in de-growth and closing of many manufacturing units particularly in the SME sector which operate on small margins. This will also lead to increase in cost of MMF fabrics and made ups in case of exports. MMF textile industry is of the view that the lack of uniformity in the GST rates for the textile sector has adversely affected the growth sentiments and has dragged exports and growth negatively affecting employment generation. The issue of not allowing refund of accumulated credit for textiles sector has affected the entire processing, embroidery and job works segments also, which is the weakest link in the entire textile value chain. The high rate of GST on raw materials at 18 per cent, and that of fabrics at 5 per cent, so while sales, one has to forgo the accumulated credit, which is a huge loss and shall indirectly add to the cost of product being sold. This will result MMF fabrics becoming uncompetitive, and further affecting domestic fabrics production, which is already reeling under the huge import from competitors like China etc. In the present GST regime the MMF textile industry would be facing a huge loss due to nonrefundable accumulated ITC and higher cost of fabrics, and burden of income tax to the industry. Purushottam K Vanga Chairman, Powerloom Development and Export Promotion Council The Indian textile industry is one of its kinds in the world. Here we can see that from hand woven fabrics to powerloom fabrics both exist, from cotton to synthetic almost all fibre base exist. As the culture of India is varied so do the Indian textile industry where traditional craft is surviving alongwith industrial products. The fabric production in India is dived majorly between mills, powerlooms, handlooms and hosiery. Powerloom sector is producing fabrics of various origin like cotton, polyester, blended, grieg etc. and made-ups like bed linen, kitchen linen etc. Powerloom is mainly a decentralised sector, but contributing major share in production of fabrics and its export from India. About 57 per cent of the total fabric production is shared by powerloom and about 60 per cent of the fabric meant for export is sourced from powerloom sector. The export of poweloom products from past few decades is more or less on a growth track. Currently Bangladesh, UAE, Sri Lanka, USA, Korea, are main destinations for export of fabrics. For made-ups the US, UK, Germany, France, Sweden and other European countries offers good potential for export. As the manufacturing is getting closed almost in European nations, it offers good scope for expanding the market there. Also as we are aware mostly now the garment manufacturing has shifted to Asian countries, thus fabric export to these countries are grown and thus offers scope of further expansion here. Though of course India faces a stiff competition from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Turkey in textile export, still I would say that India is being able to create its own brand value among the global players. India is among the top exporting country for textiles and clothing. It is having a good base of raw cotton production, sufficient spinning capacity, skilled labour and also whole supply chain is available here, which serves as an advantage. To remain globally competitive any country would require favourable trade policies and domestic environment, good raw material base, infrastructure facility, technology upgradation, R&D facility and socially secure environment. Indian powerloom sector is progressing towards all these with the help of government support and intervention by the industry stakeholders. To be competitive one of the major factor is advancement in technology. Efforts from govt. side and industry have been taken to upgrade the plain powerlooms to automatic/shuttleless looms. Many of the big clusters of powerloom are now having Hi-tech looms like Ichalkaranji, Surat, and Erode etc. Most of the upgradation is being done under the scheme TUFS. Alongwith technological development skilled manpower is also required. The availability of cheap labour in India gives an added advantage and at the same time to produce export quality products and be globally competitive, Govt. of India is taking many initiatives to promote skill development training of work force. Also R&D sector in the field of powerloom needs improvement so that we are not dependent on imports and can get cost effective machinery and other production facility in home. Thus the growth of this sector is an amalgamation of various factors as stated above and I am hopeful that India will be a global leader in the field of textiles as was earlier. India is having a good raw material base. It is one of the largest producer of cotton and thus not dependent on import. But the price fluctuation of raw material creates a problem for further processing of it to end material. To be competitive globally, Indian exporters require marketing support. Govt. support is required for aggressive marketing for expansion of international trade and exploring emerging markets. Cost of Finance is a major hurdle in offering competitive rate by Indian exporters in international market. Thus Banks/Financial Institutes should extend full support to SME sector. Common Facility Centre should be established in each powerloom cluster. Anti-Dumping Duty should be imposed on fabrics so that cheaper import of fabrics from other countries, especially China hampering the domestic fabric industry can be controlled. APPAREL VIEWS / JULY

50 Vijay Puniyani Sr. Vice President Vardhman Textiles Limited The current scenario of Indian spinning is very bad. In last three years a lot of new capacities have been installed by existing and new entrants into the market. This had been a primary reason behind creating excess capacity problem. Exports of yarns, which in was 120 mn, was 100 mn, has come down to 50 mn in March June Exports of cotton to world market has drastically reduced, reason being China diverting it sourcing to Vietnam, Bangladesh and Pakistan. This has created lots of pressure & surplus capacity story. Due to this a lot of smaller units and medium scale units are struggling to sale their production and are suffering huge cash losses. If this situation continues many smaller units will die. Demand in the exports market is reducing and domestic market is unable to absorb the surplus production for last four years. We hope in coming few years our country s exports resume again and everything gets stabilised. As far as our company is concerned, we are also suffering but because of our variety offered, we are able to sustain. Moreover, to tackle this situation, we have increased our weaving capacities and converted commodity producing to value added yarns. We also have huge diversified customers base both in India and abroad. However, despite of all this our profitability has also reduced. Our current production capacity is 1.1 mn spindles, and we are the largest one in India to produce 600 tonne yarn daily. Out of this approximately 1/3rd is captive, 1/3rd is exported, and 1/ 3rd is consumed by domestic market. In we are definitely not planning to expand our production but continue more value addition and modernization of our plants. Durai Palanisamy Director, Pallavaa Group Fabric mills, the construction is increasing as few new players are entering and lots of existing players are increasing their capacities. GST will create a new change especially for the man-made fibre industry. There are two major challenges that the textiles industry is facing today. In one way problem is due to inverted duty structure in terms of raw material. It creates a lot of competition between small, medium and large scale weavers. As those large mills with technical mechanism will have more advantage over power loom people who don t have these mechanisms so they will ultimately suffer in future. Besides, there was 18 per cent duty on imports which now have been replaced by 5 per cent GST, so there will be a big challenge for domestic weaving industry to compete with those imported. The govt. should take initiatives in terms of policies to protect domestic weaving industry. So, having a uniform duty structure like cotton will help the manmade fibre industry. GST is the best thing that has happened to our country but these issues have to be sorted out so that industry could benefit out of it completely. These days a lot of new concepts are moving towards man-made synthetic fibre industry. Due to increasing demand of manmade fibres, cotton is going to be under pressure in future. India has enough competitiveness to compete globally as we have enough tools with proper policies. But the govt. should make more industry friendly policies for betterment of the industry. E.g. Interest subvention is given to few sectors only, what about the other sectors. They should be more responsive to the industry and address its requirements as soon as possible. Our main concern is that challenges that have come up due to GST, so govt. should bring out some solution for the same. As far as our company is concerned, we have capacity close to 10 mn mtr per month. Out of this 20 per cent is exported and rest is consumed domestically. free exports) & huge vertical set-up. Vasudeo Tipre GM-Export Suryalakshmi Cotton Mills Ltd Most of the fabric mills in India are currently facing teething issues in understanding impact of GST. Once things are streamlined & well understood by the entire value chain; hopefully we will see renewed buoyancy in the domestic markets. When it comes to competition from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Turkey, I think Turkey is in a different league and hence can t be considered as a competition. For Indian mills, the real competition is from Bangladesh & Pakistan. In both these countries, the major advantages vis-a-vis India are: Favourable exchange rate, special trade agreements with Europe (duty For Indian mills, the strategy to mitigate the competition is to constantly work on fabric innovation. In order to build competitive advantage, it will be imperative to have quicker lead time & to maintain efficiency in production with minimum rejections. For strengthening the industry, government could support in three major areas, Infrastructure (Soft & hard), Conducive policies (FTA), offering SOPS (draw-back, TUF schemes etc.) Our company is planning to launch fabrics having multiple fibres. While designing these fabrics, we want to give special attention to shade & softer hand feel. Our current production capacity is 40 mn yards per annum. We currently supply 40 per cent in export markets, 15 per cent in the domestic brands & 45 per cent in other domestic markets. In terms of trends, knit denim continue be in vogue for the domestic markets. New shades like brown, blue & green bottoming looks promising for the upcoming seasons. Light weight, over dyed, with peach finished is been widely appreciated for the ladies wear segments. Sarvesh Kumar Sain GM (Sales & Marketing) Winsome Yarns Ltd was definitely good for all organised sectors in terms of future business opportunities. Two major decision (1-demonetization applied in 2016 & 2 - GST was assured to apply in 2017) was completely in favour of all India economy GDP. There was sudden negative impact on market for short term due to these decisions and shaken complete chain but now all organised sectors will able to see fair competition. In past 2-3 years there are huge no of spindles added but there was no synchronized increase in demand in domestic as well exports. Due to gap in demand & supply, whole spinning industry struggled with low realisation on their product. We are very much positive to increase our mélange capacity by converting our traditional product manufacturing into value added mélange products with lot of innovation in product. We are into value addition at yarn stage which is raw material for apparel industry and still there are lots of scopes to grab the opportunity. Issue is less demand at end product within country where we are not using our major strength which is population. Government moves like "Make in India", "Skill India", One nation one Tax etc. will definitely boost demand within India which will reduce dependency on global market. There is sudden negative impact & agitation from textile industry as well but it will be milestone to improve our GDP due to acceptance of fair working practices. Now all organised industries like us will be having fair competition and expecting fair product realisation. Equalizing benefits in between domestic & export will never boost export so special subsidies is the only way to boost exports. As far as our company is concerned, our product range is in value added mélange yarn where we offer lot of effects yarn & special fibre yarns as part of continuous innovation through R&D. 50 APPAREL VIEWS / JULY 2017

51 Comments from Indian yarn and fabric industry... Shalendra Vasudeva Chief Marketing Officer Indorama Industries Ltd. Currently, the fabric mills are kind of squeezed for margins, due to increase in input raw material cost. Most commonly used textile raw material, cotton has been at prices, higher than the expected level due to various reasons. It s translation into prices of fabric has been a challenge, due to challenged retail sales, part of which is attributed to demonetisation step of Government of India. Currently, there appears a slowdown on account of GST, which got implemented in July. Personally, I see the future to be bright, because of lower effective cost of raw material, which shall soon get translated in the books. There is insatiable desire among youthful Indian population to embrace the fashion and lifestyle product, which shall contribute to the brighter future of over clothing and textile industry of our country. With growing consciousness about our planet and effort to reduce carbon footprints is on. This leads to philosophy of use of greener textiles, which is biodegradable and postconsumer or post-industrial recycled stuff to be used as part of raw material. On functionality part, stretch is currently in vogue and we sincerely hope this trend of functionality to continue. Meanwhile, there has always been competition from countries, which either have abundant availability of raw material, affordable labour or some preferential treatment for access to user countries. Pakistan, Bangladesh and Turkey all fall in either of these categories. The innovation shall take Indian mills ahead. Battle for creamier business would depend on innovation, development and speed of delivery. If not at the moment, but our mills shall make their way to edge past by improving the index of innovation. We expect govt. to reduce and the business should be done on its own merit. India is blessed with very large domestic market, which is a great boon to run a mass scale business. Our company launched 4th generation variant of our spandex polymer, which we call I-400. It is proprietary polymer, which is resistant to chemicals, has high elongation and very high degree of inter filament cohesion. It is very friendly to work with at all levels and provides great protection to INVIYA infused garments after repeated washes. Currently, we have 5,000 mtr of annual capacity and we export less than 10 per cent of our output. However, we are in advanced stage of capacity expansion and shall reach 12,000 mtr of annual capacity by end of We make carded and combed yarn in count range for 20/1 to 50/1 and plus do organic and slub yarn. We export 50 per cent. For the year , we don t have any new expansion plan, just trying to adjust and see how to swim through these rough times was a very bad year as Indian cotton prices went up by 50 per cent in just 3 months while international just moved by 15 to 20 per cent - this impacted exports badly and mills even were under cash loss for a few months. Then demonestisation hit the industry badly is better but GST has put things at a standstill. GST has bought domestic demand to a standstill for last one month. Further post GST, drawback has come down, impacting profitability of the industry mills are struggling at the moment relief is only expected when new cotton season starts from October. GST is a setback to exports, as drawback has been reduced. Further due to removal of CVD, imports have also become cheaper by about 12 per cent. The industry is getting squeezed from both sides. Sanjay Jain MD, TT Ltd Satish K Saraf GM, Best Textiles Ltd We being 100 per cent EOU for various types of yarns & fabrics across globe, and the major share belongs to exports only, have not seen any major changes in demand towards raising curve. China and Indonesia on other side have received tremendous response for the year. The things what lacks us behind is our government strategies on various fields which hamper Indian business in huge. FY 2017 would too be more or less the same. We don't see any major changes or increase in demand due to change in tax reforms recently introduced. Due to new tax reforms recently been introduced in the country, we expect lower demand across the country. Moreover small players seem to be off from the market due to this changing tax structure. With regards to issues faced, we don't foresee any rise on demand with downgraded mechanism by the government. Government needs to concentrate on huge coming out of political reforms if they really are interested for some good news of business from spinning industry. Presently, major of the apparels are being imported into the country which are in demand despite that we have all kinds of resources for in-house production. Further government needs to decide on reducing various duty's and should introduce new incentives for spinners and also regularise costs on labour which is presently on peak. With this newly introduced tax GST, which is quiet complicated though simple as defined; and with numerous filings, our government has forced people to close their units. Textile was the sector where this sector had always been out of tax mode in the past. This newly introduced GST will impact textile business in all sectors in huge. We still request government to reconsider their decisions on this new tax reforms and remove textile sector from various reforms including exports. In exports, we have major issues where the finance loss is expected is from 5-10 per cent in general where drawback and other export incentives have been abolished through modified tax structure. This is going to harm international trade in long run. As far as our company is concerned, we are planning for expansion in denim sectors which we have duly incorporated the same during the last FY; however let's see how does new tax structure helps us gain business! We are very positive of expecting some relief's from the government in the near future. APPAREL VIEWS / JULY

52 Comments from Indian yarn and fabric industry... Arvind Kumar Upadhyay President & COO, Digjam Ltd Indian textile industry plays a pivotal role in the economic performance of the country. India s textiles and apparel products, including handlooms and handicrafts, are exported to more than 100 countries. We need to work that India is not treated as the outsourcing destination anymore! We must establish our own sales and distribution networks internationally to get the better margins & improve the standard of life of our shop floor workers. Multi-national brands draw high margins just by outsourcing from India, whereas we are busy in selling to these brands in a thin margin instead to focus to retail it at desired margin. Not only do we need to invest in textile infrastructure we also need to establish brands in order to capture a greater portion of the value chain. However, in higher value-added industry segments such as fabric and apparel, it has a relatively small share of approx. 4 per cent in the global output. Government of India has great vision to secure higher share in global textile trade and to establish the Indian textile industry as International competitive producer. To achieve the target, Indian textile & apparel Industry and Ministry of Textiles has to work together closely & focus on following areas: To provide the competitive resources to the industries as low cost finance for working capital & availability of low cost energy so as to be most competitive in the global market. (Due to higher lead time to convert the fibre to fashion); To increase investment in advance and fully integrated manufacturing facilities to produce designed quality with minimum cost within shortest lead time. Allocation of funds needs to be increased under TUFS to expedite the investments. To produce value added products with specialised designing & finishes. Currently, Indian exports industry mainly caters to the low to medium price segment of fashion market. There is huge scope to cater in fashion market with higher margins compared to discount segment. Need to restructure the policies to further encourage fabric & garment production and avoid export of low margin raw & semi raw materials. To strengthen strong distribution network up to not only in the global market but also in the domestic market covering small cities / towns and villages, the untouched areas having huge opportunities. Need to facilitate the areas of inhouse production of technologically advanced machineries from fibre to garment. Till than all textile & clothing machineries must be exempted from custom and excise duty. To increase the investment in the areas of Research Centre with world class facilities for the development & production of fine & super fine cotton and wool fibres (yet depending on import), product design developments & textile & clothing manufacturing processes.; Fast & Continuous developments of Human Asset and to retain them; Active & effective participation of expert technocrats in the policy decisions with Government as well as Private Entrepreneurs activities.; Quick attention & response by the govt. for timely action to face the global competitions. The impact of demonetisation exercise carried out by the government in November 2016 has felt negative impact on the textile value chain. However, these causes were transitory in nature. At the same time the implementation of GST is a bold & welcome step which has potential to generate long term benefits in terms of reduced corruption, fair competition, greater digitalised economy, increased financial savings and greater formulisation of the economy which will eventually lead to higher GDP growth, better tax compliance and greater tax revenues. GST rates for all natural fibres, yarn, fabrics & garments valued below `1,000 at five per cent is highly appreciated but 18 per cent GST rate at synthetics fibres & yarn, dyeing, printing, embroidery will lead to increase the input cost & will be uncompetitive, may adversely affect the entire textile value chain. Khagen Kashiwala Managing Director Spinning King (India) Limited Textile industry plays vital role in boosting the economy of the nation. Its 2nd largest industry that contributes approximately 5 per cent to India s GDP, and per cent to overall Index of industrial production. The Indian textile industry has the potential to reach $500 bn in size according to a study by Wazir Advisors and PCI Xylenes & Polyester. The growth implies domestic sales to rise to $315 bn from currently $68 bn. At the same time, exports are implied to increase to $185 bn from approximately $41 bn currently. The Indian textiles industry, currently estimated at around $108 bn, is expected to reach $223 bn by These days export & corporate market is looking for sustainable, eco-friendly & green products e.g. Tanboocel Jigao Bamboo Fibre. There are many new value added fibres, yarns & so on in fabrics too. Apart from regular products i.e. Cotton, Polyester & Viscose (with blends), the value addition in all stages have taken place. In all new fabrics; bamboo & with different blended fabrics are more in demand. As Bamboo is naturally antibacterial, very smooth, odourless (due to anti-bacterial property) breathable fibre, so as fabrics too. Geo textiles, technical textiles, medical textiles are also fast growing segments. There are many application of Plasma technology, supercritical carbon dioxide, ultrasonic waves, electrochemical dyeing, microwave dyeing, organic & natural dyes of textiles are some of the revolutionary ways to advance the textile wet processing. Nowadays, Indian exports have become expensive due to import duty imposed by the other countries. So India has to more focus on value added products, packing & services along with consistent quality. Competition from neighbouring countries will be always in the business; to overcome the same we should develop new technology, new concepts, new ideas to boost business. For further strengthening of this industry, we expect the govt. should do more bilateral agreements with the countries for growth in exports; Increase the exports incentives; Hold seminars to promote textile production upgradation, Collect the reviews quarterly directly from the exporters & manufacturers. We, Spinning King (India) Limited is already indulged into TANBOOCEL- Jigao Bamboo Fibre in Indian market since 2003, we are the pioneer in the market for the same. Now our new inception is Speciality Weavecoats LLP, at Dhamatvan, Tal. Daskroi, Dist., Ahmedabad a fabrics weaving plant. In the beginning we focus 80:20 domestic & exports. Gradually, we want to target export market. Our production will be 5 mn mtr annually. We have planned for 72 Brand new Picanol Summum looms. 24 looms are already in working. Our focus is new value added fabrics for shirting, suiting, Denim etc with Bamboo, linen, Ramie, Hemp, soya, milk, banana etc. 52 APPAREL VIEWS / JULY 2017

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54 Shreyaskar Chaudhary Managing Director Pratibha Syntex Pvt Ltd Cotton spinners in India are considering production cuts during the current financial year to sustain profit margins, which were under pressure due to a sharp increase in the price of cotton over the last few months. Experts estimate an average production cut of 15 per cent for financial year , if the current scenario continues. We too have faced the challenge of increasing price of raw material, nevertheless we are trying to stabilise the situation by innovating and researching on exclusive products, which are cost effective. The recent govt. s decision of implementation of GST overall looks good for textiles in long run subject to restriction on movement of goods and refund process work smoothly. In case of exports it will have negative impact in terms of reduction in duty drawback rates, ROSL scheme announced on the same rates for 3 months but no more a support providing model, Merchandise Exports from India Scheme is continue but restriction to use it only in basic customs duty have reduced the value by 20 per cent. In case of apparel exports competition is global and export will have impact due to reduction in incentives. Further there will be more requirement of working capital now. Further putting job work under tax net and carrying rate of 18 per cent will be undue hardship. Now even job wok of cotton will attract 18 per cent GST if it is a related process of apparel. Example, garment sewing will now falls under 18 per cent GST. Government should look into incentives to keep Indian apparel industry globally competitive Our company Pratibha Syntex is a large vertically integrated, sustainability oriented supplier of knitted textile products. Engineering a new business paradigm, the company streamlines the production of cotton from fiber-to-garments to reflect emerging sustainable values in textiles and fashion. The export share fluctuates as per the demand from international markets. Our per day production is around 53 tonne and monthly around 1600 tonne. We hope that GST would be helpful by next quarter and the future for the Indian textile industry looks promising, buoyed by both strong domestic consumption as well as export demand. Thus, we at Pratibha are planning to expand on our export business by 25 per cent by the end of year Vipin Tanwar Asst. VP Marketing Intl. Business Nahar Industries The domestic market is down as post GST implementation most of the distribution centers are not up-todate. Almost 90 per cent of the units are closed as they have applied and waiting for their GST numbers. But at the same time exports market is still doing OK. Now the govt. has imposed 5 per cent GST on fabrics which has made Indian garments more expensive in overseas market. If the situation continues like this in future most of the foreign buyers are expected to shift their sourcing to Bangladesh, which offers garments cheaper than us. So, things are expected to be clear after three-more months once everything gets stabilised. Future looks absolutely blurred as nobody knows how it s going to be till everything gets normal and international market feedback is also received. When it comes to garments exports India is not very much competitive when compared to Bangladesh at the price part. When it comes to fabric manufacturing we are far ahead than Bangladesh, in fact are exporting the same to them at a large scale. On the other side, Pakistan is also very price competitive due to various duty drawbacks provided by their govt. When it comes to Indian fabric mills, the only drawback given to us is expected to be waved off by For the betterment of this industry and making us more competitive globally the govt should extend this drawback scheme further. Our company Nahar Industrial Enterprises Limited, is a part of Nahar Group of Companies having a turnover of `6,000 cr, out of which `700 cr is of our company. Normally, out of our total production, 60 per cent is exported. But due to GST implementation we are exporting almost per cent of the share as the domestic buyers are not placing many orders. This year our company will be installing 80 new wider width looms, to replace few of our existing and expand our capacities further. In last financial year, we also added new processing and printing machines to our capacities. In terms of trends, these days stretches, basically functional fabrics are in good demand. European brands are looking for sustainable fabrics made out of recycled cotton. Most of the export buyers are shifting to organic cottons and sustainable stretched fabrics. Akshat Modi Business Development Manager MI Industries India Pvt. Ltd. Future of textile industry in terms of growth is positive for competitive mills having a strong control over their product. We can expect some turbulence with older obsolete and financially distressed companies. However, these capacities will be compensated by newer investment. When we talk about competing globally then there are three major factors which play a role including price, quality, and turnaround time. India is catching up very quickly with quality and lead time. However, price does remain a challenging area for exports. Reasons include: Higher wages in garment manufacturing impacting size of garment industry and demand for textiles; Higher borrowing cost has led to higher product prices due to the industry being capital intensive; Energy costs are not globally competitive for various different reasons; Inland transport is quite exorbitant reducing competitiveness in certain segments; Broken tax structures inflating the cost due to imbalanced sales & manufacturing taxes. However, this seems to be moving in the right direction with the GST coming in to effect. Despite having these issues India remains a major contender in being one of the leading countries for garment exports. Many of these are external factors which the government should be addressing. Further, manufacturing companies are numerous and there are no "to do" things which can make us competitive. Many State Governments are offering incentives which have made manufacturing very competitive within India. However, the longevity of these schemes and their impact is yet to be assessed. We expect the govt. to primarily focus on strengthening the garment manufacturing within India. The issues which plague the garment industry are mostly involving human resource. It is a difficult call to make for any government. We can only hope that some emphasis is laid upon garment manufacturing cost as it is not only about structuring an industry, but providing viable economic opportunities to millions in India. Our company s current capacity is 50 mn mtr per annum which is mostly catering to exports to the extent of 85 per cent of our total sales. The high stretch woven fabrics for bottom wear has been a new product which has been very well established in the Indian and international market. The product range involves spandex blends with cotton & polyester. 54 APPAREL VIEWS / JULY 2017

55 Comments from Indian yarn and fabric industry... Yogesh Thore AVP Marketing, Mandhana Industries Ltd Within India itself, the graph of the domestic consumption is towards a steeper increase. After GST implementation, business with composite mills will have optimistic benefits in future. All international brands / retailers are focusing on India as a big supply partner but chances of price pressure pertains due to rupee gaining strength for exports. Market is going in a big way and we hope to have a good business, as Sri Lanka is getting GSP+ benefits. Being the more vicinal neighbour nation, we will be successful to fetch more business in terms of volume and products. Mill sectors have to invest more towards Sustainable point of view but buying office concern on commercial negotiation rather than the initiation shown for sustainability. In the last couple of years, Bangladesh seems to pose more challenge to India, in terms of its speedy delivery. This can be confronted by being more competitive with efficient working and keeping our raw-material input cost and overheads at minimal to keep customer engaged with us. India is already ahead in innovations and more of commodity products goes to Bangladesh. So an eye on the trends stimulated with an aggressive and effective mode to deliver on fast track fashion will aid us to keep in stride with the challenging nations. For further strengthening of this industry, GST implementation is already effected which may boost to certain extent. Further, centralised ETP should be made more effective & encourage mill sectors for water harvesting. When it comes to our company, our current production capacity is 5.5 mn mtr/month, out of which we do 55 per cent export & 45 per cent is for the domestic market. The new trends and finishes in fabrics are sustainable products, fabric with different coatings, finishes and hand-feels, more of Lyocell is seen to be recognised and adopted internationally and locally. In near future we are planning to launch Lyocell products with different new blends, weaves and finishes which we constantly develop round the year for different buyers and keep ourselves innovated as per market trends and demands. Amandeep Sing Saluja Director, Sahiba Fabrics Ltd There are two segments in fabric mills, one the cotton ones and other one polyester. Cotton composite mills are adding value addition and growing in terms of capacity. Regards to polyester mills they are still very much strong in domestic segments which is going through a rough phase. Nowadays a lot of natural fabrics are coming in. Customers are looking for new fabrics and finishes. When it comes to growing competition from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Turkey, I can say that Pakistan has a good cotton capacity they lack a lot in polyester fabrics and lot of units are big in size but no compline which gives India a upper edge. In regards to Bangladesh, it will take time for the mill industry to come at par to us. Turkey is the big gateway to Europe market but the fabric consumption in Europe market is diminishing day-by-day and moving towards more on finish products. Plus Turkey is very strong player in regards to home furnishing segment, which we people are not and also well in digital printing. Government should support domestic manufacturing and have proper surveillance on Chinese fabric entering Indian market. One way the Indian industries are running dry and other way the garment exporters are buying more from China. Indian Government should add incentives on export garments which are 100 per cent made from Indian product. This will boost Indian manufacturing in a big way. As far as our company is concerned, our company is adding more capacity. We claim ourselves biggest in two segments one in digital printing and second in embroidery. The kind of versatility and capacity which Sahiba can offer I am sure we don't have competition in this both segment. We provide solution from start till end from yarn till garmenting. Our major product lines are digital print with a production capacity of 2 mn mtr per month and embroidery with a capacity of 1.5 mn mtr per month. The other we have a 2 mn dyeing capacity for polyester and cotton and conventional printing capacity of 1.5 mn mtr. With garmenting we have 1,000 machines at present. Selva Merchandising Head Sri Kalyan Export Pvt Ltd As per present textile trends the buyers are looking for high compliance and quality standards need to be met which are to be ensured with international certifications. And we Sri Kalyan Export Private Limited knowing these requirements we are audited by international institutes and certified with compliance like GOTS, Oeko-Tex, Fair Trade, SA 8000, OCS and ISO 9001:2015 Certifications. And presently another big compliance certificate is coming up named Cradle 2 Cradle (C2C Certification) which combines material, social, safety, recycle and sustainability. We are also in early stages of Cradle 2 Cradle (C2C Certification) process. We believe that future fashion will be mostly concerned about responsible fashion, renewable fashion and sustainable fashion. Being ethical, social and responsible in textile business is must for good fashion, good water, good people and good earth. So companies only having these qualities will able to survive in future. Today, buyers and consumers are looking for fashion goods which make no harm to nature. So based on in it Tencel is catching up more attention in fashion field as it is a sustainable fabric made of wood cellulose. Tencel is one of the most environmentally friendly regenerated fabrics. We are presently doing more Tencel dyed and printed fabrics and its finishing is specially done to give soft and shining texture finish. Indian fabric mills facility is friendlier to do small quantity dyeing, printing, processing and finishing. Doing small quantity is giving us more advantage to attract small orders towards India. Compared to other neighbouring countries, which concentrates more on volume orders, our technology and processing is very high in terms of quality and finishing. These make our costs high and also we don t get government support in terms subsidy like Bangladesh, Pakistan etc., still we need to be more competitive in terms of price to be globally competitive. The government should form a committee representing all Textile Associations delegates and make a list of most urgent requirements for textile industry. This will have immediate effect on increasing the exports and need to take action on it. For example FTA with Europe is most wanted agreement which all textile people requesting from Government of India for a long time now. If implemented definitely per cent of exports will increase immediately. As far as our company is concerned, we manufacture and export fair trade certified textile products in fabrics, baby care products and home textiles. Our production capacity per month printed fabrics 2,00,000 mtr, yarn dyed fabrics 1,50,000 mtr, fabric dyed 2,00,000 mtr kitchen linens 1,00,000 pcs, table linens 1,00,000 pcs, baby bedding 10,000 pcs. APPAREL VIEWS / JULY

56 Comments from Indian yarn and fabric industry... Ajay Mahajan Director, BS Overseas Ltd Presently, the situation of fabric mills in India is bit fluid as with the implementation of GST because mills in West particularly are skeptical about implementation of GST on fabrics which has happened for the first time. Personally, I feel that scope and future for fabrics mills is quite bright and hoping for the positive developments in coming times. Nowadays, there is lot of value addition is being done in the fabrics and lot of playing with the yarns to make the fabrics. There is hot trend for Indigo, Lycra based fabrics as well as fabrics made of Linen as well as linen blended fabrics. Competition from Bangladesh particularly in fashion garments is immense. Can t comment much on Pakistan but Turkey is also definitely is country to look for. As Indian fabric manufacturers we have to continuously innovate and build on the capacities. Product innovation and continuous cost control is key to success. Last but not the least as Indian mills should focus on the deliverance and commitments. Govt is doing lot for the textiles but in any case textiles should be the priority sector and it should make investor friendly policies as well work out how the ailing industry can be brought out of Glut. Today, our company is widely appreciated for its attributes such as timely delivery and cost effective prices. We offer wide assortment of products to our clients across worldwide. Our range includes yarns, woven, knitted and warp knitted fabrics. We are considered as one of the prominent traders, exporters and suppliers in India, dealing in more than 1,500 types of yarns/ fabrics. Our vision is to be amongst the best platform for procurement of yarns and fabrics in the textile industry. Right now we are working on some fashion fabrics which we will be launching soon. Ram Srinivasan General Manager, KG Denim Ltd. Currently, exporters and organised brand segment are doing well but unorganised segment is little bit turbulent post demonetisation and GST implementation. Competitions from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Turkish industries were always there. But recent past preferential tariff help them to get extra mileage. GST waiver for export with usual drawback will help Indian exporters to remain globally competitive. Let us wait and watch our government move. As far as our company is concerned, we have launched manmade fibre blends and sustainable earth colour dyed fabric (replacing sulphur dyes) recently. We are launching this season with various permutation and combination. The new trends and finishes in fabrics are sustainable earth colour dyes gaining momentum and performance finishes like fade resist colours and repellent to water/stain on high demand and are capitalizing the same. Abhay Kumat CEO, Kamadgiri Fashion Ltd Mills normally means integrated production facility from spinning to processing. There is not much production in mills and maximum 5 per cent of total production is done by organised mills. However, unorganised sector is getting stronger every day. When it comes to new trends and finishes in fabrics,easy Care Finishes are in demand these days. Cotton feel is in trend even is synthetics smooth & soft touch is admired by customers. I don't know much about growing competition from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Turkey. We know Indian trends better so we can face competition. For further strengthening of this industry, we expect that GST rates should be fibre neutral. Credit policy should be textile friendly. There should be workman subsidy for new apparel manufacturing unit as they have announced in Orissa (3,000 per worker for three year for new employment). Our company produces 80 lakhs mtr fabric per annum and 30 lakhs garment per annum. We have launched Giza Cotton Yarn Dyed suiting and introducing more option in the same. 56 APPAREL VIEWS / JULY 2017

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64 SPGPrints expands inkjet ink production capacity SPGPrints strengthens its commitment to the textile printing industry by doubling the size of its digital ink production facility at its Boxmeer, Netherlands, headquarters for the second time in two years. Scheduled to open in the final quarter of 2017, the expanded 1,000m 2 production facility is part of an $8 mn capital investment programme. This will also include the building of the new Experience Center, dedicated to driving innovation in digital textile printing. A global leader in the production of digital textile printing systems, the company manufactures reactive, acid, disperse and sublimation inks for use with digital inkjet printers, covering the full range of textile applications. The expanded facility is in close proximity to both SPGPrints research and development laboratories, and the corporate headquarters so that communication chains are short and decisions can be made quickly. When the facility is completed, at least ten newpositions per shift will be created, providing an employment boost for the local economy. The investment in the ink plant expansion is another step towards SPGPrints goal of making digital the mainstream printing technology for textile applications. For more than 30 years, the company has, through its innovation, led the textile industry in digital technologies, and is poised to continue that commitment. SPGPrints subsidiary company, Veco BV, of Eerbeek, Netherlands, develops precision metal parts for a wide range of markets, including the design and production of nozzle plates for inkjet print heads. The synergy enabled by the relationships with the major suppliers for print heads in the textile market means that inks and print heads can be designed to work optimally, and deliver the best technologies to the customer. The combination of research and development, print head expertise, close relations with print head suppliers, and our ink manufacturingcapability gives SPGPrints a unique position in the textile market, said Jos Notermans, Commercial Manager digital textiles at SPGPrints. The increase in the volume of our ink production means that we will continue to be able to serve the expanding digital textile printing market that we have helped to build over the last three decades. The global retail markets are now in a position to take advantage of the benefits of digital printing as it moves into the main stream as a production method, he said. SPGPrints will ensure that printers and inks are available to allow our customers to ride the digital wave. SPGPrints new digital ink production facility under construction at the company s headquarters in Boxmeer, The Netherlands. SPGPrints is a global leading company in the textile, label and industrial printing markets. It provides total system solutions, with a portfolio including screens, lacquers, inks, digital engravers, and a broad range of rotary screen and digital printing systems. The company has applied its electroforming expertise to developing both highly reliable rotary screen technology and an extensive programme of precision metal products 64 APPAREL VIEWS / JULY 2017

65 Researchers develop method for making artificial spider silk A team of architects & chemists from the University of Cambridge has designed superstretchy and strong fibres which are almost entirely composed of water, and could be used to make textiles, sensors and other materials. The fibres, which resemble miniature bungee cords as they can absorb large amounts of energy, are sustainable, nontoxic and can be made at room temperature. This new method not only improves upon earlier methods of making synthetic spider silk, since it does not require high energy procedures or extensive use of harmful solvents, but it could substantially improve methods of making synthetic fibres of all kinds, since other types of synthetic fibres also rely on high-energy, toxic methods. The results are reported in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Spider silk is one of nature s strongest materials, and scientists have been attempting to mimic its properties for a range of applications, with varying degrees of success. We have yet to fully recreate the elegance with which spiders spin silk, said coauthor Dr. Darshil Shah from Cambridge s Department of Architecture. The fibres designed by the Cambridge team are spun from a soupy material called a hydrogel, which is 98 per cent water. The remaining 2 per cent of the hydrogel is made of silica and cellulose, both naturally available materials, held together in a network by barrel-shaped molecular handcuffs known as cucurbiturils. The chemical interactions between the different components enable long fibres to be pulled from the gel. The fibres are pulled from the hydrogel, forming long, extremely thin threads a few millionths of a metre in diameter. After roughly 30 seconds, the water evaporates, leaving a fibre which is both strong and stretchy. Although our fibres are not as strong as the strongest spider silks, they can support stresses in the range of 100 to 150 megapascals, which is similar to other synthetic and natural silks, said Shah. However, our fibres are non-toxic and far less energy-intensive to make. The fibres are capable of self-assembly at room temperature, and are held together by supramolecular host-guest chemistry, which relies on forces other than covalent bonds, where atoms share electrons. When you look at these fibres, you can see a range of different forces holding them together at different scales, said Yuchao Wu, a PhD student in Cambridge s Department of Chemistry, and the paper s lead author. It s like a hierarchy that results in a complex combination of properties. The strength of the fibres exceeds that of other synthetic fibres, such as cellulose-based viscose and artificial silks, as well as natural fibres such as human or animal hair. In addition to its strength, the fibres also show very high damping capacity, meaning that they can absorb large amounts of energy, similar to a bungee cord. There are very few synthetic fibres which have this capacity, but high damping is one of the special characteristics of spider silk. The researchers found that the damping capacity in some cases even exceeded that of natural silks. We think that this method of making fibres could be a sustainable alternative to current manufacturing methods, said Shah. The researchers plan to explore the chemistry of the fibres further, including making yarns and braided fibres. This research is the result of collaboration between the Melville Laboratory for Polymer Synthesis in the Department of Chemistry, led by Professor Oren Scherman; and the Centre for Natural Material Innovation in the Department of Architecture, led by Dr Michael Ramage. The two groups have a mutual interest in natural and nature-inspired materials, processes and their applications across different scales and disciplines APPAREL VIEWS / JULY

66 The 24th Hong Kong Fashion Week for Spring/Summer, organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), was held recently. More than 12,000 buyers from 71 countries and regions attended the four-day fair (10-13 July), where buyer attendance from Japan, the Philippines, the United States, Malaysia, Singapore and Russia recorded considerable growth. Twenty fashion events, including fashion shows, trend forecasting seminars, buyer forums and a networking reception were held during the fair, which explored the latest topics of interest in the fashion industry while generating more business opportunities for industry professionals. In addition to being a premier sourcing platform for the industry, Hong Kong Fashion Week is also an important marketing channel for exhibitors promoting new products and fashion projects; and provides an opportunity for industry professionals to gather the latest market intelligence, said HKTDC Deputy Executive Director Benjamin Chau. Although the Internet and social media are gradually becoming mainstream promotion channels, fashion trade fairs are still a dominant platform for conducting face-to-face business negotiations, exchanging market intelligence and showcasing new collections. The HKTDC will continue to offer its unique 4-in-1 integrated marketplace, consisting of trade fairs, the HKTDC Online Marketplace (hktdc.com), product magazines, and mobile app, for promising fashion companies to reach global buyers anytime, anywhere. Italy uses Hong Kong Fashion Week as a promotion platform With buyers coming from around the world, Hong Kong Fashion Week is a major platform for international corporations to promote fashion-related activities. During the fair, the Italian Trade Commission Hong Kong and Assocalzaturifici (Italian Footwear Manufacturers Association) jointly organised an exhibition titled The Seduction of footwear: Italian Glamour, displaying 50 styles of classic Italian women s shoes and leveraging Hong Kong Fashion Week to introduce visitors to the aesthetics of Italian footwear. AnnaritaPilotti, President of Assocalzaturifici, explained that Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland together represent Italy s fifth-largest export market in terms of value. Last year, Italian export volumes to the mainland rose 2.3 per cent; while the total value of exports to Hong Kong increased by 3.5 per cent. It was also found that the average export prices of the two markets were higher than other countries and still continues to rise. It is because both Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland are such important markets for Italian-made goods that we are keen to stage our promotional road shows in Hong Kong, which allow us to bring the excellence and quality of Italian footwear to the attention of international buyers, said Pilotti. 66 APPAREL VIEWS / JULY 2017

67 Fashion trends mirror social issues On the first day of the fair, international trend forecasting group Fashion Snoops presented, The Visionary Trends for Autumn/Winter 2018/19 for Women s and Men s Wear. The group pointed out that fashion trends are often closely related to both society and everyday life issues, such as environment protection and immigration. The identity crisis brought on by the refugee crisis is a pressing global concern, said Michael Leow, Asia/Pacific Sales & Marketing Head at Fashion Snoops. Climate change and world trade have caused an influx of refugees. Although many may not want to approach this subject, we as fashion designers, should explore the issue, let our voices be heard, and galvanise people into action towards a brighter tomorrow. To embrace diversity, Engineered Identity will be one of the major trends, according to Leow. Each piece of clothing will integrate fashion elements from different countries, alongside sharply contrasting colours and conflicting elements, presenting a world of harmony and one without borders. The Woolmark Company unveils new fabric Apart from unveiling fashion trends, the latest technologies were also discussed at other seminars. At the New Generation of Merino innovation Wool Denim Wear & Wool Sneakers seminar, the Woolmark Company introduced its latest denim fabric and its related application techniques. Brenda Yang, Technical Manager of Dyeing and Finishing at the Woolmark Company, explained that the wool s anti-perspiration, breathable, anti-odour and warmth-keeping qualities make the fabric ideal for use in sportswear. The high external wear-resistance of the wool also makes it suitable for sports shoes. It is currently a trend to produce the vamp by weaving, thus many styles can be created, said Yang. Some manufacturers have even incorporated far-infrared properties into the wool/nylon to relieve post-exercise muscle fatigue. Yang added that using wool as the principal material for shoes, such as adding it into the sole for warmth or stitching leather with it to create a thick wool-knitted leather or wool-blended fabric, are new trends in shoemaking. Enthusiastic buyers from US and Thailand The four-day Fashion Week generated many business and sourcing opportunities for the industry. US buyer and first-time visitor Kakoli Chakraborty Mehra said she was looking for products from Asian suppliers and found exhibitors from Hong Kong, the Chinese mainland, Korea and India matching her needs. She said I have already placed an order for 5,000 pieces of ladies wear from a Hong Kong supplier at the fair, adding that she plans to place orders worth $10,000 to $50,000 each. Another buyer from Thailand, Thanulux, a garment manufacturer and wholesaler, also identified new suppliers at the fair. Sukanya Sutthivisetpong, Brand Manager for Ladies Wear at the company, indicated that she was in the process of negotiating with six suppliers from India, Korea, Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland for women s casual wear, sportswear and some children s collections, with initial orders estimated at $50,000. Hong Kong exhibitor attracts buyers with a range of silk products Despite improving global trade conditions, downside risks remain for the global economy. Yet Hong Kong businesses that can offer a wide selection of products can still stand out. Hong Kong company Envy is a regular exhibitor at Hong Kong Fashion Week. Its Managing Director, Jun MK Wong, said that the company showcased a variety of ladies collections in silk with 230 styles this year, and met new buyers from Switzerland, Germany, Taiwan, Japan, Singapore and Australia. There are buyers exploring cooperation with us to develop new product lines based on their specific requirements and styles. An Australian company approached us to collaborate in manufacturing high-end evening wear. We also met returning customers who placed new orders on the spot. New Fashionable Sportswear and Urban Clothing zones attracted buyers The Hong Kong Fashion Week has been keeping its finger on the market pulse; two new zones have been launched in this edition to cater to market demand. Taiwanese exhibitor, Hyperbola Textile Co, Ltd, from the Fashionable Sportswear zone, branched out to the manufacturing of sportswear, yoga wear and functional wear under its own brand. The company exhibited at Fashion Week for the first time and met with serious buyers from Thailand and Taiwan who were keen to source their lightweight down, windproof jackets and water-repellent outwear on the first day of the fair, and expect to conclude deals in a couple of months. Meilishuo.com, a fashion e-commerce platform in the Chinese mainland came to the fair for the first time to source stylish women collections for their fashion brand. Its senior Operation Director, Liu Ding, said she negotiated with a Korean exhibitor to source activewear and beachwear, and expected to place orders of pieces per style. In view of the demand for sourcing in small amounts, the show once again set up the hktdc.com Small Orders zone, featuring nearly 100 showcases and garment racks with about 400 products available for orders in minimum quantities of between five and 1,000 pieces. During the four-day event, around 2,700 buyers visited the zone and nearly 4,700 business connections were established. Hong Kong Fashion Week for Spring/Summer featured some 1,100 exhibitors from 20 countries and regions. The second edition of CENTRESTAGE, a platform for Asian fashion brands and designers specifically to promote their brands and launch their collections, will be held on 6-9 September APPAREL VIEWS / JULY

68 Greenshowroom and Ethical Fashion Show Berlin Buyers take advantage of large fashion offer and varied opportunities for inspiration In its new location, the success story of the trade fair duo Greenshowroom and the Ethical Fashion Show Berlin continues: after three trade fair days, the summer editions of the two fashion trade fairs ended recently. A total of 180 international labels* presented an inspiring portfolio and attracted high-quality buyers from conventional fashion houses and concept stores to the Funkhaus Berlin. Our exhibitors and visitors seemed to be very taken with the new location. We were able to visibly expand the exhibition space and offer fashion purchasers an inspiring environment. In doing so, we have been successful in increasing the time that purchasers spend at the trade fair by a considerable margin. We're taking a positive message home from our appearance at the Funkhaus, summarises Olaf Schmidt, Vice President Textiles & Textile Technologies at Messe Frankfurt. With this, the trade fair duo has once again earned its place both as the central platform for eco fashion during Berlin Fashion Week and as a unique hotspot within Europe for contemporary fashion. With its Shedhalle, which is flooded with natural light, and the inviting outside grounds directly by the Spree, the Funkhaus Berlin created an impressive atmosphere in the midst of one of the most progressive districts of the city even if the location was previously unknown to many visitors. The offer of a shuttle service was very well used and will be expanded by Messe Frankfurt in future. On a level and considerably bigger surface area, the two trade fairs showcased a broad range of fashion. In addition to the attractive location, the trade fair duo won praise for its extensive programme and numerous promotions that were offered in cooperation with experienced partners. A particular focus of the three-day programme was on issues Greenshowroom & Ethical Fashion Show Berlin 4-6 July 2017 faced by retailers. The highly frequented retail showcase "JETZT!" functioned as a valuable source of inspiration with its shop-in-shop presentation. With the showcase, the organiser presented a concept space that gave retailers a vision of how they can integrate sustainable fashion and lifestyle brands into their product ranges. 'For us, eco fashion is an issue that needs to be taken very seriously. We've seen lots of exciting labels here, made good contacts and received valuable comments, says Sandra Hartmann, Purchasing Manager at Breuninger. Trade fairs convince with largest product portfolio 42 international pioneers in contemporary fashion presented high-quality looks for next summer at Greenshowroom. 'We exhibited at Greenshowroom for the first time and we were inspired! It exceeded our expectations: the location is great and the frequency was amazing from the first day onwards. From high-quality journalists and conventional retailers to concept store purchasers, the mix of visitors was excellent and we got a great reception from all sides, says Sebastian 42 international pioneers in contemporary fashion presented high-quality looks for next summer at Greenshowroom. The Ethical Fashion Show Berlin also placed an impressive spotlight on the great potential of eco fashion. With 138 labels, the trade fair sparkled with the biggest product portfolio of trendy street and casual wear in its history. Thies, Managing Director of Nat-2. The winners of the mentoring programme setup by the Fashion Council Germany, Benu Berlin and Philomena Zanetti, also celebrated a successful trade fair début. The Ethical Fashion Show Berlin also placed an impressive spotlight on the great potential of eco fashion. With 138 labels, the trade fair sparkled with the biggest product portfolio of trendy street and casual wear in its history. The trade fair went very well for us. We had important press representatives and purchasers at the stand, including an increasing number of conventional retailers who are interested in this theme, says Dietrich Weigel, Owner of Goodsociety. Fashion shows inspire with atmospheric ambience The fashion shows on the second day of the trade fair enjoyed all-round success. The catwalk events were received very well, not least due to the new location which gave the shows an atmospheric backdrop. For us, the Salonshow was a highlight: perfect organisation and wonderful staging. The Funkhaus is an amazing location the hall gives everything a completely new atmosphere, says Janne Koppenborg, Assistant to the Management of C. Pauli. At the "Salonshow", highlights from the following labels could be seen: Biaggi Atelier, C.Pauli, Inti Ferreira, Jungle Folk, Lanius, Laurie Procès LVMH CSR Young Talent Award, Miss Janna, Natascha von Hirschhausen x Living Blue, Somyso and Things I Miss. The subsequent catwalk show "Ethical Fashion on Stage" also won visitors over. The following labels gave an insight into the upcoming street and casual trends: Anukoo Fair Fashion, Anzüglich, Eco Bambou, Greenbomb, Indigo People, Less too late, Miss Green, Naturaline, Organication and Shirts for Life. Wunderwerk also added to the catwalk presentation with a show special. The next edition of the trade fair takes place from January APPAREL VIEWS / JULY 2017

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70 Sewbots filling automation gap in garment manufacturing Making clothes has always been a labour-intensive activity. The industrial revolution mechanised and automated textile production in the 18th century, whilst the invention of the sewing machine in the following century moved the bottleneck to the cutting room. Computer controlled cutting machines solved this problem, however, the task of assembling the garment is still mainly left to the manual labour. An Atlanta, US, based brand SoftWear Automation, launched in 2012, aims to change this by creating autonomous sewn good worklines for home goods, footwear and automotive sectors. With its patented Sewbots fully automated technology, the company aims to geographically shorten the distance between manufacturer and consumer by utilising benefits of disruptive technologies. In 2002, the Berry Amendment went into effect restricting the military from procuring clothing that was not made in the USA. Complying with the rule proved challenging due to a lack of skilled labour available in the US that only got worse as the current generation of seamstresses retired with no new talent to take their places. It was under these circumstances that the initial idea for Soft Wear was born and the company was launched in 2012, explained Chairman and CEO Palaniswamy Rajan. Since then, we have grown our team to 25 engineers and developers, delivered our first products in the US and are currently working on moving from worklines for home goods to launching our first fully automated workline solely for apparel production. The company initially received $1.75 mn grant from the defence department s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to produce a prototype of its automatic sewing machine in After that, SoftWear received a $2 mn grant from the Walmart Foundation/Georgia Tech and a $3 mn Series A from CTW Venture Partners in SoftWear recently closed a $4.5 mn Series A1, ultimately rising just over $10 mn in the past five years. The company s Sewbots use a combination of patented high-speed computer vision and lightweight robotics to steer fabric to and through the needle with greater speed and accuracy than a human. Using Sewbot worklines customers are expected to be able to increase productivity while decreasing their overall defect rate. They are also able to move their sewing closer to the end consumer or materials supply chain shortening lead times and reducing competitive pricing pressure without the need for chasing cheap labour all over the globe, said Rajan. Most current automation in textiles and apparel is single operation specific focused on automating a particular process and still requires an operator to feed and manage the machine. Right now, we are seeing a strong desire to shift from this process focused automation to full automation, going from fabric roll to finished good with minimal human interaction. This shift will drastically transform how and where we manufacture giving brands and manufacturers to move closer to their customers or their materials supply chain. Currently, the company is developing a fully automated workline for T-shirts. This line will go from cut piece to finished T-shirt without human intervention save the machine operator managing our workline of course. When launched in the fourth quarter of 2018, this line will be capable of running 24/7/365 with a projected output of over 1 mn shirts per year, explained Rajan. Sewbo robot Another US start-up, Sewbo, based in Seattle, WA, was founded by a web developer Jonathan Zornow, who also believes he can offer a solution that would not only produce garments of higher quality, but could also help bring garment manufacturing back to US. Our technology will allow manufacturers to create higher-quality clothing at lower costs in less time than ever before, said Jonathan Zornow, who invented the technology. Avoiding labour issues and shortening supply chains will help reduce the complexity and headaches surrounding today s intricate global supply network. And digital manufacturing will revolutionise fashion, even down to how we buy our clothes by allowing easy and affordable customisation for everyone. Despite widespread use in other industries, automation has made little progress in clothing manufacturing due to the difficulties robots face when trying to manipulate limp, flexible fabrics. Sewbo has addressed this issue by using a non-toxic polymer to temporarily stiffen fabrics, allowing the off-the-shelf industrial robots to build garments from a rigid cloth, just as if they were working with sheet metal. The fabric panels can be moulded and welded before being permanently sewn together, and the water-soluble stiffener is removed at the end of the manufacturing process with a rinse in hot water. Patent-pending in 10 countries, the technology of temporarily stiffening fabrics can be used on a number of fabrics, including delicate materials, with the use of alternative low-impact treatments, except for impermeable materials, such as waterproof or coated fabrics, the manufacturer explains. Assembling trousers for US military Having secured several patents, which include the general concept of temporarily stiffened fabrics, as well as goods that have been assembled from the stiffened materials, and the method for applying the treatment and for manipulating the stiffened materials, Sewbo is now working towards commercialising its technology. In October 2016, the company announced its plans to pilot its robotic process with Blue water Defense, a leading manufacturer of uniforms and equipage for the US Department of Defense. The company produces 8,000 pairs of combat trousers a day, half of which are made in a Puerto Rican factory that employs 500 people who sew garments together. "It requires 64 operations just to make a single combat trouser," said CEO Eric Spackey. "If we can automate every two to three of those, it will make the process much more efficient." According to Sewbo, the company is now in the research and discussion stages. The military requirements are as strict as they are extensive, so there s a lot of work to make sure that this will be compatible with their needs, commented Zornow. New ARM Innovation Hub This year, the Department of Defense awarded the 14th Manufacturing USA institute the Advanced Robotics Manufacturing (ARM) Innovation Hub to American Robotics. The eighth DoD-led institute, the ARM Institute joins the Manufacturing USA network in its collective effort to help revitalise American manufacturing and incentivise companies to invest in new technology development in the US. Headquartered in Pittsburgh, PA, the winning consortium comprised of State and local governments, industry, universities, community colleges, and non-profit organisations from across the country contributed $173 mn, to be combined with $80 mn in federal funding. The substantial cost matching reflects the importance the US robotics community places on this institute and its value to US businesses, academia, and State and Local Governments, the organisation explained. The ARM Institute joins the Manufacturing USA institute network, a programme with industry, academia, and government participants who co-invest in the development of cutting edge manufacturing technologies and capabilities 70 APPAREL VIEWS / JULY 2017

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72 Textile India 2017 Country s largest textile trade show concludes on a high note The three day mega trade fair by the Ministry of Textiles - Textiles India concluded recently in Ahmedabad. The mega trade fair received an overwhelming response with exhibitors from more than 105 countries participating. Leading fashion designers also came together to showcase collections in two fashion shows which focussed on traditional textile and domestic handloom. The event was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi who lauded the efforts of the Ministry of Textiles in organising the largest trade fair in the country for stakeholders of the textile sector to come together and promote skill that is close to Indian culture and heritage. Speaking at the occasion, PM said, India has the most liberal investment policy for investment in the textile sector. It has abundant supply of raw material like cotton, jute, silk and man-made fibre, which provides the country a distinct advantage over other countries. The resulting higher demand of products offers a huge domestic market for textile products. Modi said that the government is focussed on the growth of the textile industry and has, in the past few years, seen healthy competition among States in attracting investment in the sector. He added that the time has come to focus on textile exports and urged States to take necessary steps to channelise resources. He further added that innovation and research are the new mantra for the much needed growth of the sector. Highlighting the growing demand for products with zero carbon footprints, Modi said that efforts should be made to promote organic products and further explore the niche markets that demand such products. He stressed that further research should be made to develop fabric from other natural sources too, as this will establish India as valued partner for countries seeking growth and investment opportunities in the textile sector. The Minister of Textiles, Smriti Irani, who was present at the inaugural function said, Textile India seeks to bring together global leaders in value chain of Indian Textile industry. We seek to understand best global practices in the textile sector. During the three years of our government, we have launched the India Handloom brand. Textile India 2017 brings together textile, tradition, and technology. It is a mega conclave that has been organised with the objective of promoting the textile sector; connecting and collaborating with all stakeholders and helping in the realisation of the Prime Minister s dream of giving the sector a push for further growth and aligning it with the Make in India campaign. In the presence of OP Kohli, Governor of Gujarat; Vijay Rupani, Chief Minister of Gujarat said that Gujarat is the textile capital of India and the Summit has received more strength through the support received from States such as Andhra Pradesh and Assam. Modi had launched the textile policy in Gujarat in 2012 to provide financial and physical support to the sector, as a result of which more than 28 textile parks have been established in the State. In last four years, 29,500 cr has been invested in the sector in the State. The Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Chandrababu Naidu was also present at the inauguration. Among others Richard Heald, CEO, UKIBC and David Cummings, President and CEO of US Polo Assn. participated in the inaugural programme, where they expressed their interest in collaborating with India and sharing technologies to help India create new avenues for further growth of the textile sector on a global scale. India & South Korea: Building better ties in the textile Industry The first-day saw the country session between India and South Korea. Anant Kumar Singh, Secretary MoT, Government of India, was the Chief Guest for this session and he spoke about how both countries could build better ties. He also talked about how the Textile Ministry and the Government of India will provide the best infrastructure facilities to all MNCs interested in investing in India. Bue-Heung Kim, the Director of the Korea Federation of Textile Industries (KOFOTI), thanked the Hon ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Vijay Rupani for organising this unique event. He expressed hope for better trade relations between India and South Korea. Mamta Verma, Industries Commissioner, 72 APPAREL VIEWS / JULY 2017

73 Government of Gujarat was also present for the event and she talked about how Gujarat today has become a leader in the textile industry. Assam and Andhra Partner with Ministry of Textiles Andhra Pradesh in partnership with the Ministry of Textiles for the mega trade fair held a conference to share perspective on its potential in promoting the textile sector. Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu spoke about the importance of Jute and how the industry has helped in rural employment at Textiles India During the session, he said about how the Andhra Government held a number of seminars on the various measures to develop the textile industry in Andhra Pradesh and invested over `5,000 cr into the industry. Naidu stated that this has led to employment figures of over 16,000 for AP, especially as it currently has some of the best mills in the country. Naidu further added that with the success of countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh and Thailand have had in recent years in the textile industry and how the industry is the 2nd largest employer in many States after agriculture, developing it will be important for the future of our country. The speakers for this session included Union Minister of Textiles, Smriti Irani and Kollu Ravindra, Minister of Textiles, Andhra Pradesh. The North Eastern State of Assam is also a leading partner in this one-of-its-kind fair and is known for their traditional handloom and textile industry. Roundtable discussions Many technical sessions round tables were held at the Helipad Groundsvenue alongside the Textiles India Exhibition. These round table discussions were held to understand the challenges and opportunities in diverse segments of the textile sector. Trends in Indian cotton Round table discussions were held to comprehend the prevailing and expected trends in the cotton sector. The panelist discussed ways to popularise the aspects of environmental friendly cotton based textiles. The key agenda that were discussed included the threats that cotton sector faces from other fibres, improving the per hectare yields of cotton and reducing contamination. Cotton sector scenario in the country was also discussed where it was pointed out that India produces very good quality of cotton, but is sold in discounted price because of certain contaminations therefore there is a need to reduce the level of contaminations. Only about 2.5 per cent of cotton is tested as compared to the other countries. It was also noted that cotton industries should understand the requirements and pay attention in the downstream process, towards the finishing levels. It was also noted that cotton is the most widespread profitable nonfood crop in the world. India's export of raw cotton has increased in significant years, while the import has decreased. There are about 10 mn farmers who produce cotton in India. There are 18 types of soil where cotton can be cultivated. In the last 16 years the area of cotton production doubled. Gujarat has the highest production in India, following Andhra Pradesh and Haryana. The panelist for the roundtable were Andrew Macdonald, Consultant, AMCON Consulting, Sao Paulo, Brazil and representing Brazilian Cotton Growers Association; Dr. MV Venugopalan, Principal Scientist, Central Institute for Cotton Research; Christian Schindler, Director General, International Textile Manufacturers Federation; PR Roy, Chairman - Diagonal Consulting (India). Siddhartha Rajagopal, ED, from TEXPROCIL moderated the roundtable session. King Cotton Regaining the edge in global market A round table discussion was held on how cotton can regain edge in the global market, where it noted that Cotton consumption in India has increased from per cent and total world consumption is per cent. India is the largest cotton producing country and second largest consuming country. Cotton and cotton textile account for one third foreign exchange revenue for India. Already there is a robust cotton value chain providing employment to many. It was also noted that by adopting the Bt. Cotton in 2002 the yield level has significantly improved but has stagnated in the last five years. This stagnation in yield level can be broken by using biotech, better irrigationand mechanization. For regain the edge in cotton sector it was noted that grouping of cotton cultivars based on quality is required which would then permit the cultivars to grown cotton based on economic regions. It was also expressed that group farming concept for uniform collection of cotton would also be helpful to regain the edge via reducing the strain on the logistics side of the cotton value chain. Dr. CD Mayee, Founder President, South-Asia Biotechnology Centre; Rajeev Baruah, Country Director, Better Cotton Initiative; IJ Dhuria, Director (Materials), Vardhaman Textiles Ltd.; Rebecca Pandolph, Statistician, International Cotton Advisory Committee took part in the panel discussion. The session was moderated by Suresh Kotak, Chairman Indian Society for Cotton Development. Made Up Success Story Globally the US and the EU are the leading importers of bed linen. World Trade in Made Ups is stagnant and has marginally decline from $64 bn in 2014 to $59 bn in India's export share of made-ups is also flat at $4.6 bn. India's share in global trade in made ups is also stagnant at 7.8 per cent. India and China are the key players as far as home textiles are concerned. India has tremendous potential to grow made up business both domestically and internationally. Domestic markets offer greater opportunities for growth in view of increasing in purchasing power, change in lifestyle, increase in nuclear families, aspiration young population. In export market focus is mainly on Europe, USA, and to some extent of Canada and Australia. China occupies 43 per cent of the world share and they are slowing down offering greater opportunity to India. India will have to increase the basket of products in the Made Up segment. India can take full advantage of its strength in raw materials, skilled manpower, design and innovations. The roundtable discussion included KV Srinivasan, MD Sree Narasimha Textiles Pvt. Ltd.; Pradeep Mukherjee, Senior Consultant with Gherzi Consulting Engineers Pvt. Ltd.; Rajesh Mahajan, Founder of Maspar Brand in India. Prem Malik, Vice- Chairman NSL Textiles Ltd. moderated the session. Productivity and marketing constrains in wool sector A discussion was held with the agenda to understand the productivity and marketing constraints in wool sector. India is the 7th largest producer of wool and contributes 1.8 per cent to the total world production. The Indian wool industry is primarily dependent on imported raw material. The State of Rajasthan is the biggest producer of wool contributing 44 per cent of the total wool produced in the country. It was noted that one the primary constraints of the wool sector is the pre loom and post loom facilities available to this sector which are inadequate and outdated. It was also noted that there is a lack of opportunity for development of skill in the woolen sector, there is a major shortage of trained workforce to undertake efficient production. About 12 lakh people in India are involved in sheep breading and rearing for the wool sector. Wool production in India is primarily a rural unorganised sector where the producers are unaware of modern techniques of wool extraction. There is also an urgent need to make the wool producers aware of the qualitative as well as monetary aspect so that the producers can get better returns for their produce. The panelist for the session were Peta Slack-Smith, AWI, Sydney; Dr AM Mir, MD, Cashmere Marketing Agencies; Mridula Jain, Chairperson, Shawl Club of India and MD Shingora Textiles Ltd.; Vikas Mohatta, MD, Felt & Technical Textiles, Jaipur. The roundtable was moderated by Ravikant Kapur, Chairman, Grentex & Co. Pvt. Ltd. Waterless textile processing and 3D printing Round table discussion was conducted to understand the utility if the innovation of waterless textile processing and 3D printing to reduce the water consumption in the textile industry. Water is increasingly becoming a scarce resource across APPAREL VIEWS / JULY

74 the world. Today most industrial sectors including textile are facing crisis due to decreasing availability of water for processing and production. Textile sector consumes a huge amount of water starting from the production of raw material phase to the finished product and packaging phase. There is an urgent need to reduce this dependence and shifting to better and efficient of manner of production. 3D printing technology has the potential to revolutionise the textile industry. The speakers of the session included Rene Van Berkel, Representative - Regional Office India (UNIDO); Dr. Manisha Mathur, Deputy Director (SASMIRA); Dr. JLV Prasad, Sanganer Enviro Project Development. Prof. Asim Tiwari, IIT Bombay Dept. of Mechanical Engg. was the moderator of the round table. Zero Liquid Discharge System (ZLD) Effluent discharge from textile sector is one of the biggest environmental polluters in the world. There is an urgent need to drastically cut down this source of pollution. To discuss ways of developing a system of zero liquid discharge from textile sector a round table discussion was organised. It was noted that the treatment of waste water is an expensive technology and cost of setting up of water treatment plant must be reduced. Stricter policy norms and monitoring of polluting units will help in tackling the issue of pollution to a great extent. Textile sector is mostly dominated by MSME sector, these would require Government subsidy or interventions to set up zero liquid discharge systems. Government is formulating a policy especially for textile industry to help and guide the MSMEs to implement zero discharge system. Today, Zero Liquid discharge is an expensive technology there is an urgent need in countries like India to develop/invent cheaper technology. For India developing a Zero Liquid Discharge System is a huge techno-economic challenge. Zero Liquid Discharge System will ensure that waste water complete utilisation of water. About 80 per cent to 85 per cent water can be reutilised for processing. The panelist for the round table included Judith Buchmaier, Dy Head, AEE; Dr. Madhusudanan, Central Pollution Control Board; Dr Rajah Vijaykumar, Scientist; Dr Anil Misra, National Project Manager, UNIDO. Sajid Hussain, Chief Operating Officer, TWIC moderated the round table. Jharkhand capable of leading the textile sector in India In the 2nd day s Jharkhand State sessions of Textile India 2017, the Chairman of Jharkhand Khadi Board, Sanjay Seth said that Textile India 2017 will prove to be helpful in the advancement in country s textile sector. He said that these events will not only help in the advancement of the country but will also help the country to develop rapidly. On the usage of towels in sports like Wimbledon he said that it is a proud moment for us that products that are manufactured in India are being given importance in international sports events. He further said that the Indian textile industry represents the whole of India's culture. Apart from this, he also mentioned the importance of fashion and design in the textile sector. In his address, Sanjay Seth informed that a Khadi Park will be constructed in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand. The labour force of Jharkhand is very capable and textile industry has a lot of scope in the State. He further described GST as a very important step for India s rapid development. He said that due to the implementation of GST, there would be a transparent system in the country which would make merchants of all trades happy.in this programme, K Ravi Kumar, Director, Industry Department, Jharkhand, welcomed all the dignitaries. Apart from this Gautam Nair, Chairman of Metric Clothing and Chandrakantav Rajput, Chairman of Rameshwar Group of Ranchi also presented their views. Quality Assurance and Building Market Linkages are keys to promoting textile industry On the side-lines of mega trade fair, several discussion panels were held to deliberate on opportunities that could be explored to create market linkages with retail chains, ensuring branding and quality assurance and building the textile value chain to further promote the textile industry in the country. Session 1: Market Linkages with Retail Chains Creating market linkages with domestic and international retail chain is essential for further providing momentum to the growth of the textile industry in the country. India is emerging as a favourable destination for Latin American countries as they want to reduce their dependence on Chinese markets for imports and are looking towards diversifying their markets, said R Vishwanathan, Marketing Consultant, Former Indian Ambassador, LAC Consultant, Former Indian Ambassador, LAC. Statistics indicate that the Indian textile export to Latin American countries in the last financial year were higher than India s exports to a lot of other countries such as Canada, Russia and Central Asian countries. Indian exports to Mexico were $3.5 bn last year, more than to Thailand ($3.1 bn), Russia ($1.9 bn) and Egypt ($2 bn). Vishwanathan also said that with increasing opportunities Indian producers have also started exported handcrafts garments etc. to the European Union, USA and many more nations through Amazon. Amazon has eliminated middlemen, which has led to the growth of Indian producers to a large extent. India is third largest supplier of textiles of Latin American nations and fourth largest for readymade garments. In the past year, there was an import of textile worth $30 bn of imported textile from India, he further added.mark Jarvis, MD WtiN; Toshinorie Haruna, AGM, Textile Division; Sumitomo Corporation, Japan and Rahul Mehta, President CMAI were also present at the discussion. Session 2: Branding and quality assurance The government of India has already taken initiatives to improve branding efforts within the textile industry. India is the second largest employer of workers in the textile industry in the world. Representatives from various sectors of the industry met together to discuss way forward in branding and quality assurance and hence improve its growth curve. Gaurav Mahajan, President (Apparel), Raymond Group said that the brand holds the Guinness book of world records to create the finest fabric in the world (11.4 micron wool). Branding is nothing but quality assurance and that a brand is all about functionality. Hence it is important that availability, accessibility and assurance of quality are made priorities and worked up, he said. Madhura Dutta, Executive Director, All India Artisan and Crafts Workers Welfare Association (AIACA) said that the there is a mismatch of expectations between buyers and retailers regarding products and hence it is essential to educate buyers. Manish Kumar, Global Executive Vice President, Geo Chem Laboratories Group was also present at the panel discussion. Optimal usage of fibre needed for improving textile market demand Indian and international delegates met on the sidelines of the mega trade fair to discuss and deliberate on ways of optimal utilisation of Indian grown fibre and promotion of domestically produced textile, particularly silk and jute. Potential of silk by product for Commercial use and R&D Silk is one of the most elegant fibres and is produced in various varieties in the country. Panellists Prof. Deepti Guha, Department of Textile Technology IIT, New Delhi; Dr Li Long Phd., Standing Vice President Chinese Society of Sericulture Science; SK Som, Director, Quality Assurance & Technical Services, Raymong Ltd.; Dr Subhas V Naik, Director, Central Silk Technology Research Institute and Dr RK Mishra, Director, CSB, Moderator discussed the possibilities that could be explored to increase optimal utilisation of silk; reduce production wastage and incorporate technology and research insights to develop new strains of fabric wherein silk can be infused with other fabrics such as wool. Sustainability of Jute and Allied Natural Fibres Speaking at a conference on Sustainability of Jute and Allied Natural Fibres, AK Lohia, Managing Director, Alliance Mills said that India and Bangladesh together produce about 3 mn tonnes and hence there is huge market potential. There is need for technical development in the sector which can promote the primary agenda of promoting farm to factory and factory to fashion agenda of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 74 APPAREL VIEWS / JULY 2017

75 Research in innovative use of jute including non-wovens and composites Foreign delegates participated in a conference to deliberate avenues that can be explored to include research and development to ensure optimal usage of jute and also develop new varieties of fabric using jute along with other fibres. Dr. Rajesh Anandjiwala, Chief Researcher, CSIR, Port Elizabeth, South Africa said that there are various technologies that can be used for improving the quality of fabric created from jute. Among others Dr. M Zimniewska, Institute of Natural Fibres, Poland; DC Baheti, Managing Director, Gloster Ltd; Fort Gloster, Bauria and Dr.Sabu Thomas, Professor, Mahatma Gandhi University Kerala, Moderator were also present at the conference. Karnataka a New Emerging Hub for Textile Investments in India Karnataka was one of the many States in focus during the State sessions on Day 2. Today, Karnantaka is one of India s most successful States in the field of textiles a fact which was reiterated by the Chief Guest for this session, Karnataka s Minister for Textiles Rudrappa Manappa Lamani. During the event he talked about how the industry employed over 6 Lakh people in his State and his State hosted some of the very biggest textile majors in the country, such as Raymond, ETCO, Arvind etc. He stated that Karnataka s success was based on having skilled manpower, a proactive government, good infrastructure and a sound industrial policy for the textile industry in place. Gopal Krishna Hegde, CFO, Shahi Exports, touched upon another reason for Karnataka s success which is its Single window clearance system. Hegde spoke about how the system had helped many companies, including his own obtain clearances for their projects in record time and helped expand their operations rapidly throughout the State. Also present at the session was A Madhukumar Reddy, Joint Secretary, from the Ministry of Textiles, Government of India. During the session he stated that the aim of the Government of India, through this event was to connect all of India s states to the global market. He talked about how there are over 106 countries that participating in this event and that the possibilities for cooperation between States and other countries in the field of textiles are limitless. Top brands meet to discuss way forward of apparel industry Several deliberations were held in order to discuss the necessity of standardising apparel size, potential of the apparel growth story in India and the way forward for the Indian handlooms to create a sustainable economy in fashion industry. Size India Industry leaders discussed the necessity of standardising sizes of apparel throughout the global market in order to build trust in consumers. Rakesh Biyani, Joint MD, Future Retail Limited said standardising size will make it easier for industries to adopt pattern. Size should be standardized so that customers have the trust about a particular size, he added. Dr Michael T Fralix, President and CEO, Textile Clothing Technology Corporation; Narendra Kumar, Designer & Creative Director, Amazon; Nidhi Raj, Product Head, Peter England, Madura Garments and Edward A Grabbing, President, Alvanon, Inc. were also present at the conference. Apparel growth story in India Speaking at a conference, Rakesh Biyani, Joint MD, Future Retail Limited said that the domestic industry is growing. The country's per capita income is growing and hence there is an expected growth of four fold growth in the apparel sector. Gautam Nayar, readymade garment exporter and manufacturer, said that apparel manufacturing is an export oriented industry. India holds a bright future with respect to the apparel industry as other markets are declining, he said. China's apparel export has gone down by $20 bn in the past two years. We have to leverage the textile infrastructure, he said. Siddharth Bindra, M Dr. BIBA and Rahul Mehta, President CMAI, Moderator were also present at the discussion. India & Russia a brighter more profitable partnership During the show, country sessions began with a session dedicated to Russia. During the session, speakers discussed how both countries could utilise their strong ties, to boost their trade in the textile industry. They talked about how very high import duties in Russia are impeding exports from India and the problems are further compounded by language issues and procedural delays at customs. One of the speakers at the session JK Dadu, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Textiles talked about how the current trade in textiles between India and Russia stands at $161 mn, but has the potential to rise to over $1 bn. He also talked about how Russia has over 10 months of extreme cold and India has the potential to cater to this weather through items such as leather jackets, caps, boots, pashmina shawls and various other woollens, which it can export. Also with Russia s push to become environment friendly, India can provide it with jute bags. Dr. Andrey V Elizariev, The Trade Representation of the Russian Federation in the Republic of India was the other speaker at the event. Indian Handloom Brand Fashion show Gujarat CM, Vijay Rupani, Anjali Rupani, Union Textile Minister Smriti Irani and Anant Kumar Singh, Secretary Textile attended the India Handloom Brand fashion show. The vision of the show was to present the story of India Handloom Brand initiative launched by PM Narendra Modi on National Handloom Day in This initiative by the Ministry of Textiles, Government of India, focuses on branding of high quality and defect-free niche handloom products with minimal impact on environment, increasing the earnings of the weavers and other stakeholders of the handloom industry and generating a special market space for handloom products. The show featured designs from a combination of designers and labels from across India. The designers showcased designs of various kinds of handloom fabrics in organic dyes. In one of the segment of the fashion show the designers showcased their work which was created in collaboration with handloom clusters from various regions of India and presented the looks created by the handloom weavers. Designers like Hemang Agrawal and Rajesh Pratap Singh collaborated with handloom clusters from Varanasi and Anavila Misra collaborated with handloom clusters from Gadwal. The show also included a segment that showcased handloom collections by some modern retail brands from India. APPAREL VIEWS / JULY

76 Symphony of Weaves - India s largest curated Fashion Show The show presented a compelling story of the textiles of India, focusing on innovations in craft and design. It was the largest curated presentation of Indian textiles on the runway that unfolded the story of growth and development of the Indian textiles sector and its transformation to become a global power. A spectacular textile fashion show Symphony of Weaves was organized during the event. It was a unique fashion presentation celebrating the story of Indian textiles showcasing exquisite innovations in craft and design. The fashion show was attended by Union Minister of Textile Smriti Irani, Ajay Tamta, Minister of State for Textiles and Industry Commissioner of Gujarat Mamta Verma. The fashion show was fully supported by the stalwarts from the fashion industry including designers. The show presented a compelling story of the textiles of India, focusing on innovations in craft and design. It was the largest curated presentation of Indian textiles on the runway that unfolded the story of growth and development of the Indian textiles sector and its transformation to become a global power. Inspired by the 7 key notes of music that form the Sargam, a fundamental base for any tradition of music, the show celebrated textiles of our country and showcased the entire spectrum through seven key segments covering cottons, silks, wools, embroidery, hand-dyed and handprinted, modern/industrial and futuristic sustainable textiles of India. The textile panaroma spans across regions and States of the Gujarat, North-East of India, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Assam and many more. The fashion show featured the designs from a combination of 31 established and emerging designers and master craftsmen/weavers from across different textile traditions, languages and States of India. The story of the evolution of cottons in India was showcased by designers such as Anavila Misra, master craftsmen Chaman Siju from Kutch and Richana Khumanthem from Manipur as well as Wendell Rodricks for Goa Kunbi Cotton Handlooms. The rich legacy of Indian silk included Banarasi Silks by Sanjay Garg, Meghalaya Ryndia Silk by Daniel Syiem and Tussar handlooms from Jharkhand by Shruti Sancheti. Rahul Misra and Rajesh Pratap Singh among others showcased the story of evolution of Wool. The embroidery category was presented by eminent designers such as Anamika Khanna, Anita Dongre, Manish Malhotra, Ritu Kumar, Rohit Bal, Sabyasachi, Tarun Tahiliani among others. Young gen next label Poochki collaborated with Master craftsman Berulal Chippa from Rajasthan to showcase Bagru handicraft and Vineet Rahul collaborated with Mohammed Yusuf Khatri from Bagh, Madhya Pradesh to showcase Bagh handicrafts in high end fashion. Gaurav Gupta and Pankaj & Nidhi presented modern textiles and in the final segment Abraham & Thakore, Amit Aggarwal, Hemang Agrawal and Manish Arora presented modern and futuristic textiles that included man-made fibres, metal yarns and sustainable recycled fabrics. The lavish set had a circular ramp and a huge spindle as the centre piece. The backdrop installation for the show is inspired by the handloom jacquard attachments for punching pattern cards that is considered as an initial version of the modern computer. The production set-up and stage design elements were planned as per international standards for an audience of over 1,000+ guests that attended from across the industry, from India as well as abroad. 76 APPAREL VIEWS / JULY 2017

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78 India International Garment Fair Gets encouraging response at new venue The 59th edition of India International Garment Fair (IIGF) was held at Gandhinagar in Gujarat from 29th June -2nd July, Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) led all councils from the front by garnering overwhelming participation in the event - with almost 350 participant exporters and registration of more than 450 buying agents and buyers from across the world. Unlike the previous editions, IIGF had a shift in location and became the part of the three-day exclusive mega event, Textiles India 2017."India is one of the strongest raw material manufacturers and holds huge promise of a vivacious fashion industry today. We are conscientiously working to improve standards throughout the value chain and adhere to sustainability strategies consistently, as we make in India. India is now prepared to take up newer and larger roles!"commented Ashok G Rajani, Chairman, AEPC. So, the fair was held concurrently with this show, which covered the entire textile supply chain, as The exhibition centre there was world-class. Celebrating 30 years of its initiation, IIGF is the biggest sourcing event for Indian apparel exporters which was taking place in New Delhi for the last three decades. With a view to strengthen the link of garment buyers with India, the exhibition welcomed the buyer of garments (International chain stores/buyers/sourcing heads responsible for clothing buying) to the IIGF. Like always, AEPC hosted their export partners in halls 5 and 6, which eventually rose up to the occasion to become the hub for business and networking over the three days. Visitors from the world over, including countries like Brazil, Mexico, and Kenya, etc. thronged the venue to explore the best of Indian apparels in this stellar event. AEPC has been assisting the apparel industry, on the export front, since It has been actively working with both the government and the industry to bring in reforms and revolutionize the apparel industry as a whole. In continuation of its efforts to bring the apparel industry into prominence, based on the theme Design & Stitch to Sustain - All About Becoming Sustainable, AEPC worked out theme pavilions in halls 5 & 6 of the Textiles India 2017 mega event. Highlighting their efforts to bring about a change in the industry by committing to zero wastage, AEPC designed their pavilions, positioned at a prominent side of the hall with everything eco-friendly. The colours and the theme of the pavilions reflected a back to roots tone and imbibed an earthy spirit that AEPC explored to the garments and principles on display at the stall. The look of the stalls presented a very open structure that could be entered from almost every dimension. This, in return, preserved the sustainable motif and actually presented a circular pattern of use-reuse-sustain. Exploring the basics of sustainability and laying out the path for the industry, AEPC explained the simple steps to sustainability through versatile garment displays and panels that delved on three steps: Zero wastage during the manufacturing process, involving less process during production and finally stitching multitasking garments, which can be worn in various ways. AEPC is a trade body for the promotion and facilitation of garment manufacturing and their exports. AEPC has more than 8,000 members who contribute significantly in India s total garment exports of $16.83 bn each year. The IIGF has, over the years, established itself as one of the largest and most popular platforms in Asia where overseas garment buyers can source and forge a business relationship with India s finest in the apparel and fashion accessories domain 78 APPAREL VIEWS / JULY 2017

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80 Forthcoming trade events INTERNATIONAL DOMESTIC TEXWORLD July, 2017 Venue: Javits Convention Center, New York, Organizer: Messe Frankfurt, Inc. Tel: APPAREL SOURCING USA July, 2017 Venue: Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, New York, USA Organizer: Messe Frankfurt Inc. Tel: PREMIERE VISION NEW YORK July, 2017 Venue: Piers 92/94, New York, USA Organizer: Premiere Vision SA Tel: THE GARTEX SHOW July, 2017 Venue: Bashundhara Convention City, Dhaka, Bangladesh Organizer: Limra Trade Fairs & Exhibitions P. Ltd Tel: , YARN, FABRICS, ACCESSORIES EXPO July, 2017 Venue: Bashundhara, Dhaka, Bangladesh Organizer: Limra Trade Fairs & Exhibitions P. Ltd. Tel: , MODA WOMAN August, 2017 Venue: NEC, Marston Green, UK Organizer: ITE Moda Limited Tel: TEXTECH BANGLADESH August, 2017 Venue: International Convention City, Bashundhara, Dhaka-Bangladesh Organizer: CEMS-Global Tel: INTL YARN & FABRIC SHOW August, 2017 Venue: International Convention City, Bashundara, Dhaka, Bangladesh Organizer: CEMS-Global Tel: DYE+CHEM BANGLADESH INTL. EXPO August, 2017 Venue: Intl. Convention City Bashundhara, Dhaka, Bangladesh Organizer: CEMS Limited Tel: MOMAD METROPOLIS September, 2017 Venue: IFEMA - Feria de Madrid, Madrid, Spain Organizer: Ifema Feria De Madrid Tel: MUNICH FABRIC START September, 2017 Venue: Munich, Germany Organzier: Messe München GmbH Tel: 49 (89) TRADEXPO PARIS September, 2017 Venue: Boutique Le Bourget Paris, Paris, France Organizer: GL Events Exhibition Co. Ltd Tel: PREMIERE VISION FRANCE September, 2017 Venue: Parc des expositions Paris Nord Villepinte, Villepinte, France Organizer: Premiere Vision Tel: +33 (0) CISMA September, 2017 Venue: Shanghai New Intl. Expo Centre, China Organizer: China Sewing Machinery Association Tel: INTERTEXTILE SHANGHAI APPAREL FABRICS - AUTUMN EDITION October, 2017 Venue: National Exhibition and Convention Center, Shanghai, China Organizer: Messe Frankfurt (HK) Ltd. Tel: CHINA YIWU INTERNATIONAL COMMODITIES FAIR October, 2017 Venue: Yiwu Intl Expo Center, Zhejiang, China Organizer: Yiwu China Commodity City Exhibition Co.,Ltd. Tel: / / 0086 BANGLADESH DENIM EXPO November, 2017 Venue: International Convention City, Bashundhara, Dhaka, Bangladesh Organizer: Bangladesh Denim Expo Tel: GTMAT November, 2017 Venue: International Convention City Bashundhara, Dhaka, Bangladesh Organizer: Kites Intl. Trade & Exhibitions P. Ltd. Tel: , CHINA CLOTHING & TEXTILES EXPO November, 2016 Venue: Melbourne Exhibition Centre, Australia Organizer: Minstar (Australia) Enterprises P. Ltd. Tel: MODA PRIMA November, 2017 Venue: Stazione Leopolda, Florence, Italy Organizer: Pitti Immagine Tel: VIETNAM INTL. TEXTILE PRINTING INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY EXPO 29 November 02 December, 2017 Venue: Ho Chi Minh City International Convention and Exhibition Center, Vietnam Organizer: Hongkong Allallinfo Media Group Ltd Tel: YARN & FABRICS SOURCING FAIR January, 2018 Venue: International Convention City Bashundhara, Dhaka, Bangladesh Organizer: Ask Trade & Exhibitions Pvt. Ltd. Tel: , , GARMENTECH BANGLADESH January, 2018 Venue: International Convention City Bashundhara, Dhaka, Bangladesh Organizer: Zakaria Trade & Fair International Tel: , GGMA - NATIONAL GARMENT FAIR July, 2017 Venue: Gujarat University Exhibition Hall, Helmet Circle, Drive-in-Road, Ahmendabad Organizer: The Gujarat Garment Manufacturers Association Tel: NATIONAL GARMENT FAIR (NGF) July, 2017 Venue: Bombay Exhibition Centre, Mumbai Organizer: CMAI Tel: INDIA INTL. GARMENT FAIR July, 2017 Venue: Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, India Organizer: Apparel Export Promotion Council Tel: , F&A SHOW (FABRICS & ACCESSORIES TRADE SHOW) July, 2017 Venue: Pragati Maidan, New Delhi Organizer: SS Textile Media Private Limited Tel: / FASHIONISTA LIFESTYLE EXHIBITION July, 2017 Venue: Hotel Grand Imperial, Raipur Organizer: Fashionista Tel: GARTEX July, 2017 Venue: Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, India Organizer: MEX Exhibitions Pvt. Ltd. Tel: FASHIONISTA LIFESTYLE EXHIBITION August, 2017 Venue: Hotel Rama International, R-3, Chilkalthana, Aurangabad, Maharashtra, India Organizer: Fashionista Tel: KNIT SHOW August, 2017 Venue: Velan Hotel Fair Ground, Tirupur Organizer: Knit Show Trade Exposition / City Leaves Tel: , GTE - GARMENT TECHNOLOGY EXPO - AHMEDABAD August, 2017 Venue: Ahmedabad, India Organizer: Garment Technology Expo Tel: , / UMEX ASIA September, 2017 Venue: Bombay Exhibition Centre, Mumbai Organizer: Trade Link ITE SDN BHD Tel: TECHTEXTIL INDIA September, 2017 Venue: Bombay Exhibition Centre, Hall 6, NESCO Ltd., Goregaon (East), Mumbai Organizer: Messe Frankfurt Trade Fairs (I) P. Ltd. Tel: TEXINDIA (TEXTILE SOURCING FAIR) September, 2017 Venue: IKF complex, Tirupur, India Organizer: SS Textile Media Private Limited Tel: / YARNEX - INDIA INTERNATIONAL YARN EXHIBITION September, 2017 Venue: IKF complex, Tirupur, India Organizer: SS Textile Media Private Limited Tel: / VASTRA September, 2017 Venue: Jaipur Exhibition & Convention Centre, Jaipur, India Organizer: Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry Tel: THE CULTURE COLLECTION October, 2017 Venue: World Trade Centre, Mumbai, India Organizer: Introduction Trade Shows Pvt. Ltd Tel: INDIA KNIT FAIR October, 2017 Venue: India Knit Fair Association, Tiruppur Organizer: India Knit Fair Association, Tiruppur Tel: GARKNIT X November, 2017 Venue: Science City, Kolkata Organizer: Vardaan Events Pvt Ltd Tel: , TEXFAIR November, 2017 Venue: CODISSIA Trade Fair Complex, Coimbatore Organizer: The Southern India Mills Association Tel: YARN, FABRIC AND ACCESSORIES TRADE SHOW (YFA) 22 25, November 2017 Venue: NSIC Exhibition Complex, New Delhi Organizer: Vision Communications- New Delhi Tel: ITMACH INDIA December, 2017 Venue: The Helipad Exhibition Centre, Gandhinagar, Ahmedabad, India Organizer: K and D Itmach Expositions Llp Tel: /86/87/88 GTE (GARMENT TECHNOLOGY EXPO) January, 2018 Venue: NSIC Exhibition Complex, New Delhi, India Organizer: Garment Technology Expo Tel: , IHGF DELHI FAIR SPRING February, 2018 Venue: India Expo Centre & Mart, Greater Noida Organizer: EPCH Tel: /57/58 F&A SHOW March, 2018 Venue: Trade Centre, KTPO, Bangalore Organizer: S S Textile Media Pvt. Ltd. Tel: , (You are requested to reconfirm dates and other information from respective organisers prior to making your travel arrangements) 80 APPAREL VIEWS / JULY 2017

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84 RNI REGD. NO. DELENG/2002/06669