From the Sector

SHIMA SEIKI announces a sales promotion package for the apparel industry together with KDDI, Linking 3D fashion design with cross-reality― realizing digital catalogs, VR showrooms and new customer experience allowing 360-degree viewing without actual samples

Leading fashion technologist SHIMA SEIKI MFG., LTD. of Wakayama, Japan together with telecommunications company KDDI Corporation of Tokyo, Japan launched "XR Mannequin for APEXFiz," a sales promotion package that links SHIMA SEIKI's APEXFiz design software for the apparel industry with KDDI's XR (cross-reality) technology.

XR Mannequin for APEXFiz will be offered to the apparel industry. Using an XR Mannequin that enables viewers to check product images from any angle in 360 degrees on various devices, XR Mannequin for APEXFiz enables digital catalogues with 3D virtual sample image data of garments designed on APEXFiz design software, 360-degree VR showrooms, as well as digitally extended stores. It also realizes virtual proposals at exhibitions, showroom-style stores with no inventory, and user-friendly purchase experience on e-commerce sites, and more. It also allows users to reduce excess stock at stores and create new sales opportunities.

Eventually, by adding movement to models wearing Virtual Samples and rendering them on a cloud server, customers will be able to view high-resolution virtual fashion shows on their smartphones and other devices.

 Until now, the apparel industry has been making actual product samples in each of the planning and design stages of production. This process not only takes an enormous amount of time and cost, but generates waste of raw materials including fabric that require disposal. At the retail stage, stores also needed to have various sizes and colors in stock to address a wide range of customer preferences, resulting in excess inventory.

With SHIMA SEIKI's APEXFiz, designs can be evaluated without making actual samples, minimizing resources spent on sample production as well as lead time, enabling environmentally-friendly manufacturing.

In May 2022, KDDI developed a high-resolution XR mannequin for apparel sales, with support from Google Cloud. It enables various devices such as store signages and smartphones to check products from any angle in 360 degrees, enabling stores to sell products without maintaining inventory.

SHIMA SEIKI and KDDI combines APEXFiz and XR Mannequin to start providing XR Mannequin for APEXFiz. This brings DX solutions to all stages in the supply chain for the apparel industry, from planning and design to sample making, production, distribution, and retail sales. SHIMA SEIKI and KDDI will continue to create services together that link each other's products, to bring about a sustainable society by reducing excess stock, and providing a customer experience that gives peace of mind when purchasing products.

A Selection of Footwear and Apparel Designed to Raise Awareness and Funding for Breast Cancer Now and National Breast Cancer Foundation, Inc.

• In partnership with the charities Breast Cancer Now (UK/Europe) and National Breast Cancer Foundation (US), the Collection brings together a range of products for running, hiking and mountain biking
• £15/€15/$15 from each full-price sale will be donated to BCN (for purchases in the UK and EU) or NBCF (for purchases in the North America)
• The Collection feature illustrations by adidas pro mountain biker Veronique Sandler, empathetically designed to represent the comfort that those with breast cancer have experienced in the outdoors

Inspired by the experiences of people and communities around the world, including its own employees and athletes, adidas is launching the Breast Cancer Awareness Collection this October.
Available throughout Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the adidas Breast Cancer Awareness Collection sees adidas partnering with Breast Cancer Now in the UK and Europe, and National Breast Cancer Foundation, Inc. in the US, to help raise awareness of breast cancer and support the vital work both charities do.

The products in the Breast Cancer Awareness Collection have been chosen to help everyone, regardless of physical ability or condition, spend more time in the outdoors.
The collection’s focus on functional footwear and apparel that is designed for the outdoors is in keeping with adidas' objective to help broaden access to outdoor sports and help everyone enjoy the benefits of spending time in nature. With United by Summits, adidas TERREX is taking this brand-wise ethos further by encouraging all people, from every background, to realise their own individual goals in the outdoors and enjoy the benefits of adventure, both big and small.

The collection is available for purchase in limited quantities from September 30, 2022 until the end of October 2022 for adiClub members only, and £15/€15/$15 from each full-price sale of the adidas Breast Cancer Awareness Collection will be donated to Breast Cancer Now (for purchases in the UK and EU) or National Breast Cancer Foundation, Inc. (for purchases in North America). The money raised will contribute to the important work these charities are doing.

adidas has unveiled the latest in its Made with Nature Capsule Collection with a new Ultraboost 22 Made with Nature and Made with Nature apparel joining the range as the brand continues its mission to call time on conventional materials and design out finite resources.

Designed in balance with the planet, the women’s Ultraboost 22 Made with Nature takes the forward-thinking elements of the Ultraboost 22 and amplifies them with natural materials. The shoe is made in part with natural materials – 40% of the knitted upper is made with lyocell, a material created with cellulosic fibers made from sustainably grown wood.

Launching alongside the Ultraboost 22 Made with Nature is a new Made with Nature apparel range, including a performance running wear look for men and women. The apparel range is made with at least 50% organic cotton.

Christopher Wheat, Global Category Director Running Footwear said: “At adidas, we understand that change is not only possible, it’s an urgent necessity. With Made with Nature, we are on a journey to a world beyond plastic. We’re calling time on conventional materials and methods of make. Once depleted, there’s no coming back for fossil resources. But when we design in synergy with natural processes, when we make with nature, we can use materials that regrow or regenerate – and change the way products are made."

North Carolina educational institutions are joining forces with an Honduran university to educate and train thousands of students for the next generation textile workforce to meet a rising tide of nearshoring and onshoring in Honduras, Central America and the United States.

The U.S. Department of State issued a statement of public support for the MOU and the unique collaboration between the U.S. and Honduran institutions.

The initiative will launch a series of educational workforce development programs, ranging from training and certificate programs to undergraduate and graduate degrees, in textile-related areas of study.
 
The partnership comes at a defining moment for the U.S., Honduras and Central America, which are seeing historical levels of investment in textile and apparel production stemming from a global supply chain crisis that has driven a significant shift in sourcing out of Asia to the U.S. and the region. Nearly $1 billion of historic textile and apparel investment is anticipated in the U.S. and Central America this year alone. And this partnership also creates an educational pathway to economic opportunity in Honduras and the region that not only creates a skilled and resilient workforce but can also help to address the root causes of irregular migration.

Current growth projections indicate a need for more than 10,000 new skilled workers in the textile industry in Honduras alone over the next five years.

The U.S. and this region are inextricably linked through a textile and apparel co-production chain under the U.S.-Central America-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) that has generated $12.6 billion in annual two-way trade in the sector and supports 1 million workers in the U.S. and the region.
 
North Carolina plays a central role in this co-production chain. It is the second largest state for textile employment nationally with over 36,000 workers, and the state’s $2.7 billion in textile-related exports leads the nation. The Northern Triangle, including Honduras, is a major export destination for U.S. yarns and fabrics that come back as finished items under the U.S.-CAFTA-DR trade agreement.

Cotton Incorporated published its monthly economic letter of August and shared new insights of the cotton prices:

Cotton prices continue to be caught between the two competing storylines that have been in play for the past several months.
On one side, there is the deteriorating global macroeconomic situation.  The International Monetary Fund (IMF) lowered its projection for global economic growth in both 2022 (3.2%) and 2023 (2.9%) in the updates released in late July.  Current IMF forecasts are significantly beneath those from January (called for 4.4% growth in 2022 and 3.8% growth in 2023) and April (called for 3.6% growth in 2022 and 3.6% growth in 2023).  The evolution in the macroeconomy was a likely factor contributing to the shift in investors’ outlook on the commodity sector, which led to a collapse in prices for cotton and a range of other commodities in June and July.

Beyond the weakening macroeconomic environment, there also may be factors associated with cotton supply chains that could affect demand during the 2022/23 crop year.  Downstream consumer markets for cotton can be viewed as more discretionary than other spending categories, such as food, energy, and lodging, that experienced some of the sharpest effects of inflation.  Given price increases for necessities, consumers may have less income to devote to apparel and home furnishings.

In the U.S., consumer spending on clothing has been flat for the past year.  However, it has been holding at levels that are 25% higher than they were in 2019.  If U.S. consumers pull back on clothing purchases, it may hit the market just as retailers have caught up with consumer demand after the onset of the shipping crisis.  In weight volume, the cotton contained in U.S. apparel imports was up 22% year-over-year in the first half of 2022.  Relative to 2019 (pre-COVID and pre-shipping crisis), the volume in the first half of 2022 was up 23%.  Given strong import volumes, if there is a dip in consumer demand, inventory could build both at retail and upstream in supply chains.  This could lead to cancelations, potentially all the way back to the fiber level, where contracts signed at prices higher than current values could be particularly susceptible.

Tight U.S. supply is on the other side of price direction arguments.  Cotton is drought tolerant, and that is why it can be viably grown in perennially dry locations like West Texas.  However, cotton requires some moisture to germinate and generate healthy yields.  West Texas has had very little rain over the past year, and drought conditions have been extreme.  As a result, abandonment is forecast to be widespread.  It remains to be seen exactly how small the U.S. crop will be, but the current USDA forecast predicts only 12.6 million bales in 2022/23 (-5.0 million fewer bales than in 2021/22).

Meanwhile, demand for U.S. cotton has been relatively consistent, near 18 million bales over the past five crop years (an average of 15.5 million bales of exports and 2.7 million bales of domestic mill-use).  A harvest of only 12.6 million falls well short of the recent average for exports alone, and U.S. stocks were near multi-decade lows coming into 2022/23.  All these statistics suggest shipments from the world’s largest exporter may have to be rationed in 2022/23.  If cotton is not readily available from other sources, the scarcity of supply from the U.S. could support prices globally.

Simultaneously, there is weakness from the demand side.  The market has struggled to find the balance between the weakened demand environment and limited exportable supply in recent months.  The conflict between these two influences makes it difficult to discern a clear direction for prices and suggests continued volatility.

• Opportunity to rebalance trade relations and promote a global sustainable textile industry

Today’s trade relations between the EU and India in textiles and clothing are characterised by a large and systemic trade deficit for the EU; annual imports from India exceed €6 bln (2021) – making it the 4th supplier – while EU exports to India reached just half a billion – the 20th place in our export markets.

Against this background, the free trade negotiations are an opportunity to rebalance that relationship; European textile and clothing companies can offer high quality and innovative products for the Indian market, but they can also offer solutions to reduce the environmental footprint of the textile industry.

EURATEX, as the voice of textiles and apparel manufacturers in Europe, supports an ambitious EU trade agenda, that puts reciprocity, transparency, fair competition and equal rules at the centre of its action. The FTA is an opportunity to establish a more sustainable and fair trading system, based on rules, global environmental and social standards, which are effectively respected by all.

In this context, EURATEX highlights that the sector needs open and efficient markets, but combined with effective controls where necessary, thus ensuring level playing field for European companies. It is clearly essential that the same level of market access to India – both in terms of tariff and non-tariff barriers – is available to EU producers as vice versa.

India today benefits from reduced customs duties due to GSP. For European companies instead, market access to India is challenging, facing non-tariff barriers (related to proof of origin, quality control procedures, etc.) as well as national or state-level support programmes which distort the level playing field between EU and Indian companies.

That level playing field should also apply to our sustainability targets. As the EU will roll out its EU Textile Strategy, setting ambitious standards and restrictions (e.g. on chemicals), we must ensure the FTA is fully aligned with that strategy.

Director General Dirk Vantyghem commented: “We look to these negotiations with great interest. The FTA is an opportunity to develop a shared ambition between the European and Indian industry to make sustainable textiles the norm, and to create a regulatory framework where our companies can compete in a free and fair environment.”

• China Penalty Tariffs on Finished Textiles & Apparel Give U.S. Companies a Chance to Compete and are a Powerful Trade-Negotiation Tool, NCTO Tells U.S. International Trade Commission

Section 301 penalty tariffs on finished Chinese textile and apparel imports give American manufacturers a chance to compete and provide trade officials with an essential trade negotiation tool, the National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) told a key government panel today in a formal written submission. Removing them, the association said, would reward China, put U.S. manufacturers at a competitive disadvantage and do nothing to reduce inflation.

Those were among the key points outlined by NCTO President and CEO Kim Glas in a written testimony submitted to the U.S. International Trade Commission during three days of hearings on the economic impact of Section 301 China tariffs and Section 232 steel tariffs on U.S. industries.

The 301 penalty tariffs should be maintained “absent substantive improvements in China’s pervasive, predatory trade practices,” Glas said in her testimony.  China’s illegal actions “have put U.S. companies at a serious disadvantage, and tariffs give American manufacturers a chance to compete.” Glas noted that U.S. trade officials have “stressed that the penalty tariffs also create leverage and are a ‘significant tool’ in ongoing negotiations with China.”
 
While some advocates for lifting the tariffs point to concerns about inflation, Glas said, “canceling these penalty duties would do little to ease Americans’ inflationary pains.” She also noted that “apparel prices out of China continue to hit rock bottom even with the Section 301 tariffs in place. As detailed in an economic study recently released by Werner International, U.S. import prices for apparel from China have dropped 25 percent since 2019 and 50 percent since 2011.”

Glas also warned that lifting the tariffs would have “a substantial negative ripple effect” on U.S. free-trade agreements, including undermining those with Western Hemisphere partners that have established shorter coproduction supply chains and serve other U.S. and regional interests.

The Section 301 tariffs were first imposed in 2018 in response to China’s persistent violations of intellectual property rules. By law, they are now under review.

adidas Basketball in collaboration with basketball GOAT and legend, Candace Parker , unveils the new Candace Parker Collection Part II with retail partner DICK’S Sporting Goods. Rooted in a shared commitment to empower aspiring women athletes and hoopers – who like Parker set out to create their own legacy, the encore collection is the embodiment of Parker’s evolution on-and-off the court melding Ace’s style and performance insights for the next generation player.

The Candace Parker Collection Part II launches with the all-new Exhibit B, arriving in three custom colorways employing Lightstrike cushioning for fluid and dynamic handling. Each iteration of Parker's Exhibit Bs are inspired by her personal journey beginning with the “For Lailaa Nicole” receiving emerald green with silver accents in honor of her daughter. As for Parker, it’s not about “wearing the crown,” but about “sharing it” resulting in “Game Royalty”, a purple and gold colorway representing African queens followed by an ash blue and shadow navy for “Windy City” version signifying the hometown hero’s 2022 league title and rounded out by three unique Exhibit B “Elevated Team” colorways emphasizing the magic of teamwork.

The Candace Parker Collection Part II is an elevation for the new generation of athletes completed with a vibrant combination of pre to post-game apparel offerings including signature Ace sweatsuits, cropped jackets and hoodies, all paired with an assortment of tees and shorts that harken back to pivotal moments in Parker’s career. The return of inclusive sizing is paramount and purposeful, allowing Parker’s vision for expanded access to female and non-binary athletes who’ve traditionally had to size down to access men’s basketball apparel and footwear.

ROICA™ strengthens its presence in the apparel segment thanks to its established network of partners, who will present their latest innovations at the upcoming Première Vision.

ROICA™ partners are the “artists” and “heartists” of premium stretch in fabrics: because they have at heart all the values for which ROICA™ stands for. These partners presenting at Première Vision are:

• Iluna Group, whose journey into the new dimension of responsibility continues with developments in GRS (Global Recycled Standard) certified recycled yarns aimed at unprecedented effects in looks, performance and hands. Brand new for this edition of Première Vision is the inclusion of GOTS-certified organic cotton in GRS-certified galloons and allover lace containing ROICA™ EF, so as to meet market demands for natural comfort in the underwear sphere.
• Innova Fabrics, which recently enhanced its smart offering by launching the RF (Residual Free) line, with the goal of reducing the impact of microplastics derived from the fashion industry. This is made possible by mixing two responsible ingredients, SENSIL® BioCare by Nilit and ROICA™ V550 by Asahi Kasei, which give birth to both sporty and casual fabrics.
• Inplet, which enriched its production of smart elastic and rigid knitted fabrics with three new products: a powernet fabric in 77% polyamide RECO and 23% ROICA™ EF with good recovery; a net fabric in 55% polyamide RECO and 45% ROICA™ EF characterized by a soft hand and good elasticity; and a 79% polyamide and 21% ROICA™ V550 good power, good recovery and a soft touch.
• Penn Textile Solutions/Penn Italia, whose highlights of the new collection are on one side fabrics developed with the use of Neride eco yarns by Nurel with ROICA™ V550, characterized by restraining lace effect, soft touch and breathable, in combination with tulle as a sustainable basic, and on the other side charmeuses with soft hand, raw cut in combination with a band fabric from the dreamshape family with reinforced gripping edge, made again in Neride eco yarns by Nurel with ROICA™ V550
• Tessitura Colombo Antonio, which in its new A/W 23-24 collection expands its proposal of regenerated lace from the ECO-LACE line: new designs inspired by fashion trends using ROICA™ EF. Also, in its BIODEGRADABLE line it uses ROICA™ V550 for the realization of new designs. The new MICROMODAL line uses ROICA™ V550; the effect of this lace range is softness, elegance and relief effect.

Huntsman Textile Effects has released PHOBOTEX® R-ACE, a PFC-free durable water repellent (DWR) that makes it possible for mills and brands to deliver high-performance outdoor and extreme sports apparel and everyday wear while meeting stringent environmental standards and optimizing production flow.

PHOBOTEX® R-ACE delivers excellent water repellence on all types of fibers. In addition to its remarkable performance on synthetic fibers and blends, PHOBOTEX® R-ACE offers compatibility with resin finishing to ensure even application with unmatchable performance on cellulosic fibers. It offers rain and splash protection for garments that are water repellent and windproof, even under toughest conditions. Additionally, it repels everyday stains, such as mud, coffee, ketchup and juice, so that garments stay cleaner for longer. Textiles treated with PHOBOTEX® R-ACE are breathable, retain their soft handle and continue to look good and perform well through repeated laundering and drying.

PHOBOTEX® R-ACE meets current and upcoming industry standards. The new DWR is PFC-free and formaldehyde-free. It meets the bluesign® criteria (imminent approval pending) and will be published on the ZDHC Gateway with Conformance Level 3, and suitable for STANDARD 100 by OEKO-TEX® certified textile products. It also meets new bluesign® restrictions on 2-Butanone oxime in chemical products, which will come into effect in June 2022.