From the Sector

The Premium Group, an European event and trade fair organiser for fashion and lifestyle, is entering a new chapter: founder Anita Tillmann is handing over to her business partner Jörg Arntz and the experienced management team. After almost 21 years of successful management, serial entrepreneur Anita Tillmann will retire from operating business at the end of this year. She will remain with the Premium Group as a strategic advisor.

Jörg Arntz, the long-standing managing director of Premium Group, will continue to lead the company as managing director, with the strategic support of Anita Tillmann. Operational implementation and content development will continue with the proven PREMIUM and SEEK teams in line with the formats. "I am delighted to have had Anita by my side over the past 10 years. The goal remains to strengthen the Premium Group's position as a forward-thinking and established platform in the national and international markets. We challenge traditional KPIs, develop sustainable business models hand-in-hand with the industry and share this know-how with our communities. We will continue to drive innovation and growth in close exchange with the industry. The demand for an organised industry meeting in Berlin is still very high. We are firmly convinced that the relevance of personal exchange will become even more important in the future and with it modern platforms like PREMIUM and SEEK."

Leaders assembled at the renowned forum for sustainability in fashion to mobilise action and usher in a transformative phase for the industry.

Hosted in the Copenhagen Concert Hall, on 27-28 June, Global Fashion Summit convened over 1000 revered representatives from brands, retailers, NGOs, policy, manufacturers, and innovators to transform ambition into action. The Summit was presented by Global Fashion Agenda (GFA), the non-profit organisation that is accelerating the transition to a net positive fashion industry, under the patronage of HRH The Crown Princess of Denmark.

This year’s theme ‘Ambition to Action’, galvanised participants to transform ambitions into concrete actions that can drive the industry towards more sustainable practices, both socially and environmentally. Under this premise, the event presented content experiences focused on tangible and evidence-based impact, with over half of the programme dedicated to educational and action-oriented business case studies.

This edition included more speakers and content than ever before, with the dynamic and action-orientated sessions spanning across four different stages. The Summit also facilitated more than 10 strategic roundtable meetings that brought together executives and policy makers for productive dialogues on how to address pressing sustainability issues and act accordingly. The content integrated the five priorities of the Fashion CEO Agenda, alongside critical challenges and tangible opportunities relating to some of the key forces that are shaping the fashion industry today: data, policy and storytelling.

Attendees heard from 137 speakers including HRH The Crown Princess of Denmark; Antoine Arnault, Image & Environment, LVMH Group; Jonathan Anderson, Creative Director & Founder, JW Anderson and Creative Director, Loewe; Virginijus Sinkevičius,  Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, European Commission; Henriette Hallberg Thygesen, Chief Delivery Officer, Maersk; Aude Vergne, Chief Sustainability Officer, Chloé; Nicolaj Reffstrup, Founder, GANNI; Fanny Moizant, Co-Founder & President, Vestiaire Collective; Noel Kinder, Chief Sustainability Officer, Nike; Óscar García Maceiras, CEO, Inditex; Dr. Lewis Akenji, Managing Director, Hot or Cool Institute; Rachel Arthur, Advocacy Lead, Sustainable Fashion, United Nations Environment Programme; and many more.

Innovation Forum connected fashion companies with sustainable solution providers
This year’s Summit also presented an Innovation Forum, enabling small and large companies to meet with 26 sustainable solution providers – equipping them with the concrete tools to quickly turn words into meaningful actions. More than 350 facilitated business meetings between fashion companies and sustainable solution providers took place during the Summit.

Global Fashion Summit: Boston Edition will take place on 27 September 2023, which will mark the second time the Summit has been hosted outside of Copenhagen in its 14-year history.

With combined regional, global, and industry specific expertise, the Vietnam International Trade Fair for Apparel, Textiles and Textile Technologies (VIATT) will make its debut from 28 February – 1 March 2024. Following the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in late March, Messe Frankfurt (HK) Ltd and the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency (VIETRADE) announced the new international fair for the entire textile value chain. The three-day platform will be staged at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Center (SECC), Ho Chi Minh City.

Commenting on the new event, Ms Wendy Wen, Managing Director of Messe Frankfurt (HK) Ltd, said: “With Intertextile Apparel in Shanghai a prime example, our Texpertise Network provides the ideal global framework from which to launch this diverse, comprehensive platform for the integrated textile supply chain. VIATT itself will capture the essence of Texpertise in one platform – a diverse, one-stop sourcing event for buyers across all categories, from garments, fabrics, yarns and fibres, to textile machinery, technical textiles and nonwovens, and everything in between.”

Discussing the event’s potential, Mr Le Hoang Tai, Deputy Director General of the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency (VIETRADE), said: “Vietnam is one of the world’s leading textile producers and exporters, and going from strength to strength as one of Southeast Asia’s manufacturing hubs. Our establishment has many years of experience organising trade fairs throughout Vietnam, and together with Messe Frankfurt we are excited to help international fairgoers unlock the potential of the country’s fast-growing textile market. In addition, Ho Chi Minh City’s accessibility, and Vietnam’s proximity to other leading textile-producing nations such as Bangladesh, Cambodia, China and India, make it the logical venue to host an event of this nature.”

Many international textile manufacturers have been expanding operations into Vietnam, augmenting an already strong domestic industry. According to the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS), the country’s textile and garment industry achieved staggering annual growth of 20 – 26% from 2018 – 2022. Participation in international trade agreements such as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), the EU–Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), and the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF)[2], bodes well for future growth.

As one of the world’s biggest importers of textile machinery, and a consistent importer of fabrics, yarns and fibres, garment production is the cornerstone of Vietnam’s industry. The country utilises cotton and functional materials to produce casualwear, childrenswear, swimwear, workwear, and much more, with sportswear an especially fast-growing category, and high-utility garments expected to achieve high exports.

By linking textile players from across Asia, Europe and beyond with this market, VIATT 2024 is willing to play an important part in shaping the future of Vietnam’s industry. Next year’s fair will host an extensive mix of international and domestic exhibitors covering multiple textile sub-sectors, including garments, apparel fabrics and accessories, yarns and fibres, digital printing, home textiles, technical textiles and nonwovens, textile processing, textile machinery, and more.

Exhibitors and buyers can utilise the fair’s global business matchmaking service, where connections are made based on the specific needs of each party. In addition to the fair’s main function as an international trading platform, its fringe programme will facilitate participants’ networking with industry leaders and offer diverse market insights via various seminars, forums, and panel discussions.

The Vietnam International Trade Fair for Apparel, Textiles and Textile Technologies (VIATT) is organised by Messe Frankfurt (HK) Ltd and the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency (VIETRADE). Covering the entire textile industry value chain, the inaugural edition will be held from 28 February – 1 March 2024 at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Center (SECC), Ho Chi Minh City.

At the 14th edition more than 4,500 visitors from the retail industry gathered in Mumbai from 1 to 3 June to exchange views on the latest products and solutions specifically for the Indian retail market. Exhibitors on over 7,500 m2 demonstrated where the future of the Indian retail sector is headed. This year's event offered new product segments and profiles, bringing the spotlight to sustainability and focusing on the growth of the overall industry.

The Indian retail market is one of the fastest growing retail markets in the world and a key driver for the Indian economy, something that was also reflected by numerous positive conversations where fruitful synergies were created and long-term relationships were established. Appealing retail design, shopper marketing strategies and visual merchandising were the highlights of the exhibits on the show floor. The trade visitors were also distinguished by a high level of decision-making skills and brand experience expertise.

Thomas Schlitt, Managing Director, Messe Düsseldorf India, points out: “We are very delighted with the brilliant response received from the retail industry for In-store Asia 2023. The event has yet again made its mark by bringing together relevant business opportunities for both exhibitors and visitors. In-store Asia 2023 had something for everyone looking to network and learn from peers and associates in the industry. The event has always been a key meeting point for bellwethers, innovators, distributors, brands and retailers. The 2023 edition has been greatly appreciated for the futuristic ideas and solutions presented both on the expo floor as well as through the dialogues at the convention. I am certain that the connections made here will result in great business prospects for all.”

Elke Moebius, Director Retail & Retail Technology at Messe Düsseldorf, also draws a positive conclusion: “In-store Asia has again confirmed its position as a platform for retail innovations, impressive customer journeys, and shopper-focused strategies that stage physical stores as vibrant, appealing shopping destinations that can captivate and thrill shoppers. Everyone attending here could feel this sense of new departures and investment in the Indian retail sector.”

The 3-day event was accompanied by a Convention under the heading “Humanise, Hybridise, Hyper Localise Retail Experience” where more than 30 speakers delivered talks on such topics as retail research, visual merchandising, shopper marketing and design innovations, to name but a few. Another highlight was the presentation of the coveted VM & RD Retail Design Awards, for which India’s top talents from the Retail Design, Visual Merchandising and Manufacturing sectors competed with each other in 23 distinct categories of store design and window display. At the VM Challenge, six teams of visual merchandisers from renowned brands and companies demonstrated the day before how they conceptualise and realise a shop window within one hour under a given theme and design brief.

DyStar, a specialty chemical company with a heritage of more than a century in product development and innovation, is announcing the sale of its auxiliary manufacturing site located at Pietermaritzburg, South Africa.

Oakland Polymers Pty Ltd, a local manufacturer, has acquired DyStar’s manufacturing facility and will take over the site to expand their polymer business. Under the sale and purchase agreement, DyStar divested the entire facility, which is approximately 12,000 sqm, to Oakland Polymers and Oakland Properties. DyStar Africa’s operations will continue to lease part of the premises from Oakland for office and warehousing use.

Mr. Xu Yalin, Managing Director, and President of DyStar Group said, “The sale of the manufacturing site at DyStar Africa is part of our ongoing efforts to reconsolidate our business resources in Turkey, Africa & Middle East (TAME) region, with a focus on improving productivity and utilization rates.”

As a result of the acquisition, all employees at the manufacturing site have already been informed. Compensation packages are offered to affected colleagues as well.

Customers have also been informed of undisrupted supply to their orders during the transition period and are further assured of a seamless customer journey going forward when the acquisition is completed.

The shareholders of SGL Carbon SE approved all agenda items at the Annual General Meeting on May 9, 2023. The Annual General Meeting, which was held virtually, was attended by up to 114 electronically connected shareholders who, together with the postal votes submitted, represented 64.64% of the share capital.

CEO Dr. Torsten Derr began his speech with a review of SGL Carbon's two-year transformation phase. "In two years, we have been able to increase our sales by 23.5% and adjusted EBITDA by as much as 86.2%. In parallel, we reduced our debt by 40.4%," Dr. Derr elaborated. He also reported on the past financial year and the expectations for the future economic development of the company. In doing so, he also addressed SGL Carbon's growth markets in detail. "Over the past two years, we have made SGL fit for the future. With our products, we serve industries that significantly reflect the trends for the future: climate-friendly mobility, renewable energies and digitalization," he explained.

After 14 years on the Supervisory Board of SGL Carbon, this was Dr. h.c. Susanne Klatten's last Annual General Meeting as Chairwoman of the Supervisory Board. She had already informed the Company on February 14, 2023, that she would be leaving the Board at the end of this Annual General Meeting. As the largest shareholder, Dr. h.c. Klatten will remain associated with SGL Carbon through SKion GmbH.

As proposed, the Annual General Meeting elected Prof. Dr. Frank Richter as a shareholder representative on the Supervisory Board to succeed Dr. h.c. Susanne Klatten. Following the Annual General Meeting, the constituent meeting of the Supervisory Board elected Prof. Dr. Richter as Chairman of the Supervisory Board. Prof. Dr. Richter is Managing Director of SKion GmbH, Bad Homburg, which holds a stake of approximately 28.55% in SGL Carbon SE. Furthermore, Ingeborg Neumann, Managing Partner of Peppermint Holding GmbH, Berlin, was elected to the Supervisory Board of SGL Carbon SE for a further term of office.

Lectra’s Annual Shareholders’ Meeting held on April 28 appointed two new Directors, Karine Calvet and Pierre-Yves Roussel for a four-year term. They both will become members of the Strategic Committee, replacing Bernard Jourdan, Lead Director, and Anne Binder. Karine Calvet also becomes a member of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Committee.

With its new strategic roadmap for 2023-2025, the Group aims to use its expansion – mainly due to the acquisition of Gerber in June 2021 – to accelerate its growth, significantly increase the share of SaaS in its sales, and seize opportunities for external growth. Supported by the commitment of its staff and recognized by its customers, Lectra will also be at the forefront of a more sustainable future.

Karine Calvet is Vice-President EMEA responsible for Partners at AVEVA, a subsidiary of Schneider Electric. She began her career at CGI in 1993 and has spent most of it in IT: sixteen years in services companies, seven years in telecommunications, and six years in software. She has had leadership roles in telecommunications environments for leading global companies (CGI, Capgemini, Alcatel-Lucent, Verizon, Microsoft and currently Schneider-Aveva), focusing on digital transformation. Karine Calvet served as Head of Industry at Capgemini, then managed worldwide teams at Alcatel-Lucent as Vice-President, Eastern Europe then at Verizon as Managing Director. Her time at Microsoft strengthened her software expertise, her direct and indirect channels skills, and her experience in IT services. In the last two years, as Vice-President, Southern Europe then Vice-President, Partners and Alliances at Schneider-Aveva, Karine Calvet has worked closely with industrial companies to help them meet the challenges of operational efficiency, safety, cost management, sustainability and decarbonization by taking advantage of digitalization.

Pierre-Yves Roussel has been CEO of leading US fashion label Tory Burch since January 2019. He began his career in investment banking with HSBC in Brussels, then at Morgan Stanley in London. In 1990, he joined management consulting firm McKinsey & Company in France, where he led numerous consultancy assignments in the fashion, luxury, distribution and media sectors in Europe and Asia. In 1998, he was elected Partner then, in 2004, Global Senior Partner (Director). In 2004, he joined the LVMH Group Executive Committee as Executive Vice-President, Strategy and Operations, reporting directly to Bernard Arnault. In 2006, he was appointed Chairman and CEO of LVMH Fashion Group, one of the LVMH Group’s five branches of operational activity. From 2006 to 2018, he was Chairman of the Board of the brands Céline, Givenchy, Loewe, Kenzo, Pucci, Rossimoda, Marc Jacobs, Donna Karan, Berluti, JW Anderson and Nicolas Kirkwood. He has also been a member on several prestigious fashion juries including Andam, CFDA Fashion Incubator, and the LVMH Fashion Prize. He was a member of the management committee of the Chambre Syndicale de la Mode et de la Couture from 2010 to 2018. In 2018, he left the LVMH Group to take up the post of CEO – based in New York – of the company Tory Burch. Founded by his wife in 2004, the private family-run company has more than 350 stores worldwide, 13 retail websites, and nearly 5,000 employees.

Fibre Extrusion Technology Ltd (FET) of Leeds, UK will be exhibiting at ITMA 2023, taking place between 8-14 June Milan, Italy. FET has commissioned its biggest ever stand to reflect the company’s commitment to this event and the textile industry.

FET designs, develops and manufactures extrusion equipment for a wide range of high value textile material applications worldwide. Central to FET’s success has always been its ability to provide customers with advanced facilities and equipment, together with unrivalled knowledge and expertise in research and production techniques.

The new FET Fibre Development Centre will further improve this service, allowing clients to trial their own products in an ideal environment. Resident equipment in the Fibre Development Centre reflects the wide range of fibre extrusion systems offered by FET to clients worldwide and will enable continued growth of the company through innovation.  

For the first time at ITMA, the new FET Spunbond range will feature. This system provides opportunities for the scaled development of new nonwoven fabrics based on a wide range of fibres and polymers, including bicomponents. Recent customers to benefit from FET spunbond systems include the University of Leeds and an integrated metlblown / spunbond system at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg in Germany.

FET’s established expertise remains in laboratory and pilot meltspinning equipment for a vast range of applications, such as precursor materials used in high value technical textiles, sportswear, medical devices and specialised novel fibres from exotic and difficult to process polymers. FET has successfully processed almost 30 different polymer types in multifilament, monofilament and non-woven formats, collaborating with specialist companies worldwide to promote greater sustainability through innovative manufacturing processes. Where melt spinning solutions are not suitable, FET provides a viable alternative with pilot and small scale production wet spinning systems.

A major theme at ITMA will again be sustainability. The FET range of laboratory and pilot extrusion lines is ideally suited for both process and end product development of sustainable materials. “This year we are celebrating FET’s 25th anniversary” says FET Managing Director Richard Slack “and we look forward to meeting customers at ITMA, where we can discuss their fibre technology needs.”

• Precious water for villages that are running on dry land

The GoodTextiles Foundation has worked to improve drinking water supplies in sub-Saharan Africa in another joint project with Cotton made in Africa (CmiA). In three villages in Togo particularly affected by climate change, the partners built wells and trained people in the use of water. The curriculum included the topics of disease prevention, hygiene and health care.

In 2016, the textile company Dibella (Bocholt) established the GoodTextiles Foundation with the aim of making textile value chains more sustainable. It raises funds and implements its own support projects to benefit people at all stages of the textile industry. Now the foundation has once again supported a project in sub-Saharan Africa initiated by Cotton made in Africa (Hamburg). Funding is being provided for three villages in Togo that, according to a needs assessment by CmiA's local partner, the cotton company Nouvelle Société Cotonnière du Togo (NSCT), have no direct access to drinking water.

Difficult water procurement
The areas where CmiA's drought-resistant cotton is grown include the north and interior of Togo, where cotton farmers are particularly affected by the effects of climate change due to prolonged periods of drought. Many village communities lack access to clean drinking water, and people draw contaminated water from more distant rivers or waterholes and carry the heavy load back with difficulty.

Guide to clean water
As part of a joint project between the GoodTextiles Foundation, Aid by Trade Foundation (holder of the CmiA standard) and NSCT, three drought-affected villages - Namare/Puob-n-kpaad, Tchokoroko and Aloba - will now receive their own water supply.

The funds - 11,756 euros will be provided by the GoodTextiles Foundation, and 4,419 euros will come from the Cotton Society - will be used to construct a well operated by hand pumps in each village. The construction work is to be completed by March 2023 and the 2,300 inhabitants will be taught the basics of water handling, disease prevention and hygiene measures in so-called WASH training courses.

Driving force: UN SDGs
For years, we have aligned our company with the UN's 17 Sustainable Development Goals (Global Goals for Sustainable Development). Through the sponsorship project, we are not only contributing to SDG 6 "Clean water and sanitation", but also to gender equality (SDG 5). In the African countries from which we source CmiA cotton, the physically strenuous task of procuring water is still the responsibility of women. The construction of the wells now leads to a significant improvement of their living situation," reports Ralf Hellmann, managing director of Dibella and chairman of the foundation.

Continued under their own responsibility
Once the wells have been handed over to the village communities, "water committees" will take over their management and maintenance, as well as responsibility for further hygiene training for the residents. The operation of the wells will be financed on the basis of a fund made up of small contributions from the beneficiary communities.

• Acquisition of QAT Services Limited laboratory in Hong Kong

On 01.03.2023 Hohenstein takes over the DAkkS accredited QAT Services Limited laboratory.  With this acquisition, the internationally recognized testing service provider is integrating the hardgoods knowledge of QATS employees into the Hohenstein portfolio.  As a result, Hohenstein will provide full-service capabilities for Greater China and beyond.

"The expansion is a strategically important step for Hohenstein,” emphasizes Prof. Mecheels, owner and CEO of Hohenstein.  "We are expanding our testing spectrum beyond the textile industry, in which we have been an established service provider for decades – and thus ensure both safe products and secure jobs."  From now on, Hohenstein will also be testing food contact material, furniture, toys and much more.  Hohenstein China Managing Director Christopher Au is also convinced: "With this step, Hohenstein is setting an important focus and strengthening its position for international customers."