From the Sector

Archroma, a leader in specialty chemicals towards sustainable solutions, has announced the launch of a collaboration with the University of North Carolina Greensboro (UNCG) and its Consumer, Apparel, and Retail Studies (CARS) department, aiming to further the education of its students in the area of color management expertise.

As per the agreement, Archroma will donate its color management tools for their design projects, gaining hands-on expertise that equips them for successful careers in the fashion and textiles industries.

The students will have access to a complete set of the ready-to-use color library developed by Archroma for cotton and polyester. The library, well known among fashion designers and stylists as the Color Atlas by Archroma®, which was launched in 2016 to provide off-the-shelf color inspiration that can be implemented in production with just a few clicks.

Today, the Color Atlas contains 4’320 colors applicable on cotton poplin, almost the double compared to similar tools available to textile and fashion specialists, and 1,440 colors on polyester.

Beside the physical Color Atlas library, the students in the CARS program will also have access to the full digital files for use in the industry-leading 3D fashion design and development software Browzwear VSticher.

The students will be able to use the Color Atlas books and the digital data as a color selection resources to use in a variety projects and assignments.

Premium Group presents its D2C festival The Ground, which premieres from 7 - 9 July at Messe Berlin. The Ground is a new event format where fashion, lifestyle, culture, and diverse perspectives are merged. It was founded to bring brands and consumers together to build a better future through celebration and collective action.

Over three days, guests from across Europe will meet up to experience innovative brand pop-ups with stories and collections, panel talks, live music, physical and mental health activations, and even step inside the Metaverse.

Power of purpose
The Ground mainly targets Gen Z which is driven by a deep sense of purpose. The 18-29 year olds expect the brands they support to share the same values. Their priorities are sustainability, relationships, health and wellness, work and education as well as inclusivity and individuality.

The Ground features six distinct areas where visitors can take part in different experiences: Sport, Beauty, Music, Play, Soul and Talk provide inspiration and many moments to learn. Fashion is featured throughout all areas and is the connecting element of The Ground.

Special season topic: MAKE PEACE!
Building off the Good Life Goals (personal actions that everyone can take to help support the SDGs by the UN), The Ground focuses on one goal for each edition that touches people and brands at this moment in time. A goal that makes a positive contribution to the future, and is thus worth celebrating.

Due to the current conflicts in the world, this July’s goal is more clear than ever: PEACE! It will be reflected in a big charity auction of specially designed pieces of the exhibiting brands and partners.

1 ticket - 4 events
Taking place simultaneously as the trade show and conference formats SEEK, PREMIUM and FashionTech which will attract over 20,000 buyers, retailers, brands, professionals, influencers, and media to Berlin – The Ground will help to create lots of fashion buzz in the capital. The all-in-one ticket for trade visitors also guarantees access to The Ground.

Die 13. in-store asia findet vom 29. Juni bis 01. Juli 2022 in Mumbai statt. Sie ist einer der größten Fachmessen für Retail Design und In-store Marketing auf dem indischen Subkontinent und seit 2018 Mitglied der internationalen Fachmessen-Familie der EuroShop, The World's No. 1 Retail Trade Fair, in Düsseldorf. Nach Pandemie bedingten Verschiebungen findet die in-store asia nun im Sommer dieses Jahres erstmals im neuen Jio World Centre statt, das sich im zentralen Geschäftsviertel von Mumbai, dem Bandra Kurla Complex, befindet.

Die in-store asia versammelt nicht nur alle führenden Anbieter von Lösungen speziell für die Retail Branche aus Indien,  sondern auch internationale Unternehmen,  die im stetig wachsenden Einzelhandelsmarkt Indiens Fuß fassen möchten. Hinzu kommt ein Retail-Kongress, der speziell für den indischen Markt relevante Themen diskutiert, die Verleihung der renommierten VM&RD Awards, mit denen Talente in Retail-Design und Visual Merchandising ausgezeichnet werden, sowie die VM Challenge, ein in Indien einzigartiger Live-Schaufensterwettbewerb unter Top-Visual Merchandisern.

An der letzten in-store asia 2019 nahmen 120 Aussteller teil, die ihre Produkte und Lösungen in den Bereichen POS Displays, Shopper Marketing, Retail Technology, Signage & Digital Printing, Retail Design, Visual Merchandising, Lighting und Material & Equipment vorstellten und damit 7.000 Fachbesucher anlockten

Hohenstein, a leading specialist in fit and pattern engineering, has joined forces with digital size pioneer, Presize. The partnership now offers a variety of business services, including reliable size tables and digital scaling, that empower online retailers to automatically recommend appropriate garment sizes.

Merging traditional size tables, reliable garment fits and digital body measurements with smartphone technology reduces the number of returned online purchases. Proper fit also reduces waste, lowers footprint and bolsters customer loyalty.

“The better a brand understands sizes, fits and target groups, the more accurately they can automate size recommendations. We help brands meet the different requirements of various sizes, so the fit is comfortable across customer ranges, collections and suppliers,” states Simone Morlock, Head of Hohenstein’s Digital Fitting Lab.

This size and grading advice is now underpinned by digital measurement services and technology based on artificial intelligence. “All it takes to work out the right size, based on a user’s individual body measurements, are some quick questions regarding their age, height and weight, plus an optional video to take measurements. We use an algorithm that learns as it goes along, and this improves the advice given on sizes with each order or return,” states Presize co-founder and CEO, Leon Szeli.

Join the free webinar on “Hohenstein Meets Presize - How sizing fundamentals and reliable fit can increase the effectiveness of smartphone body measurements and reduce eCommerce returns” on March 24, 2022.*

*Click here for more information.

Texbase, Inc., a cloud-based data management platform for the textile and consumer product industries, announces a collaboration with the global textile testing partner, Hohenstein.

As a Texbase Lab Connect partner, Hohenstein customers can collaborate, send test requests and receive test reports within Texbase Connect. In addition, data export files for digitized materials can be attached to their specific materials in the system. “Texbase has facilitated an improved workflow for our brand customers. Adding this system to our earlier OEKO-TEX® CertLink project gives our partners easy access to the data they need - in one location - instead of having to manage multiple emails," said Ben Mead, Managing Director, Hohenstein Institute America.

Hohenstein is a global leader in textile testing and innovation, specializing in applied research and development around the human - textile - environment interaction. Their lab testing determines compliance with legal requirements, standards, international specifications and internal quality guidelines. Hohenstein validates performance and safety claims through standard and customized testing and certifications.

Hohenstein and Texbase will both be exhibiting at the upcoming Outdoor Retailer/Snow Show on January 26-28th.

Während vor Weihnachten die Bestellungen explodieren, beginnt nach den Feiertagen die Hochsaison der Retouren. Egal ob die Geschenke nicht gefallen, nicht passen oder doppelt sind: Für Onlinehändler lohnt es sich, den Rückgabeprozess möglichst kundenfreundlich zu gestalten. Denn eine von der Delivery-Plattform Seven Senders in Auftrag gegebene YouGov-Umfrage ergab: Die Erfahrung bei der Retoure hat für 73 Prozent der Verbraucher Einfluss darauf, ob sie weiterhin bei diesem Händler einkaufen würden. Dr. Johannes Plehn, Gründer und Geschäftsführer von Seven Senders, fasst zusammen, worauf es beim Retourenmangement ankommt.
 
Für klare Bedingungen sorgen
Für Onlineshopper gehört die Möglichkeit, Bestellungen einfach und flexibel abzuwickeln, zum festen Bestandteil einer positiven Customer Journey – auch über Grenzen hinweg. Weltweit sagen sogar über 73 Prozent der Konsumenten, dass sie die Retourenbedingungen lesen, bevor sie einen Kauf tätigen. „E-Tailer sollten daher darauf achten, die Informationen zur Retoure klar und deutlich zu formulieren“, so Dr. Johannes Plehn. Für Cross-Border-Versände gilt daher, dass die Retourenbedingungen idealerweise in der jeweiligen Landessprache verfügbar sind. So minimieren E-Tailer das Risiko eines Kaufabbruchs, weil Kunden wichtige Informationen nicht finden oder verstehen können.
 
Retourenprozess so einfach wie möglich gestalten
Onlinehändler, die einen unkomplizierten Retourenprozess anbieten, erhöhen ihre Chancen, dass der Kunde erneut bei ihnen einkauft. Wichtig ist deshalb vor allem ein einfacher Zugang zu den Retourenlabels. Die Delivery-Plattform Seven Senders unterstützt E-Tailer hierbei mit einer komfortablen und kostengünstigen Lösung: „Über ein im Shop integriertes Retouren-Portal können Kunden das Label bei Bedarf selbst erstellen und ausdrucken“, erläutert der Seven Senders Geschäftsführer. Ungenutzte Labels müssen so nicht weggeworfen werden, das vermeidet Müll und schützt die Umwelt.
 
Kundenbedürfnisse mit lokalen Carriern erfüllen
Wer mit einem lokalen Carrier im Zielland zusammenarbeitet, kann am besten auf die Wünsche der Kunden eingehen. Mit seinem Netzwerk aus über 100 europäischen Carriern gibt Seven Senders Onlinehändlern die Möglichkeit, verschiedene Rückgabeoptionen anzubieten. Außerdem werden bei der Delivery-Plattform alle Retouren in einem Land in den nationalen Hubs des jeweiligen Last-Mile-Carriers gebündelt und direkt ins Lager des Onlineshops versendet.
 
Kommunikation auch bei der Retoure entscheidend
Was bei der Lieferung der Bestellung gang und gäbe ist, wird beim Retourenprozess oft vernachlässigt: die Kommunikation mit dem Kunden. Vor allem bei Rücksendungen aus dem Ausland haben Onlinehändler die Möglichkeit, mit einer proaktiven Kundenkommunikation zu punkten. Die technische Umsetzung kann beispielsweise mit dem Delivery-Services-Tracking von Seven Senders erfolgen. „Mittels Statusmeldungen und einer Trackingpage können Kunden ihr Paket bis zurück ins Lager virtuell begleiten“, so der Seven Senders Gründer. Erhalten sie dann auch noch die Benachrichtigung, dass ihr Warenwert umgehend zurückerstattet wird, erhöht das zusätzlich die Wahrscheinlichkeit einer erneuten Bestellung bei diesem Anbieter.
 
Prozessoptimierung durch Datenanalyse
Entscheidend für die erfolgreiche Abwicklung des gesamten Rückgabeprozesses ist ein datengetriebener Retourenablauf. Über ein Analyse-Tool wie beispielsweise das der Delivery-Plattform Seven Senders können Onlinehändler vor allem die Carrier-Performance im Blick behalten. Dashboards und Reportings, die exakt auf Lieferungen und Retouren abgestimmt sind, helfen dabei, Daten zu sammeln, zu analysieren und dadurch die Retourenprozesse zu verbessern. Das schafft Transparenz gegenüber den Kunden und trägt langfristig zum Erfolg im grenzübergreifenden Onlinehandel bei.

US Vice President Kamala Harris announced significant multimillion-dollar investments by Parkdale Mills and six other companies today, as part of the Administration’s Call to Action to the private sector to promote economic opportunity in the region, as her office works to address the root causes of migration.

Vice President Harris, who is overseeing diplomatic efforts with El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico, announced several private sector commitments to strengthen economic opportunities in the Northern Triangle and made remarks at a White House roundtable, which included Anderson Warlick, Chairman and CEO of Parkdale Mills. The textile and apparel co-production chain is one of the most essential supply chains for employment and economic development in both the United States and the Northern Triangle region, currently supporting over 1 million jobs in the United States and the Central American region. The Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) and its strong rules of origin are the primary reasons this co-production chain exists, which is seeing significant growth this year.

North Carolina-headquartered Parkdale Mills, one of the largest manufacturers of spun yarn and cotton consumer products in the world, will make a multimillion-dollar investment in a new yarn spinning facility in Honduras and make an additional substantial investment to support existing operations in Hillsville, Virginia. This investment will help customers shift 1 million pounds of yarn per week away from supply chains in Asia and China and enhance U.S. and CAFTA-DR co-production resilience and increase regional product offerings. Parkdale’s announced investment will create hundreds of jobs in Honduras and further support hundreds of employees in Parkdale’s Hillsville operations.  

Recently, administration officials from the U.S. Trade Representative’s office and the Vice President’s office met with the U.S. textile industry to reaffirm the importance of rules of origin in nearshoring production chains, helping address labor and environmental challenges and mitigating supply chain risk.

“I would like to sincerely thank Vice President Harris for making this announcement and leading the effort with private industry to create more economic opportunities in northern Central America and the United States,” said Anderson Warlick, Chairman and CEO of Parkdale Mills. “Parkdale’s investments will support good paying jobs in the United States and in the Central American region and significantly increase our extensive product offering and capacity, including the production of sustainable specialty yarns.

Parkdale sees an enormous opportunity for brands and retailers to re-shore and nearshore production supply chains and double the size of U.S.-CAFTA-DR trade, because of the rules of origin in our trade agreement and a shift in sourcing by brands and retailers mitigating their supply chain sourcing risks.  We are excited about what this opportunity means for jobs in the U.S. and the region for this critical production chain and couldn’t be more thrilled to be part of this effort.  We look forward to working with the Vice President and her team on strengthening the textile and apparel production chains in the U.S. and region.”

National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) President and CEO Kim Glas, said, “This is an exciting and important announcement by Parkdale and Vice President Harris. Our industry has invested billions of dollars in the U.S. and in the region as a result of the investment-based rules of origin in the CAFTA-DR agreement, which ensures the job benefits of the agreement are reserved for the parties to the agreement.  Additional substantial announcements on further investment in textile and apparel production are expected soon.

As brands and retailers are seeking more environmentally sustainable, vertically integrated, transparent, and quick turnaround supply chains, our collective industries stand ready to work with companies that are seeking to mitigate sourcing strategies as Asian supply chains have faced enormous production constraints.  Further verticalization in the industry, like Parkdale’s announcement today, allows broader product diversification and grows jobs across the textile and apparel production chain.

We are thrilled with today’s announcement because it is a win-win for American and Central American workers and our environment and a huge opportunity to further recalibrate supply chains out of China and Asia. This valuable co-production chain between the U.S. and the CAFTA-DR region accounts for $12 billion in two-way trade and billions of dollars of investment. Significant growth is occurring in our sector and is expected to continue as supply chains continue to recalibrate.  We are delighted about this today’s announcement and appreciate the Administration’s strong support.”

DyStar, a specialty chemical company with a heritage of more than a century in product development and innovation is exhibiting at the 21st China Interdye 2021 from 17 to 19 November at the National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai).

China Interdye is the largest global exhibition for the dye-chem industry. The trade event will consist of technical seminars, conferences and events organised by exhibitors and relevant industry associations respectively.

DyStar’s managers will discuss various sustainable solutions which they offer to the textile supply chain. They will also be showcasing our latest product innovations for visitors from Brands and Retailers, manufacturers, and production houses to enhance their manufacturing process and improve end-product quality.

Customers can expect to find the following highlighted products and concepts at the event:

• Full collection of 11 Cadira® modules
• Evo® Soft Range
• Dianix® XF2 Range
• Jettex® Ink Ranges
• Remazol® SAM Series
• WOPAPAN Items
• Color Library from Color Solutions International (CSI)

The rescheduled Intertextile Shanghai Home Textiles, now taking place from 9 – 11 October, will once again provide the industry with insight into the future through its fringe programme’s four categories: Design Inspiration, Business O2O, Textiles & Technologies and Industry Empowerment. And with the Online Business Matching sourcing platform returning this edition, buyers worldwide can still participate in the fair.

Each of the fringe programme’s four categories – Design Inspiration, Business O2O (online to offline), Textiles & Technologies and Industry Empowerment – features a mix of conferences, seminars and presentations that reflect the future of the home textile industry. Highlights of each category are included below, while further details can be found on the fair’s website: https://intertextile-shanghai-hometextiles-autumn.hk.messefrankfurt.com/shanghai/en/programme-events.html.

Since 2019, Messe Frankfurt has been working with the Conscious Fashion Campaign and United Nations Office for Partnerships as part of the Texpertise Network and supports the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The goals will be presented gradually at global textile events in order to highlight the most pressing challenges facing the textile and fashion industry worldwide.

Industry Empowerment: antimicrobial technologies and licensing in the home textile sector

Growing awareness of health and hygiene has increased the demand for antimicrobial and other functional textiles. Seminars hosted by the Chinese Industry Association for Antimicrobial Materials & Products will further discuss the increasing prominence of these textiles, as well as how the adoption of new antimicrobial textile technologies is expected to evolve in the future. In addition, experts will share the new trends of licensing and IP with case studies for the furniture companies and fabric brands.

2022 China Home Textile Trends

The China Home Textiles Trend Area will feature the research of the China Home Textile Association, The Department of Home Textile Trend Research and Promotion and Concept & Style Fashion Project Group Italy who shared their knowledge, inspirations and exchanged their visions of trend evolutions considering consumer demand, retail expertise, the contract market and new technologies.

Intertextile Shanghai Home Textiles – Autumn Edition 2021 will be held concurrently with Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics – Autumn Edition, Yarn Expo Autumn, PH Value and CHIC at the National Exhibition and Convention Center. Intertextile Shanghai Home Textiles – Autumn Edition is organised by Messe Frankfurt (HK) Ltd; the Sub-Council of Textile Industry, CCPIT; and the China Home Textile Association (CHTA).

• Instant access to ecotoxicological and regulatory information and certificates for Archroma specialty chemical products
• Faster decision-making and time-to-market for manufacturers, brands and retailers in the textile, paper, packaging, paint, and construction industries

Archroma, a global leader in specialty chemicals towards sustainable solutions, announced the launch of The Safe Edge, an online platform for instant access to product related regulatory & compliance certificates and information.

With continuously growing public awareness around the social, health and ecological impacts of human and business activities, the need for transparency and traceability in supply chains has become essential.

Time to market is equally critical, and manufacturers, brands and retailers need access to reliable information in real time.

The Safe Edge platform has been designed with that in mind: It allows brands, retailers and manufacturers of textile, fashion, packaging, paper, paints, to verify with just a few clicks the regulatory & compliance status of Archroma products, including regulations, ecotoxicological information & certifications, and brand requirements.

The Safe Edge covers standards, regulations and information such as air emission factors, animal origin, halal, kosher, plant origin, food contact, Blue Angel, bluesign®, Cradle-to-Cradle, chemical inventories, Composability EN 13432, conflict minerals, EU Flower/Ecolabel, GOTS, CONEG, ISEGA, Nordic Swan, Oekotex® Standard 100, California Prop 65, REACH, RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substance), Screened Chemistry, SDS, SVHC (Substance of Very High Concern), VOC (US), ZDHC (Zero Discharge Hazardous Chemicals), and brand standards (like Coats A&F MRSL, Decathlon RSL 2020, Jack Wolfskin RSL and The List IV by Inditex.

With the launch of The Safe Edge, Archroma continues to assert its leading role in driving sustainability in its industries, in line with its commitment to the principles of “The Archroma Way to a Sustainable World: safe, efficient, enhanced, it’s our nature”. The “Safe” principle in particular is at the core of the Archroma approach to sustainability, with the deeply rooted goal to protect people and the planet with products that are safe to use, and safe to wear.

The Safe Edge is already accessible for manufacturers, brands and retailers in Europe and Asia, and will be launched in North America in September 2021, and in Latin America by the end of the year.