ITEMA Weaving with its brands Sulzer Textil, Somet and Vamatex, will present its latest technical innovations on weaving machinery at ITMA ASIA + CITME in Shanghai, 22 - 26 June. Among the widest range of weaving machines, accessories and services, ITEMA Weaving will exhibit the Vamatex R880 rapier weaving machine for the very first time ever to public.

ITEMA Weaving is the only company to produce weaving machines with the three leading weft insertion systems, providing the right weaving technology for every application. Together, Pro-matech Italy, ITEMA Switzerland and ITEMA Weaving Machinery China are the world’s number one weaving machinery manufacturer, with roughly 300,000 units installed worldwide.

ITEMA Weaving: ECO solutions
Over the last years, R&D focussed on developing solutions for energy saving, waste reduction, noise/vibrations reduction and long lasting reliable products. Today, the ITEMA Weaving’s ECO -Environmental Care Obligation program is realized in solutions and machines that are not just ECOlogic but also ECOnomic.

All ITEMA weaving machines are energy friendly due to efficient drive motors and high-tech solu-tions. For instance, the Sulzer Textil L5500 air-jet weaving machine is the bench mark in regard of air consumption. Furthermore, considerable efforts have been made to reduce the yarn waste generated by the weft insertion. This means a direct reduction of yarn consumption but also a sav-ing in the waste reprocessing.

A superior quality of woven fabrics and the prevention of stop marks are other key points of ITEMA weaving machines. The consequence of the unrivalled fabric quality is the reduced management of waste and therefore the higher competitiveness in the fabric market. The return on investment is also considerably improved by the use of simple and reliable software which will automatically im-prove the machine efficiency.

ITEMA Weaving’s product range can satisfy every production requirement, from commodity to high-fashion and industrial fabrics. Six weaving machines representing the various brands will be on show.

Source: http://www.acimit.it/

Theophile comes from an old France brand. Sichuan Shengshan Group, the subsidiary of Wuliangye Group acquired the brand ownership and launched it in Chinese market. This brand targets ladies aged from 32-38 as its core customers and built its image as high-end quality fashion clothes. Accroding to Jiang Hengjie, the vice president of China Garment Association, the Th??ophile is as charming as the Wuliangye, the most famous Chinse liqueur.

Shengshan Group is the result of the diversification strategy of Wuliangye Group. Now, Shengshan has become one of the largest clothes manufacturers in Southwest China.

Source: http://english.ctei.gov.cn/Headlines/234605.htm

Shishi Textile Machinery Specialty Market celebrated its opening in the 13th Strait Expo in Shishi, Fujian on April 18th.

This textile machinery specialty market covers an area of 60 mu, with construction area 120,000 square meters. It is the first textile machinery and equipment market in China, also the largest special market of this kind in Fujian. The major products include machinery for dyeing & finishing, printing, sewing machine, and accessories. More than 100 brands from domestic and Italy, Japan, Taiwan have entered this market. It is expected to play a positive role in the communication and exchange of textile enterprise in the two sides of the Taiwan Straits.

Source: http://english.ctei.gov.cn/Headlines/234604.htm

The strong earnings growth was primarily a result of increased sales (which contributed $0.17 of EPS growth), improved operating margin ($0.25 of growth), and lower restructuring ($0.15 of growth).

Net sales increased by $70 million to $927.8 million with every business segment except Hosiery reporting sales growth. Net sales in the year-ago quarter were $857.8 million.

The company’s significant retail shelf-space gains contributed approximately 6 percentage points of sales growth, while approximately 2 percentage points of growth was driven by increased retail sell through, retailer inventory restocking, and foreign currency exchange rates.

“We are off to a strong start to 2010 as a result of our investment in our brands and in our supply chain during the recession,” Hanesbrands Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Richard A. Noll said. “Our brands are stronger than ever, gaining significant retail shelf space across all channels of trade. We expect to maintain this momentum throughout 2010.”

Based on the strong performance in the quarter, Hanesbrands is revising its 2010 guidance for net sales and is raising its 2010 EPS guidance. For the year, net sales are expected to increase by 6 percent to 8 percent, and EPS is expected to be in the range of $2.15 to $2.27.

Business Segment Summary and Highlights

Of the $70 million in sales growth in the first quarter, the Innerwear segment contributed $33 million, Outerwear contributed $24 million, Direct to Consumer accounted for $3 million and International contributed $15 million, with those gains slightly offset by the $5 million combined decline in the Hosiery and Other segments.

The business segments generated $46 million of increased operating profit in the quarter. The Innerwear segment contributed $28 million of the increase, Outerwear contributed $19 million, Hosiery contributed $1 million despite a sales decline, and International added $2 million. The Direct to Consumer segment had $4 million lower operating profit than a year ago.

Key business segment highlights include:

– Innerwear sales were driven by increases in all product categories, with double-digit sales growth of male underwear. Retail sell-through rates were slightly above expectations throughout the quarter. The segment had strong operating profit growth even with a $6 million increase in media and other marketing investment in the quarter.

– The first quarter is the seasonal low quarter for Outerwear, but the segment produced 11 percent sales growth and a $19 million increase in operating profit. The company’s Just My Size brand of plus-size apparel drove retail casualwear sales growth of nearly 50 percent, while retail activewear and wholesale casualwear both delivered mid-single-digit sales gains.

Source: http://english.ctei.gov.cn/News/Companies/234601.htm

The international autumn/winter 10-11 runways gave us some of the strongest fur directions we have seen for several seasons. Styling was boldly confident, with the season’s key silhouettes looking overtly luxurious when re-interpreted in fur.

There were changes in direction in next winter’s fur type trends, with the emphasis most definitely on texture this season. That was realised in the amount of lamb on the runways, not just shearling but also the plusher more rustic qualities of skins like Toscana, Tibetan or Kalgan lamb. Designers used several qualities of lamb together to create maximum impact, with varying lengths and depth of pile combined in one garment, creating a look of maximum impact.

Beaver was a surprise new trend direction with sheared qualities and full fur pelts but the season really belonged to fox, especially tiered fox for that sense of luxurious volume but with a new lightweight feel. Other key fur trends were for mixed furs, combining velvety furs like sheared mink or broadtail with Mongolian lamb trims, or woven mink with tiered fox detailing.

The runways key silhouettes opted for a sense of protective cocooning. That look coming through most notably with the variety of capes on offer for the season ahead, with shapes crossing from strongly defined with angular shoulderlines, to military influences and the feminine elegance of half circle capelets.

The military mood was repeated in the season’s key casual jacket silhouette – the aviator. Rugged and protective, the aviator jacket replaces the biker of the past few seasons, and melds perfectly with the cocooning qualities of lamb and shearling.

The trench coat showed up in various forms and fur types on many runways as designers sought to bring an updated twist to the classic look for a wardrobe must-have that is ultimately wearable for many seasons to come.

Other key shapes tap into the trend for a more seasonless way of dressing with the coatdress and the gilet appearing on a diverse number of runways, often in imaginative combinations of fur like sable with lamb and mink.

To summarise autumn/winter 10-11, it is a strong season for fur with a more casual attitude emerging that offers a broader more commercial appeal.

Source: http://www.iftf.com/#/press-releases/134/

As we at the IFTF pointed out last year ahead of the vote to ban the sale of seal products, seals have to be legally hunted in Sweden, Finland and Norway to manage populations. The by-products could be used or sold for cash in areas where there are few jobs or industries. Indeed, the EU itself has given grants to encourage the use of the seal carcasses in these regions. However, the ban now means that the carcasses are simply burnt or thrown back into the sea – polluting the environment and completely wasting a valuable resource.

By contrast, the commercial hunt in Canada not only manages the growing seal population and provides cash for areas with few jobs, but is also highly regulated by conservationists and government veterinarians.

Source: http://www.iftf.com/#/press-releases/133/

Bangladesh is going to launch a world class testing firm for the first time in the country to conduct chemicals and dyes tests of exportable apparel items, said Abdus Salam Murshedy, president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).

At present, the apparel exporters test the samples of exportable goods from different foreign testing firms for certification.

BGMEA will sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Spanish giant clothing retailer brand Inditex at Luck AÑO in Spain on April 29.

“Inditex will provide all technical and other supports to build the testing firm at BGMEA office,” Murshedy said.

Inditex Group, one of the world’s largest fashion retailers, has 4.607 stores in 74 countries.

The group comprises more than 100 companies operating in textile design, manufacturing and distribution.
The BGMEA leader also said exporters will have to pay $30 for every test from the proposed testing firm. The charges payable to some recognised testing firms like Bureau Veritas, SGS and ITS range from $200 to $300 per test.

“The country will immensely be benefited by the proposed testing laboratory, as time and cost for such tests will come down significantly,” Murshedy said.

Professor Dr AAMS Arefin Siddique, vice-chancellor of Dhaka University, Abdus Salam Murshedy, all four vice presidents of BGMEA.—Nasir Uddin Chowdhury, Md. Shafiul Islam Mohiuddin, Faruque Hassan and Md. Siddiqur Rahman— are scheduled to attend the MoU signing ceremony in Spain.

Teachers, students and experts from the Department of Chemistry at Dhaka University will cooperate in setting up the testing firm.

Source: http://www.bgmea.com.bd/home/pages/BGMEA_to_set_up_world_class_lab_for_apparel_chemical_tests

Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association has struck a deal with a Spanish company for providing its members warehousing facilities in Spain and other parts of Europe. If shipment of any BGMEA member exporter is cancelled or rejected by the importer while on the way or after reaching any European port, the Spanish warehouse operator would arrange release of such consignments form the ports and arrange their warehousing until the consignment can be sold to a fresh buyer.Every year many on-the-way shipments of Bangladeshi exporters face cancellation by the importers, creating untold hassles for the exporters in clearing the consignments. Spanish logistic company Yu-Kom-Publicidad S.L. has entered into an agreement with BGMEA for providing such warehousing and stock sales services. BGMEA president Abdus Salam Murshedy and Yu-Kom executive Nuria Lopez signed the agreement on Tuesday at a ceremony held at BGMEA Bhaban on Tuesday. ‘This warehousing facility will minimise the loss of our exporters… They can now avail this facility by paying small charges and find new buyers to sell their consignments,’ said Mureshedy. In 2009, Bangladesh’s clothing shipments to Europe amounted to more than 5.1 billion Euros which is around two-thirds of the country’s entire apparel export proceeds. Murshedy said BGMEA would arrange similar warehousing facilities in United States and Canada to help the Bangladeshi exporters.

Source: http://www.bgmea.com.bd/home/pages/BGMEA_to_set_up_warehouse_in_Spain

The AEPC partnered with Juki India which displayed its eco product line and labour saving devices at a two-day exhibition held recently at Apparel House.

Optimal productivity is a key to survival, said company’s director Toshiyuki Yamanaka. However, lack of technical know-how and suboptimal utilisation of machinery are the ground realities. This is due to the belief that there are enough people in India to support manufacturing.

Now the scenario has changed. Garment industry is facing a crisis due to the global slowdown process. Finding solutions to cut costs and downsizing labour without compromising on quality and to ensure optimum level of production to retain the buyers are emerging as the prime tasks, said Mr Yamanaka.

He presented eco-friendly semi-dry head machines to give added value to the customer by avoiding oil stains. Semi dry head machines save time and money, he said adding the company is committed to service after sales.

Source:http://www.aepcindia.com/news.asp?id=263&yr=2010

Asian nations are assisting struggling textile and apparel sectors as their wider economies rebound, says a recent report. Asia’s economic growth is expected to rebound 7.5% in 2010, up from last year’s 5.2%.

However, in light of lagging global demand some Asian textiles and apparel exporting nations are assisting their industries to cope, according to the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) Outlook 2010 report.

In India, the region’s second largest emerging economy, where export growth turned positive in November after 13 months of year-on-year declines, the government, says the report: “Will continue with the 2% interest subsidy on bank loans to certain sectors that are labour intensive such as textiles, leather, handicrafts, cotton yarn, …which are particularly hard hit by the fall in global demand.”

In neighbouring Pakistan, the report says that while manufacturing has picked up in other industrial segments, textiles production “has continued to contract on account of lower cotton availability, electricity and gas shortages, and poorer relative product competitiveness in international markets.” The ADB says electricity subsidies, which remained high in fiscal year 2009, and a burden on Pakistan’s budget, will continue in FY 2010.

Similarly, it says Cambodia has ushered in support measures to shore up its apparel sector, which in 2009 witnessed the value of its exports to the US contract by 20.9% because of lower demand and an erosion in market share to competitors such as Bangladesh. The ADB says preliminary data show a 17% fall in Cambodia’s merchandise exports in 2009, mostly stemming from the fall in apparel exports to the US.

Measures introduced to boost industrial output, which fell 13% last year, have included temporary tax relief for apparel industries, and $10m for re-training laid-off Cambodian apparel workers.

Overall, the ADB forecasts the value of exports from the region to expand on average by 14.4%, up on after last year’s 16.2% decline, with Indian shipments edging upwards by 16%, China’s by 13.3%, and those of heavily apparel dependent exporters Bangladesh by 5%, a deceleration from last year’s 10.1% expansion, and Cambodia by 5%.

Source:http://www.aepcindia.com/international.asp?id=265&yr=2010