Apparel and footwear firms are failing to tackle exploitation of workers in their supply chains, according to a report by KnowTheChain, a benchmark that measures companies' efforts to address forced labour. KnowTheChain's analysis gives the apparel and footwear sector an average overall score of 37 out of 100. More than two-thirds of firms scored below 50. Eighteen companies scored 0 out of 100 on recruitment, which measures a company's approach to reducing the risk of exploitation of worker

Several Japanese companies, including Itochu and Sakai Amiori, are investing in expanding their stake in the Vietnamese textile and garments sector. In the first 11 months of this year, the sector’s export value was $30 billion and trade surplus surpassed $13 billion, according to Vu Duc Giang, chairman of the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association. The influx of such foreign direct investment is boosting the sector as well as turning Vietnam into a global manufacturing base. Itochu bou

Courtesy: Eurojersey Eurojersey has launched the Spring/Summer 2020 season sensitive fabrics collection, which is focussed on technical performance, expressed in two macro themes centred on the Ecoprint and Digital Printing process. Eurojersey manufactures warp-knitted fabrics. The company offers fabrics to manufacture underwear, swimwear, sportswear, and ready to wear clothes. Within the two theme areas, four effects are diversely interpreted on soft sensual fabrics for creating flowing ga

The Tiruppur Exporters’ Association (TEA) is dismayed on the reduction of duty drawback rates on apparel items. In this revised list, government has reduced rates for value added readymade garments while improving rates for raw materials like cotton, yarn and fabrics. The rates have been lowered from 2 to 1.8 per cent for few and 1.9 per cent for others. The new list has totally disappointed the knitwear garment sector in Tiruppur when they were expecting hike in the rates, said TEA in a r

Courtesy: IDTInstitute of Design & Technology (IDT), a Surat, India-based fashion design institute, organised the first round of mega audition of its upcoming designer kids fashion show, the Gujarat Kids Fashion Week 2019 (GKFW 2019), at La Terranza, Surat. The finale of GKFW 2019 is scheduled for January 2019. IDT students will design the dresses for all participants. For the event, IDT has collaborated with almost 500 schools of Gujarat. Kids in the age group of 3 to 10 walked on the ra

Courtesy: UKFTThe UK Fashion and Textile association (UKFT) has announced its decision to take over the management of Textiles Scotland (STLA) effective January 1, 2019, following a unanimous vote by STLA members and lengthy discussions between the two organisations. From January 1, existing STLA members will be transferred to a new company called UKFT Scotland.The STLA branding will be continued, as will the Scottish focus of the activities, support and government lobbying. UKFT Scotland will j

Courtesy: Kai Pilger from PexelsIndia's overall textile and apparel exports in H1 FY19 stood at $18.4 billion, showing a decline of 1 per cent from the previous year, according to the latest Wazir Textiles Index (WTI). During the same period, textile and clothing imports increased by 4 per cent compared to the previous year, said the findings on the market performance of textile sector. Export of all the categories except apparel have grown in H1 FY19 as compared to H1 FY18. Apparel exports s

Courtesy: PR NewswireDigital Ink Sciences has introduced new ink formulation - DIS-250 - for direct to garment printer and wide format printers. The mid viscosity ink formulation ,being considered a breakthrough, optimises drop shape and size which helps the printer hit the same spot over and over again. This allows lowering of resolution and printing faster with high quality. Grant French, business development manager for Digital Ink Sciences, said: "This new ink set is surpassing every exp

A record number of independent retail stores in the UK were closed during the first half of 2018, as per a recent report. This resulted in a total decline of 1,554 shops (0.5 per cent), a significant decline from the increase of 762 shops (0.27 per cent) in H1 2017. The net loss of 695 units located on high streets alone was the main driver of this decline. Chain retailers (brands with more than 4 stores) have also remained in decline with a net loss of 2,848 shops (1.36 per cent) in H1 2018

The Cotton Association of India (CAI) has estimated cotton crop for 2018-19 season beginning October 1, 2018, at 340.25 lakh bales of 170 kg each, which is lower by 3 lakh bales than its previous estimate of 343.25 lakh bales made during last month. The CAI has reduced crop estimate for Gujarat, Maharashtra and Telangana compared to its previous estimate. The CAI has increased the crop estimate for Haryana by 1 lakh bales, while projection for upper Rajasthan, lower Rajasthan and Andhra Prade