Updates

EURATEX lanuches EU-Ukraine textile initiative

The European Union of Garment and Textile Industries (Euratex) has launched a new EU—Ukraine Textile Initiative (EUTI) to facilitate cooperation between European and Ukrainian tex—tile and clothing companies. EUTI provides a one—stop shop for Ukrainian companies seeking support and cooperation with EU partners and vice versa. The service is coordinated by Euratex in close cooperation with Ukrlegprom, the Ukrainian Association of Textile and Leather Industry Enterprises.

"Today in Ukraine there are many textile and clothing com—panies that have expertise and skilled workers; they are able and willing to work with the EU but lack the contacts, customers and supplies. EUTI will help them in this respect, "Tetyana Izovit, president and CEO of Ukrlegprom, said in a statement on the Euratex website.

Euratex explained on its website: "There is an opportunity to expand this relationship in both short—term and long—term, so as to respond to urgent needs. As a partner of the PEM agree—ment, Ukraine can play an important role in the European textile and clothing supply chain." In 2021, the EU's exports to Ukraine amounted to 1.3 billion euros, making Ukraine the 13th most im—portant market, and its imports from Ukraine amounted to 500 million euros .

"Supporting the textile industry is the way we help the Ukrainian people. We encourage our European members to build network and develop sustainable partnerships through EUTI," commented Dirk Vantyghem, Director—General of Euratex.

Mofcom: positive consumption growth remain unchanged

The Ministry of Commerce held a regular press conference on May 19. “China’s consumption remains resilient and full of potential, and the fundamentals of long—term positive consump—tion development remain unchanged,” said Commerce Ministry spokeswoman Shu Jueting, responding to a question about the fourth consecutive month of decline in retail sales.

In the first four months of this year, China’s total retail sales of consumer goods were basically flat from the same period last year, with sales of basic living goods and online retail maintaining growth, Shu said. Shu Jueting said that retail sales of consumer goods in April fell to a certain extent from the same month last year, mainly due to the impact of the pandemic. On the whole, the impact is temporary. China’s consumption remains resilient and full of potential, and the fundamentals of long—term positive consumption development remain unchanged.

As the pandemic is gradually brought under control and various policies and measures to boost domestic demand and consumption are effective, consumption is expected to continue to recover.

EURATEX 2022 Spring Report: Putting the EU Textiles Strategy in a Global Context

EURATEX has just released its Spring report, offer—ing a detailed insight into trade figures for the European textile and apparel industry in 2021. The numbers are encouraging: comparing with the dramatic corona—year 2020, EU exports of textile and clothing articles increased by +10.6%, while imports dipped by —7.5%. As a result, the EU trade deficit improved, even it remains significant (— €48 billion). Furthermore, import prices went slightly down in clothing and dropped in textiles, following a strong decrease of Chinese import prices of face masks and protective medical supplies.

The boost in exports was mainly due to strong performance on the Swiss, Chinese and US markets. On the other side, EU sales of textile & clothing to the United Kingdom fell sharply (—23%), due to Brexit new requirements, customs’ delays and shortage of truck drivers. Imports from the EU top supplier, China, plunged by —28%, corresponding to €13 billion. Similar—ly, textile and clothing imports from the United Kingdom recorded a sharp decrease over the period (—48%, equal to €—3 billion).

Director General Dirk Vantyghem commented: “the 2021 export figures, presented in this Spring report, confirm that EURATEX members have gained momen—tum; even if energy prices are causing some serious short—term disruptions, our long—term ambition remains to be a world leader on sustainable textiles.”

Fashion brands open virtual stores in metaverse

American fashion brand DKNY and UK—based department store chain Selfridges opened their vir—tual stores in the metaverse at the recently concluded Metaverse Fashion Week organised by virtual social world Decentraland. Tommy Hilfiger also participated in the event to showcase its Spring 2022 collections and host a digital retail platform where consumers can shop NFTs for their avatars or purchase physi—cal items from within the Metaverse.

Over 70 brands, artists and designers participated in the fashion week. Dolce&Gabbana, Dundas, Etro, The Fabricant, Kid Super, and NFT superstar FEWOCiOUS were some of the brands that showcased their digital collections at the event.

As part of the show, DKNY offered avatars a unique, immersive experience for the virtual retail expo – themed around its spring 2022 campaign theme "Do Your Thing". The campaign reinforces values intrinsic to the brand’s ethos – individuality and self—expression, both encouraged and reinforced in the metaverse, the company said in a statement.“This is the first meta department store in the history of web3 and anybody can visit! Interact as a guest or attach your crypto wallet to access all features, while keeping your in—world progress and digital assets safe,” Selfridges said on its social media accounts.

“When I founded my namesake brand in 1985, I never imagined I’d see a time when fashion weeks would be held in a 3D, fully virtual world,” said Tommy Hilfiger. “As we further explore the metaverse and all it has to offer, I’m inspired by the power of digital technology and the opportunities it presents to engage with communities in fas—cinating, relevant ways.”

Lululemon Athletica's revenue in 2022 Q1 increased by 32%

The net revenue of Lululemon Athletica has increased by 32 percent to $1.6 billion in the first quarter (Q1) of fiscal 2022 (FY22), compared to the first quarter of fiscal 2021. Net revenue increased by 32 percent in North America, and 29 percent internationally. Total comparable sales increased by 28 percent, or 29 percent on a constant dollar basis.

In the first quarter, direct to consumer net revenue increased by 32 percent, or 33 percent on a constant dollar basis. Direct to consumer net revenue represented 45 percent of total net revenue compared to 44 percent for the first quarter of 2021.

"In the first quarter of 2022, continued momentum in the busi—ness enabled us to achieve a strong start to the year. These results provide a solid foundation as we begin our next five—year journey and deliver against our new Power of Three ×2 growth plan. I want to thank our teams around the world for remaining agile and continuing to ex—ecute at a high level to achieve our goals, while successfully navigating the challenges within the macro environment. We look forward to all that lies ahead for Lululemon as we continue to grow the brand,” Calvin McDonald, chief executive officer, said.

"Our teams continue to deliver strong financial performance while navigating the ongoing impacts of COVID—19, supply chain disruptions and inflationary pressures. While we are not immune to these challenges, our omni operating model, balanced growth strategy and unique approach toward innovation enable the positive results we are reporting today and anticipate for the full year,” Meghan Frank, chief financial officer, said.

For the second quarter of 2022, the company expects net rev—enue to be in the range of $1.750 billion to $1.775 billion, representing a three—year compound annual growth rate of approximately 26 percent. Diluted earnings per share are expected to be in the range of $1.89 to $1.94 for the quarter and, excluding the gain on the sale of an adminis—trative office building, adjusted diluted earnings per share are expected to be in the range of $1.82 to $1.87.

A cut above the rest at Texprocess 2022

ACG Nystr?m, a member of TMAS, the Swedish textile machinery association, will demonstrate the benefits of the automated Talon 75 multi—ply cutter at the forthcoming Texprocess exhibition in Frankfurt, Germany, from June 21—24.

This follows a new agreement with Eastman Machine Company, of Buffalo, New York, building on a partnership dating back over a century – combined, the two companies have installed over 3,000 automated cutting systems worldwide and distributed hundreds of thousands of manual cutting machines.

As a well—established full—service supplier of textile machinery and software, ACG Nystr?m, part of the ACG Group, will serve as a hub for imported Eastman equipment, parts and consumables, enabling shorter lead times and direct delivery within the European Union.

The Talon 75 is capable of cutting up to 7.5cm of compressed ma—terials common to the sewn products and technical textiles industries. The machine is engineered to automatically pull stacked material plies from the spreading table to a modular, bristle—block conveyor bed for reciprocating knife cutting of patterns. Precise system operations with state—of—the—art motion control communications offer an industrial—strength solution.

Eastman’s Talon multi—ply cutting systems are Industry 4.0 ready and equipped with the latest in condition based predictive maintenance technology. Their robust design utilises state—of—the—art motors and amplifiers that automatically detect changes in critical components to notify operators well in advance of maintenance prompts. Also on display in Frankfurt will be Eastman’s ES—960, a material spreader ca—pable of fast and easy spreading heights up to 20cm.

“We are all excited about what this new partnership and com—bination of expertise means for the European buyer,” said Elizabeth McGruder, Eastman’s VP of European Sales and Marketing. “Ac—cess to numerous ACG agencies for immediate sales and technical support combined with Eastman’s extensive product catalogue will ensure that Scandinavian and Baltic customers have a compre—hensive and experienced supplier network, benefiting from the best of both businesses.”

Jack & Jones realizes the traceability of the whole textile industry chain

A few days ago, Jack & Jones, a well—known brand head—quartered in Denmark, announced the provision of clothing with the logo of "Made in African Cotton" (CMIA), and realized the complete manufacture of CMIA clothing from cotton to finished products in Uganda. By purchasing clothing with CMIA seal, con—sumers can directly help improve the conditions of cotton farmers and create employment opportunities for local communities in Uganda. In this regard, Dorte Rye—Olsen, sustainable development manager of Jack & Jones, said: "We hope to support cotton plant—ing under good social and environmental conditions, and hope that our cooperation with Africa will help improve the production and life of local cotton farmers."

In addition to purchasing CMIA—marked cotton from Uganda, Jack & Jones also cooperated with Fine Spinners, a vertically integrated textile company based in Kampala.

“Through this initiative, we are establishing a fully inte—grated textile production chain from field to fashion in Uganda and thereby increasing textile value addition within the cotton producing country,” Rye—Olsen added.

“This also takes care to ensure all our CMIA labelled prod—ucts can be completely traced back within our textile value chain from the final product in the store down to the South—Western CMIA growing region in Uganda,” she stated.

It is reported that CMIA label products can directly support small cotton farmers who are at the starting point of the textile supply chain, and they are continuously producing sustainable raw materials for the textile supply chain. In addition, in order to practice sustainable development, CMIA does not allow the use of genetically modified seeds or harmful pesticides, prohibits defor—estation of virgin forests, and provides fair working conditions for local farmers to help them improve their livelihood.

China Textile City: turnover of creative woolen fabrics increased

During the period, the local turnover of woolen cloth in the traditional market of China Textile City increased slightly, the variety of products sold increased, the marketing of creative fabrics continued to be ac—tive, the orders of creative woolen cloth increased month by month, and the bright spots in the market appeared frequently. Some varieties of woven and woolen fashionable woolen fabrics are on the market, and the medium—thin fabrics interact with the medium—thick fabrics, which are on the spot. The spot turnover is small and large, and the order delivery quantity of some counter—part varieties is increasing. In the past few days, the number of varieties sold has been increasing, the volume of creative fabrics has also increased, and the prices have remained basically stable.

The unit price of some creative fabrics with new styles is slightly higher, and the added value is higher than that of staple food products. After June, the textile industry will once again enter the traditional off—season, and enterprises will once again enter the warehouse storage stage. If the later market orders can't be substantially improved and the industry profits can't be effectively repaired, the market will fall into a situation where supply exceeds demand. According to the law of previous years, the fabric orders in spring and summer in June have basically come to an end, the investment of foreign varieties of summer and autumn products will be insufficient, the supply of conventional fabrics in summer and autumn will be partially insufficient, the marketing of mass products will decline in summer, and the acceptance of orders for au—tumn varieties will be partially insufficient.