EDANA, the international association of nonwoven industries, delivered its European annual statistics on nonwoven production and deliveries for 2012, and the news was better than predicted. Overall growth of 2.2 percent occurred, despite friction and crises within the European Union. Total deliveries reached 1.9 million tons, with spunmelt processes accounting for 45 percent and fiber-based materials 55 percent. Within the drylaid category, the leading bonding technologies remain spunlace and

Uniqlo Store Facade | Source: Reuters On a bustling Dhaka street full of buyers looking for deals on export rejects and designer fakes, a flight of stairs leads up to an anomaly in a country known for producing international clothing brands – a global high street fashion store. Uniqlo, owned by Japan’s Fast Retailing Co., is opening two stores in Bangladesh, a favourite low-cost sourcing hub for many international retailers but a country where, until now, they have not sold their clothes.

Italy's luxury cashmere house Loro Piana have been bought by LVMH. The french luxury conglomerate purchased an 80 percent stake in the ready-to-wear fashion group for 2 billion euro. LVMH shares rose 2.5 percent on the news. LVMH said that the sixth-generation Loro Piana family will retain the remaining 20 percent share, and its current directors, Sergio and Pier Luigi Loro Piana, will maintain their posts. The Italian fashion house is famed for its high quality clothing by using precious mat

For the first quarter, Burberry’s comparable store sales were up 13 percent. Retail sales in the first quarter increased by 21 percent at reported FX and 18 percent at constant FX. There was double-digit comparable store sales growth in Asia Pacific and the Americas and high single-digit growth in Europe, Middle East, India and Africa. The plan is to modestly increase normalised retail/wholesale margin in the full year. First half adjusted PBT is still expected to be below prior year. During th

The exports of garments and textiles from Vietnam grew by 14.5 percent year-on-year to US$ 8.9 billion in the first six months of the current year, according to the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS). The US and the EU continued to be the major markets for Vietnamese garments which accounted for US$ 3.94 billion and US$ 1.29 billion worth of exports during January-June 2013, Viet Nam News reported. The value of Vietnam’s clothing exports to Japan stood at US$ 1.1 billion,

WO shop owners who sold fake Disney-brand children's garments for more than 700,000 yuan (US$114,030) were given prison sentences and fines, the Yangpu District People's Court said today. A man surnamed Wang was given a three-year sentence with a four-year reprieve and a 180,000-yuan fine for opening a children's garment shop on Qipu Road, where he sold children's garments that were counterfeits of the Disney brand. His accomplice, surnamed Ye, was given a 30-month sentence and a 100,000-y

Bangladeshi garment workers should get better wages, and conscientious European shoppers should be ready to pay higher prices to boost labour safety in the South Asian country, EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht said Monday in Geneva. De Gucht, Bangladeshi Foreign Minister Dipu Moni and International Labour Organization chief Guy Ryder presented a political agreement to improve standards in the country's clothing industry in the wake of factory disasters that killed around 1,250 people since

With the lowest wage rate in Southeast Asia and a young workforce, Cambodia has emerged as the global manufacturing hotspot despite outbreaks of violent industrial action and safety concerns. Its garment sector, which makes up the bulk of the country’s output in the global economy, is booming – the country exported $1.56 billion worth of garments and textiles, a 32 percent year-on-year growth. The figures, from the Ministry of Commerce, showed that the European Union is catching up to the U.

COTTON growers have sold at least 60 million kilogrammes of the crop since the marketing season opened in April this year. In a statement yesterday, the Agricultural Marketing Authority said the cotton was purchased by 15 registered cotton buyers. “A total of 59 706 660 kilogrammes of cotton had been purchased by buyers since the beginning of marketing seasons,” the statement said. AMA said buyers were offering prices ranging between US38cents and US48 cents per kilogramme. Some buyers are a

The country’s textile and apparel industry saw a slight recovery in 2012 as it exported about E590.16 million worth of commodities to the United States of America under AGOA. AGOA is the acronym for African Growth Opportunity Act. Swaziland is among countries benefitting from this agreement with the United States of America. The Act grants duty free access of specific products from Africa into the US market. This is according to information sourced from the US International Trade Commission