2021年5月21日
行業報導 - 2021年5月21日
1、創意落實 時裝投產有門
服裝業是本港主要製造業之一，部分年輕人更把時裝設計視為夢想職業，化創意為雲裳，讓模特兒在台上演繹佳作，一展風華。
實現夢想前，設計師須把靈感落實為服裝樣品，踏出投產第一步。
隨着製造業北移，本地「辦房」所剩無幾，製作樣品殊不容易。有見及此，製衣業訓練局兩年前建立小型工場，取名創樣中心，填補服裝由設計到生產的空白。
實現創意
擁有自家品牌的冼美玉是創樣中心常客，在她眼中，服裝樣品不單有助評估生產成本，其功能更如同示範單位，是買家是否光顧的關鍵。原型如此重要，冼美玉當然看重創作過程，尤其信賴該中心師傅的高見。
「他們縫紉經驗豐富，往往有很好的意見，例如衣服某處該開鈕門、加帶子，都是我想要的效果，我對這些時裝細節十分欣賞。」
自2019年起，中心接受創意香港贊助，為包括冼美玉在內最少50名本土設計師製作樣品。
冼美玉認為，創樣中心獲政府支持，承受壓力較小，職員為設計師試驗產品時更具耐性，分外適合時裝新手。對於各種時裝概念，客戶如欲加深認識，也可考慮報讀中心課程。
傳授技巧
創樣中心服裝技術課程涵蓋西裝製作、量裁紙樣，以至使用3D服裝設計軟件製作虛擬服裝，內容一應俱全。
中心並開設各類技術工作坊，推廣可持續服裝概念。以刺繡為例，在舊衣物上施以巧妙變化，即面貌一新，並具個人風格。
製衣業訓練局課程總監李書雲表示，課程旨在讓設計師了解坊間製作技術，啟迪創造力。
中心舉辦的工作坊累計最少36個，約400人報讀，包括專業設計師和時裝愛好者。
藝術創作人梁楚茵擅長製作布料，應用於長衫等範疇。她並非時裝設計專業出身，工作坊所授技術對她非常有用，有助她在設計上取得突破。
她設計的長衫正是採用新概念，作品上半身與一般長衫無異，下半身則帶寬鬆效果，更有時代感。
「一般長衫讓人覺得土氣，穿起來也不舒服。我希望新設計可令長衫平常化，年輕人可視作裙子，適合上班用途。」
放眼神州
創樣中心督導委員會主席鍾國斌表示，中心可善用優勢，協助年輕設計師開拓市場，包括人口是香港約十倍的粵港澳大灣區。
他指出，中心除開辦生產培訓、服裝知識等特別課程外，生產上也可助設計師一臂之力，如此不單設計師獲益，更可帶動香港製造業。
「設計師剛起步時產量不大，很難物色生產商。創樣中心設施完善，可承擔少量生產，試驗產品能否迎合市場。」
「日後我們可考慮聘請縫紉工人協助生產，這有助本地就業。如能再次打響『香港製造』品牌，發展空間就會很大。」
資料來源：www.news.gov.hk (2021年5月16日)
2、Gucci・Timberland 種棉花？時尚品牌紛紛投資農業兩大隱衷
「從農場到餐桌」的直接銷售模式已流行多年，而近年時裝產業就興起「從農場到衣櫃」的生產模式，其中奢侈品牌 Gucci 和戶外運動品牌 Timberland 正實行這種模式，當中兩大原因令時尚品牌近年紛紛投入農業。
今年 1 月 Gucci 母公司開雲集團宣布，計劃將生產奢侈品的原料的 100 萬公頃農地，在 5 年內變成再生農場。集團更與美國非政府組織 Conservation International 合作建立自然再生基金 Regenerative Fund for Nature，基金將針對 4 種經常用於生產奢侈品的原料（如棉花、羊毛、羊絨和皮革）向 17 個國家的農民和 NGO 提供資金援助。
至於 Timberland 也宣布在泰國建立再生農場，不僅種植用來製造鞋款的橡膠樹，還種植不同樹種，仿造原本的自然生態，對環境的影響減到最低，農場預計在 2023 年開始供應原料。
國際品牌投入農業的原因有二。首先，是消費者心態正在轉變，快時尚沒落，顯示消費者比以往更重視環境議題。尤其是習慣將價值觀與消費決策掛勾的 Z 世代與千禧世代，令品牌端更重視永續性（Sustainability）與企業社會責任（CSR）等議題。
此外，新冠肺炎爆發後，人們開始意識到個人行為對環境所造成的影響。Bain & Company 及 BCG 均指出，疫情改變消費者看待時尚產業的方式，他們比以往更重視品牌的核心理念。其中永續性被視為「最低要求」，他們也關心品牌在生產、供應鏈管理、處理滯銷品等流程，能否反映出對環境永續、社會的關懷。
資料來源：香港經濟日報 (2021年5月20日)
3、歐美暫停關稅戰 稱聯手追究中國「扭曲貿易政策」
中美重啟貿易談判前夕，美國與歐盟17日發表聯合聲明，宣布暫停雙方的關稅戰，重新討論全球產能過剩問題，要求中國等支持「扭曲貿易政策」（ trade-distorting policies）的國家負上責任。中國外交部曾表示，中美、中歐貿易本質是互利共贏，應本著平等協商的精神解決分歧。
該聲明由美國貿易代表戴琦（Katherine Tai）、商務部長雷蒙多（Gina Raimondo）和歐盟委員會執行副主席杜姆布羅夫斯基斯（Valdis Dombrovskis ）發表。當中掀到，歐美在民主和市場經濟等方面有著相似的國家安全利益，可推動更高標準，解決共同關心的議題，要求支持貿易扭曲政策的國家承誓責任。
聲明還指，雙方同意就此問題部署有效的解決方案，包括實施適當的貿易措施，以確保美歐國家的鋼鐵和鋁行業的長期生存能力，並加強民主聯盟。歐盟委員會同日表示，將暫停上調美國商品的報復性關稅。這將使美國波本威士忌、電單車等標誌性商品，免於在下個月被歐盟徵收50%關稅。
歐美關稅戰始於2018年6月，特朗普向對從歐盟等經濟體進口的鋼鋁產品加徵關稅；歐盟隨即反制，對從美國部分產品加徵關稅，並原定在今年6月「加碼」。
資料來源：香港經濟日報 (2021年5月18日)
4、LFX Takes Remaining Stake in 3D-Rendering Startup
LFX, an offshoot of Li & Fung, has taken a significant step in its mission to digitally transform the supply chain and retail industries.
The company announced on Thursday that it had acquired the remaining stake in FNX Technologies, a North American-based apparel 3D rendering automation startup led by experts with experience in the visual FX and animation industry. The move completes the transaction that began in 2019 when Li & Fung’s corporate development team invested in the startup, recognizing the importance of 3D for the fashion industry to accelerate speed to market, reduce waste and help brands remain relevant to consumers.
“3D is the first step toward digital transformation for the fashion supply chain,” Ed Lam, CEO of LFX, said. “However, if companies are going to keep up with the ever-changing consumers tastes and scale up their digital product creation to showcase products digitally, they’re going to need to automate 3D image generation and do it at dramatically faster rates. FNX has proven it can solve the use of 3D at scale for the media industry and we know they can do the same for the consumer goods industry.”
Levering its experience in film and animation to render and deliver 20,000 photorealistic images in less than four weeks, FNX’s automated rendering technology supports multiple formats and integrates with product development tools. Using FNX, cinematic-quality digital assets can be produced for use throughout the entire product development journey, from prototyping, digital fitting, visualizing store layout and merchandising to direct display on e-commerce and social sites.
For brands, this means a dramatic leap in productivity and creative freedom as they reclaim hundreds of hours and get to market in record time. Producing fewer prototypes means dramatically reducing waste and cost.
Following the completion of the transaction, the team from FNX Technologies will join LFX, enhancing its ability to help brands transition to Digital Product Creation & Commerce (DPCC) and augment the team at UNIFi3D, LFX’s newly formed 3D-as-a-Service company.
Founder and CEO of FNX Technologies, Darcy Reno, will assume the role of chief technology officer of DPCC for LFX.
“By joining LFX, we can combine our knowledge, experience and resources in 3D digital product developments at scale, making it easier for us to help brands and retailers master 3D and transition to digital product creation and commerce at the necessary scale,” Reno said.
LFX is an incubation, investment and operating platform creating digital ventures that transform the supply chain and retail industry through its innovative digital solutions and services. As an offshoot of Li & Fung, LFX is building an ecosystem of entrepreneurs, technologists and partners who are passionate about digitalizing the supply chain and sustainable consumption.
A fashion digital transformation company, UNIFi3D is the first company to emerge from LFX. A 3D-as-a-Service company, UNIFi3D, provides digital product creation and commerce.
Source: www.sourcingjournal.com (20 May 2021)
5、Brands urged to back new binding safety pact in Bangladesh
More calls have come urging global fashion brands and retailers to commit to a new binding safety agreement to continue the work of the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh.
Source: www.just-style.com (14 May 2021)
6、Fiber and Fabric Price Hikes Funnel Apparel Toward Inflation
Raw material prices are on the rise as demand surges, and the effects are ricocheting down the supply chain.
Yarn and fiber makers are making adjustments, while brands are getting ready to hike or, already have raised, prices to protect their bottom lines.
All benchmark cotton prices increased over the past month. Cotton Incorporated noted in its monthly analysis that since early March, the July New York ICE futures contract rose to above 90 cents per pound from 78 cents. Cotton Inc.’s report released on Thursday said in the latest trading, prices have been near 88 cents per pound.
The Cotlook A Index of average global spot prices increased to 95 cents per pound in early May from levels near 85 cents in early April. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported that U.S. spot cotton averaged 84.03 cents per pound for the week ended May 6. That was down from 84.92 cents the prior week, but up from 50.02 cents a year earlier.
Cotton Inc. said while stock levels and stocks-to-use ratios are expected to decrease in the upcoming crop year, the early USDA outlook suggests that supply will remain elevated.
“Even with ample supply in the current crop year, prices have been able to manage consistent increases,” the report said. “The divergence between supply and demand figures and prices makes price forecasts based on market fundamentals a challenge. A factor that appears correlated with price movement has been the evolution of the U.S.-China trade relationship.”
Despite Covid, the U.S. is projected to export the third-highest volume on record, 16.3 million bales, during the 2020-21 crop year. With shipments to most other markets lower, this has been driven by business with China. Cotton Inc. said the Phase One deal suggests that China will continue to increase purchases of U.S. agricultural goods in the 2021 calendar year, but it is unknown if an extension or a new agreement will be reached for 2022.
Cellulosic fiber manufacturer Lenzing, in reporting that revenue in the first quarter ended March 31 rose 4.9 percent to $587.39 million, mainly attributed the strong increase to demand from China and the resulting higher viscose prices.
The prices for standard viscose continued their positive momentum from the end of 2020 into 2021, the company said, up 33.8 percent from the beginning of the year. Price increases in the dissolving wood pulp market supported the standard viscose price development. The prices for wood-based specialty fibers, which also developed much more stably in the past quarters, benefited from this development as well.
“In an environment of growing demand, this increase is attributable to a shortage in the market, which was caused, among other things, by low inventory levels and low local production in China, and, at times, low imports due to bottlenecks in global logistics,” Lenzing said.
In polyester, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported in its Producer Price Index that synthetic fiber prices rose 6.1 percent in April compared to March and were up 9.6 percent from a year earlier.
Unifi Inc., a manufacturer of recycled and traditional polyester and nylon yarns, in reporting fiscal third quarter financial results, said it expects the current inflationary pressures from raw material fluctuations to be mostly offset by selling price adjustments.
The company expects adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) in the range of $12 million to $14 million for the fiscal year. This range includes recent global raw material cost increases that will adversely impact gross profit due to the inherent lag in response to selling price adjustments.
Australian wool prices trended downward for the first week of May, Australian Wool Innovation (AWI) reported. The merino fleece sector registered the largest declines of up to 47 cents, AWI noted.
The benchmark Eastern Market Indicator (EMI) finished the week 2.6 percent lower in dollar terms, to close at $10.19 per kilogram.
Brands are also feeling the impact of rising costs. Wolverine CEO Blake Kreuger said he expects the company will make “selective” product cost increases in the back half of 2021 due to the rising supply chain and logistics costs, as well as growing costs of rubber, cotton, leather and other materials.
“If we have to, we’re going to take some selective price increases, we frankly think that the consumer right now is expecting it,” Kreuger said. “There wasn’t a lot of pushback to the industry price increases that were pushed through when we had directly tied to tariffs of the last 18 months to two years. So, we think the consumer is poised to expect some product price increases.”
Delta Galil CEO Isaac Dabah said from a manufacturing standpoint, “fabric prices are rising modestly, particularly in the denim category, which relies on cotton-based fabrics.”
At the far end of the supply chain, retail apparel prices rose a seasonally adjusted 0.3 percent in April, after dipping the previous two months, and were an unadjusted 1.9 percent higher than a year earlier, BLS reported in its Consumer Price Index (CPI).
Prices were lifted by a 1.3 percent increase in men’s apparel last month, led by a 2.3 percent increase in the men’s pants and shorts category.
Source: www.sourcingjournal.com (14 May 2021)
7、How Digital Fashion is Changing Fashion’s Supply Chain
The term “digital fashion” encompasses a lot.
A collection of digital sneakers and charms sold for millions as non-fungible tokens—or NFTs, as they’re more commonly known—would count. Valentino, Louis Vuitton and Gucci’s collaborations with Animal Crossing, League of Legends and The Sims would also fall within the digital fashion categorization. Balenciaga’s Fall 2021 fashion-show-turned-video game certainly meets the definition.
But for those embedding digital fashion into their design process, replacing physical samples with virtual models can mean reduced waste, machine time and labor.
Representatives from UNIFi3D, TAL Apparel Ltd., High Fashion International Ltd. and Cotton Incorporated gathered for Thursday’s Hong Kong Sourcing Summit to discuss digital fashion and the supply chain.
The growing importance of digital materials within the fashion and textile industry has prompted Cotton Incorporated, a not-for-profit organization that provides research and information to cotton manufacturers, to integrate 3D technology into its existing pool of resources.
“After a product is developed in 3D… that same 3D asset can then be used for internal planning to show buyers, to create marketing images in social media and then loaded into a website to be viewed in 3D,” Katherine Absher, Cotton Incorporated’s manager of fashion and digital design, said.
Beyond the supply chain, Absher added, virtual assets can produce new digital experiences for consumers. Customers can configure and customize products in 3D, interact with them in augmented reality and view them in their own environment.
“These 3D models help consumers better understand their products and companies using 3D in marketing are seeing increased engagement online from customers and that translates into increased conversions and reduced returns,” Absher said.
TAL Apparel Ltd., a Hong Kong-based manufacturer with 10 factories across four countries, creates six types of products, namely shirts, with a total capacity of roughly 15 million pieces. Ambrish Jain, the company’s chief customer officer, said TAL Apparel has been investing in virtual sample technology “for quite some time,” but that it’s only been the past few years that customers have begun asking for it.
“The 3D prototyping capability has increased significantly, multiple-fold versus what it used to be and for today there’s really very little reason why the customer shouldn’t be using this, except if their business model is one where they do need physical samples to sell, primarily to the wholesale channel,” Jain said.
But for individual consumers, buying virtually is nothing new. “They’re not touching and feeling the product, they’re buying based on the digital image, which is either a photographic image of an actual product or even a 3D rendering,” Jain said.
Interest in 3D prototyping has boomed amid the pandemic. At TAL, the number of virtual samples provided upon request climbed to nearly 2,500, a roughly 175 percent increase compared to the prior year.
Well Lam, High Fashion International’s managing director for China, noted that the pandemic accelerated the demand for virtualization technology on multiple fronts. On the one hand, travel restrictions limited physical sourcing and opportunities to meet with customers one-on-one. On the demand side, meanwhile, consumers cared about global wellness and sustainability more than ever during the pandemic, Lam added.
At High Fashion International, using 3D technology allows the company to show customers its materials’ physical drape and texture, as well as offer style recommendations. If a business wants to see how that material would look on its designs, it can simply download the digital files and immediately upload them into their own 3D design software.
“This is like the coolest part because it really saves lots of time, lots of effort, lots of swatches [being sent] and immediately we can see the result of this fabric in your own design,” Lam said.
Li & Fung recently spun out its Digital Product Development Center of Excellence as a 3D-as-a-service company under its technology-centered offshoot LFX. Dubbed UNIFi3D, the business now works with more than 100 brands, according to its head of services, Idy Lee.
“We want to empower the fashion industry to actively promote sustainable consumption and our mission is to help accelerate fashion retail’s transition in creating and selling product digitally at scale,” Lee said.
UNIFi3D helps clients throughout the cycle of digital product creation and commerce, from hosting educational workshops to helping create manufacturable and marketable assets, Lee said.
“Our major goals [are] to help you accelerate adoption, bridge all of those technical skills gaps that you have, to optimize your digital flows and drive that agility for you to be able to repeat and refresh at scale with all of your products digitally,” Lee said. “When you speed to market, we’re helping you eliminate a lot of the analog physical events during your product development stage.”
Source: www.sourcingjournal.com (17 May 2021)
8、Project to build digital infrastructure for textile recycling
A new project will address the challenges of the current textile sorting system with the research leading to an open digital platform to match textile waste from sorters with recyclers, enabling their alignment and building infrastructure towards greater circularity in the years to come.
Source: www.just-style.com (20 May 2021)