Apparel Buzz

Taking sustainability towards a global consensus

The high-street fashion label Aviraté will be joining Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts in hosting ‘French Touch 2013’ – a gala fashion event which will be held at Cinnamon Bey Beruwala on 21 November 2013.

An insightful panel discussion moderated by GT Nexus Founder, Vice Chairman and Chief Strategy Officer Kurt Cavano was held on the topic ‘Technology, Innovation and Design in apparel supply chains,’ featuring Orient Design Chairman Gihan Nanayakkara, Knickerbox Co-founder Janie Schaffer, [TC]2 Chief Executive Officer Dr. Michael Fralix, MAS Holdings Chief Growth Officer Nathan Sivagananathan and Timex Group Chairman Ashraf Sattar. At the discussion, Cavano asked each of them to define innovation in their own words.

Building a billion dollar business in a small and emerging economy in Sri Lanka would have been quite a task, a journey filled with highs and lows.

With Sri Lanka earning its position as the fashion and apparel hub of the South Asian region and standing strong in its commitment to sustainability, value and invention, the South Asian Apparel Leadership Forum (SAALF) played a pivotal role in deciding the future of the industry.

The Joint Apparel Association Forum (JAAF) in association with the Shippers’ Academy Colombo (SAC) has organised a major forum for all the clients of the industry to update about new Customs rules and notices to come into force shortly.

IBM announced its collaboration with Textured Jersey Lanka PLC, a manufacturer of weft knit fabrics in Sri Lanka, to provide advanced technology solutions to the company for scaling up their business operations for improved efficiency.

§  Following the collapse of Rana Plaza, Bangladesh, audits in Asia increased by 57% in Asia and 107% in Bangladesh

§  Apparel retailers are now going ‘phygital’ – the merging of  physical attributes of retail with digital elements

§  Consumers are moving away from a celebrity society and towards a new found interest in science, culture, and education

§  Retail is now about conversations and no more about transactions and relationships

§  Govt. to support tech renaissance: President

§  Nanotech can be the basis of a strong Sri Lanka, our children’s future: Minister Ranawaka

The volatile environment of the local and global economy has challenged industries to look into sustainable business ventures and a responsibility towards implementing lean strategies in any industry that extracts natural resources to manufacture their products. The apparel and fashion industry plays a key role in focusing on aspects as such.The Sri Lanka Design Festival (SLDF) founded by the Academy of Design in Sri Lanka became a platform for designers, suppliers and the giants

The much publicised talks to strike a free trade agreement (FTA) between the world's largest clothing and textile exporter, China, and upcoming niche outsourcer Sri Lanka, is sparking intense debate about its potential impact.

• Embassy in the US hosts top  Sri Lankan business leaders visiting the United States
• By any standard in the world Sri Lanka can be proud of its apparel industry: Minister Sarath Amunugama
• Economic partnerships build the strongest pillar of diplomatic relations: Ambassador Wickramasuriya
• Sri Lanka has a great growth potential for the future:  Michael Delaney

Raffles Colombo, recently held "Trash It", an exhibition showcasing garments and accessories constructed from waste materials, created by students from the departments of Fashion & Fashion Marketing where the entire space was transcended in to a work of art filled with creativity. This event was hosted by the academic team and the young talented students of Raffles Colombo with the initiative of Associate Professor Julie Ross (Academic Director).

Brandix has extended its support to the 2013 National Occupational Safety & Health Conference organised by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) as part of this year’s National Safety Week programme.

An international clothing and textile conference has heard how the growing retail market in the Asia-Pacific region may enable emerging economies such as Sri Lanka to realise ambitious dreams to become regional production hubs.

The Sri Lanka Design Festival (SLDF) 2013 conceptualised and founded by Academy Of Design (AOD) staged a successful fashion show titled ‘Sustainable Fashion Runway’ at the Cinnamon Lakeside, Colombo on Friday, 11 October. The runway showcased designs from renowned apparel giants as well as upcoming fashion designers from AOD incorporating the artisans in the handicraft industry empowering their communities whilst reaching new heights in the fashion and apparel industry

Brandix designer Radhika Mendis presented 12 creative ensembles – mirroring the easy elegance of the seascape outside Galle’s Lighthouse hotel – at the HSBC Colombo Fashion Week Resort Wear Show on Sunday, 6 October.

Janie Schaffer traces her journey from Knickerbox to Victoria’s Secret

Whether improved transparency in clothing supply chains will be enough to guarantee a sustainable future for outsourcers in South Asia remains to be seen, but a conference staged in Sri Lanka last week heard plenty of calls for improved openness.

Sri Lanka Apparel Exporters Association (SLAEA) Chairman Yohan Lawrence said that as an industry, it apparel industry stakeholders should look at markets other than United States and the European Union, without losing the foothold on them.