Search Results for: World Trade Organisation

Knitwear brands have been progressively investing in mentorship and incubation programmes, hoping the resulting inspiration will widen their offer with creative products, reach more consumers and promote innovation in their work methods.
London – one of the big four fashion cities, alongside Paris, New York, and Milan – is this month (November) hosting the first collection of products made through the Atelier100 hyperlocal hothouse programme, at the brand’s retail store in Hammersmith (west London) (1).…

The Bangladesh textile industry is suffering from an acute gas shortage due to the surge in gas prices in the international market due to the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), Russia’s piped exports to Europe declined by an 40% (or over 45 billion cubic metres) year-on-year in the first eight months of 2022, tightening supplies worldwide.…

Innovation in athleisure gear continues to drive performance improvements, with an eye to boosting sustainability, as consumers become more environment conscious, and regulation toughens up.

Of course, making such improvements is no easy feat today given the entire supply chain is facing “unprecedented challenges,” warned Davide Vigano, CEO of tech textile manufacturer Sensoria, based in Redmond, Washington state, USA, as shipping delays hinder the delivery of components, and transport prices increase as energy costs also soar, pushed up by Russia’s bloody invasion of Ukraine. …

It is ‘de rigeur’ for tech publications to define the ‘metaverse’ – Wikipedia is perhaps most succinct – ‘a metaverse is a network of 3D virtual worlds focused on social connection’ (1). As for their fraud risk, there is a growing consensus that the metaverse offers fraudsters and cybercriminals significant opportunities to exploit this growing network of IT systems integrating virtual or augmented reality (VR and AR).…

A gas supply crisis in Bangladesh is directly impacting the country’s important apparel industry due to its reliance on upstream and mid-stream textile and knitting sectors for fabric production, who consume natural gas for energy. The shortage has been caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine which said the International Energy Agency (IEA), has seen Russia’s piped exports to Europe declined by 40% in the first eight months of 2022, tightening supplies worldwide.…

Egyptian knitwear manufacturers have profited from strong international demand over the past two years, being able to tap into the diversification and nearshoring trend of US and European buyers wanting to avoid over-reliance on Asian sourcing, especially in China. However, export sales have slowed since the summer as consumer sentiment has weakened in key overseas markets, which has caused a hiatus in further investment by some manufacturers.…

Smart textiles manufacturers affected by the shortage of electronics for their products may receive respite in 2023 as global supplies of components increase, even if some disruption of production and supply chain lingers.

According to 2022 research by US investment bank J.P.…

How to launder a sack of ill-gotten cash is a question that does not just stretch the imaginations of law enforcers and AML officers, it can and does prompt useful assessments by professionals in other fields.

The question of how to launder USD1 million in dirty money is, for instance, a popular thread on the international online Q&A service Quora, with 84 answers.…

As Ethiopia approaches the one-year anniversary since the USA’s Biden administration suspended the country from its African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) privileges over human rights abuses, a senior union leader hopes these rights will be restored in 2023. (1)

With the Ethiopian and rebel Tigray governments agreeing a ceasefire last week (Nov 2), to forge a long-term peace following two years’ armed conflict, Kassahun Follo, president of the Confederation of Ethiopian Trade Unions (CETU), an alliance of trade unions, said the AGOA expulsion led to a loss of more than 5,600 jobs in Ethiopia’s flagship Hawassa Industrial Park alone – a key textile and clothing manufacturing hub.…

New Zealand has been harvesting quality fibre from brushtail possums for decades, however, a new government native species conservation plan means the industry – in NZ at least – may have limited time to survive.

The animals, native to Australia, have caused considerable environmental damage across the Tasman Sea in NZ since their introduction in the 1830s.…