December, 1-15, 2015

The end of the year kept the industry busy with two very absorbing and interesting conferences – one was on ‘Sustainability’ while the other was on ‘Indian Cotton’. Apparel Online team was at both these meets to gain insights on these two key areas for our readers. Calling for an integrated approach to sustainability from all stakeholders in the textile industry, the participants at a three-day international conference held in Delhi, delved into issues plaguing the textile and garment industry today. The dialogue forum organized by Centre for Responsible Business (CRB) witnessed a spate of experts as well as ideas, as also few contradictions pertaining to the textile supply chain and stakeholders. The event also included sessions on topics like “Responsible Business in Apparel & Textiles Sector Roundtable”; “Responsible Cotton Roundtable”; and “Women Skill Development and Empowerment Workshop”. Enjoy reading the details. The second conference was organized by the Indian Cotton Association Limited (ICAL) titled the “Indian Cotton Conference 2015” and focused on Indian and global cotton scenario. Held in Gurgaon, the event also witnessed experts from apparel manufacturing/export industry discussing on the topic “Make in India – Future Textile hub of the World”. The outcome of this session was the recognition of ‘Value Addition’ as the key for growth, but which is perhaps ignored by the industry in its march to get regular business. Besides the above, our regular columns of Mind Tree, H2F, Fashion Trends, Industry Wire, Resource Centre, Export Statistics, etc. make the issue worth reading.