December, 16-31, 2015

It is a pleasure to present to you the last edition of this year’s magazine. AO has analysed the year and put together some trends which emerged strongly, both at the national and international level, and have the potential and thrust to influence how business will move in the New Year… Another story of interest finds space under slug ‘Sustainability’. Apparel Online attempts to figure out ground realities, discussing the concept with many exporters and sustainability experts. ‘Recycle’, ‘reuse’, ‘organic’, ‘green building’, ‘wind energy’…, these are some of the well-discussed sustainable initiatives of big export houses, but the same sound just like jargons for small- and medium-level companies (with 100 or 150 stitching machines). It is equally sad to know that there are several buyers who have no concern with sustainability, while for exporters ‘change is buyer-driven’. Looking at the medium-level Indian home furnishing exporters, the year gone by has not proved fruitful. In a short survey conducted by AO, 60 per cent of the exporters are of the opinion that they have seen less business in this calendar year and it was not up to their expectations either. Everyone has identified the reasons for the slowdown and few have done some special efforts to survive. As usual, their hopes for business revival in 2016 are there, but without any strong logical base. Besides the above, our regular columns of Mind Tree, H2F, Fashion Trends, Industry Wire, Resource Centre, Export Statistics, etc. make the issue worth reading.