HAMBURG, Germany — June 11, 2014 — Sports brand adidas today announced a new roadmap towards the elimination of hazardous chemicals from its products and supply chain. In collaboration with Greenpeace’s Detox campaign, the official World Cup sponsor has laid out a credible plan for the elimination of per-and polyfluorinated chemicals (PFCs) and set key milestones to achieve full supply chain transparency. [1]

“Today’s announcement represents a major step towards the toxic-free future we need. This credible approach with achievable milestones shows adidas is back onside with Detox,” says Manfred Santen, Detox Campaigner at Greenpeace Germany.

As part of the agreement, adidas will ensure 99% of all its products are PFC-free by 2017, leading to full elimination by 2020. PFCs are used in the manufacturing of clothing and shoes to keep them dirt and water resistant. However, once released, these chemicals are known to accumulate in the environment and can impact upon human health, damaging the immune and reproductive systems, as well as leading to thyroid disease.

adidas has also set ambitious goals to achieve full supply-chain transparency by 2020. In line with the ‘Right-to-Know’ of local communities and the brand’s customers, adidas will publish discharge data from 99% of its Chinese suppliers by the end of 2014, 80% globally by mid-2016. The textile industry remains one of the biggest polluting sectors in China, where it is estimated that half of the rural population has no access to drinking water that meets international standards.

“This is a victory for adidas’ customers, for the local communities forced to live with toxic-water pollution and for our future generations. Global brands like adidas have the power and the responsibility to help us kick out these dangerous chemicals for good,” added Santen.

adidas committed to Detox three years ago [2] but up to now, the brand failed to take the credible steps needed to meet its 2020 target. Over the past three weeks thousands of sports fans, volunteers and cyberactivists joined Greenpeace call on adidas to come clean, following an investigation [3] into hazardous chemicals in football products made by adidas, Nike and Puma. Hundreds of activists in more than 30 cities worldwide took action at adidas shops, while thousands sent letters to CEO Herbert Hainer and hundreds more joined one of the biggest ever digital Mexican Waves [4].

“We have once more seen the strength of people power – adidas has listened to the global call for action and accepted responsibility for its environmental footprint. With this news adidas has regained its position as a Detox frontrunner in the sports industry – the world is watching and waiting for Nike and Puma to catch up,” added Santen.

Notes
[1] adidas text: www.adidas-group.com/media/filer_public/2014/06/11/11062014_chemical_management_progress_at_the_adidas_group.pdf
[2] See www.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/Blogs/makingwaves/detox-campaign-hat-trick-adidas-joins-nike-an/blog/36569
[3] A Red Card for Sportswear Brands: www.greenpeace.de/sites/www.greenpeace.de/files/publications/20140515-rote-karte-fuer-sportmarken-englisch.pdf
[4] See www.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/Blogs/makingwaves/detox-top-11/blog/49467

Posted June 12, 2014

Source: Adidas
 

Delta Apparel Inc. — a Greenville-based manufacturer of branded and private-label activewear and headwear — has announced plans to transfer some of its fabric production for basic, blank T-shirts from its Maiden, N.C., plant to its Ceiba Textiles facility in Honduras, in an effort to lower product costs on basic T-shirts.
 
The consolidation will decrease total fabric production at the Maiden facility by approximately 35 percent and increase production at Ceiba by approximately 8 percent to some 900,000 pounds of fabric weekly. The company expects the consolidation will shorten the production cycle time by approximately 10 days and help it save some $1.1 million annually. According to Delta Apparel, reducing its U.S. production will better align inventory levels with sales expectations.
 
The move will result in the elimination of 70 jobs at the Maiden plant, which will retain 190 employees and will continue fabric production to support its U.S.-made marketed goods and private-label products along with its Mexico sewing operations.
 
“These decisions are always difficult, especially when they affect associates who have been dedicated and loyal to our Company for many years,” said Bob Humphreys, Chairman and CEO, Delta Apparel. “However, the Company can no longer justify the additional cost associated with its current level of domestic fabric production for the highly competitive blank tee shirt business. We believe this economic decision is in the best long-term interest of Delta Apparel and our shareholders.”
 
The company has begun the consolidation and expects it to be completed by the end of this month.
 
June 10, 2014
 

BURLINGTON, Mass. — June 10, 2014 — attune Consulting, a premier global solutions provider to the fashion and lifestyle industries, today announced the success of its collaboration with SAP to co-develop the SAP Fashion Management application. SAP Fashion Management is a vertical wholesale, manufacturing, and retail solution designed to bring all business operations onto a single platform powered by SAP HANA® to create truly cross-channel, integrated fashion companies.  attune’s first customer implementation of SAP Fashion Management will begin in July with Tommy Hilfiger Europe.

attune initially announced its collaboration with SAP in February, outlining plans to co-develop a vertical fashion solution aimed at enabling fashion brands to manufacture their products and sell them to retailers and consumers using a single solution. With the launch of SAP Fashion Management, attune’s continued role in co-developing the solution includes:
 

• Collaborating with SAP on the solution design, product development, and delivery of proof of concept;
• Providing feedback and guidance throughout product testing cycles and preparing customer training materials;
• Developing a data migration tool for existing SAP® Apparel and Footwear customers to seamlessly transition to the new solution;
• Offering its years of industry expertise to help fashion businesses quickly realize the full benefits of SAP Fashion Management, including strategy and roadmap, proof of concept development, implementation, and training and continuous support.

“attune is privileged to be selected as a co-innovation partner with SAP, as we share a common goal of bringing best practices back into the fashion industry,” said Vajira De Silva, CEO of attune. “With SAP Fashion Management, fashion brands will be able to optimize their wholesale, manufacturing, and retail operations for the omnichannel and create more adaptable global businesses, while increasing revenues, margins, and efficiencies.”

Posted June 10, 2014

Source: Attune Consulting
 

NEW YORK, N.Y. — June 6, 2014 — Monomoy Capital Partners, a New York private equity fund focused on value investing and business improvement, and Kingmoor, an investment company with extensive operational and apparel experience, announced today that they have teamed up to acquire the denim manufacturing operation of the Plains Cotton Cooperative Association (the “PCCA”) through American Textile Holdings, LLC. (“AmTex”), a newly-created acquisition vehicle. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

AmTex is a leading designer and manufacturer of both denim fabric and denim apparel products. The company converts raw cotton into denim fabric at the ACG textile mill located in Littlefield, Texas and converts denim fabric into finished jeans at the Denimatrix cut, sew and laundry operation located in Guatemala City, Guatemala. AmTex employs over 2,200 associates at its two facilities and runs one the largest denim manufacturing operations in the Western Hemisphere.

“We are excited to create AmTex and purchase these impressive denim assets in Texas and Guatemala,” said Robert Fowler, a partner at Kingmoor and the new Chief Executive Officer of AmTex. “Denimatrix and ACG offer their customers unsurpassed quality, value and proximity in a denim manufacturing sector that is currently migrating from Asia back to the Americas. With our partners at Monomoy, we will expand the company’s capabilities and work with our customers to bring fashion-forward products to market through the most efficient supply chain in the industry.”

Today’s transaction with the PCCA will allow AmTex to operate as a standalone business focused exclusively on innovative development, fabrication, marketing and sales in the denim sector. “We thank our friends at the PCCA for the extraordinary amount of effort they have put into completing a complex transaction,” said Eric Ceresnie of Monomoy. “We look forward to working with the PCCA over the next few months as we transition AmTex to an independent, entrepreneurial enterprise.”

Monomoy made its investment in AmTex through its second fund vehicle, Monomoy Capital Partners II, L.P. Kevin Morris from Kirkland & Ellis, LLP and Rodolfo Alegría from Carrillo & Asocidos provided legal counsel for the transaction. The Pine Hill Group and KPMG performed financial, accounting and tax diligence for Monomoy and Kingsmoor. Kingsmoor and its network of apparel experts provided industry insight through the acquisition process.

Posted June 9, 2014

Source: Monomoy Capital Partners
 

MIAMI —June 04, 2014 — More than 700 international fashion buyers from at least 35 countries are expected to attend Colombiamoda 2014 in Medellin, Colombia, from July 22 to 24, 2014. Colombiamoda is Latin America’s largest fashion event, consisting of runway shows and business meetings with industry heavyweights from around the world. The event is a partnership between Inexmoda, Colombia’s Institute for Export and Fashion, and Proexport Colombia, the government agency charged with promoting trade, investment and tourism.

“Colombiamoda is critical for the growth of Colombia’s fashion industry, from the sale of designer pieces to our high-quality raw textiles,” said Proexport President Maria Claudia Lacouture. “Colombian entrepreneurs will have the opportunity to share their products directly with international buyers, resulting in long-term supply deals that will allow both parties to benefit from Colombia’s free trade agreements and premium products.”

The goal of July’s event will be to further globalize Colombia’s economy and utilize the country’s FTAs. In order to do this, a number of targeted conferences, business meetings and subsector events will be included in the Colombiamoda program. Additionally, Proexport will debut a new online tool that allows buyers and exporters to secure meetings in real-time.

Buyers have already been confirmed from the U.S., Canada, Ecuador, France, Chile, Japan and others, representing global companies such as Under Armour, Galeries Lafayette and Perry Ellis International. Among the products on display will be jeans, sportswear, formal styles, underwear, kids’ clothes, uniforms, swimwear and shapewear.

Building on the incredible success of past events, Colombiamoda will expand this year to include industrial uniforms and safety clothing, as well as two new pavilions: household textiles and technical textiles.

Buyers from the U.S. and Canada have had great success at Colombiamoda in past years. For example, there were 43 percent more Canadian buyers at Colombiamoda in 2013 than the previous year, generating business expectations of more than US$5 million. These expectations benefitted from the lowered tariffs of the Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement, which came into effect in 2011.

Similarly, Colombia exported $256,807,091 worth of fashion-related goods to the U.S. in 2013. Thanks to the United States-Colombia Free Trade Agreement, the countries have a symbiotic trade relationship, with Colombia also importing $243,324,116 worth of fashion-related goods from the U.S., according to Inexmoda.

Posted June 5, 2014

Source: Proexport Colombia