Fashion Industry in Pakistan

Fashion is a conceptual term though it covers almost all aspects of our daily life. In the current period, fashion has become an industry and in almost every field of life rather it is textile, wearable for sexes, ceramics, households, construction or dines, fashion is everywhere around us. According to a very brief definition, “Fashion is an extension of self and expression of individuality”.
Dress is very important facet of our personality and fashion in our dress and clothes have taken its step towards international market. Fashion is not a new thing actually, it exists from the origin of civilization but now in the recent time it has enhanced its functioning circle.
With the foundation of Pakistan, fashion industry started working and the big advantage Pakistani fashion industry Pakistan has gained is that it has the glimpse of various civilizations in it. The remarkable change in Fashion Industry in Pakistan started with the beginning of 21st century when the young designers tried to give a new direction to fashion in Pakistan.
The designers of mid 1990’s were the trendsetters in fashion industry and they give a new shape to the multi-civilized culture of Pakistan. There came a big change in fashion industry especially during the last two decades and now textile fashion has taken a form of strapping business.
The credit goes to the fashion institutes in Pakistan especially ‘Pakistan Institute of Fashion Design’ that have produced a number of flourished names in the fashion industry like Maria B, Hassan Shehryar Yasin, Deepak Parwani, Maheen Khan, Nomi Ansari and many more.
All young designers are trying to bring industry a step ahead where they can proudly represent Pakistan on international level.
Pakistani designers are known in international markets now and many international shows feel proud to invite Pakistani designer, this not only improves the content of their runway, but also projects the soft image of the country as a talented young generation.
The Fashion Industry of Pakistan is an important industry as it has a high impact on the economy of the country. The fashion designers of Pakistan have not only made their name within the country, but also across the borders. Every year new designers come up with their stunning collection to keep the eyes of the people open wide. The fashion designers not only concentrate on traditional wear, but also come up with the Eastern and Western types of dresses, with their amazing, unparallel collection. All of them have their collection for men and women alike. Every designer has its unique collection and brings forth something different from the others.
There is no limit to the fashion designers in Pakistan. Every year, we see new names coming up. More and more people are choosing the fashion industry to make their future bright. Presently, the Fashion Industry of Pakistan comprises of three fashion councils. They are the Pakistan Fashion Design Council(PFDC), Fashion Pakistan, and the Pakistan Fashion Council each of these have specific chairmen and keep organizing fashion weeks to display the latest designs of the designers, to make them go popular all over the World. Every designer chooses one council to be under, for instance, you would find the heavy weights in the PFDC being Kamiar Rokni, Khaadi, HSY, Karma, Nickie Nina, Ammar Belal etc. All of these are famous designers. Sana Safinaz , Maheen Khan, Deepak Perwani , Sonya Batla , Rizwan Baig are those found in FP, or the Fashion Pakistan, whereas Amir Adnan displays his designs under the Pakistan Fashion Council.
Pakistani Fashion industry striving to make identification of Pakistani Culture on International Fashion Ramps.
The culture of Pakistan has always been the focal point for all fashion designers in the Pakistani Fashion Industry. Whether it is dress or accessories, Fashion Industry in Pakistan has always kept the aspect of pertaining to our traditional roots and heritage that are actually the main identity of Pakistan.
The main focus of the Pakistani Fashion Industry nowadays is the fusion of South Asian and Central Asian fashion styles along with the delicacy of Eastern touch. We all have seen the flowing frocks to rule the fashion trends from 2011, as many cultural practices have been inherited from Mughals and adopted by the Pakistani Fashion Industry for both summer and fall fashion trends. It is undoubtedly the hard work and efforts of Pakistani fashion designers and the whole Pakistani Fashion Industry to introduce the pure Eastern culture throughout the world. Through the exclusive creations and attractive presentation of Pakistani Fashion Industry, the fashion trends and culture of Pakistan gained appreciation and positive reception from many fashion events around the Globe.
In a broader view and unbiased analysis, the Pakistani Fashion Industry has certainly played a very constructive and optimistic role in building the fashion sense and fashion trends amongst all the age groups. Pakistani culture and traditions always have a huge impact on Pakistani Fashion Industry and the collections of famous Pakistani fashion designers, however, our designers, and experts have also tried to be unique and exclusive to use their imagination to design the unmatchable products, dresses and accessories.
The creations and collection line-ups of Pakistani Fashion Industry, that are purely culture oriented, received warm acclamation and gratitude from the fashion ramps from all over the world especially the Western countries. The basic intention behind promoting Pakistani culture and Pakistani fashion trends through products and dresses is to mark our individuality in the fashion industry worldwide, tied along with our tradition and style.
Whether it is trendy shalwar kameez or choori daar pajama, Pakistani Fashion Industry has always marked its elegance with classy outfits. Moreover, Fashion Industry of Pakistan is doing an outstanding job as far as bridal creations are concerned. The bridal dresses, lehnga, sharara and gharara have received a new charm and spectacular grace by amazing color blends and distinguished embellishments from many famous Pakistani fashion designers.
As the other fields in Pakistan, including entertainment, medicine and information technology, are building their own identification all over the World, our Pakistani Fashion Industry is also going higher with the dedication of Pakistani fashion designers to mark their importance in the World of Fashion.

Overview of Pak Textile Industry By: Dr Kamal Monnoo

The global cotton and textile communities are facing historically volatile times, regardless of which part of the supply chain they belong to. Without question, the problem our industry faces are significant - but they are by no means insurmountable. In this new era, success will require a level of communication and transparency greater than we have ever had in the past, and this is an opportunity that we can take advantage of. The Textile Ministry by developing closer ties within the business organisations and inter-industry platforms, both upstream and downstream, can do much more than simply survive these dangerous times: It can proactively build a better, healthier and stronger national textile industry that can benefit the economy and sustain long-term export growth, once the current period of market turbulence subsides. This is a time where it is of paramount importance that by regularly discussing strategies with the stakeholders, the authorities ensure that the national cotton trade functions more smoothly in all sectors, so that we can ensure to not just successfully ride the present crisis, but also manage ourselves in a way that we can possibly avert one in future.
Neighbouring India, even after an extreme slowdown, is still growing at more than 6 percent per year; whereas, Pakistan’s growth average during the past four years has been barely 2.50 percent. At least two million new workers enter our labour market every year, which means that if we cannot match this with corresponding growth, the problems with unemployment and poverty will compound. The sad reality at present, however, points to a climate where our industry is instead operating at about 30 to 40 percent below capacity. The textile sector accounts for approximately 38 percent of our entire labour force and an operating level of 60 percent basically means a job loss in this sector alone of about one million workers.
Ironically, in textiles, not international demand or global management, inefficiencies have been the main culprits, but the sheer choking of power (electricity) and energy (natural gas) has forced closures resulting in the loss of global market share. Comparing this with 2007, when the industry was operating on full capacity, it means: Whereas, in four years an extra 3.20 million fresh young employable workers should have been absorbed in the textile sector, it is at present accommodating one million than its peak back in 2007! Running an industry per se is becoming untenable, especially in Punjab, where it is forced to close for nearly 170 days a year for want of power and energy.
Little wonder that our textile exports are falling, rather than registering an increase. Based on the figures recently released by the Ministry and verified by the respective Chambers, if we compare January 2011 to January 2012 in quantity terms, the total textile exports have registered a decline of 15.37 percent, and the sector wise decrease reads as textiles and clothing by 16.81 percent, knitwear by 34.79 percent, bed wear by 30.24 percent, towels by 21.76 percent, readymade garments by 24.46 percent, art silk and synthetic textiles by 44.29 percent and other made-ups by 28.16 percent.
Even more disturbing is the trend that the exports of higher value items have fallen at a much higher rate than the less valued ones and, alarmingly, the products that in competing manufacturing economies are regarded as ‘raw materials’, have actually gained their share of exports! For example, raw cotton exports have registered an increase of 397.42 percent, cotton yarn one percent and yarns other than cotton yarn by 2,287.50 percent. Value addition as we know has been a weakness of Pakistani textile exports, as we continue to operate at one of the lowest per kilogram values amongst the principal textile manufacturing countries of the world.
And it is this very weakness, which our Textile Ministry needs to guard against and strategise to somehow overcome. The Indian Ministry as we know goes to great lengths in policy formation to ensure that the operational framework supports a culture where the industrial potential of value addition gets maximised - in spite of no real global or domestic shortage of cotton, we saw India place a ban last month on its cotton export to see to it that priority lies with conversion of the basic commodity into finished cum made-up goods - this in order to generate both additional foreign exchange revenues and employment. At our end, one is not too convinced that our policymakers are even thinking through this aspect of our trade dynamics. Recent key decisions on enhancing trade with India seem to have been taken in haste and without ensuring the fair element of reciprocity. While it is understandable to grant the MFN (Most Favoured Nation) status to India, in doing so we needed to protect our industrial strengths by guaranteeing fair access to the Pakistani products where we add good value and enjoy a competitive edge over India, e.g. home textiles, towelling, cement, sports goods, surgical instruments, specialised consumer products, processed meat, livestock, etc. Even the EU concessions’ package does not seem to be that exciting when one takes into account that the majority of their concessions apply to items that fall in the category of feeding cheap raw materials to the European manufacturing, instead of promoting value addition in Pakistan. Also, the strong growth items for us like bed linen, bulk of home textiles, towels, etc have either been excluded or have been placed under the ceiling of tariff related quotas.
So what is the way forward? First and foremost, we (the Pakistani textile industry) in guidance from the policymaker (the Textile Ministry) need to be more proactive in our decision making by focusing on long-term positioning, instead of current or short-term profit taking. Turkey, India and China started basing their textile policies on such a premise, way back in the 80s and see where they are today. Their textile sector continues to grow in all its dimensions and the sheer strength of product value addition over time has supplemented the development of their domestic markets and in helping them to evolve as leading textile machinery suppliers of the world. Pakistan in this regard still has a long way to go. Further, going forward our industry needs enhanced transparency, predictable government policies, better supply chain management and an awareness, both within the government and the private sector, of using the newly developed global hedging instruments to achieve stability in cotton and MMF (Man-made Fibre) supplies, boost production, and to alleviate possibilities on future tight stock situations.
Second, all participants in the industry can show leadership by advocating that the government/Ministry does a better job of statistical reporting. Companies can also lead by participating in surveys of production, consumption and stocks when such data is requested. Common use of metric measures can help all stakeholders to speak one language of statistics that the bureaucracy can understand.
Third, we need to remember that there have been notable improvements in the efficiency of trade in textiles since the ending of the Multifibre Arrangement (MFA) in 2005, and attempts by anyone (association, lobby group, etc) to take it backward through requests to the government for trade protection should be strongly discouraged.
Finally, the Textile Ministry should take its cue from their Indian, Chinese and Bangladeshi counterparts by actively collaborating with the World Bank to make use of its initiative to deliver training to industry managements, trade associations and the regulatory body on how to effectively use various hedging mechanisms and devise intra-industry policy frameworks to ensure smooth and long-term functioning of the entire industry’s supply chain process. 

Uncertainty in EU and US textile and clothing markets continues to depress world trade

Textile and clothing markets are likely to remain subdued in 2012, given the considerable uncertainty in the global economy, and the fact that the debt crisis in the eurozone continues to hit business and consumer confidence, according to Issue No 156 of Textile Outlook International from the global business information company Textiles Intelligence.
In the EU economy, the recovery which started in 2010 is expected to be snuffed out in 2012. Forecasts suggest that the EU economy will suffer a second dip in 2012 with GDP down in real terms by 0.5%. A partial recovery is predicted for 2013 but GDP is expected to grow by only 0.8%.
The views of European textile manufacturers reflect this outlook. Having reported a notable recovery in their markets in 2011, the recovery slowed markedly in the last quarter of the year and the view now is that the effects of Europe's economic turbulence will continue to have an adverse effect on trade during the remainder of 2012 and perhaps beyond. Indeed, in the first quarter of 2012, EU clothing imports were down in volume by a dramatic 12.0%.
The prospects for the USA are less pessimistic. In 2012 GDP growth is expected to accelerate to 2.2%, from 1.7% in 2011, before falling back slightly to 2.1% in 2013. Nevertheless, clothing imports continue to be affected, with the volume of imports in the first quarter of 2012 down by 3.9%.
Weak market conditions in the EU and the USA affected exports from several Asian countries in the first quarter of 2012, following strong growth in 2011 as a whole. In Indonesia, for example, textile and clothing exports rose in value by 18.2% in 2011 but fell by 5.2% in the first quarter of 2012. In Thailand, exports rose in value by 7.5% in 2011 but declined by a sharp 15.3% in the first quarter of 2012. And in the Philippines clothing export growth slowed in value to just 1.1% in the first quarter of 2012 following an 11.4% rise in 2011. Export growth also slowed in several other countries.
In India, meanwhile, clothing exports fell in value by a sharp 11.9% in the 2011/12 financial year, which ended on March 31, 2012, having increased by 4.7% in the previous year. Textile export growth, meanwhile, slowed to just 0.4%, having risen by 34.7% in 2010/11.
Reflecting the country's weaker export prospects, Indian GDP growth forecasts for 2012 have been revised downwards. In September 2011 it was forecast that India's GDP would grow by 7.5% in 2012 but in April 2012 this forecast was revised downwards to 6.9%. Furthermore, in the first three months of 2012, Indian GDP rose by only 5.3%, which represented the slowest quarterly growth rate in India for nine years.
The prospects for China -- which has long been an engine of growth for the world economy -- are similar, with GDP growth forecasts lowered from 9.0% to 8.2%.
As a result, global GDP is expected to grow by only 2.1% in 2012 after increasing by 2.5% in 2011 and by 4.1% in 2010.
Nevertheless, emerging markets and, in particular, the so-called BRIC countries -- comprising Brazil, Russia, India and China -- will continue to be the key to sustaining global trade growth over the coming years.
In India, for instance, the domestic market for textiles and clothing is forecast to increase in value by 169% over the ten-year period between 2010 and 2020, from an estimated US$52 bn to US$140 bn.

US VIVACIOUS TEXTILE INDUSTRY OF THE WORLD SLAP BY ASIAN INDUSTRIALIST

July 5, 2011

US textile industry

The textile industry of the United States has changed over the past 20 years. Now high-tech industry and competitive. US have the most modern and productive textile industry in the world.
One of the first realizing that technology – is key to future success in the industry, US manufacturers began to invest huge capital to carry out various research and development of new technologies in production. The result of these investments was the establishment of durable nylon, safe, high-strength aramid fibers, etc.
Changed and the basic rules of production. Large scale, mass production methods, which brought huge profits the last 50 years, now can not guarantee strong position in the market. Consumers demand quality, affordable prices, wide selection of products and rapid response to emerging needs. Therefore, the industry undergoes dramatic changes from mass production of the past to moving manufacturing technologies of the future.
In the future, successful companies must be able to quickly and cost effectively produce large or small number of products in response to market demands.
The future calls for the introduction of a new manufacturing process that allows switching from product to product with zero downtime, whether it’s twisting of the fibers or fabric staining. Success requires technologies that enable companies to produce a small amount to the cost of clothing appropriate to mass production.
And at this stage the company continues to actively invest cash in the hope of future success.
But not all is rosy.
The last few years a large number of light industry companies are trying to find means to survive in the prevailing circumstances. US textile industry is in a protracted crisis. This crisis has its roots in the 1980s and 1990s, err. When governments in many Asian countries had reckless fiscal and economic policies to boost economic growth. And in 1997-98gg. This policy has resulted in that country one after another, experienced the collapse of currencies. Their currency has never been provided and in fact in 2000, began to fall again. Today, the value of national currencies of Asian countries 10 largest exporters of textile products following an average of 40% higher than before the crisis.
As a result, prices for Asian yarns and fabrics have fallen to very low levels. According to the Commission on International Trade in the US between 1996 and 2000. The average price of Asian yarn imported into the country fell by 38%, from $ 3.36 / kg to 2.47. The average price of imported fabrics declined by 32% to $ 1.39 / lm to 1.07. With such artificially discounted imports from Asia has increased many times. Currency devaluations before imports of textiles and clothing from Asian countries were a relatively stable or declining. The industry can not deal with the rapid flow of Asian imports to the US cheaper products, following the devaluation of the currencies of the countries in the Middle East. In 2002, imports of apparel from Asia rose by 7% compared to 2000 since 1996, imports of Asian textiles grew by 85%, while imports of finished clothing – almost 60%.

made in china

In 1996, Mexico has shifted to China from a leading provider of textile and light industry in the US. Deliveries of textiles and clothing from that country cover about 20% of the deficit of the United States. In 2002, the trade deficit of light industry was valued at $ 62 Billion
According to the World Trade Organization; in 2002 the US imported textile industry at $ 78.6 billion, becoming the largest importer in the world. Exports amounted to only $ 16.6 billion
The result of ever-increasing imports is closing more than 250 companies since 1997 the hardest hit North and South Carolina – the main pillar of textile industry in the US. Peaked in 2001. When, after September 11, many businesses have lost orders major US carriers.
Since the crisis the total number of people employed in industry fell by almost 600 thousand people. And every year the number hit by the crisis grows.
To regulate relations in the light industry at the present stage in the US there are three pieces of legislation:
1. Multi-Fiber Agreement (MFA). In order to prevent the destruction of their industries, developing countries insisted on the design of the management of international trade in textiles in a separate document. This design or the trade regime has been formally adopted in 1974 and known as the MFA.
The Purpose of MFA – Provide for a Relaxing Trade World of Light Industry. For the past 20 years MFA regulate imports of products of textile and light industry in the United States through the establishment of annual quotas based on the relations between the countries. In 2005. MFA will be replaced; it will be replaced by The Agreement on Textile and Apparel (ATA).
2. African Growth and Opportunity Act. This law will reduce tariffs on US goods, and exclude a number of textile quotas on products exported from Africa as well as promote American investment in African countries. The bill has not yet been passed by Congress.
3. The Agreement on Textile and Apparel (ATA). January 1, 1995 in the Uruguay Round of WTO negotiations, the Agreement on Textile and Light Industry. If the ATA and textiles and clothing should be gradually transferred under GATT discipline and become the subject of the same rights as the goods of other sectors. Countries that have signed this Agreement shall abolish quotas on imports of certain goods from other WTO members. The integration process began in 1995 and completed in late 2005