The World Bank recently approved a $750-million ‘MSME Emergency Response’ programme to support increased flow of finance to micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in India severely affected by the COVID-19 crisis. It will address the immediate liquidity and credit needs of around 1.5 million viable MSMEs to help them withstand the shock of the pandemic and protect millions of jobs.Pic: ShutterstockCOVID-19 has placed India’s MSME sector, which contributes 30 per cent to the country’s GDP a

ANN ARBOR - A new white paper from sustainability consultants Resource Recycling Systems (RRS) highlights the current state of textile waste in the US and outlines a future system in which textiles are recovered for best and highest use.Entitled Textile Recovery in the US: A Roadmap to Circularity, it analyses potential causes of the country's increasing textile waste problem, including fast fashion and fibre composition, which is outpacing every other form of waste."In the United State

EDINBURGH - The Lost Stock initiative to support garment workers in supply chain countries by selling boxes of unused clothing stock has raised 96,000 weeks’ worth of food aid for Bangladeshi families in just one month.Lost Stock was set up by Cally Russell, the founder of fashion shopping app Mallzee, to help garment workers after brands and retailers cancelled more than US$3 billion worth of orders because of the COVID-19 pandemic.It left manufacturers unable to pay their workers and with moun

COPENHAGAN - Danish startup Beyond Leather Materials - which produces a sustainable leather alternative from the apple pulp left over from cider production - has successfully closed a €1.1 million (US$1.24m) seed investment round.Dutch startup accelerator Rockstart and Danish state’s investment fund Vaekstfonden have agreed to provide the backing for the company to further advance its production facilities.Beyond Leather Materials aims to start providing its fully biodegradable, animal-freefabri

Weeks after a private equity firm bought UK shirtmaker TM Lewin with plans to restructure it, the brand recently announced it will close all 66 of its shops in the country, rendering 600 workers jobless. It will take all its sales online to reduce costs. All its stores closed when the lockdown started, but none reopened when restrictions were eased in June.Pic: TM LewinFounded in Panton Street, London, in 1898, TM Lewin sells shirts and suits.Torque Brands, a subsidiary of Stonebridge Private Eq

Leading flat knitting machine builder Stoll officially joined the Karl Mayer Group today. Details of the merger were revealed by Karl Mayer in a statement this morning. The news follows the announcement at the end of February that the warp knitting machinery leader would buy Reutlingen based Stoll in an unprecedented deal. (see:).© Karl Mayer/ Stoll.“With the so-called closing, the merger of the two world market leaders, Karl Mayer and Stoll, was officially completed on 1 July 2020. The relevant

Beyond the COVID-19 pandemic, the US-China trade war is a key challenge to the US apparel and footwear sector as despite a Phase One deal, 92 per cent of apparel, 51 per cent of footwear, 68 per cent of home textiles and all travel goods imported to the United States from China still attract an additional punitive tariff of 7.5-25 per cent on top of the already high duties, according toof the American Apparel and Footwear Association (AAFA).Pic: ShutterstockIn 2019, the industry paid nearly $20

STOCKHOLM - Nordic Swan Ecolabel, the official ecolabel of the Nordic countries, is appealing for input into proposed new criteria for the ecolabelling of textiles.The organisation behind the symbol - known to nine out of ten Nordic consumers and looked for by half of them when shopping - has gone out to public consultation on its proposals.All common fibre types such as wool, cotton, viscose, nylon and polyester, as well as silk, are covered by the Nordic Swan Ecolabel criteria which sets requi

US-based Eastman Machine Company has announced lately to appoint Nottinghamshire-based TeCS to represent its automated cutting lines in the UK and Ireland.TeCS is a team of technicians, experienced engineers and CAD/CAM specialists which has vast experience in cutting application analysis, cutting room implementation as well as services to various machine manufacturers.According to Shaun Doohan, Owner, TeCS, “Eastman is part of our DNA and that DNA has flowed through nearly every cutting room we

When International Apparel Federation, better known as IAF, was started back in 1972 in USA, the entire objective was to encourage best practices and help apparel manufacturers across the globe.Image Courtesy: bizjournals.comAnd that they have been doing so successfully is the reason why IAF has become a force to reckon with in last 5 decades.Therefore, it didn’t come as surprise when IAF pledged its commitment to digitisation as it stepped into the ‘new normal’ world. After all isn’t digitisati