Manufacturing

Chennai's IILF 2026 exposed contradictions shaping India's leather industry: innovative chemical systems alongside organisational failures, Trump tariffs suppressing demand yet prices holding firm, and sustainability frameworks that never reach tannery workers. The 'Leather Carnival' demonstrated both the sector's professionalisation and its struggle to reconcile traditional identity with market realities.

Cascale’s State of the Industry Report 2026 assessed decarbonisation progress in the apparel, footwear and textiles industry using verified Higg FEM data from 2023 and 2024. The analysis showed emissions continued to rise, driven by energy use in manufacturing, with coal dependency, limited electrification and minimal renewable adoption constraining progress towards climate targets across major producing countries.

The fashion industry’s demand for distressed denim often clashes with reliance on potassium permanganate, heavy bleaching, and water-intensive laundering. Pressure to modernise these approaches keeps growing. Providing momentum is Archroma, which developed the Denim Halo system to engineer predictable surface dyeing upstream, enabling strong contrasts with markedly reduced resource use and operational complexity.

It’s a paradox wrapped in polyester. Surat—the city that spins out 60 million metres of manmade fabric every single day—stands on the verge of an industrial chokehold. With 700,000 looms running and ₹200 billion in turnover, India’s synthetic hub is built on imported muscle: machines, yarn, and know-how. Now, a compliance rule threatens to pull the plug on that ecosystem—testing whether the synthetic capital can truly stitch together scale, self-reliance, and sustainability before the loom slows down.

India has taken circular fashion from pilot to production. In less than a year, its denim ecosystem has stitched recyclers, spinners, and manufacturers into a single operational loop. The result, helmed by Denim Deal, is a functioning, traceable supply chain turning waste into wear—and positioning India as the first manufacturing base to industrialise circular denim at scale.

Kolkata’s hosting of AILPA 2025 represented more than an industry event—it symbolised India’s recalibration within shifting global trade currents. Amid market disruptions and evolving tariff landscapes, the city emerged as a key platform connecting manufacturers and international buyers, highlighting the sector’s growing capability, design sophistication, and readiness for the premium export market.

Europe’s denim industry has put data where its mouth is. A new regional collection helmed by Denim Deal shows that traceability, accountability, and aesthetics can function as one production system. By hard-coding transparency into every stage of design and manufacture, European mills have turned circularity from experiment into standard practice across their factory floors.

From runway collections to performance gear, merino wool is experiencing a broad-based revival. Australia’s benchmark EMI has jumped, reflecting tight inventories and real consumer demand. Surveys place wool among the most desirable fabrics, while brands across fashion and sport showcase its natural performance, durability and circularity, reinforcing momentum across global markets.

From a 90-day credit norm to 250 and counting, India’s textile market has turned into a waiting game. One jolt followed another — demonetisation, GST, lockdowns, wild cotton swings. Through it all, Gujarat’s textile heartland endures, with traders and manufacturers like Gaurang Bhagat and his LB Tex battling to keep India’s fabric trade from tearing apart.

Ethiopia’s experiment with industrialisation has transformed its social fabric as much as its economy. Behind the walls of its textile factories are thousands of young women and men who left rural life in search of stability and progress. Yet, their experiences reveal a complex story of resilience, disappointment, and adaptation. At the centre of this analysis is Michaela Fink, author of Labor Turnover in Ethiopia’s Textile Industry Global: A Hotspot of Social Transformation, who documents how industrial work reshapes identities, families, and communities across Ethiopia.