Textile Insight

A little bit of everything is generating reason for optimism in 2023 within the textile business. Supply chain headaches are subsiding while excitement about product innovation in the pipeline is on the rise. Companies are adjusting to a new era of hybridization with execs sharpening leadership skills to better accommodate today's at home/in office workplace. Together these factors are giving industry momentum a boost and brightening the mood of the marketplace. "Aer a couple of years of many challenges, we feel the market is slowly recovering and we see some lights in the tunnel," said Polygiene CEO Ulrika Björk. "e pandemic, the war in Ukraine and the ongoing recession had a disruptive impact on our business, as for everybody else." Areas of business Polygiene plans to prioritize include improving the inventory situation and ironing out supply chain snags. "e lockdowns and the disturbance in the supply chain had a severe impact on stock levels, but we can now see the orders are picking up again. Inventory has been high through the value-chain the past 6-12 months," shared Björk. "We can see the freight costs and the availability for shipment is almost back to 2019 years levels again, which is very positive for everyone. When it was at its peak the price for a container to China was 4-doubled the price compared to pre-covid." Simon Whitmarsh-Knight's recent travels to see mills in Asia followed by visits to brands and retailers in North America have provided the exec with a sense of both the upstream and downstream market. Hyosung's global marketing director - textiles, stated, "I'm seeing a mix of pragmatism and optimism. e first half looks quite difficult, but the mills are already seeing green shoots of recovery for the second half of the year. " Whitmarsh-Knight believes the military term VUCA, which stands for Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous, is quite relevant. "Lots of things are changing, and there are lots of challenges – around inventory and retail confidence. But good product is coming through, there's an increased focus on sustainability and a feeling that we've gotten through the worst." e company continues to invest in capacity, where needed. "Last year, we started production in India; this year we're increasing production of post-consumer recycled nylon to reflect industry needs." Kristin Draper, president of Draper Knitting, describes the mood of the marketplace as cautiously optimistic. Draper Knitting sources predominantly domestic materials, and as such international supply chains have not been a challenge. Draper explains that the real challenge is in the maintenance of machinery and the lack of parts or people to repair these parts. "What used to take days is months and longer at times. is can cause a piece of machinery to be out of production for six months to a year, it's a whole different ball game!" For Concept III Textiles president Chris Parkes, the priority for the year ahead is "making sure we meet the demands, requests, wants of our customers so that they get what they need for 2023." textileinsight.com Winter 2023 ~ Textile Insight • 23 OUTLOOK 2023 INDUSTRY REFLECTIONS ON MARKET MOMENTUM AND FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS. BY EMILY WALZER IMAGE: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI LOOKING BEYOND TO FIND PLANET-FRIENDLY, FUTURE-WISE MATERIALS

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