Textiles NewZ - 27 August 2011
Supervisor Wanted
Supervisor wanted for Sheepskin manufacturing area.
This is a hands-on position which involves cutting sewing and design as well as training people up for new jobs, meeting deadlines, ensuring the work runs smoothly & efficiently through the factory and is manufactured to a high standard of quality. You will be working closely with the production manager and/or factory manager.
- Quality conscious
- A team player
- Enthusiastic
- Energetic and have that 'can do' attitude
The hours of work are 6.30 am - 3pm Monday to Friday
Applicants for this position should have NZ residency or a valid NZ work permit.
Please apply in writing to:- Production Manager, Classic Sheepskins, P.O Box 126 Napier.
Pure Advantage
Tony Everitt, Chief Executive of Destination Queenstown, spoke on “Brand NZ” at last year’s Textiles NZ’s Trade Show and Conference and wishes to highlight the Pure Advantage initiative, http://www.pureadvantage.org/ Have a look, see the other high profile businesspeople involved - you may wish to register your support.
Possum-Merino Off-Cuts Wanted
One of our Members writes,
“Dear members, I am looking to source Possum-Merino off cuts to be remade into a lesser quality range of knitwear.
My business donates any imperfect garments and beanies to the Salvation Army to be given to the displaced people of Christchurch.
As you are well aware Christchurch is one of the coldest places in New Zealand in winter and this winter has if anything been colder than usual.
If you are prepared to donate your off cuts, the name of your company will be given to the distributors of the knitwear.
If you wish to sell me your off cuts I have been told the going rate is $5.00 a kilo. I only have 2 knitting machines, one of which hasn't been going since the February Earthquake, so my production of garments is about 30 a week and I am in no way a competitive threat to any other knitwear company.
My contact details are Lorraine Laban, Lorraine Laban Knitwear, 234C Main South Road, Sockburn, Christchurch 8042, Ph 03 3485268, Cell 027 222 8416, Home 03 322 8416.
Knitwear Research Hub
Collaboration amongst researchers and knitwear designers from around New Zealand and Australia has resulted in the formation of ‘The Knitwork’, a research hub for those engaged in and wishing to develop research in the field of knitwear and knitted products. AUT’s School of Art and Design Research Committee has provided funding to set up the hub and a website to enable researchers to post details of their work and associated publications. For more information about The Knitwork, please email sharon.evansmikellis@aut.ac.nz.
Forthcoming Short Courses
Photoshop Intermediate for Textile Design (Evenings)
Course code 110801/80 Starts 28th September 2011
Photoshop Intermediate for Textile Design (2 days)
Course code 110801/51 28th - 29th November 2011
Photoshop Basics (2 days)
Course code 110803/51
Illustrator Intermediate (Evenings)
Course code 110806/80 Starts 29th September 2011
Introduction to Knitwear Programming (2 days)
Course code 110805/51 17th-18th November 2011
Knitwear Design (1 day)
Course code 110802/51 26th November 2011
Fibres to Fashion (Introduction to Textiles) (3 days)
Course code 110800/51 30th November – 2nd December2011 Group and student discounts apply to all our short course registration fees. Visit www.aut.ac.nz/study-at-aut/study-areas/short-courses/textiles for course info and application forms.
Scholarship Winners
Kat Gee and Kathryn Wilson, two young New Zealand fashion designers have both been awarded the 2011 NZBusiness Icehouse Owner Manager Scholarship.
Each designer will participate in the ICE Bridge Owner Manager Programme which is held over five consecutive months. The purpose of the programme is to provide the necessary skills to help established or mature owner-managers manage the turbulent phases, and set them on the path to greater success through the implementation of a strategic growth plan.
A tie for winning place made sense for competition sponsor NZBusiness Magazine Editor Glenn Baker.
"These two entries really stood out. In fact, Kat and Kathryn almost seemed to mirror each other in terms of vision and passion for their individual businesses,” Baker said.
“They're both ambitious, energetic and have a real desire to get on with building further export sales."
Mike Stokes, Icehouse Sale Manager agrees, "Both forging ahead in their fields, it's a fantastic opportunity for Kat and Kathryn, they'll learn a lot."
“Kat Gee is the hugely talented designer and founder of Kagi jewellery. Kagi has just celebrated its 5 year anniversary and over 70 stockists nationwide is fast becoming a household name in NZ designer jewellery.”
Previously a New Zealand Design ambassador, Gee has ensured Kagi is stocked in top destination stores right across Australasia, delivering stunning products that allow women to create their own unique look.
"It's a huge honour to win this scholarship and I am excited about the Programme and what impact it will have on my business,” Gee said.
“It’s great to win with Kathryn as together as we represent the next wave of designers/business owners who are making our dreams a reality."
Footwear designer Kathryn Wilson has been growing from strength to strength since debuting in 2003 and has been involved with top NZ brands such as Juliette Logan and Huffer.
“Kathryn's footwear design is favoured amoungst Kiwi celebrities, it's innovative and stylish, and she is a regular feature in top NZ fashion & lifestyle media,” Stokes says.
“Through using top Italian and Chinese manufacturers, Kathryn has accomplished her place in the industry by offering affordable and versatile footwear.”
“Her exciting diffusion line 'Miss Wilson' launched in February of this year in high-end, multiple-door fashion stores across New Zealand, bringing her beautiful designs at modest consumer prices.”
Latest Textile & Fashion News Digest created at: 11/8/2011.
Employing Temporary Workers During the Rugby World Cup
If you are likely to need workers during the Rugby World Cup 2011 there are a few things that you need to know.
Employers are legally required to ensure that anyone they are employing has the legal right to work in New Zealand. Immigration NZ has a free service where you can check a potential employee’s entitlement to work. Click here to find out more.
All employees, including casual employees and those on fixed term agreements are entitled to the same minimum employment rights as other employees. However, workers have to meet certain criteria to qualify for some employment entitlements. To find out more about these criteria, visit our website.
Amendments to the Employment Relations Act now require that every employee has a written employment agreement and that employers retain a signed copy of the agreement or the current signed terms and conditions of employment. The Department of Labour’s Employment Agreement Builder can help you draft an employment agreement. There are options for fixed term and casual employment agreements.
In order to make changes to an employment agreement, such as hours of work, both parties need to consent. Some employment agreements may contain a clause allowing the employer to change an employee's hours of work, however the employer must act fairly and reasonably before making such changes.
For more information on employer responsibilities during the Rugby World Cup visit DoL’s website or call 0800 20 90 20.
Trans-Tasman Lingerie Merger
New Zealand based lingerie company Bendon has merged with Australian lingerie brand Pleasure State, with Bendon founder Eric Watson's private equity group Cullen Investments retaining a "significant" interest in the kiwi brand.
Bendon confirmed the merger and strategic direction of the company would be led by Bendon chief executive Justin Davis-Rice and supported by recently appointed former Myer executive chairman Bill Wavish as non-executive chairman.
The move was part of an aggressive growth strategy for the lingerie company, Bendon chief executive Davis-Rice reportedly said.
"Bendon's size and scale makes the company a dominant force in the Australasian intimate apparel industry," he said. "We believe the intimate apparel and swimwear market is ripe for consolidation and we intend to capitalise on this opportunity."
"Bendon is an iconic New Zealand company with a proud heritage which has firmly established itself in Australia,'' Wavish said. “I look forward to being part of the next phase of growth."
Bendon is owned by Cullen Investments Limited, an international private investment company founded by entrepreneur Eric Watson, which bought the lingerie label around 10 years ago, valuing the company at $58.7 million.
Bendon operates a number of iconic lingerie brands including: Bendon, Bendon Man, Bendon Sport, Fayreform, Elle Macpherson Intimates, Macpherson Men, Boudoir, Obsidian, Stella McCartney, DimitySO, Hey Sister and Hickory.
Founded by Kay Cohen at Mercedes Australian Fashion Week 2004 in Sydney, Pleasure State was an instant success, voted one of the top 10 shows of the 2004 fashion week. Prior to launching the brand had been picked up by David Jones as well as fielding interest from overseas stores including Harrods, Selfridges, Bentalls, Liberty and House of Fraser.
Latest Textile & Fashion News Digest created at: 25/8/2011.
Online Opportunities for NZ Too
Online children’s clothing businesses are at the forefront of the Australian-made campaign with new research finding over 60 percent surveyed sell home grown products rather than importing from overseas.
Technology startup myAppalogues trawled through over 700 baby and children websites to compile the most comprehensive survey of its kind.
Founder Jillian Manly says the strong market for baby products made within Australia is great for both customers and the economy.
“These businesses are creating outlets for customers to purchase Australian-made baby and children clothing and products rather than them being shipped over from overseas,” Manly says.
“This industry could very well be holding up Australia’s economy, as we reviewed more than 700 baby websites in our study and that only covered half of the majority of smaller businesses operating in this sector.
“There are so many dedicated small business owners making great products and the findings of the survey were very encouraging for the local economy.”
Manly says the myAppalogues team reviewed the websites over the past month to see what products small business owners in the baby and kids market are creating.
“We focused our reviews on Australian companies selling to kids and mums and found about 60 percent of these sold a select number of their own branded products in particular segments,” Ms Manly says.
“The remainder were companies that held licenses to international products or were retail storefronts selling anywhere from 10 to over 100 brands of products.
Manly found the majority of these companies in this sector are Australian made, small, dedicated businesses operating out of home.
“Many businesses were started by mums, and I’ve learnt women and mums actually start-up businesses at a faster rate than most,” Manly says.
“These businesses often operated out of the home and no doubt enlisted other family members as needed for evening packing and paperwork.”
Latest Textile & Fashion News Digest created at: 11/8/2011.
Cavalier Profits up on Back of Australian Market
New Zealand-based carpet maker Cavalier Corporation has lifted its normalised after tax earnings four per cent to $NZ17.3 million ($A13.69 million), as better market conditions in Australia helped offset subdued markets in this country.
Revenue for the 12 months to the end of June was four per cent up on a year earlier to $NZ229.4 million ($A181.51m), as the share of company revenue from Australia rose to 57 per cent from 54 per cent.
Revenue from the carpet business rose three per cent to $NZ204 million ($A161.41m), with 11 per cent growth across the Tasman and a 10 per cent fall in New Zealand, Cavalier said on Monday.
With new home starts and refurbishments at historically low levels, market conditions in this country for residential carpets and, to a lesser extent, for commercial were soft throughout the year.
While Australia was better, market conditions there softened in the second half as tighter monetary policies and high interest rates started to take hold.
The size and pace of an 80 per cent rise in wool prices during the year had been unprecedented, Cavalier said.
While the market was slowly coming to terms with the resulting 10 to 20 per cent lift in the price of woollen carpets, there were risks because of the comparatively now much cheaper synthetic alternatives, particularly at the value end of the market.
The rise in wool prices was due to a worldwide shortage of crossbred wools and to carpet mills around the world replenishing stock levels which had been allowed to run down during the global financial crisis. Cavalier's view was that current wool prices were not sustainable.
No immediate improvement to market conditions was expected in this country, although some increase in demand was expected toward the end of the financial as rebuilding picked up in earthquake-hit Christchurch.
In Australia, slower market conditions were expected to continue for the time being, although a general shortage of housing in main cities should help underpin the residential segment of the market, Cavalier said.
Reported profit for the latest year was up 60 per cent to $NZ18.2 million ($A14.40m), including accounting adjustments to deferred tax.
Latest Textile & Fashion News Digest created at: 25/8/2011.
Cotton Prices Declining
Cotton prices are expected to decline over the next year as production increases help to replenish stocks, according to inter-governmental group the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC).
The group said that the season-average Cotlook A Index doubled to a record high of US$1.64 per pound in 2010/11, but would fall in 2011/12 thanks to a forecast 8% increase in global production to 26.9m tons – in turn driven by recent high prices.
Most large producing countries would increase cotton production, with record levels possible in India and Australia, but the US could see production fall by as much as 12% to 3.5m tons, thanks to the severe drought in Texas.
In terms of cotton mill use, some renewed growth is envisaged thanks to the increased availability of cotton, moderated to a 2% increase because of relatively high prices and competition from chemical fibres.
A total surplus of 1.8m tons is expected in 2011/12, helping global stocks to recover by about 20% to 10.9m tons and boosting the stocks-to-use ratio to 43%, up from 37% in 2010/11.
Latest Textile & Fashion News Digest created at: 11/8/2011.
Soma Stoic
A New Zealand company that has made clothing for more than 80 years is a rare survivor in an industry that has seen most competitors close down or move offshore.
Owner and general manager of Soma, Harold Trigg is determined the Hastings manufacturing plant will be "the last man standing".
Soma was started by Trigg's grandfather, Stan Amos, in Wellington in 1928 as a hosiery and underwear importer (the company's name is Amos spelled backwards).
Amos, a Wellington city councillor, was a forward-thinking man and his company boomed, thanks in large part to his charisma and business nous, but also because he established a contract to make Haines underwear in his New Zealand factories in 1954.
At its peak in the 1960s the company employed more than 500 people in factories in Kilbirnie, Kent Terrace, Hastings, Levin, Otaki, Waipukurau and Masterton.
"We colonised the lower half of the North Island," said Trigg, who took over the company in the 1980s after rising through the ranks after starting in the knitting factory in Masterton.
In 1988, the company's headquarters moved to Hastings and the other factories closed.
In 1999, Trigg ended the four-decade contract with Haines.
"We told Haines it was a waste of time once parallel importing came in. There was no protection left. We dedicated ourselves to manufacturing onshore with people who wanted stuff made here," he says.
Then in 2001 along came Jeremy Moon and his Icebreaker range of merino clothing.
Icebreaker's success revitalised the company and it began attracting other brands keen to enter the merino market.
When Icebreaker moved its manufacturing to China in 2007 Soma had enough clients to keep it ticking over. Clients have come and gone over the years.
Kathmandu, Swanndri, Norsewear and Liberty have had gear made at the plant before moving offshore.
"Every few years a major client fell off the end. At the moment we are getting a whole raft of new people as other factories close. In the past two years about 15 clothing plants have gone to the wall. Our goal is to be the last man standing."
The huge plant on the outskirts of Hastings is bustling with dozens of workers stitching, cutting and sewing material. Orderly piles of garments lie throughout. Merino, polypropylene, cotton, fleece, laminated materials. There are designer labels, outdoor wear, cloth nappies, shearer's singlets, all destined for markets around the world. Most will be sold online.
Turnover ranges between $1 million and $2m (from a peak of $12m with the Haines contract).
"It has been a tough year. I think there are going to be some interesting collapses in retail. There are a lot of shops in sale mode. It's the affluent who have stopped buying."
Soma makes clothing for 30 to 40 different brands with orders from the United States, Canada, Japan, Australia, Switzerland, and Britain.
"They're niche orders. What we offer is `design and build'. People come to us telling us what they want. We help develop it and get it to market," Trigg says.
"We're doing more export now than we've ever done. Our strength is that we can make small batches. In China you probably have to make 1000 items minimum. Chinese companies don't want to make just 50 garments," he said.
Latest Textile & Fashion News Digest created at: 11/8/2011.
Benefits of Joining Textiles NZ
We always welcome new members and believe you will benefit from our services. Over the last year substantial benefits have been delivered to members of Textiles NZ:
- A very successful Textiles Sector Trade Show and Conference
- Strong Government advocacy to assist companies working with government procurement
- Industry advocacy with Government Officials on Free Trade Agreements
- Strong Government advocacy to assist wool and possum/merino manufacturers, including gaining membership of the Government’s Ministerial Wool Group
- Partnership with the Campaign for Wool to promote New Zealand natural fibres
- Successful export market promotion, including a market visit to Russia with 7 member companies and reciprocal Russian buyer visits to members companies
- R&D assistance to members
- An informative weekly newsletter to the industry, Textiles NewZ
ATITO benefits:
- More than $140,000 in training subsidies to Textiles NZ members
- Companies assisted to fund Productivity Assessments
- Subsidies to firms to engage Competitive Manufacturing
- Industry support to deliver Block Courses for Cadets
- Membership profiles on the Textiles NZ website that promote B2B, www.textilesnz.org.nz/sitedocs/search/search.aspx
- An Energy Efficiency Programme providing savings up to $45,000 to individual members
- Vodafone discounts
- Budget Rental Car discounts
- Shell Fuelcard 5 cents per litre discount
- CourierPost discounts
- OfficeMax discounts
- Cullen The Employment Law Firm 20% discount
- Fashion Uniforms discounts
- Hipah Consulting and business advice discounts
- New Zealand School of Export – distance education for exporters – 50% discount for eligible companies using an NZTE Capability Development Voucher
- American Express assistance to importers
We are a membership based organisation for the NZ textiles industry with our fees commencing at $100 per year for a company with no employees, and $200 per year for a company with 5 or fewer employees. The rates increase for larger businesses.
Contact us now and join the New Zealand textiles fraternity elizabeth@textilesnz.org.nz.
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Textiles Symposium 2011 – Manufacturing a Future