Industry News | 6/18/25
- SPESA
- Jun 17
- 10 min read
Revered Chicago Designer To Speak at Upcoming SPESA Executive Conference (August 27-29, 2025 | Sofitel Magnificent Mile)
SPESA Executive Conference News | June 18, 2025
SPESA is excited to announce that Chicago’s premier fashion designer, Maria Pinto, will be taking the stage at SPESA’s upcoming Executive Conference, August 27-29, 2025, at the Sofitel Magnificent Mile.
For more than three decades, Maria Pinto has been lauded for her timeless designs that prioritize quality and sustainability. That commitment to design excellence is made evident by her impressive customer portfolio including Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey, Brooke Shields, and even Mick Jagger. We’re excited to hear about her impressive design career, the challenges and opportunities she’s navigated in a hyper-competitive environment, and her commitment to building a sustainable brand in the U.S.
What’s more? We’ll be hosting a private evening reception in Maria’s flagship boutique, a one-of-a-kind networking opportunity for conference attendees, and a chance to leave the classroom and experience Chicago design up close.
SPESA MEMBER SPOTLIGHT | U.S. Fashion Sector Slow To Adopt Tech But Opportunities Are Huge
Just Style | June 17, 2025
Just Style’s Managing Editor Laura Husband recently spoke with SPESA and some of its members — including Mark Hatton from American & Efird; Justin Hershoran and Per Bringle from Aptean; and Frank Henderson from Henderson Sewing Machine Co. — about the recent Texprocess Americas trade show, the adoption of technology across the sewn products industry, plus President Trump’s tariff threats and comments about “sneakers and t-shirts.”
Sponsor the 2025 SPESA Executive Conference in Chicago
SPESA Announcement | June 17, 2025
We’re excited to be bringing the 2025 SPESA Executive Conference to Chicago this August 27-29, 2025! In addition to a roster of best-in-class speakers, we are also planning some exciting and memorable experiences for all of our event attendees. And we're able to do this because of the support we receive from sponsor partners. We hope you'll consider joining as a sponsor!
Check out the available sponsorship opportunities at the link below. Please reach out to Maggie McDonald (maggie@spesa.org) with your interest and questions regarding sponsorships for the 2025 SPESA Executive Conference.
France Targets Fast Fashion as Shein Discloses an Emissions Surge
The Interline | June 17, 2025
France has unanimously passed new legislation targeting ultra-fast fashion, introducing taxes, transparency measures, and advertising restrictions to mitigate the industry’s environmental impact. This move signals a growing global regulatory focus on the fashion sector’s footprint.
The move comes at the same time Shein releases its latest emissions report revealing a dramatic increase in its carbon footprint, with Scope 3 emissions (supply chain, transport, packaging, returns) surging over 170% in two years. The company’s total emissions now exceed those of some nations, highlighting the immense scale of the problem.
You can find additional coverage here.
Israel-Iran Conflict Begins To Disrupt Global Supply Chains
Bloomberg | June 16, 2025
The Israeli-Iranian conflict is disrupting global supply chains, with some shipping companies assessing the risks of transporting through the Strait of Hormuz. Quoted in a different article: Mahmud Hasan Khan Babu, the newly elected president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), said “The Iran-Israel war could be a new challenge for the local garment industry, that could result in a rise in global oil prices. And sustaining the competitiveness amid such a situation could be very challenging.”
Find additional coverage here:
U.S., U.K. Implement Trade Deal
Supply Chain Dive | June 16, 2025
Although the agreement enacts several measures, there remain other particulars to be ironed out. As part of the agreement, the U.S. Commerce Secretary will determine and establish tariff-rate quotas for steel and aluminum products from the U.K. The U.S. began implementing 50% tariffs on such imports earlier this month.
All provisions will go into effect seven days after the order is published in the Federal Register, per the order.
Is the U.S. Undermining ‘Made in America’ Apparel Manufacturing?
Retail Dive | June 16, 2025
If President Donald Trump’s trade war is meant to reshore apparel manufacturing, his immigration raids could make that difficult, if not impossible, by decimating the domestic workforce in the sector.
With some 100,000 garment workers in the U.S., the country has the workforce needed for a thriving apparel industry. But “the assault on our immigrant labor force ... only makes life harder for workers and staying in business that much more difficult for thousands of factories, manufacturers, and brands,” the Garment Worker Center said. Sustaining and growing the industry here would take investment, the group said.
You can find additional coverage on immigration workforce, notably in L.A., below:
SPESA MEMBER SPOTLIGHT | Maximilien Abadie Is Appointed Deputy CEO of Lectra
Press Release | June 13, 2025
Lectra recently announced the appointment of Maximilien Abadie as Deputy CEO, effective July 1, 2025. In this new role, Maximilien Abadie will oversee the Group’s SaaS activities, with a focus on accelerating their development. Maximilien Abadie joined the Lectra Group in January 2012 as Project Manager to the Chief Executive Officer, before being appointed Strategic Planning Analyst in 2013, then Strategy Director in 2016. A member of the Executive Committee since January 2019, he has held the position of Chief Strategy Officer and Chief Product Officer since August 1, 2022.
2025 SPESA Executive Conference To Prioritize Industry Resiliency with Theme: Forging Forward - Building Resilient, Future-Ready Businesses
SPESA Announcement | June 13, 2025
We're operating in a time of uncertainty — from fluctuating markets to geopolitical concerns to supply chain disruptions. Yet, despite hurdles on the horizon, the sewn products industry has remained resilient (something we talked a lot about in our 2025 SPESA State of Our Union).
For the 2025 SPESA Executive Conference, we’d like to lean into that resiliency by providing conference attendees with the tools, insights, and inspiration needed to prevail.
Take a first look at some of the speakers and topics to be featured in Chicago.
Dynamic Showcase, Industry Resilience and Karaoke: Inside Techtextil North America & Texprocess Americas 2025
Textile World | June 12, 2025
The collocated events delivered a positive vibe despite tariffs and other economic concerns.
The ever-changing tariff issues loomed large, but seemed to have little impact on the success of the show. In fact, most participants spoke highly of numerous business opportunities that were discussed during the three-day event.
“We’re incredibly pleased with the success of Texprocess Americas and Techtextil North America!” said SPESA President Michael McDonald. “There were more new exhibitors and first-time attendees than we’ve seen in recent years, which exemplifies the importance of these collocated shows. It also serves as a reminder that the industry is resilient and eager to build production processes closer to home.
“It has always been our mission for Texprocess Americas and Techtextil North America to be an essential gathering place for people to better understand the vast soft goods manufacturing ecosystem that exists in the Americas. Whether it was through show floor networking, the Opening Night Reception, or the multitude of educational offerings, I’m confident that we achieved that goal.”
New Joint Venture Plans To Boost India’s Denim Production
Sourcing Journal | June 12, 2025
A new state-of-the-art denim and bottoms manufacturing facility is coming to India.
The facility is the result of a budding partnership between Epic Group, a Hong Kong-based textiles trading firm with manufacturing facilities in Bangladesh, Ethiopia and Jordan, and Creative Group, an Indian vertical apparel and textile manufacturer.
The new facility will have a production capacity of 700,000 units per month. The partners said the facility will not only be one of the largest of its kind in India but also position the country as a key player in the global denim market.
SPESA MEMBER SPOTLIGHT | Efficiency, Sustainability, Technology at Forefront of Techtextil, Texprocess
California Apparel News | June 11, 2025
California Apparel News provides this brief of the innovation that was on display at the recent 2025 editions of Texprocess Americas and Techtextil North America. Notably, the article features innovations and spotlights of SPESA members Methods Workshop, Lectra, American & Efird, CGS, JUKI, Aptean, Automatex, and Eton Systems.
Inside Walmart’s Ambitious Plan To Make Your Clothes in America Again
Fast Company | June 11, 2025
The world’s biggest retailer is spending millions to revive domestic farms and factories with the help of startup American Giant. From Fast Company: “For years, the idea of breathing life back into American clothing factories, reversing half a century of off-shoring, seemed like a pipe dream. But the plate tectonics of the apparel industry are shifting. Over the past decade, dozens of American-made labels like Buck Mason, American Trench, Imogene & Willie, and Duckworth have sprung up, tapping into the skeletal remains of the domestic supply chain. This was a small-scale effort: These high-end brands make clothes for affluent customers who care about sustainability, ethical labor, and durability. But everything changed last summer, when Walmart — the largest company in the world — entered the picture. The retailer dropped a $12.98 T-shirt made end-to-end in the U.S. just in time for the Fourth of July.”
Trump Says a U.S.-China Trade Deal Is 'Done'
NPR | June 11, 2025
President Trump wrote on Truth Social that, as part of the newly agreed trade framework, China would supply rare earth minerals it has a monopoly in producing "up front." Rare earths had been a key sticking point and China had cut off much of its exports to the U.S. and Europe.
Trump also appeared to reverse an earlier announcement from Secretary of State Marco Rubio that Washington would start revoking visas for Chinese students who had a connection to the Chinese Communist Party or studied in what it called "critical fields."
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick assured Americans that U.S. tariff levels on China would not change from this point onward.
Check out additional coverage and analysis here:
U.K. Fashion Manufacturers See Remarkable 171% Year-on-Year Surge in Sales Revenue
Apparel Resources | June 10, 2025
New data from the latest Manufacturing Health Index, by inventory management software provider Unleashed, reveals that the average small-to medium-sized U.K. apparel and fashion manufacturer increased sales income by 171% year-over-year and 68% in Q1 2025 compared to Q4 2024.
Based on actual data from more than 600 UK businesses that use Unleashed’s inventory management software, the findings suggest that business community pessimism may not be justified.
Nonetheless, the fashion industry’s outstanding sales results indicate that global market upheaval has brought a bright spot for UK fashion companies.
U.S. Receptive to Fashion Tariff Concerns, Circularity Jobs Is Growing Priority
Just Style | June 10, 2025
Just Style recently covered the Global Fashion Summit which took place earlier this month in Copenhagen. Included in that coverage is this article that summarizes session “Tariffs, Timelines and Transitions,” featuring panelist Chelsea Murtha, the senior director of sustainability at the American Apparel and Footwear Association (AAFA). During the session, Murtha shared that AAFA has expressed concern to the U.S. administration about the tariffs impact on price increases for fashion companies. However, Murtha suggests that tariffs could be a part of the solutions when it comes to sustainability, explaining that preferential trade rules based on sustainability could be beneficial.
Here is some additional coverage from Just Style at the Global Fashion Summit. Subscribe to Just Style to read more about the Global Fashion Summit and keep up with some of the industry’s best news coverage.
David’s Bridal Moved Production out of China — Now It’s Manufacturing Clothes for Other Brands
Glossy | June 9, 2025
At the end of last year, David’s Bridal produced about 63% of its goods in China. By next month, that number will be 0%. The company is moving production to places like Vietnam, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka — all places with middle-of-the-road planned tariff rates compared to the higher tariffs on China. The hope is that the cost savings from divesting from China will balance out the increased costs of moving production and investing more heavily in quality control to ensure products remain unchanged.
The company also just signed its third agreement with an outside company to manufacture goods for them using its own factories. CEO Kelly Cook: “This will become a permanent, monetizable part of our business. We have massive scale, and scale gives you efficiency. Even if we were still in China, manufacturing with us would save a lot of money. But now, with cost avoidance because we have factories outside of China, it’s an even better proposition. It will become a permanent part of what we do.”
Study Finds Machine Learning Can Cut Fabric Dyeing Waste
Sourcing Journal | June 9, 2025
Professor Warren Jasper at North Carolina State University’s Wilson College of Textiles has found that the amount of color change from wet to dry states is not uniform between different colors, and that non-linear relationship makes it difficult to anticipate results based on one color sample. All of this was discovered with the help of machine learning.
While machine learning and AI are being tapped by the textile industry in other sectors, primarily recycling and circularity, Jasper said he hopes this research will lead to wider use of similar machine-learning tools across the broader textile industry.
The National Retail Federation: Import Cargo Levels Expected To See Surge During Pause in Tariff Increases
Press Release (via Textile World) | June 9, 2025
Import cargo at the nation’s major container ports is expected to see a surge through this summer as retailers take advantage of a 90-day reduction in tariffs that were recently imposed on China, according to the latest Global Port Tracker report by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.
Gold said many retailers suspended or canceled orders after the Trump administration announced a 145% tariff on China in April but have resumed imports after tariffs were reduced to 30% and a 90-day pause that will last until August 12th was announced. The higher reciprocal tariffs on other nations have also been paused until July 9th as the administration negotiates with those countries.
Refiberd Wins Trailblazer 2025 with AI-Powered Textile Recycling
Sourcing Journal | June 6, 2025
The startup shines hyperspectral imaging on textiles to capture each material’s unique spectral “fingerprint,” and AI decodes these fingerprints to determine the exact fiber mix and any contaminants. This enables accurate sorting for recycling, authenticating resold garments — and verifying material data in digital product passports.
Since launching in 2020, Refiberd has amassed awards from the likes of SXSW Pitch, Fashion for Good and the H&M Foundation — not to mention raising $3.4 million in funding — all within three years.
SPESA MEMBER SPOTLIGHT | Cutting Through Challenges: From Lost Cargo to Excellence at Texprocess Americas 2025
Blog Post | June 4, 2025
In a candid conversation, John Hollo, CEO of Pathfinder, reflects on the triumphs and trials of showcasing at Texprocess Americas 2025, revealinfg the ingenuity behind their flagship X-Calibre cutter, the future of cutting, and why Pathfinder is at the forefront of cutting technology.
U.S. Companies Are Scrambling To Move Supply Chains. This Small Island Could Be the Answer
CNN Business | June 4, 2025
Manufacturing in the Dominican Republic has grown exponentially in recent years, with nearly 20% of foreign investment funneling into the sector, just behind tourism, according to the Innovation Technology and Information Foundation. Foreign direct investment (FDI) into the Dominican Republic last year increased by 7.1% from the year prior, capturing 41% of all FDI into Central America, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.
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