In an info-packed presentation titled, “Creating Urgency Around Corporate Innovation,” Mike Abbott, global director, R&I, HBI, Hanesbrands, covered a lot of ground related to the changing landscape.

 

“We’re in crazy times,” he said. “We don’t know from a political standpoint where we stand. Europe is in turmoil. We have global warming that’s causing terrible storms. It seems like all we here is bad news. So take that as a challenge. How do we pull the positive out of times of turmoil?

 

“The textile industry has not transitioned dramatically in 80 years,” he continued. “We’ve made 3 to 4 percent incremental changes. The question is, how are we going to make a 40 percent change?”

 

And off he went, covering such areas as consumer macro trends, declining retail foot traffic, changing expectations of Millennials and others, the “retail apocalypse,” the migration to e-commerce, bloggers vs. brands and more.

 

“Online apparel sales surpassed consumer electronics sales for the first time ever,” Abbott said, among a number of salient points.

 

To adapt to these changes, retailers and brands are struggling to create relevance, he said. They should start by asking, “What do you do, why do you do it and how do you do it?” he said.

 

“Some say we make things to make money,” Abbott said. “That’s incorrect. We make things to make a difference. Profit is a result. If you don’t interact with bloggers and consumers to let them know what you stand for, they’ll think you’re in the business just to make money.”

 

Bloggers and others have become brand ambassadors, and are often not chosen by retailers and brands to carry their banner, he said.

 

“Hanes is a conservative company and selective with whom are our ambassadors,” he said, showing a photo of a young singer wearing a branded hoodie from Hanesbrands. “Justin Bieber is not who we would’ve chosen first, but it’s making a difference. The problem is controlling your brand. Take advantage of it when you can and be cautious.”

 

He went on to discuss consumer behaviors, big data, artificial intelligence, machine learning, augmented virtual reality, eco-citizenship and more, and how these trends are affecting retailers and brands.

 

Meanwhile, Bryan Dill of Archroma US, Inc., covered “Piecing Together the Color Puzzle – Fashion, Performance, Sustainability.” For dyers, designers and suppliers, trying to make an attractive shade that meets performance and sustainability needs is their primary objective, he said. But, really, those who form textile color also should be thinking about the fashion in that equation, he said.

 

“Color management is important because this is where color is conceptualized,” he said. “When we’re making that color, we need a visualization of what that color is going to be.”

 

So managing and communicating color standards along the entire textile supply chain – from textile mills, vendors and brands/retailers – is important, Dill added.

 

He went on to discuss the tools of the trade and other considerations, including shade development options, Engineered Color Standards (ECS), color communication software, cross-substrate suitability, substrate and dye selection, dyeing processes, sustainability and more.