Interview with Mr Justin Huang

The textile and apparel industry in China was no doubt a huge pressure to Taiwan’s apparel firms as well as all the other countries in Asia. Almost all spinners, weavers, knitters, and apparel makers in China have made huge investment in expanding their facility between 1995 and 2005. However, the global market’s growth was not large enough to apatite all the new capacity. Then, price competition followed to decrease all the possible benefits of textile mills and apparel firms. Nowadays, China announced a series of new policy for slowing down such competitiveness resulted by the low cost of Chinese industry. The appreciation of RMB, the deduction of tax refund rate, the strict regulation on environmental protection, the new law to strengthen labor benefits and rights etc. are more or less decreasing the pressure of price competition. Asian textile and apparel business people still wonder whether the newly developed economies, such as India, Vietnam and so on would take place of China and then cause the price competition worse.

Taiwan Textile Federation was established by 26 textile related associations and leading textile firms in Taiwan, on November 25th, 1975. The purpose to initiate TTF was to help the textile industry to negotiate imported quota matters with European nations, while Taiwan had no diplomatic relationship with the nations.

After a while, the Board of TTF found that there were a lot more business for TTF to do apart from quota management. Therefore, a series of functional services were developed and carried out by TTF, including Textile & Fashion Design Center, Market Promotion Department and Industry & information Service Department.

After quota elimination on Jan 1st, 2005, TTF focuses its services and business on the fields of rendering design services to Taiwan textile mills and apparel making firms, to help those firms to develop foreign market, and all the other related services related to promote Taiwan textile industry. Now, TTF has about 130 full time employees.

The Design Center of TTF has analyzed fashion trend for more than 15 years and rendered trend forecast services to local textile mills. The Design Center also help individual firms develop their fabric designs and apparel collections. Besides, the annual fashion design award is being held by the Design Center for more than 20 years. Many local well known designers were explored through the annual award. The Market Promotion Department organizes more than 30 textile trade missions each year to participate in international trade fairs in Europe, America, and Asia. Moreover, other trade missions visiting to appropriate textile importers, traders, etc. are also organized every year in order to explore due trade opportunities for Taiwan textile mills.

In Taiwan, TTF also helds an annual international textile trade show, Taipei Innovative Textile & Applications Show – TITAS since 1997. So far, TITAS has been repositioned as the only one show in the world to present innovative and functional textiles. As from 2006, TTF started to organize the Taipei in Style show, which is aimed to help fashion designers and apparel brands from home and abroad to develop their business opportunities. In 2007, it was a great success in assisting local and international fashion designers and apparel brands in extending their business in Asia.

Firstly, TTF will keep high-lighting the image of Taiwan innovated functional textiles in many trade fairs in Asia, Europe, and the USA. A strategy to make it a success is to emphasize that Taiwan textile industry can provide the international market with F4 plus 1, which we promise to supply innovative textiles with “from Fiber to Fabrics, for Fashion with Functions, and will provide you with Full package services”. In other words, Taiwan’s functional textiles are of durable performance owing to the fabrics are made by functional fibers. Moreover, Taiwan’s textiles are fashionable enough to meet the fashion trend.

Secondly, Taiwan’s apparel firms located in everywhere around the world, which will be convenient to international clients to make use of the diversified manufacturing bases and then deliver the goods to appointed venue.

Thirdly, TTF plays a role between international retailers/importers and Taiwan textile mills as a bridge to help both sides get acquainted with each other. TTF, every year, thus organizes a number of trade missions to visit to Japanese, American, and European retailers and introduce Taiwan’s newly developed textiles.

In particular, TTF also transfers latest international market trend to local textile mills and encourages them to develop new textiles for meeting the trend. One of the most important trendy textiles is of environmentally friendly textile. There is a good example to show you about this. A series of Taiwan textile mills, including up, mid, and down-stream textile firms worked together on the development of recycled PET textiles and apparel. They jointly innovated a series of functional and recycled PET textiles, and then presented the development during the last TITAS show in Taipei. It attracted lots of international buyers’ attention.

TTF intends to help Taiwan textile industry play a role as a strategic base of production and R&D for innovative and functional textiles in Asia. On one hand, TTF will organize appropriate programs to assist Taiwan industry in fast development of innovative/functional textiles by means of cultivating several manufacturing clusters in Taiwan. On the other hand, TTF will take actions to promote the clusters to international clients and let the clusters directly connect latest requirements given by the clients. Furthermore, TTF will invite leading retailers/brands from overseas to come to Taiwan and meet with Taiwan’s textile mills for exploring trade opportunities.

In Southeast Asia, there have been many Taiwanese invested factories. TTF is planning to build up a network to link the overseas Taiwanese manufacturing capability with Taiwan’s domestic R&D power, and then jointly develop a prosperous business opportunities for each other.

In the last 10 years, Taiwan textile industry has invested a lot of resource in textile technology innovation. Currently, Taiwan has been nick-named as the source of functional textiles. Such as fabrics with functions of Far Infrared, Anti-bacteria, Water Repellent, Moisture Transferring, etc. can be developed and produced in many Taiwan textile mills. Since 2001, TTF initiated a certificate/verification system of functional textiles for international retailers and Taiwan textile mills in order to help both of them effectively identify appropriate functional textiles. The System has developed 14 functional textile standards and the relevant testing methodologies. This is why almost all the big names of sportswear and outer wear retailers usually sourced functional textiles from their Taiwanese suppliers. In 2006, Taiwan was ranked as the No. 6 largest textile export nation in the world. For further information on the system, please refer to the web site – https://www.ttfapproved.org.tw. On the whole, Taiwan textile industry, 10 years ago, realized that a product differentiation strategy must be developed and carried out when the global market has been in mess of price competition. A series of innovation program on functional textiles were thus taken by the industry for the purpose.