COTTON USA Teams with its Licensee Wrangler in Colombia

CCI joined with Wrangler, the newest COTTON USA licensee in Colombia, to present Wrangler's latest collection during the 2009 Colombia Moda trade fair.  The COTTON USA Mark appeared on the invitations to the Wrangler fashion show and on the gift bags distributed to all 200 attendees, which included executives from the Colombian textile and garment industries and members of the press.  Additionally, Wrangler featured the COTTON USA Mark on its booth at the fair to announce that the brand had joined the licensing program.  Wrangler currently consumes 9,000 bales of U.S. cotton, enough to produce 132,000 denim garments.  By partnering with prominent fashion brands such as Wrangler, CCI highlights the high quality and style of U.S. cotton products.

“Art & Cotton” T-Shirt Contest Concludes in Colombia

CCI Leverages Colombiamoda to Pursue Business Opportunities for U.S. Cotton Yarns and Fabrics in Colombia

Nine COTTON USA Sourcing Program member mills were featured within the stand at the trade show. In addition to promoting U.S. cotton yarns and fabrics at Colombiamoda, CCI also set up tours for U.S. mills and Marc Jacobs International to explore business opportunities in Colombia. In the three days prior to Colombiamoda, four Sourcing Program mills each visited 12 Colombian companies in Bogota, Cali and Medellin to facilitate business relationships. They provided information about the U.S. cotton textile industry and garment manufacturing companies throughout the Western Hemisphere. CCI conducted additional mill tours in Bogota and Medellin with Marc Jacobs International Ready-to-Wear Division, to scout out new business opportunities with the Colombian textile industry. U.S. mills featured at Colombiamoda were: Buhler Quality Yarns, Carolina Cotton Works, Contempora, Frontier Spinning Mills, Hanesbrand, Hammrick Mills, Parkdale Mills, Tuscarora Yarns and Zagis USA.

COTTON USA Executive Delegation Visits Textile Industry in Latin America

The COTTON USA Executive Delegation traveled throughout the Western Hemisphere to meet with leading customers of U.S. cotton fiber, yarn and fabrics in Mexico, El Salvador, Colombia and Peru. The Western Hemisphere represents a market of around 6 million bales of U.S. cotton – fiber markets of 2.2 million bales combined with 3.8 million bale equivalents of U.S. manufactured products that are exported in the form of yarn and fabrics. All together, this is about 30 percent of U.S. cotton production. CCI President Clyde Sharp led the Delegation, the first one to Latin America in 10 years and the first ever to Peru. Other members of the Delegation were: John Dunavant, American Cotton Shippers Association (ACSA) First Vice President; Jordan Lea, ACSA Second Vice President; Hank Reichle, representing AMCOT; Richard Kelley, producer from TN representing the American Cotton Producers; Shawn Holladay, producer from TX representing Cotton Incorporated; Marc Lewkowitz, Supima; William E. May, ACSA; and CCI staff and representatives. During each stop, textile mill representatives representing the majority of U.S. cotton fiber consumption in the market warmly received the Delegation and had an open dialogue on cotton and cotton product topics.

CCI’s Participation in Perumoda Expands COTTON USA Message

With a booth in the full package section, CCI had a strong presence and identified numerous potential mill clients at the Perumoda fair in Lima, Peru.  CCI disseminated useful information on the COTTON USA licensing program and COTTON USA Sourcing Program to the industry via advertorials in El Comercio Daily and an ad published in the exhibitor guide. In addition to reaching the local textile industry at Perumoda, CCI also visited 12 companies in Lima to stay abreast of current developments within the industry. Ten of the 12 companies were new contacts. During this travel the Sourcing Program had the opportunity to visit the two main retailers in Peru to obtain valuable information about both retailers and better understand their market.

Colombiatex Sets Stage for Increased U.S. Cotton Exports to Colombia

The 21st annual Colombiatex trade show in Medellín, Colombia, kicked off with an announcement by Colombia’s president that the government would immediately eliminate tariffs on imports of raw cotton fiber in an effort to make Colombia’s textile industry more competitive in the global marketplace. The measure presents an opportunity for the U.S. industry (already Colombia’s largest supplier of imported cotton fiber) to increase exports to that country. The announcement generated excitement at Colombiatex, which featured the participation of the largest textile mills from North and South America, including six members of the COTTON USA Sourcing Program. COTTON USA also sponsored the launch of new U.S. cotton-rich fabric lines by four licensees: Fabricato S.A., Pizantex S.A. and Protela S.A. from Colombia and Peru Pima S.A. from Peru. Heavy traffic at the booths ensured orders worth approximately $480,000, which COTTON USA expects to result in increased consumption of more than 1,300 bales of U.S. cotton during the first half of CY2009.

COTTON USA Teams with Fashion Magazine in Colombia to Promote U.S. Cotton

2009 (Winter)
A double-page ad in Fucsia, a fashion magazine in Colombia and a strategic partner of COTTON USA, marked the launch of a new consumer promotion. Ten COTTON USA licensees chose to participate, encouraging consumers to purchase COTTON USA Mark-labeled products from 169 stores in Bogota. Fucsia also featured 20 pages, including the cover, of a COTTON USA photo shoot of models wearing U.S. cotton apparel in California cotton fields. The coverage included five pages of editorial content about U.S. cotton and the COTTON USA program. COTTON USA will leverage usage of the Fucsia photos, featuring them extensively throughout Europe in trade, institutional and consumer materials. Photos from a previous collaboration between COTTON USA and Fucsia reached more than 56 million consumer and trade contacts during an 18-month ad circulation.
  

U.S. Mills Make Global Cotton Connections at Colombiatex

2008
Eight U.S. mills showcased U.S. cotton-rich products within the COTTON USA Sourcing Program booth at the 20th annual Colombiatex trade show in Medellín, Colombia. The largest textile mills from North and South America participated in the three-day show. Buhler Quality Yarns Corp., Carolina Cotton Works, Clovertex LLC, Frontier Spinning Mills, Hamrick Mills Inc., Parkdale, Ramtex Inc. and Tuscarora Yarns Inc. displayed samples of their products and had representatives present in order to expand their market share in this important region. Cotton Incorporated presented six new fabric developments, which would increase cotton’s benefits to consumers, and held fashion-forecasting conferences within the Sourcing Program booth. 

U.S. Mills Expand Business Opportunities in Colombia

U.S. Cotton Promoted at Colombiamoda

COTTON USA Denim Featured in the Fashion Magazine Vogue in Colombia

2007 (Summer) Vogue Latin America published 10 pages highlighting a COTTON USA denim collection produced by Colombian designer Amelia Toro. The feature consisted of photos of Toro’s denim clothing and editorial content on the versatility of denim, the importance of cotton fiber in denim production and the role of COTTON USA in this industry. Toro’s denim collection was produced with U.S. cotton fabrics manufactured by Coltejer, a COTTON USA licensee. The popular Colombian fashion TV channel “Body Channel” broadcast behind-the-scenes footage of the COTTON USA project, starting with cotton fiber processing and denim manufacturing and concluding with footage from the Vogue photo shoot. The program garnered $376,672 in free press in Colombia for COTTON USA. The circulation of Vogue is 212,560 units, with 865,197 readers in Latin America.