Friday, August 3, 2007


THE HOSIERY ASSOCIATION PROGRAMS / SERVICES / EVENTS

THA Board of Directors Meeting will be held Wednesday, October 17 from 2:00 – 5:00 p.m. at the Grandover Resort in Greensboro, NC in conjunction with THA’s Golf Tournament (see below).

THA’s 3rd Annual Golf Tournament will be held Thursday, October 18 at the Grandover Resort Golf Course in Greensboro, NC. Individuals and teams may now register using the Registration Form found on THA’s website (please click here) If you would like to become a sponsor of this event, please complete the form found on THA’s website.

2007-2008 THA Membership Dues & Member-Only Access to THA’s Website: With the 2007-2008 THA membership year upon us, and in order to ensure that THA is continually adding value to its membership services, the Member-Only section of the website has updated its log-in information Those companies that have already submitted their dues should have been notified of the new log-in information. If your company has not yet paid its dues, you will no longer have access to the information contained on this section of the website. From this point on, respective companies will be issued the updated log-in information upon receipt of their dues. Renewal notices for the 2007-2008 THA Membership Year were mailed in June. Please submit your membership dues to THA in a timely fashion, please.

 
Ageless, Timeless: The Legs Have It
Fall 2007 Fashion Trends
click here

 





New Service to THA Members – Products Law Advisory Service: The American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA) and THA announce a new service for their respective memberships – a service focused on advising members about California’s Proposition 65 and other relevant product law issues. A letter to THA member contacts was issued June 13. If you are a THA member and would like a copy of the letter, visit THA’s Member Section of the website at http://www.hosieryassociation.com/Members/home.asp and log in. Additionally, members can receive news bulletins from Farella Braun concerning restricted substances updates.

New Service to THA Members--Legwear: What Were They Thinking? Get Inside the Minds of Consumers
As the legwear business continues to transform it is important to maintain a pulse on the wants and needs of the evolving consumer. How many times a year do they shop for your products? Do they prefer a specific brand? What influences them to buy and why? The Hosiery Association (THA) is pleased to offer this exclusive new member only service that we believe is an invaluable resource to companies and their business partners. The study (inclusive of socks, pantyhose/stockings, tights/footless tights, leggings and toe covers) is based on the responses of 60,000 consumers. The summary and supporting data is available for a nominal fee. Opportunity is knocking…improve your products, marketing techniques and connect with the consumer. Act now and order your copy today! For further details please contact THA at 704.365.0913 or email at info@hosieryassociation.com.

Seamless Consortium Sponsors Seminar at Outdoor Retail Show - Keeping Your Product Development $$$ on Track: Sustainability, Seamless Knitting and Nanotechnology: Innovations & Sustainability are driving the performance market. Don't miss this, the ninth in a series of Outdoor Industry Panels organized by FabricLink on Friday, August 10th at the Marriott in Salt Lake City which brings together leaders in the performance textile & apparel supply chain. For further information, contact info@seamlessconsort.com.

THA Partners with Southern Women’s Show—September 20-23 - The Hosiery Association is working with The Southern Women’s Show’s lifestyle event in Charlotte, NC. This is a tremendous opportunity for the industry to gain exposure among the approximately 30,000 consumers and we encourage our members to participate through several mediums. THA’s President and CEO Sally Kay will be conducting an interactive Footloose Fashions Legwear Workshop that focuses on fall fashions and the technical advancements in legwear. There will be an opportunity for product placement at the Dress For Success Benefit and Fashion Show, and a central location for a “Rest Your Feet and Legs” lounge where guests can sit and relax while learning more about foot and legwear products. Stay tuned for more details on this new and exciting event for us! For further information on how your company can be involved, contact Sally Kay at 704.365.0913, ext. 212 or email at sally.kay@hosieryassociation.com.

Step into THA’s NEW Advertising Program! For a fraction of traditional advertising costs, companies can now receive exposure in Hosiery Insider and Hosiery News and the THA website for One Package Price!

Why Advertise with Us?

  • Reach over 11,000 global hosiery industry colleagues and retailers
  • Custom design exclusive feature that highlights your particular product and/or service to have your product
  • Solid Return on Investment
  • Your ad will stand out and be remembered with our uncluttered format!

The Hosiery Association’s diverse media properties provide direct, exclusive access to decision-making senior executives with spending authority and industry influence.

For complete package pricing details, contact Jeanna Sheldon at 704.365.0913, ext. 203 or email at advertising@hosieryassociation.com.



Chapter News

AL Chapter Golf Tournament: AL Chapter’s Annual Scholarship Golf Tournament will be held Thursday, October 4 at Terrapin Hills in Fort Payne, AL. For further information, please contact Jody Goggans at jgoggans@prewettmills.com.

CHA Chapter Supplier Luncheon & Industry wide Webinar: The August 23 luncheon at the Hosiery Technology Center in Hickory, NC will feature Ruth Ann Castro and Chris Locke from Farella Braun + Martel LLP who will be discussing California Proposition 65: Strategies for Compliance and Liability Protection. Participants unable to attend the luncheon in Hickory may join in as a webinar at the following complimentary webinar sites: High Point Campus of Randolph Community College and Alabama’s Hosiery Technology Center in Fort Payne, AL. Or you can choose to participate in your own office and/or company’s conference room if you have a PC, Internet access and a telephone (limited number of lines for this and available on a first-come, first served basis). To register, complete form found on THA’s website at www.hosieryassociation.com.

Hosiery News-More Frequent, More Flexible. We are receiving positive feedback on the new format and frequency of Hosiery News. This environmentally friendly version affords readers more flexibility in obtaining the information they need on a timelier basis and advertisers can quantify the broader exposure they receive through monthly reports. As we work to verify our distribution database is accurate, please contact Vicki Camp (email: vicki.camp@hosieryassociation.com) to ensure that you, your company representatives and customers are receiving each of these communications tools.

 

Utilizing SizeUSA Data to Reassess the Size and Fit of Sheer Hosiery: For years U.S. sheer hosiery manufacturers have used NAHM flat forms, Wolf Forms and various non-standardized forms to assess the fit of sheer hosiery. However, the lack of a standard industry form has resulted in inconsistencies. Realizing a reliable method was needed, a group of sheer manufacturers formed The Sheer Hosiery Sizing Committee and contacted the Hosiery Technology Center for help. The goal was to establish a repeatable, consistent and cost effective procedure for testing the size and fit of women’s and girl’s hosiery products.

Find out the results of this study and more in the entire article by Kim Anderson of [TC2] on THA’s website in the Member section under Standards. http://www.hosieryassociation.com/Members/home.asp

Acme-McCrary Corporation Announces New Staff Members – Traci Bond-White has recently joined the company as Director of Human Resources and CJ Plummer has joined as the Divisional Vice President, Marketing and Merchandising: Infants/Children.

Tax-Free Hosiery and Other Items – Make sure to shop this weekend to buy all your hosiery needs and take advantage of the tax-free weekend. Not all states are offering this, so check the schedule below to see when your state participates, if not this weekend:

August 2-5 – Georgia
August 3-4 – Iowa
August 3-5 – Alabama, Missouri, New Mexico, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia
August 4-12 & November 24-December 2 – Washington, DC
August 4-13 – Florida
August 17-19 – Texas
August 19-25 – Connecticut

Shapewear entrepreneur Receives US Patent on Knit Structure
Amanda Kennedy, founder of Sassybax shapewear, gained the status of inventor-entrepreneur last month when she received a US patent for the unique knit structure she developed to incorporate into her company's leggings and bottom shapers. Knitted with shaping cups to lift, round and separate the buttocks, her Sassybax leggings and long leg panty add more than a figurative boost to a woman's wardrobe. Like her novel bra line that smoothes a woman’s back, these new bottom shapers flatter undercover and fall into the ‘Why didn't I think of that?’ category of inventions.

ASAPSHOW – Why Exhibit at ASAP? ASAP gives the apparel companies the best chance to meet top US retailers and brands who are seeking alternative sourcing options. ASAP’s reputation in the apparel industry boasts the highest number of attendees, and a diverse number of countries. ASAP receives the most endorsements from overseas governments and works directly with them to organize their respective country pavilions that represent the “Best of…” each country and buyers know this. The next show will take place on August 26-29 at the Venetian Grand Ball Room in Las Vegas, NV. For additional information, go to www.asapshow.com or email info@asapshow.com.


 

Administration Trade Officials Oppose Currency Legislation
Three Bush administration trade officials wrote to Senate leaders last week to express opposition to legislation that would restructure the way the U.S. government handles the trade implications of undervalued foreign currencies. The Senate Finance Committee approved one such measure July 26 and the Senate Banking Committee is scheduled to mark up its own bill this week. The bills are implicitly aimed at China, but the three officials asserted that the actions they prescribe would hinder U.S. efforts to persuade Beijing to liberalize its exchange rate regime. The Currency Exchange Rate Oversight Reform Act of 2007 approved by the Finance Committee would replace the current statutory concept of currency manipulation with the concept of fundamental currency misalignment. The Treasury Department would be required to identify fundamentally misaligned currencies to Congress twice a year and to classify countries for “priority action” if the misalignment is clearly caused by their government’s economic policies. There would be various immediate and longer-term consequences for such a designation, such as taking currency undervaluation into account when making antidumping duty calculations for products exported from the designated country and possibly initiating WTO dispute settlement proceedings regarding the currency problem. The president would be able to waive these actions if they pose a threat to U.S. national security or economic interests, but Congress could override any such waiver.

Tonga Becomes 151st WTO Member
The World Trade Organization has announced that the Pacific island nation of Tonga became the 151st member of the WTO last week. According to recent news releases, Tonga is one of the world’s smallest economies, with a population of approximately 116,000 and an area of 748 square kilometers. Trade accounts for 54 % of its gross domestic product and its main trading partners are Japan, the United States, New Zealand and Australia. Tonga’s annual economic growth reached 1.9 % in 2006 and its major industries are agriculture (41% of GDP) and fisheries (20 % of exports).

USTR Amends NAFTA Origin Rules to Implement DR-CAFTA Cumulation Provision
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has issued a notice announcing that Mondy, July 30, was the effective date for certain modifications to the NAFTA rules of origin for certain goods of Mexico that were made to implement the DR-CAFTA cumulation provision. As a result, the amended rules apply to goods of Mexico that are entered, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after July 30. These changes were announced in February but delayed until Mexico amended its trade agreements with individual DR-CAFTA countries in order to grant reciprocal treatment to goods made in those countries that incorporate U.S. textile materials.

Draft WTO Ruling Says U.S. Hasn’t Fully Complied with Cotton Subsidy Ruling
According to press reports, the WTO has preliminarily determined that the U.S. has not sufficiently complied with a 2005 ruling against its cotton subsidies. If this decision is upheld when a final ruling is issued this fall, it could open the way for Brazil to impose billions of dollars’ worth of retaliatory sanctions against the U.S. The decision could also affect the ongoing Doha Round negotiations on agriculture.

Finance Committee Approves Bill Addressing Currency Misalignment
By a vote of 20-1, the Senate Finance Committee recently approved the Currency Exchange Rate Oversight Reform Act of 2007, which aims to address misalignments of foreign currency that put U.S. workers and manufacturers at a competitive disadvantage. The legislation, which was introduced by Sens. Max Baucus, D-Mont., Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., would restructure the U.S. government’s methods for dealing with the trade implications of undervalued foreign currencies that threaten the U.S. economy. The bill would eliminate the politically charged designation of “manipulation,” and instead require the Treasury Department to consult with countries with “fundamentally misaligned” currencies and impose new trade consequences on nations that fail to take corrective action.

USTR Seeks Input on China’s Compliance with WTO Commitments
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has announced that the interagency Trade Policy Staff Committee will convene a public hearing and seek public comment to assist the USTR in the preparation of its annual report to Congress on China’s compliance with the commitments it made in connection with its accession to the WTO. This includes commitments in the following areas: trading rights; import regulation (e.g., tariffs, tariff-rate quotas, quotas, import licenses); export regulation; internal policies affecting trade (e.g., subsidies, standards and technical regulations, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, government procurement, trade-related investment measures, and taxes and charges levied on imports and exports); intellectual property rights (including IPR enforcement); services; rule of law issues (e.g., transparency, judicial review, uniform administration of laws and regulations) and status of legal reform; and other WTO commitments. A hearing will be held in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 27. Persons wishing to testify at the hearing must provide written notification of their intention, as well as a copy of their testimony, by noon on Sept. 13. Written comments are due by noon on Sept. 17.

 

The contents printed in this document are informational in nature. They are gathered from various industry sources and do not necessarily reflect the views and/or actions of THA.

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