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Bangladesh's garment exporters expect a slow rebound of shipment to the US market, as American buyers have been consumed by a confidence deficit amid an economic meltdown lurking round the corner, says OTEXA. Due to the pandemic, Bangladesh’s garment exports to the US plunged by 12.50 per cent year-on-year to $2.32 billion in the January-May period of this year. Though retail stores in the country have started opening up gradually, it will take a lot of time for normalcy to return as consumers are still staying at home amid the fear of contagion.
Though exporters expect to get 70 per cent of the work orders they had received at the same time last year, everything depends on the invention of a vaccine. Apparel exports by Bangladesh were positive in 2019 but after the coronavirus broke out, orders from the US nosedived, said Mostafa Sobhan Rubel, Managing Director, Dragon Sweaters. Almost half the products of his company are destined to the US.
Many of his customers have complained of stores not logging the expected sales even after the lockdown was withdrawn in most US states. Besides, new orders from existing customers have also dropped by almost 60 per cent due to the current second wave of infections and a lack of confidence among buyers in the throes of fears of an economic meltdown and job losses. However, Rubel expects the US market to rebound strongly in 2021 as American buyers and importers are looking for an alternative to China because of the political conflict between the two economic powerhouses" he added. Rubaina Huq, President, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, also expects a faster rebound of apparel shipment to the US market.
White Milano is embracing a phygital format for its September show that aims to shine a light especially on Italian fashion businesses. Planned between September 24-27 in Milan’s Tortona district the fair will combine the White Milano trade show with the WSM Fashion Reboot event dedicated to sustainability – originally scheduled for June and then postponed due to the pandemic.
The trade show organizer sealed a partnership with Best Showroom, a new network of 50 Italian showrooms to install the ‘Milano Loves Italy’ project aimed at supporting local small-and-medium sized enterprises and brands, in response to the disruptions caused by COVID-19.
The show format will encompass a range of physical and digital presentations spotlighting local and international fashion companies with a focus on Italian firms. Both White Milano and Best Showroom will debut their business-to-business digital platforms offering buyers a chance to review and purchase the collections also remotely. Best Showroom’s digital showcase is called Showbox WX and was developed by Italy’s tech specialist WX Italia.
Denim brands DL1961 and Warp + Weft have collaborated with Swiss performance textile company HeiQ to launch new collections infused with the world’s first antiviral technology to reduce COVID-19 transmission through clothing. The technology has been applied in the denim in liquid form during the laundering process to provide a sanitizing and germ-resistant surface. It includes a silver component that attracts virus molecules and kills them on contact. HeiQ Viroblock stays active on treated garments for up to 30 domestic washes.
The technology is increasingly gaining importance, particularly in the denim category as jeans are a part of an everyday modern uniform and tend to be garments that consumers refrain from washing frequently. In June, another brand Diesel launched a unisex capsule collection of tees and jeans featuring antimicrobial and antibacterial properties with a droplet barrier.
Besides, these brands, denim mill Calik Denim is also launching antimicrobial fabrics with self-cleaning technology into its Fall/Winter 2021 collections. Similarly, fabric developer PG Denim and chemical specialist Rudolf Group are collaborating for a fabric collection to protect its consumers from infectious bacteria.
In view of the growth of online retail market, German luxury fashion house Hugo Boss aims to generate online sales over €400 million come 2022, as compared to revenue of €151 million garnered in 2019. To achieve this target, the brand plans to expand its online operations in 24 new markets this fiscal. The countries to which the label aims to expand include: Australia, Japan, Hong Kong, Poland, Portugal, Canada and Mexico in August.
The brand also aims to set up its Indian online store in August too. However, the brand will continue to focus on further extending the concession model in the coming years, especially in the Asia-Pacific region. This year alone, Hugo Boss is targeting the conversion of seven partnerships, which if successful, will contribute at least €200 million to the company’s online revenue by 2022.
Giorgio Armani has been named the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Special Ambassador for Responsible Tourism. Armani has been recognized for his timeless designs and creativity as well as for his profound commitment to social responsibility and respect for the environment. His fashion brand is inspired by the concept of substance and the conviction that sustainability means creating a system capable of enduring through time, with respect for all the resources and the awareness that the future of generations to come depends on the choices of today.
The Ambassadorship was revealed in the wake of the visit of the UNWTO Secretary-General, Zurab Pololikashvili, to Italy. It emphasized Armani’s prompt response to the COVID-19 pandemic. As reported, the Armani Group in March converted all its four Italian production sites to produce single-use medical overalls for the individual protection of health-care providers fighting the coronavirus.
After pledging to donate €1.25 million to Italy’s Civil Protection and a range of Italian hospitals and institutions in the country, including the Luigi Sacco, San Raffaele and the Istituto dei Tumori in Milan and Rome’s Istituto Lazzaro Spallanzani, the designer also decided to contribute to support the hospitals of Bergamo and Piacenza, both badly hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the Versilia hospital in Tuscany, bringing the total of his donations to €2 million.
In March, Armani also published a letter in 60 newspapers in which he applauded all the health-care providers who are strenuously fighting the coronavirus outbreak and mused his own desire as a young man to become a doctor. Armani also decided to show his fall 2020 collection to a limited audience in February.
Italian luxury menswear brand Canali has opened the brand’s first boutique in Italy that is designed around the new architectural concept in the heart of the country’s capital. Covering a surface area of 250 sq m on two floors, the new retail space highlights the company’s ongoing commitment to expanding its retail network.
The store is situated in a strategic position in the city centre, with its main entrance on via del Babuino, the epitome of luxury, a second entrance on via dell’ Orto di Napoli, and display windows that extend into via Margutta. The boutique also has an extensive terrace looking out over via Margutta. The two-level space is divided into theme areas that offer clients the opportunity to discover different ways to interpret elegance. The service offered is at its most exclusive on the upper floor. Here clients can create a Made to Measure suit, purchase exclusive outfits or relax in the VIP Room with direct access onto the magnificent terrace that looks out over the historical buildings in the centre of Rome.
Free-standing furnishings, fine marble cladding and crystal glass and fabric structures are the distinctive features of a luxurious, welcoming and contemporary setting that expresses the tradition of fine hand tailoring for which Canali has been famous the world over for 80 years.
Michael Kors owner Capri Holdings estimated a stunning 70 per cent drop in first-quarter revenue as the COVID-19 pandemic hammered demand for its luxury handbags and dresses. The company also forecast a return to profits in the second half of fiscal 2021, which started in April, helping send its shares up over 3 per cent.
Capri’s sales at its reopened stores hit 50 per cent to 75 per cent of prior year levels with stronger trends in China, but shipments to department stores had plunged and would result in “significant” losses in the first quarter.
According to IBES data from Refinitiv, analysts had forecast a 46.7 per cent fall in the company’s revenue for the first quarter ended June. However, according to its fourth-quarter results, Capri’s total revenue fell 11.3 per cent to $1.19 billion in the three months ended March 28, slightly above the average analyst estimate of $1.12 billion. The company reported a fourth-quarter net loss attributable to Capri of $551 million, compared to a profit of $19 million a year earlier.
On an adjusted basis, the company earned 11 cents per share, missing estimates of 15 cents per share.
In a coauthored paper to guide the apparel industry against growing carbon emissions, Chendan Yan of the World Resources Institute says many global companies have started taking action against increasing carbon pollution. Many are setting targets and trying very hard to achieve them.
According to Yan, the biggest challenge that the industry faces is that brands often outsource manufacturing to companies in other countries. Those companies rely on others for raw materials, which makes it hard to measure and reduce carbon pollution.
Hence, a lot of these brands are educating and engaging their suppliers. For example, Levi-Strauss is helping its suppliers obtain low-interest loans for renewable energy or efficiency projects. And Nike is helping manufacturers switch from fossil fuels to solar and biomass. Yan believes as more suppliers get involved, it will help reduce carbon pollution throughout the industry.
The Textile Association of India (TAI) has urged the Gujarat government to relax quarantine norms for laborers who wish to return to the state. More than 18 textile processing mills and powerloom factories in Surat that reopened after lockdown restrictions were shut down last week due to labor shortage.
Majority of the laborers working in the city’s textile industry are from Orissa, UP and Bihar. Over 10 lakh migrant textile laborers returned to their native places during the lockdown imposed in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. Hence, the first half of the year 2020 was completely remained disappointing for the city’s textile industry which currently has around 330 textile processing mills. All these mills remained closed during lockdown. Though around 50 mills re-opened in Unlock-1, many of these are facing a labor shortage. Many of these mills are operating on 25 per cent capacity.
To help suppliers survive the Coronavirus crisis, Danish fashion brand Bestseller intends to not only pay for all its current orders immediately but also implement early payments till October. The brand recognizes the predicament faced by supply factories, and their employees, and wants to ease the financial pressures faced by them. It will pay for its July, August and September orders within 10 days of delivery. It will revert back its standard payment terms, within 90 days of delivery, from October 01.
The company is also accelerating the consolidation of supply chain by reducing the number of suppliers it buys from. Over the past four months, the company has faced significant challenges and disruptions due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, and had to make difficult decisions in order to protect colleagues partners, and supply chain.
The company also meets its suppliers in all production countries face-to-face multiple times per year, to follow up on actual progress and developments, and address issues whenever needed.
