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The Ministry of Commerce (MOC) recently revealed that China will launch an online shopping festival to prop up consumption after its economic growth contracted 6.8 percent year on year in the first quarter.
The festival, the second of its kind, marks the latest step taken by the world's second-largest economy to expand domestic consumption and blunt the impacts of the novel coronavirus epidemic on its economy,
Over 100 e-commerce companies will take part in the festival, selling a great variety of quality goods ranging from agricultural products to electronic devices.
Consumers are expected to enjoy steeper discounts and better services, according to the statement.
China is pinning more hopes on domestic consumption to revive its economy as the ongoing coronavirus pandemic worldwide depressed external demand.
The festival, which will run from April 28 to May 10, is jointly launched by the MOC, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the State Post Bureau and the China Consumers Association.
Clean Clothes Campaign has urged brands to support suppliers to make sure that workers have safe workplaces and transport including safe distancing between employees and the provision of protective equipment which workers’ reports reveal is not the case.
A shocking investigation from Clean Clothes Campaign and Germany based Bread for the World reveals that around 120,000 labourers across Europe are being forced to work in high risk environments in spite of workplace closures globally. There is still no European legislation to enforce brands and retailers respect human rights throughout supply chains and ban unfair and inhumane trading practices.
In Serbia, Ukraine, Croatia and Bulgaria, employees are still working for far less than a living wage for German fashion brands including Hugo Boss, Gerry Weber, Esprit, as well as German supermarket and drugstore chains. In spite of the current pandemic, factory managers continue to force workers to report to work despite the high risk of infection of Covid-19 and in contravention of international guidelines.
Wages of garment workers remain extremely low in the Eastern and South Eastern Europe manufacturing industries. A Ukrainian tailor will earn around 126 Euro per month, leaving no room to save money for contingencies such as the current Covid-19 crisis.
Currently, even this meagre wage is not paid because apparel companies in Germany are cancelling orders and factories close -- not for the protection of workers, but because there is no work. Employees reported to Clean Clothes Campaign that they are now forced to go on unpaid leave, leaving many already on the poverty line in even more dire circumstances.
Mustafizur Rahman, a distinguished fellow of the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD has advised garment factories in Bangladesh to reopen gradually after ensuring health and safety of workers because a long-term shutdown will hurt the economy.
He was speaking at a virtual discussion titled "7th Anniversary of Rana Plaza Tragedy: Crisis of Workers and Employers during the Coronavirus Pandemic - Government Initiatives and Way Forward", organised by the CPD.
Most of the garment factories have kept their operations shut after the government enforced a countrywide lockdown from March 26 to curb the spread of the coronavirus infection. The lockdown has been extended to May 5.
Bangladesh may lose its competitiveness in the international markets due to a lengthy production suspension as countries such as China and Vietnam have resumed their manufacturing lines.
The Rana Plaza building, which housed several garment factories, collapsed on April 24 in 2013, killing more than 1,134 people, mostly workers, and injuring another 2,500. The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) is preparing a standard operating procedure such that the factories can resume production soon. The association plans to set up three coronavirus testing units and 130 private clinics in Gazipur for the workers once the units are reopened.
The Department for Promotion of Industry & Internal Trade (DPIIT) along with small retailers group Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) are setting up an e-commerce platform to help the local kirana stores take orders online for essentials and provide last mile contactless delivery.
Other promoters for this marketplace include Startup India, Invest India, All India Consumer Products Distributors Federation and Avana Capital. It said the e-commerce portal will onboard about seven crore traders of the country.
The e commerce portal will be eventually enlarged to all items. It will be of the traders, by the traders and for the traders and consumers of the country. It is one of the concrete initiative further to accomplish the vision of digital India and digital payments of Prime Minister Narendra Modi through which the traditional retailers of the Country will be aligned with e-commerce and digital payments.
Mango has decided to appoint Margarita Salvans as a new member of the company’s Steering Committee in the role of Chief Financial Officer.The new executive, who has worked for the company since 2013, has occupied various positions of responsibility in the store provisioning and management control departments and until now has been in charge of the finance department, where she has provided support to the General Management during the company’s transformation process.
Margarita Salvans takes over from Josep Barberá in finance management, who has decided to end his time at the company in order to undertake a personal project.
Salvans is the second woman to be appointed to the Steering Committee, after Elena Carasso, director of the e-Commerce and Customer departments.
With a long professional career, Salvans previously worked for Boston Consulting Group and Caixa Cataluña, where she was responsible for the areas of pricing and management control during the process of the bank’s merger.A graduate in Business Administration and Management from Universidad Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona, she completed an MBA at the IESE Business School.
According to a report by NASA, The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has come up with a COVID-19 sensor that can be embedded into the garment of the wearer. The lightweight sensor is thin enough to be integrated within flexible fabric including polyester majorly used in athleticwear.
These waterproof sensors are responsible for monitoring the vital signs of the body like respiratory rate, heart rate and body temperature. These are very thin and therefore protect the aesthetics of the garment design. Moreover, these are easily detachable to be used with different garments while also being machine washable.
The sensor can monitor the vital signs of the patients in chronic condition and requires regular checkups. The process can eliminate the manual need for performing the task while automating the process and also keeping the medicines free for other tasks and patients.
The individuals can also themselves collect the data and send it to their doctors who can then remotely monitor the condition. As per Techcrunch, the development was being conducted for designing a prototype that can be connected with the smart phone. The innovation is planned to be mass produced together in partnership with China.
It has applications in different fields including sports industry, health industry and space for monitoring the vital signs of the wearer. The funding for the study was received by MIT Media Lab Space Exploration Initiative,
Artistic director Alessandro Sartori is experimenting with a new format and a new date for the Phygital S/S 2021 as coronavirus upends Milan Men's Fashion Week.
The Ermenegildo Zegna Group is marking its 110th anniversary this year, but artistic director Alessandro Sartori is looking to the future rather than the past as he experiments with a new format to present the brand’s spring/summer 2021 collection in July.
This is a significant step for the company, which is the first to reveal it will show in July, and one that may set a precedent in the men’s wear arena. As reported, last month Italy’s Camera Nazionale della Moda said that the spring 2021 men’s shows and presentations slated for June 19 to 23 will run in September during Milan Women’s Fashion Week, which is expected to start on Sept. 22 and end on Sept. 28.
The first quarter net earnings of American footwear company Skechers USA have declined by 54.9 per cent as its operations suffered from disruptions resulting from the global coronavirus crisis.
For the first quarter ended March 31, 2020, the California-based company reported total net earnings of $49.1 million, down from $108.8 million in the same period in the previous year.
Skechers’ quarterly sales declined by 2.7 per cent from $1.28 billion to $1.24 billion, as a 6.8 per cent decline in international sales was partially offset by a 2.9 per cent rise in sales in the company’s domestic business.
Its domestic wholesale revenues increased by 9.0 per cent, while the direct-to-consumer business saw a 4.2 per cent decline. Comparable same store sales in the direct-to-consumer channel fell 8.1 per cent, reflecting a 4.7per cent decline in the U.S. and a 16.6 per cent decrease internationally.
Texworld USA summer edition to go online The summer edition of Texworld USA, the fabric sourcing event run by Messe Frankfurt, will go digital for the first time this July.
The event, in addition to Messe Frankfurt's Apparel Sourcing USA and Home Textiles Sourcing Expo, will take place via a live digital platform from July 21 through 23.
The new digital event will feature an online showroom with products from a variety of international and domestic exhibitors. A chat feature will allow online participants to speak with representatives about specific requirements, factory options and more.
Its comprehensive educational program will also be available digitally, covering topics including sustainability initiatives and environmental and ethical impacts, as well as business tips and sourcing options during a pandemic.
Recent statistics reveal, the escalating US-China trade war, rising cost of imports, and consumers’ increasing demand for speed to market, is compelling the country to focus on products ‘Made in the USA.’ Textile and apparel production in the country grew to record high of $28.1 billion in 2018 with more locally made products being sold.
Lack of visibility in US textile and apparel manufacturers
Office of Textiles and Apparel (OTEXA) stats reveal the total value of US textile and apparel exports increased by 20 per cent to $22.9 billion in 2019. However, as noted by a recent OTEXA analysis, despite this strong performance, textile and apparel manufacturers in US are hardly visible on the world trade map.
The analysis suggests, US manufacturers display a relatively high concentration of geographic locations. Around 61 per cent of self-reported yarn manufacturers in the country are from North Carolina, followed by South Carolina, which accounts for another 11 per cent. This concentration of the yarn manufacturers in the South is attributed to the abundant cotton supply in that region.
Secondly, the country is witnessing the emergence of many large-size textile mills its apparel manufacturers are predominantly small and medium-sized.
These textile mills have a high concentration of factories with over 100 employees, whereas over half the apparel mills in OTEXA database reported having less than 50 employees.
Micro factories merge as labor costs increase. Also, due to increasing labor costs, US apparel mills are focusing on niche markets like designer-based micro-factories. These factories typically provide customized services, ranging from proto-typing to sample production.
The two most popular types of vertical integration amongst the textile and apparel mills in the US include fabric and apparel and fabric and technical textiles. Amongst these, fabric mills are the most actively engaged in vertical integration strategy–around one-third of them reported also making apparel, technical textiles, or home textiles. Additionally, 20 per cent technical textile manufacturers in the OTEXA database were reported to have incorporated an apparel component to their product portfolio.
Serving customers through value-adds
Moreover, these mills have shifted from only making products to offering various value-added services. The OTEXA survey shows, majority of companies included in the ‘Made in the USA’ database have in-house design capabilities. These mills aim to serve their customers’ needs rather than just making physical products.
Fifth, according to OTEXA database, of the 122 US textile and apparel manufacturers, around 70.5 per cent were engaged in exports. Of this, 76 per cent textile mills were more actively engaged in exports than apparel manufacturers.
Diverse markets for apparel and technical textiles
The survey also revealed that the Western Hemisphere is the dominant export market for US yarn, fabric, and home textile mills, whereas the export markets for US apparel mills and technical textile producers are relatively more diverse. As many as 77 per cent yarn manufacturers included in the OTEXA database reported exporting three or more different markets in the world. Likewise, around 40 per cent of fabric, home textiles, and technical textiles mills did the same.
A high percentage of textile and apparel mills reported using the NAFTA and CAFTA-DR trade agreements for their exports. This was particularly the case with yarn producers 83 per cent of whom reported leveraging these agreements for their exports.
