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In addition to large-scale contributions to COVID-19 relief organisations, Gucci and H&M are now donating their social media accounts to the World Health Organisation in need of bigger, more influential platforms with larger reach.
Dazed reports the World Health Organisation (WHO) will take over Gucci’s Instagram — which boasts 40 million followers — as well as the brand’s other social media channels. During the takeover, WHO will share official public service information, including methods for protecting the health, safety, and well-being of global communities.
Similarly, H&M freed up its accounts for any organisation looking to utilise its global social media reach of 120 million people. The brand has 35.1 million followers on Instagram, 8.3 million followers on Twitter account, and more on each country’s individual platforms.
Earlier, Kering Group, the parent company to Gucci, Balenciaga, and Saint Laurent, announced plans to purchase and donate three million surgical-grade face masks from a CDC-approved manufacturer in China. Kering’s donation will go directly to the French health service. Gucci, on its own, will temporarily halt production on fashion to instead produce one million face masks and 55,000 medical gowns for hospitals around its home country of Italy. The Milan-based label also announced a donation of 2 million euros to help fight the effects of COVID-19.
India has decided to go ahead with the ambitious Rs 1,480-crore National Technical Textiles Mission (NTTM) and has planned to implement it through a three-tier institutional mechanism. The mission, which aims at improving penetration level of technical textiles in the country, has a four year implementation period from 2020-21 to 2023-24.
As per the ministry notification, textiles minister Smriti Irani will lead a mission steering group that would be responsible to approve all financial norms and scientific and technological research projects.
The Mission Steering Group is fully empowered to approve all financial norms in respect of all Schemes, Components and Program of the NTTM. In addition, all scientific/technological research projects under the NTTM shall require approval of the mission steering group.
The next tier comprises an empowered program committee led by the textiles secretary to monitor the implementation of various components of the mission. It will also approve all projects within the financial limit of each program as approved by the mission steering group except research projects.
The third tier—the committee on technical textiles on research, development & innovation—would be chaired by a Niti Aayog member and will identify and recommend all research projects related to strategic sectors like defense, paramilitary, security, space and atomic energy.
Five more global fashion brands have assured Bangladeshi exporters they would receive readymade garments that had already been produced and were in the process of being made against their orders.
These brands include Spaanish clothing company Inditex, British multinational retailer Marks & Spencer, French retail company Kiabi and US companies PVH Corp and Target have come forward and have informed us of their decision to take the ready goods along with the goods in production. Earlier, Swedish clothing retail company H&M assured of taking delivery of the already produced garments as well as goods in production.
H&M also said that they would pay for the goods under agreed payment terms and the retailer would not negotiate prices on already placed orders. The retailer would pay for the raw materials which were not used as yet and the payment terms to be decided by end of this week
Rating agency ICRA has stated the COVID-19 outbreak is credit negative for India’s retail industry in the short-term amid shutdown of malls as well as closure of non-essential stores across most states in the country. With consumers forced to defer discretionary spends, revenues and profitability, will be adversely impacted in the short-term, which in turn affect credit profile of the Indian retail industry. While consumer sentiments are likely to remain weak in an adverse economic environment, uncertainty around employment prospects is also likely to result in lower purchasing power.
Lifestyle and fashion retailers, primarily those having higher contribution of apparels, consumer durables, jewellery, accessories and footwear, among others, will be impacted the most because of these restrictions and overall curtailment on the movement of people, resulting in demand pressures over the short-term. However, the food and grocery retailers have witnessed a sudden spurt in demand as consumers have started panic buying around uncertainties of stock-outs and closure of these stores as well,
This impact is however, expected to be mitigated in the long-term driven by healthy demand outlook for the industry supported by favorable demographics, rising disposable income and low penetration of organized retail, said the rating agency.
Many retailers may invoke major clauses in their agreements so that they do not have to pay rentals during this period of shutdown, limiting the impact on their profitability. The present scenario, however, provides a favorable opportunity for e-commerce food and grocery players. The outbreak of the Coronavirus has led to a sharp surge in online grocery retailing as consumers are wary of stepping out of their homes. These platforms are witnessing increased demand not only from the existing consumers, but also from new consumers. This could also possibly alter the way Indian consumers buy groceries and spruce up the adoption of online retailing for groceries.
Cornelia Buchwalder has been appointed the new Secretary General of Cematex, the European Committee of Textile Machinery Manufacturers. Buchwaldehas served on an interim basis since June 2019, following the retirement of Maria Avery, and was elected to the permanent position by the Cematex Board on March 12.
Buchwalder has a wide knowledge of the global textile equipment sector, having managed the Swiss Textile Machinery Association since 2013 and been closely involved in organising participation at the major global trade shows and various international events. Her experience takes in the ITMA exhibitions in Europe at Milan (2015) and Barcelona (2019), as well as three ITMA Asia + CITME fairs, in 2014, 2016 and 2018.
She will continue to combine the two posts as Secretary General of both Swiss Textile Machinery and of Cematex.
Order cancellation by Western countries due to the COVID-19 pandemic spells doom for the garment industry in Asian countries. The Textile Council of Hong Kong, recently has warned that the garment sectors in Bangladesh, Cambodia and China faced particularly grave risks of collapse.
Bangladesh, the second-largest clothing exporter in the world behind only China, has already seen garment orders valued at $2.6 billion cancelled or withdrawn, with more likely on the way. Bangladesh has more than 4,600 garment factories, employing at least 4.1 million people, mostly women, who toil to manufacture shirts, T-shirts, jackets, sweaters, and trousers which are shipped to retailers in Europe, the U.S. and Canada. Ready-made garments accounted for 84.2 per cent of Bangladesh’s total exports (valued at $40.5 billion) for the 2018-2019 fiscal year. Europe received nearly 60 per cent of Bangladesh's garment exports in 2018-19. Meanwhile, Bangladeshi factories are losing an estimated $100 million each day.
Cambodia is also a major garment exporter, has been faced with cancelled orders. More than 10,000 garment workers have already lost their jobs as factories closed. Up to 200,000 people could potentially be laid off. Cambodia's garment industry has about 1 million full-time workers. The EU accounted for about 45% of Cambodia's total garment exports in 2018. Now, not only are Cambodian factories dealing with vanishing orders from the west, but its Chinese textile suppliers have largely shut down operations.
Lesser known to the outside world, Myanmar (formerly Burma) also serves as an increasingly important garment exporter to the west. But, as with Cambodia and Bangladesh, order cancellations by the EU have led to the closure of many Myanmar garment factories.
Bangladesh’s Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal has revealed the country expects to receive $750 million from the IMF and $200 million from the World Bank to support its people, businesses and industries suffering from the COVID-19 pandemic In all, the government expects $1 billion from both these institutions.
The coronavirus stands to wipe out 1.1 per cent of Bangladesh's gross domestic product, as per a projection of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the minister said.
Remittance sent by migrant workers have kept the economy dynamic to some extent so far, but the flow would see negative impact soon as a significant number of migrant workers have returned to Bangladesh because of the outbreak.
A number of the world’s leading strategy and management consulting firms have been predicting tough times ahead for the global luxury goods industry. The COVID-19 fall-out is expected to cost the sector up to $120 billion in revenues, or more than one third of its $350 billion worth as assessed by, Boston Consulting Group, a global leader for fashion and luxury.
Analysis show the extent global luxury brands rely on the Asian/Asia Pacific market. For example, last year, LVMH derived 37 per cent of its €54 billion in revenues from Asia. Other big brands are exposed to the same or greater degree, such as Bottega Veneta with 53 per cent of its revenues coming from in the region, along with Hermès, Gucci, Burberry Ferragamo and Versace.
Any luxury brands turning to alternative consulting firms in the hope of some bright forecasts are in for the same bad news. BCG’s big-league competitor Bain & Company has suggested a potential year-on-year fall of up to 35 percent for luxury sales, with a more moderate model pegging the decline at between 22 and 25 percent – a loss of around $66 billion to $75 billion according to its assessment framework. But there may be some light at the end of the tunnel.
Bain says, the Chinese market already appears to be on its way to recovery, with consumers returning faster than expected to the luxury stores that have now reopened. Broadly, the firm expects that the Asian region bar Japan will bounce back more quickly than, with slower recoveries expected Japan, Europe and the Americas – markets which will feel the extra pinch from an expected decline in Chinese tourists.
Global retailers, including Adidas and H&M, sparked outrage in Germany recently after announcing they planned to stop paying rent on stores that have been forced to close over the virus crisis. German sportswear maker Adidas, which made a net profit of nearly €2 billion ($3.16 billion) last year, has been hit hard by a slump in China sales and massive store closures. The company, one of Germany's best-known brands, told DPA news agency that it was temporarily suspending rental payments, just like many other companies.
Similarly, Swedish clothing giant H&M would not be paying rent on its roughly 460 closed stores in Germany, telling DPA that it had informed landlords and hoped to find a mutually acceptable solution soon. German shoe store chain Deichmann intends to suspend rent and service charges from next month for the duration of the government-ordered closures. The company expected those with political responsibility to compensate for the lost rental income of the affected parties.
Electronics retailers Saturn and MediaMarkt, as well as Adidas rival Puma, also planned to halt their rent payments for now.
Amid challenging times, Moda, the heart of UK fashion, has decided to push back the date for the show to September. The SS21 edition for the show, which was originally planned for August, will now take place from September 06-08, 2020 at The NEC Birmingham.
This move reflects organiser Hyve Group’s commitment to creating a unified portfolio of UK trade shows, as Moda will now take place alongside leading retail trade show Autumn Fair.
Moda Event Director, Adam Gough says; “After carefully monitoring the situation, and listening to our customers, we have decided to move the SS21 edition of Moda back to September. This decision reflects our commitment to continuing the growth of one of the UK’s longest-standing and best-loved fashion trade shows and it is our hope that both exhibitors and visitors will support this decision.”
He continues; “Like many of you, the Moda team are working from spaces that look a little different – from home offices to shared dining tables. However,
we want you to know that our inboxes remain open, and our phones are switched on as we continue to work remotely.”
As part of Hyve Group’s UK-wide initiative, Moda will also be running the #InspiredByKindness campaign. The project, which encourages people to share positive stories and acts of kindness, is designed to keep Moda’s community-feel alive during this difficult time. Moda will be offering their platforms to both brands and retailers, in a bid to support their businesses and share the inspirational work and acts of kindness that have emerged from the current situation.
The heart of UK fashion, Moda is the key meeting place for mainstream fashion, delivering a high quality and cost-effective platform for mid-market brands and ensuring a commercially viable and convenient buying environment for retailers across the UK and Ireland. Bringing together over 1,200 collections under one roof at the NEC Birmingham, to deliver the complete season's overview to over 8,000 visitors annually. The show also brings fashion to life on 16 catwalk shows throughout the three days to inspire buyers and sell brands, alongside a comprehensive retail-focused seminar program, interactive workshops and networking events.
