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Top NBA draft prospect Marvin Bagley III has signed a five-year footwear and apparel endorsement deal with Puma as a part of a plan to aggressively relaunch its basketball footwear business.
According to the deal, Bagley is expected to be a featured athlete in several upcoming category and brand global initiatives. The brand will also commit to a grassroots infrastructure with the Bagley family that will focus on skill development for a future generation of AAU players.
Puma also signed Manchester United soccer player and Belgium international Romelu Lukaku to a multiyear deal that is the largest sponsorship deal in the company's history. The brand will also sign additional rookies in the 2018 draft, before signing established players that have existing shoe deals expiring later this fall.
The brand has found recent success and resurgence in the marketplace thanks to partnerships with entertainment mogul Jay-Z, pop star Rihanna and several other endorsers in the lifestyle category.
EU countries approved a raft of tariffs targeting US goods including blue jeans, whiskey and motorcycles in retaliation against painful duties imposed by Trump on European products. Europe’s move fuels a growing transatlantic trade war just days after a disastrous G7 summit in Canada.
The European counter measures aimed at €2.8 billion euros ($3.3 billion) of American imports come after Trump on 1 June followed through on his threat to impose tariffs on European steel and aluminium exports. From blue jeans to motorbikes and whiskey, the EU’s hit-list of products targeted for tariffs with the US reads like a catalogue of emblematic American exports.
However, Trump abruptly rejected the text of a G7 statement and bitterly insulted his Canadian host, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Trump demanded America had been obliged to levy the metals tariffs as it has been exploited as the world’s “piggy bank” under existing arrangements.
His counterparts however said they were equally determined to protect “rules-based” international trade.
The European Commission has also launched a legal challenge against the US tariffs at the WTO.
Christian Dior tops as a retailer in Forbes annual list of the “world’s largest public companies”, known as the Global 2000 list. The massive report is being released for the 16th consecutive year and counts high-profile household names like JPMorgan Chase, Berkshire Hathaway, Bank of America, Apple and Chase among its top-ten rankings. In general, Christian Dior is ranked as the world’s 150th largest company.
The second-largest retailer in the apparel, accessories and footwear space is Zara and Nike comes in third place.
Christian Dior definitively takes the top spot with a market value of $76.4 billion USD, with a combined score of revenues, profits, assets and market value higher than any similar numbers for other companies in its lane.
The fashion house benefits from a 41 per cent stake in LVMH, the French luxury empire that owns 70 brands including Louis Vuitton, Dom Pérignon and Sephora. LVMH, which is run by French billionaire Bernard Arnault, in turn wholly owns Christian Dior. The companies have had a complicated ownership structure for years, with LVMH acquiring the remaining portion of Christian Dior that it didn't already own last year in a $13 billion deal.
The Oregon-based company, which was founded in 1964 by college track runner Phil Knight and his coach, initially distributed Japanese running shoes. It found success in sponsoring legendary athletes like Michael Jordan, Roger Federer and Lance Armstrong and is now the world's largest athletic retailer with annual sales of $35 billion.
Despite consumer preferences, the activewear is now dominated by synthetics, research reveals that could be detrimental to the wearer’s health and the environment at large.
Companies have been trying to be eco-friendly by making fabric from used plastic bottles. But the bottles and the resultant polyester are both made from polyethylene terephthalate, or PET, which is derived from crude oil. The bottles are shredded and the remnants are thrown in a mixture of chemicals and water, dried into pellets, and then melted and extruded into polyester yarn. Creating polyester requires more energy than producing cotton.
According to Cotton Incorporated’s Lifestyle Monitor research 45 per cent of the consumers believe that clothing made of polyester, compared to cotton and rayon, has the biggest odor issue or traps odor.
On the other hand, studies such as one conducted at the Cornell Composting Facility in 2010 suggest that cotton decomposes at a much faster rate than polyester. Various fabric technologies developed by Cotton Incorporated offer an edge to manufacturers that want to offer performance activewear made of natural cotton. Transdry technology wicks and spreads perspiration so cotton fabrics dry faster as well as or better than most high-tech synthetic fabrics. The wicking window technology is a moisture management application that eliminates the feeling of wet fabric against the skin. Storm cotton technology protects the wearer from the outside as it’s a breathable, water-repellent finish for cotton fabric.
"The recent edition of Denim Première Vision brought to fore many developments in the denim sector. Global companies such as Bossa, Kilim and Berto presented fabrics made with fiber from post-consumer recycled denim. A panel discussion was devoted to the developments in post-consumer recycled denim (PCRD) and best practices to scale and promote it at the consumer level. Lori DiVito, Professor at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences and co-founder of the Alliance of Responsible Denim, emphasized there needs to be a leadership in order to experiment. She said, it’s all about experimenting, so having the time and dedicated team to experiment with recycled denim is the key element. That means allocating resources not only financially but human resources that can test PCRD, design it, see how it performs in the market and then adopt it on a greater level."
The recent edition of Denim Première Vision brought to fore many developments in the denim sector. Global companies such as Bossa, Kilim and Berto presented fabrics made with fiber from post-consumer recycled denim. A panel discussion was devoted to the developments in post-consumer recycled denim (PCRD) and best practices to scale and promote it at the consumer level. Lori DiVito, Professor at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences and co-founder of the Alliance of Responsible Denim, emphasized there needs to be a leadership in order to experiment. She said, it’s all about experimenting, so having the time and dedicated team to experiment with recycled denim is the key element. That means allocating resources not only financially but human resources that can test PCRD, design it, see how it performs in the market and then adopt it on a greater level.
Antwerp-based denim brand, HNST, will soon start delivering its first batch of jeans made with 56 per cent PCRD. Denim by HNST fosters a circular economy, which means they can be recycled again. Embroidered rivets replace metal pins, buttons are removable, pocketing fabrics include fiber made from recycled white T-shirts, and labels are made from GOTS-certified jacron, a paper-like material. In September 2017, the brand initiated a two-week collection campaign in Belgium, where it collected over 6,000 pairs of old jeans that were sorted and recycled into new denim. Fibres made from the non-wearable jeans were blended with Tencel and woven back into denim fabric in Italy.
This year again, it will host a second harvesting campaign asking consumers to donate unwanted denim to create a new collection. The same phenomenon
would continue for years in order to enhance recycling initiative. In order to be sustainable, HNST shares its supply chain partners, from spinning (the European Spinning Group) to dyeing (Italy-based PureDenim), as well as a breakdown of the costs.
Working on bottlenecks
Kuyichi currently uses up to 20 per cent of PCRD fibre in its jeans to maintain quality and hand feel. There are limitations in the percentages of how much recycled denim and cotton one can add to a garment because the fibers are shorter. This also limits the possibilities of fabric. It’s time consuming to ensure that the quality of fabric is what you want, Damen said. However, she emphasised that Kuyichi’s supply chain is motivated by the idea of PCRD and its potential. It’s also time consuming to decipher what’s inside post-consumer garments. HNST created its own protocol and testing to ensure it is using high quality PCRD fibers, but the company fears that other companies may not take on that responsibility. The denim industry needs to come together to bring in checks in place to prevent other substances from staying in the loop.
Consumer connect
Limitations can be managed once companies start interacting with the customers. As Smits highlights, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to designing and promoting PCRD—or sustainability for that matter. There’s a difference between brands that have differentiated themselves on sustainability to start, and a regular jeans brand that starts to communicate about this. However, one fact that all denim brands should take into account is there’s a large growing group of consumers that care about this. The Alliance for Responsible Denim is working on developing a tool box for brands, so they know what questions to ask suppliers, what certifications or standards to look for and how to share this information with end user.
Kuyichi is in the process of making a menu that shares with consumers what new sustainable innovations the brand has added into the makeup of its jeans, where and how it was made and the certification standards it meets. The way Damen sees it, young generations buying denim right now are engaged in sustainability thought and want to make a difference through their buying behaviour. There are huge benefits communicating this story to the consumers because they want to be part of this change.
Inditex , the world's largest clothing retailer and owner of the Zara chain, is developing new technologies, collaborating with tech firms and hiring talent from start-ups. The company has an innovation unit that tests ways of improving stock handling. It has collaborated with California-based Fetch Robotics to test robots to work in stock inventory. It has also partnered with chipmaker Intel to create devices that can quickly gauge the volume of clothing in boxes.
Inditex is focusing on areas like "location intelligence", ultrasound technology used to track footfall in stores, as well as virtual assistants to help customers. Location intelligence allows apps to switch to "instore" mode when a customer enters a store, so the customer can locate products and receive offers. Inditex has also formed development partnerships with technology companies like Jetlore, which uses artificial intelligence to predict consumer behaviour, and Spanish big data start-up El Arte de Medir.
Fast fashion pioneer r21 Holdings has made three new appointments. Laurie Van Brunt was appointed President and CEO of the company. Van Brunt was earlier engaged with Chico’s FAS, Inc, where she was President of Soma Intimates from 2010 to 2017. Here, she led the transformation of the company by repositioning the brand as an omni-channel intimates brand and elevating the fashion aesthetic to fill an opportunity in the market, growing sales from $87 million to $350 million.
Michele Pascoe has been named Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of the company. Pascoe was earlier with from Alvarez & Marsal, a financial consulting firm, where she provided financial advisory services for various retail organizations. She began her fashion business career at the Warnaco Group in 1989. She remained in the company assuming progressively more senior positions in the intimates, sportswear, and swimwear brands.
Stephen Sommers has been named Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of the company. Employed earlier as Vice President Global Brand Marketing from 2012 to 2016 at Under Armour, the sports apparel company, where he focused on brand marketing by both category and lifestyle, and delivered major campaigns for bricks and mortar, digital and ecommerce, as well as building categories such as footwear.
Menswear show Project has teamed up with White Show to launch an exclusive collaboration for SS19 geared towards uniting both American and European menswear markets. The partnership will bring American brands and experiences to the European market. Massimiliano Bizzi, President and Founder of White stated they have always been attentive to international markets, where they have been present for years and continue to invest and promote its DNA and brands exponentially.
The interactions between the shows will give a seamless experience for both US and Italian brands to expand their reach to diverse retailers and media, says Tommy Fazio, men’s fashion director at Project organizer UBM Fashion.
The collaboration will start in Milan at White Man which takes place from June 16 to 18. The experience then travels to Project New York, July 22 to 24. Currently, the partnership will spread through the next two seasons where Project and Magic promoter UBM Fashion and White Show will design retailer matchmaking platforms and offer a curated menswear brand experience for both Europe and the US.
MarediModa and Performance Days have come to an agreement to avoid overlapping dates from the upcoming editions in November. This joint arrangement on dates will allow exhibitors and visitors to plan their presence both in Cannes and Munich. MarediModa will take place in the habitual setting of the Palais des Festivals in Cannes from November 6 to 8, 2018, while Performance Days, which is about to move to the München Messe, will be on November 28 and 29.
No overlap is expected even in the years to come. MarediModa, which has been a leading trade show for textiles and accessories of beachwear and intimates since 2002, has recently included athleisure in its offer.
MarediModa is a not-to-be missed date for every international brand interested in the collection preview of the best European companies, in meeting design studios and private label manufacturers as well. Performance Days, a functional fabric fair launched in 2008, is the first and only material sourcing trade fair created especially for technical fabrics and accessories as needed in sports, athleisure and work clothing. Designers, product as well as material managers, and decision-makers meet bi-annually in April/May and November in Munich, and since July 2018 annually at Functional Fabric Fair powered by Performance Days in New York City.
Tirupur is looking for Free Trade Agreements (FTA) with the European Union, the US, UK and Russia. Exporters in the textile hub feel lack of access to key markets is hampering sector’s growth, making India lose market share to main competitor China. China, by using the advantages available to countries with predominant EU and US markets, has increased its exports and circumvented the Indian industry’s growth prospects in the global market.
Till such time as FTAs are signed, Tirupur wants incentives to be available to the readymade garment sector, which will help create a level playing field for the industry compared to competing nations. Exports of Tirupur in the last financial year have gone down by 5.6 per cent from the previous year. Among the reasons are the changes in duty and tax structure such as GST. There is no customs duty levied in other countries, especially Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, on import of yarn to produce fabric and garments meant for exports, except in India.
Climate change too played havoc. Production of cotton remained minimal and could only meet five per cent of the requirements of Tamil Nadu spinning mills. About six lakh employees work for 6,500 knitwear and apparel units in Tirupur.
