Delineating the post COVID-19 fashion world, eco-friendly fabric brand Liva’s new report ‘A Brave New World’ emphasizes on the need for brands to upgrade their old school brick and mortar store shopping experiences for consumers who are now becoming more sensitive about the financial and sustainability costs of their fashion choices.

Surveying 440 people across cities in India such as Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, etc, the report states social media platform has become a primary resource for around 29 per cent consumers during back-to-back lockdowns. On their part, brands are adapting to the changing scenario by creating engaging online content with videos and Instagram lives besides rolling out sales and gift cards. The report says, trend of discount shopping will rise post COVID-19 as 35 per cent shoppers plan to opt for discount shopping, while only 14 per cent are willing to shop despite lack of discounts. The survey observes shoppers are engaging in thoughtful purchases more than ever before.

Investments in sustainable brands, natural fabrics to increase

The survey highlights post COVID-19, brands will focus on seasonless fashion to keep their buyers fixated. Gucci recently announced its intentions to veer away from multi-seasonal cycle to showcase only two seasonless collections in a year. Similarly, Yves Saint Laurent also announced its exit from Paris Fashion Week’s busy seasonal cycles. Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) and the British Fashion Council (BFC) have also urged the fashion industry to focus on creating timeless and great quality products.

The report indicates be it advocating slow fashion or sustaining local, homegrown brands, consumers will inch towards making more responsible fashion choices post COVID-19. Around 40 per cent consumers will invest in sustainable brands, while 72 per cent will opt for natural fabrics, 48 per cent want to opt for biodegradable fabrics, and 37 per cent for recycled fabrics.

Digital events for techno-savvy consumers

The access to new collections, sales, multi-currency checkout, and multi-variable product filters on her website, while designer Payal Khandwala created a specialized virtual shopping experience for her consumers to shop from the comfort of their homes. report further indicates post-COVID-19, fashion will largely be showcased via digital platforms as around 50 per cent consumers will rely on augmented reality apps to try clothes while 48 per cent will search for online styling tips and guides.

This shift to digital is already visible with London, Paris, Milan, and even India announcing full-fledged online fashion weeks. Recently, Chanel organized an online presentation to showcase its latest collection instead of a physical Cruise show that was scheduled to be held in Capri. Similarly Zegna announced plans to showcase its Spring ’21 collection via a digital presentation.

In India, designer Payal Singhal launched several new initiatives such as limited exclusive

APTMA has rejected the proposed budget for FY 20-21 as it completely failed to address serious industry issues in the light of the worldwide COVID-19 created crisis. This is likely to lead to large scale unemployment and closures and as the market dynamics have changed Post COVID-19 situation. APTMA has demanded the following provisions from the government

Elimination of 1.5 percent turnover Tax: This tax increases cost of exports by an average 5-6 percent as the tax is levied on the same goods multiple times as it passes through the value chain. The Textile Industry works on very slim margins and turnover tax acts as an accelerator to early closure of mills.

Seven per cent custom duty on MMF & Polyester Staple Fiber: There is 7 per cent customs duty on the import of polyester staple fiber with total import expenses in the range of 20 per cent including antidumping duty. More than 60 per cent of world textile trade is in MMF materials and this duty protection given to obsolete plants in Pakistan is denying the Pakistani industry any chance to compete in this growing majority section internationally or domestically. Any protection to domestic polyester plants may be given directly by the government and not at the cost of our country’s economic future.

DLTL: With refunds of approximately 5 percent due on $ 10 billion exports the quantum of DLTL due will be Rs 80 billion. This was also the amount requested for allocation by Ministry of Commerce. The budget has allocated only Rs 10 billion for DLTL. DLTL is a calculation of government taxes component in the cost of exports and if this is not catered for will further weaken our export competiveness.

TUFF: Rs 4.5 billion are pending under TUFF scheme whereas amount allocated in this budget for TUF scheme is only Rs 400 million. The amounts have been due for the past 7 years and this sort of delay annuls industries’ faith in Government commitments.

New Textile Policy: Implementation of the in principle approved Textile Policy is required in true letter and spirit for Pakistan to maintain and increase employment and exports.

The French textile companies have sought government assistance to sell 20 million surplus masks that lie with them currently. They have asked the the government for assistance in promoting and finding buyers for the unsold output of the industry's national effort.

Hundreds of textile and clothing manufacturers answered the government's call for millions of masks superior to homemade versions. President Emmanuel Macron last month sported a military-tested model embroidered with the tri-color national flag to advertise the "Made in France" masks.

Yet within weeks, demand dried up for the domestically produced masks that sold for a few dollars at supermarkets and pharmacies or were available in bulk for free distribution by businesses and local governments. Manufacturers and the government acknowledged that many suppliers and consumers still opted for cheaper disposable masks from Asia.

To deal with this situation, Thomas Delise, owner of Chanteclair, the knitwear manufacturer behind the mask Macron called for trade barriers to large imports, and coordination within Europe to buy Europe-made masks.

According to data analytics firm, GlobalData, around 16 per cent of UK consumers plan to spend time shopping for non-food items, with over two-thirds looking forward to purchasing apparel post lifting of the lockdown, as they anticipate more social activities and buy into new season trends.

GlobalData’s monthly survey of 2,000 nationally representative UK consumers conducted in May found one of the biggest difficulties to be encountered across the clothing sector is the concern regarding fitting rooms, with the government stating that shoppers should not be allowed to try on items in store due to hygiene issues.

As fit and comfort are integral factors when buying new clothing items, this is likely to be a put-off, and may become a barrier to purchase, GlobalData thinks.

Therefore, retailers operating within this sector must identify innovative solutions, such as augmented reality mirrors, or virtual catwalks via their apps, to ease the shopping process and provide more inspiration for consumers.

With about 95 per cent of stores still closed due to the pandemic, the Children's Place plans to close 300 of its stores in malls by the start of 2022. The retailer's mall-based portfolio will represent less than 25 per cent of its total revenue, CEO Jane Elfers said.

The brand will close 100 stores by the end of the second quarter of the total 200 closures this year, and another 100 set to close in 2021. About half of the first set of closures will take place in the next month and a half, with most of them expected to open briefly for liquidation sales.

The company reported a 38 per cent decline in its first quarter net sales. The retailer swung to a $114.8 million loss from $4.5 million in net income a year ago, with a gross loss of $19.7 million from gross profit of $152 million last year. That was a 990-basis point downswing to 26.8 per cent of net sales, primarily due to the higher costs of e-commerce fulfillment, along with the fixed expenses of closed stores.

Première Vision Paris will be held as per schedule from September 15 to 17 at the Parc des Expositions de Paris Nord Villepinte. However, the physical show will be supplemented with a digital show providing exhibitors with greater visibility across the globe. In addition, the physical show will meet all required government health protocols through the use of digital badges, disinfectant gel and masks, and an updated, spacious layout for social distancing procedures.

The show will also include its B2B e-commerce platform launched in 2018, which will feature Fall/Winter 2021-2022 collections and online business discussions in preparation for show visits. It would also feature a denim village at the marquee event to supplement the May Denim PV show that was forced to cancel.

The digital show will include a program of content, services and digital tools to support the creative fashion industry and address the strategic questions on how to move forward through the unprecedented times.

According to Rubina Haq, President of the BGMEA, Bangladesh’s garment exports may plummet almost 40 per cent in the next few months as the retail market in the country is yet to rebound. The impact of the COVID-19 on consumers’ behavior is still unknown and factories in the country are still struggling with cash flow and credits to make a turnaround.

Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) revealed that Bangladesh’s export earnings from knitwear garments declined by 5.17 per cent to $1.89 billion during July-May of FY 2019-20.

Similarly, the exports of woven products by the country declined by 14.31 per cent while its overall exports declined by 14.08 per cent compared to the last financial year. Huq further revealed inflow of new orders has also declined by 45 per cent compared to last year.

The three-month pandemic has led to a 90 per cent drop in production utilization causing 50 per cent of textile factories in Indonesia to permanently close in September. The Indonesian Textile Association (API) revealed the utilization of large industrial production is only 10 per cent remaining. This is lowering the industry financial condition to run low. API estimates the industry to last only until next September.

The pandemic had launched export markets and domestic products. As a national strategic industry that requires a large workforce, this industry needs serious attention from the government. Therefore, in order to ease business, some entrepreneurs have asked for the assistance in the form of easy banking loans, postponed payment of electricity tariffs during April-September and provided Corporate Tax PPH tax relief for 2020.

Since production in China has been disrupted, the Association noted around 17 containers of textile products coming from China. This number has increased with illegal smuggling. Some of the products are finished goods, so it is increasingly difficult for domestic industries to sell goods. This condition is exacerbated by the sluggish demand for textile products.

China is the largest exporter of textiles and textile products (TPT) to Indonesia. In 2018, the volume of TPT imports from China reached 4.392 tonne.

British luxury fashion brand Mulberry plans to reduce employee count by nearly a quarter across its global business. Most of the brand’s stores were closed since March 24. However, it has now reopened some of its stores in China, South Korea, and parts of Europe and Canada. Restructuring of workforce is another dent in what was supposed to be a big year ahead of Mulberry’s 50th anniversary in 2021, in preparation for which it had considered moving more of its manufacturing to the UK as part of a sustainability push.

The brand reported a net loss of £10m in the six months to September 2019 on sales of £69m. International revenues, led by Asia, grew in the double digits, but were offset by a 4 per cent decline in the UK. However, Mulberry continues to conduct business in all markets through its digital channels. So far, its digital sales performance has been good though it cannot fully offset the fall in demand witnessed from store closures.

The Bangladesh government plans to increase tax rate at source on exporters’ earnings to 0.5 per cent tax from the existing 0.25 per cent. The government has also extended the existing corporate tax benefits for garment and knitwear for another two years to 2022 after it expires on June 30.

Apparel manufacturers in the country currently enjoy 12 per cent corporate tax on incomes, nearly a third of the current corporate tax of 35 per cent for non-listed companies. According to recent media reports, the export earnings of these manufacturers declined by 18 per cent year on year to $31 billion in July-May of the current fiscal over figures during the same period in the previous fiscal.

However, their shipments trebled to nearly $1.5 billion in May from just over half a billion in April this year, according to Export Promotion Bureau data.

Though the income tax law in the country stipulates that exporters pay a 1 per cent source tax on the proceeds of their exports, the National Board of Revenue (NBR) cut the rate on several occasions during the past two years in the face of demands from exporters.