FW
Much like last year, the upcoming edition of Copenhagen Fashion Week will also feature 34 brands from Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Germany, and the UK at its upcoming edition. The event will be held from August 9-12, 2020. The steady number of participating brands clearly indicates that the industry continues to support the fashion week and believes in the value of standing together - also in an era where nothing is as it was.
The fashion week will present a wide range of the brands that have given Copenhagen Fashion Week its international attention. Danish brands include Ganni, Stine Goya, and Henrik Vibskov, while Sweden will participate with Rodebjer, Hope and Whyred; Norway with Holzweiler; Finland with Marimekko; Germany with Lala Berlin and Malaikaraiss and the UK with Rixo. It will be a combined line-up that especially represents Scandinavian brands and also includes other strong Northern European brands.
The fashion week will follow a new hybrid format that mixes digital experiences with physical events. The physical shows and presentations still remain a large part of the schedule with brands like Soulland and Mark Kenly Domino Tan staging physical events to be streamed digitally to secure exposure and reach. Many brands, like Baum und Pferdgarten and By Malene Birger, will present their universe entirely digitally, fostering new and innovative material to be showcased for the first time at Copenhagen Fashion Week. Ganni, among others, are preparing for a hybrid showcase format bridging physical and digital.
A projection by market research company eMarketer, China is likely to produce $5.072 trillion in retail sales in 2020 compared to $4.894 trillion to be produced by the US as the American market is likely to shrink by a large amount. China’s e-commerce battle between JD.com, Alibaba and Pinduoduo, and the nationwide implementation of digital innovations, is helping the country’s retail market bounce back much quicker than the rest of the world’s including the US, amid COVID-19 recovery.
Also, China’s potential growth rates for consumption and retail sales are higher than those of the US and other major markets as international factors — such as the protests in Hong Kong, territorial disputes with India and South East Asia countries, and the trade war with the US — could impede China’s recovery.
The Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) has urged the ministry of labor and vocational training to delay the 2021 minimum wage negotiations, arguing that the 2020 wage levels should remain intact as the sector is vulnerable during the COVID-19 pandemic. GMAC said since many factories have suspended operations and some are closing, support in the form of delaying the negotiations is necessary to help stabilize the sector.
The ministry issued a notification on June 10 on the schedule of minimum wage negotiations in the textile, garment and footwear sector for 2021, scheduled to take place from July to September. A ministry spokesperson, however, said the negotiations will continue as scheduled without any delay.
The Collective Union of Movement of Workers is worried that in future workers will suffer even more if the New Year minimum wage is not raised and other benefits are also reduced.
Indian readymade garment exports are expected to surpass the $30 billion mark by 2027, says rating agency CareEdge. This will translate into a 4.6 to 4.9 per cent share in world exports as against the current share of 3 per cent.
India’s readymade garment exports have been stagnant at around 15 billion dollars in the past five years. Currently, India has a market share of around 5 per cent in the EU and UK as Bangladesh, Vietnam and Pakistan have a tariff advantage of around 10 per cent vis-a-vis India in some of these markets.
Having adequate raw materials and a large workforce, India is poised to grab the opportunity in the global readymade garments market. India has a good presence across the cotton textile value chain from fiber to fabric while it has a limited presence in manmade fiber, which is expected to get a boost by the expected free trade agreement with the UK and the production-linked incentive scheme.
With the free trade agreements, India's share in the UAE and Australian markets are expected to increase and the trade pact with the UK would be a game changer as it will create a level playing field. Further having a presence across the entire value chain reduces transport costs and lead time, thereby providing a cost-effective solution to customers.
The workers of both the factories of Zara and Primark have protested against the management for sacking them on pretext of the global crisis. The workers even complained of poor sanitary conditions in the factory as well as rude language used by supervisors. The workers of Huabo Times factory also sent a separate letter to Primark requesting for the reinstatement of workers.
Several garment workers in Myanmar, who make clothes for retail bigwigs like Zara and Primark, came in for rude shock when they were sacked days after they had formed a union.
Days after registering for the union, around 100 garment workers of Huabo Times factory were sacked by the management. Those sacked were either union members or their supporters.
Shockingly, in less than 4 days all the sacked workers were replaced by 200 non-union workers from another factory – putting a question mark on management’s justification of laying off workers due to coronavirus crisis.
New Zealand start-up Aviro recently claimed to have developed the the world’s first clothing effective against the novel coronavirus. What initially started as a solution for women working in rest homes during the lockdown was developed into a product to fight the virus. The fabric used in the clothing range is treated with a chemical that destroys the virus.
The clothing was developed by Jamie Hunt, who founded Australasian sportswear brand 2XU and is the brain behind Aviro.
During the lockdown, Jamie's daughter discussed her difficulties in her daily routine as a healthcare worker that includes washing clothes, disinfecting shoes and running to the shower, according to New Zealand media reports.
In just two months, Jamie used his contacts to create a range of clothes and masks sprayed with a special virus-killing layer. The technology was first created in 2011 by Swiss company Hei-Q. It works to draw viruses to the surface and then breaks them open, destroying them in the process.
The virus pops open, breaks up and quickly gets destroyed, according to HeiQ chief executive officer Carlo Centonze.
The product has been tested at independent labs to prove the fabric lives up to the claim of being effective after 30 washes.
Style Group, a producer of blinds, has launched two highly innovative fabrics to fight against COVID-19.
The United Kingdom-based company -- which has production plants in Spain, the Netherlands and Romania -- generates fabrics for the home, business and hotel industry.
It has launched a new line of cloth technologies which are made up of Antivaltex -- a new cloth that kills corona type viruses in the very contact, and Aircleantex -- a cloth that transforms ultraviolet light and purifies the air.
Coimbatore-headquartered denim fabric manufacturing major KG Denim has introduced a rechargeable chlorinated- finish smart technology fabric called ‘BioRefresh’.
The fabric was developed in-house; our technology enables the fabric to repeatedly absorb chlorine from commonly available detergents like Rin Ala to disinfect the fabric and remains effective up to 80 washes. The products antimicrobial and antiviral power is renewed with every bleach wash, during normal laundry processes.”
The chlorine on the surface of the fabric has been found “not harmful” and “will pass skin sensitivity tests”. Tests have shown that the effect on the fabric lasts up to two weeks.
Surface contamination is a major cause for transmission of infectious diseases. Textiles are a good media for the growth of bacteria, fungi and viruses, albeit under humidity and warmth. It is not only important to kill these microbes, but destroy them at a faster rate to avoid the transmission.
BioRefresh products are recommended for use in hospitals, schools, canteen and food packaging industry. The company is in the process of patenting both the technology and trademark.
The Vietnam General Confederation of Labour (VGCL), the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS), the Vietnam Leather, Footwear and Handbag Association (LEFASO) and the National Federation of Christian Trade Unions in the Netherlands (CNV) recently signed a statement on joint initiative to address COVID-19 impact on workers and businesses of the textile-garment and leather- footwear-handbag industries in Vietnam.
The organisations called for building an agenda and a road map involving social partners wishing to join hands to overcome the crisis and develop sustainable and prosperous industries.
They recommended investing in strategic partnerships and promoting social dialogue that suits the context in Vietnam and international labour standards, according to Vietnamese media reports.
According to VGCL Vice president Ngo Duy Hieu, the pandemic has affected employment in these sectors, with more than a million of the 4.3 million employees turning jobless while the rest have worked at only 50-60 per cent of their capacity, thereby decreasing their incomes.
In 2020, the export turnover of the textile-garment industry is forecast to drop by $8.5 billion while that of the leather-footwear-handbag sector may fall by $5.5 billion. Due to COVID-19, shipments to the European Union alone by both industries are projected to decrease by nearly $5 billion this year.
With millions of Americans becoming unemployed, the market for second-hand clothing is growing in the country. Recent data by the Commerce Department indicates second hand clothes retail platforms in the country continued to record robust sales as consumers became increasingly price-conscious. ThredUp’s recent annual report also revealed that from mid-March to the end of May, its weekly gross transaction volume grew by 20 per cent compared to the same time period last year. From mid-April to mid-May, Poshmark too experienced a 50 per cent increase in clothing and accessories sales compared to the previous year while the traffic on Depop’s platform increased by 100 per cent year-over-year in April.
Compared to traditional thrift stores or the first wave of resale sites like eBay, digitally-native resale sites like Depop, Poshmark, and ThredUp offer more of a social experience. For instance, Poshmark hosted in-person meetups for sellers. It also added a Stories feature, similar to Instagram’s and Snapchat’s, to its app in April. That has been a benefit during the stay at home orders, when people were spending more time online.
However, one challenge that all of the secondhand apparel sites are facing right now is that items are taking longer to ship — which can turn away first-time customers if their items take too long to arrive. Unlike some other resale sites, ThredUp sellers don’t directly ship items to buyers — they instead ship them to ThredUp warehouses, where the company cleans and inspects items before making them available for purchase on its website. Hence it takes ThredUp longer to process items thanks to social distancing and stricter cleaning measures that it has implemented in its warehouses.
