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In order to restore clothing orders, suspended or canceled by many European brands and retailers after the COVID 19 Pandemic, Bangladesh recently sought help from the European Parliament. The cancelation or suspension of work orders has disrupted the sector and forced many owners to lay off workers, said Dr Jafar Uddin, Secretary of Commerce in a letter to Bernd Lange, Member of the European Parliament and Chair of the International Trade Committee.
In recent weeks, several thousand vulnerable employees lost their jobs, plunging their lives and livelihoods into deep uncertainty. He urged Lange to take the steps to save the RMG employees’ lives and livelihoods, most of whom are women. BGMEA noted that some four million employees currently working in
Bangladeshi garment factories are the most vulnerable, as some 1,150 apparel factories registered order cancelation or suspension of goods worth $3.18 billion until April 29. BKMEA also announced that out of 833, its 523 members registered a $1.78 billion suspension or cancelation of an order.
Pontetorto’s spring/summer 2024 collection is a tribute to nature and its harmony.
Structures are taken to extremes, emphasizing weaves and opening into micro patterns and tonal effects. Textures are delicate but firm at the same time conferring a distinctive character. Fabrics have aspects ranging from clean to mottled, with sustained and compact weights side by side with light and fluid ones, always enhanced by the brightness of man-made fibers that contrasts with the opacity and gentleness of natural fibers.
The color palette ranges from natural, white and caramel, to sand and cloud grey, from sorbets, such as melon and lime, with a delicate intensity, side by side with lavender, to the strength of sunflower to the serenity of light blues and midnight blues to end in black/white declined in a reassuring summer tweed.
On the jersey fabric side, hemp rediscovers elegance, interwoven with linen for interlock and roma stitches. More textural weaves bring out the true soul of linen in écru dyes, delicate and precious. Compact weaves are made using an innovative technique that combines premium nylon with natural yarn for fashion and function of pure excellence.
The theme developed on synthetic fabrics includes the range of jacquard and ultralight nylon items, made with exaggerated finesse.
Pitti Immagine has canceled all the physical trade shows slated for September, including Pitti Uomo, which was expected to run September 02 to 04, 2020. The Florence-based fair organizer will now focus on implementing and promoting the Pitti Connect digital platform, which will be available to exhibitors and industry operators starting in July.
In April the fair organizer decided to reschedule the 98th edition of the Pitti Uomo — originally slated for June 16 to 19 — following Camera della Moda Italiana’s decision to postpone the upcoming Milan Men’s Fashion Week to September.
At the time, dates for the other shows operated by Pitti Immagine were also changed, including the children’s wear-focused Pitti Bimbo fair, that was expected to run Sept. 9 to 10. Other events now forgone include Pitti Filati, whose new dates had yet to be announced; Pitti Fragranze and Super, meant to run Sept. 11 to 13 and Sept. 24 to 27, respectively.
Supported by the Italian Trade Agency ICE, Pitti Connect marks the evolution of Pitti Immagine’s existing digital platform. The advanced network and market tool intends to promote the shows and aid exhibitors to increase their visibility, connect them with buyers as well as support them in managing orders and hosting digital live presentations.
Cinte Techtextil China 2020 exhibition will be held from September 02-04 in halls N2 – N4, Shanghai New International Expo Centre. Some of the leaders like Truetzschler, A Celli Nonwovens SpA, ANDRITZ, Autefa Solutions Germany GmbH, Dilo Systems GmbH in meltblown and nonwoven elites will participate in this exhibition with their latest solutions.
According to CNITA’s figures, the demand for nonwoven fabrics in 2019 continued to be strong worldwide in terms of production. The annual output of nonwoven fabrics of large-scale Chinese enterprises reached 5.03 million tonne, a year-on-year increase of 9.9 per cent.
In terms of economic growth, the main business income of nonwovens increased by 2.9 per cent and the gross profit margin increased by 0.3 percentage points in 2019. In terms of international trade, China’s nonwovens exports in 2019 were one of the top three export products, while the export value increased by 5.4 per cent.
The export volume of nonwoven fabrics was 1.051 million tonne, an increase of 9.1 per cent year-on-year. The export of disposable sanitary products continued to be active, and the export quota and export volume increased significantly by 16 per cent and 18.8 per cent respectively over the same period of the previous year.
Even though meltblown materials have not been in the mainstream production in China, they are now in huge demand due to the greater production of and investment in masks, medical protective clothing and disinfection wipes.
The Commerce Department’s Office of Textiles & Apparel (OTEXA) reported recently that as most apparel stores were shut down and importers were either canceling or slashing orders due to the economic fallout from COVID-19 and government stay-at-home orders in place at the time, overall apparel imports from the world tumbled by 45 percent in April compared to a year earlier to $3.41 billion.
US apparel imports from China fell by a staggering 46.44 percent year to date through April to $3.89 billion compared to the same period in 2019, according to OTEXA. For the month, imports from China sank 59 percent to a value of $621 million, falling well behind the now top supplier Vietnam. Also impacting China’s status are the effects of the trade and political turmoil with the U.S. that has put a tariff-reducing trade deal in limbo.
Shipments from Vietnam declined b 20 percent in April year over year to $805.35 million. For the first four months of 2020, imports from Vietnam dipped 1.31 percent to $4.19 billion.
Among the Top 10 suppliers, only Bangladesh and Cambodia saw increases for the year to date. Imports from Bangladesh rose by 2.13 percent in the period to $2.08 billion, while shipments from Cambodia were up by 16.92 percent to $946 million.
Among the rest of the top Asian suppliers, India’s imports were down 113.07 percent year to date to $1.36 billion, Indonesia’s fell 8.66 percent to $1.43 billion and Pakistan’s dipped 2.02 percent to $456 million.
Bangladesh’s cotton import from India dipped further last year as locals moved to suppliers from North and West African countries to cut reliance on the neighboring country. In 2019, Bangladesh imported 18 per cent of its cotton from India, reveals data from the Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA). However, last year, the country imported 41 per cent of its cotton requirement from East and West African countries.
According to BTMA, the main reason for this is the low quality of Indian cotton. Also, a section of Indian cotton traders doesn't maintain timely shipment and deliver the right quantity as per agreements. Due to this, over $8 billion worth primary textile sector in Bangladesh has to suffer. Such uncertainties emerged several times in the past. BTMA therefore urged India to minimize its contamination problems. Also, since Indian cotton prices are almost similar to other countries, importers are looking for sellers in Western and Eastern African countries.
The UP government recently received a demand for nearly two lakh wrkers — tailors and support staff from Noida Apparel Export Cluster (NAEC).
The demand was made for around 3,000 readymade garment and export units operational at Apparel Park in Noida. After checking the database, the government has been able to locate around 75,000 tailors and support staff and has decided to facilitate training to meet the rest of the demand, sources said.
In the letter, the NAEC chief told the government that around 3,000 readymade garment units employ nearly 10 lakh workers and export Rs 18,000-Rs 20,000 crore readymade garments but added that production stopped completely amid the pandemic and nationwide lockdown. The cluster was now preparing to restart the units, but these are unable to start operations due to lack of manpower.
A new survey by consulting firm McKinsey & Company, in partnership with Italian Fashion Chamber (CNMI) and Pitti Immagine says, the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic will leave long-lasting scars in the luxury sector, and recovery will be slower than predicted. The sector will to wait till the second half of 2021 to generate the same levels of shares as recorded in 2019. Global luxury goods sales are expected to drop by €130 to €140 billion in 2020, down from the €390 billion the industry was worth in 2019, and by another €40 to €50 billion in 2021.
Between January 1 and March 18, the fashion and luxury industries lost nearly 30 per cent of its stock market value. The market capitalization of leading fashion and luxury labels plunged with their share prices falling 32 per cent, while those of departments stores lost 50 per cent, and independent labels fared a little better, their share prices losing 26 per cent on aggregate. The survey found that personal luxury goods companies expecting their revenues to decline by 20 per cent - 60 per cent in 2020, while their EBITDA will suffer heavy losses too.
JC Penney is permanently closing 154 stores and will pursue store liquidations, as part of its Chapter 11 bankruptcy restructuring plan. The department store chain had previously planned to close 242 locations, leaving about 600 open. The company expects additional phases of store closing sales tol begin in the coming weeks. It believes that its store optimization strategy is vital to ensuring it emerges from both Chapter 11 and the COVID-19 pandemic as a stronger retailer with greater financial flexibility to allow it to continue serving its loyal customers for decades.
The company had reopened nearly 500 stores since government officials eased COVID-19 restrictions. The 117-year-old department store chain was already facing financial pressure before the COVID-19 crisis hit. In its most recent quarter, same-store sales fell more than expected and its net loss nearly doubled.
As per recent IBES data from Refinitiv, Gap Inc recorded $932 million loss in first quarter as against $2.11 billion loss predicted by analysts. This was mainly because the apparel retailer had to shut stores to curb the spread of COVID-19. The San Francisco-based brand, which operates nearly 2,800 stores in North America, had recorded a profit of $227 million year earlier.
The loss recorded by the brand also included a $484 million writedown on store and operating lease assets and an inventory impairment charge of $235 million. Net sales declined 43 per cent to $2.11 billion from $3.71 billion.
