China’s General Administration of Customs (GAC) has threatened action against H&M for manufacturing low-quality, hazardous products that fall below China’s quality and safety standards.

As per a Jing Daily report, nine batches of H&M cotton dresses for girls were found to contain harmful color additives and other chemicals that might be hazardous if ingested or absorbed through the skin.

However, the Western media alleges that Beijing is singling out global fashion brands that made statements on forced labor in Xinjiang. And while some actions might appear retaliatory, China isn’t the only country to accuse the Swedish retailer of producing low-quality garments, despite its sustainability pledge.

In recent years, Western styles and trends have lost influence. With the rise of patriotism came a revival of traditional Chinese culture and fashion trends, but international fast-fashion retailers ignored the new reality and continued to promote the same old Western designs. Moreover, H&M didn’t get localization right. In fact, H&M clothing items have a strong Western aesthetic that doesn’t resonate with Chinese customers.

Chinese netizens argue that H&M’s only leverage is that it commands lower price points. But that cannot be seen as a competitive advantage in a country like China, which is known as the largest producer and exporter of clothing, textiles and apparel.

Chinese consumers already have access to trendy, low-cost clothing designed by domestic players in accordance with the taste preferences of local consumers. As such, China doesn’t need affordable Western brands.

In the near future, H&M needs to expand its product lines to incorporate items that reflect the local culture. Moreover, the Swedish retailer needs to improve the quality of its ready-to-wear line and take its sustainability and social responsibility pledge more seriously.

Fashion is no longer an exclusively women’s domain. For last few years, the menswear category has been witnessing rapid development, compelling retailers to adapt to consumer’s changing fashion choices. As per a report by global fashion journal MDS, menswear section underwent a huge transformation in 2016 as it outperformed women’s wear sector for the second consecutive time. The sector broadened itself to embrace gender fluidity and new menswear styles.

Demand for suits grow 1.3 per cent in 2021

Though today menwear sector is dominated by New Age professionals who prefer to dress in casual and comfy clothes, suits still remain the standard attire for formal occasions. Data from analyst Statista shows, after a 0.7 per cent decline last year owing to the pandemic, demand for men’s suits in the US is likely to rise 1.3 per cent to $6.76 billion this year.

Pre-pandemic, menswear brand Hugo Boss recorded strong sales and earnings growth in Q4 2019. EBITDA rose 9 per cent during the period to €122 million ($134 million). The company had restructured operations in 2018 to address clients’ need to create status-oriented, classic yet modern clothes. The brand aims to offer customers with more fashionable choices in future.

Another prominent menswear retailer Ermengildo Zegna Group has decided to revive its men’s line after a 4 per cent increase in revenues in 2018. The company had discontinued menswear label Agnona in 2000.

Sportswear gain popularity, formal wear decline

While revenues of some menswear brands have increased over the years, those of others have declined. A reason for this is the exponential rise in popularity of sportswear in the last few years. Statista figures show, sportswear segment is likely to grow 2.7 per cent year-over-year in 2020. Revenues from the sector are expected to rise to $ 7.4 billion in the United States alone.

The menswear category underwent a huge transformation in 2020. Demand for suits has declined though they are not completely abandoned. On the other hand, casual and sportswear have in popularity, encouraging many formalwear brands to diversify into these two emerging segments.

There is growing demand for made-to-order garments amongst Chinese luxury consumers. As a Jing Daily report affirms, in the last few years, China has witnessed the rise of a whole range of technologically dependent customization services spanning from Nike sneakers to luxury handbags to personalized items of clothing. Chinese luxury consumers are increasingly adapting to this rising trend which helps them stand out from the crowd. As a March McKinsey & Co report shows, customization has become a necessity rather than just a possibility for Chinese luxury consumers.

With growing adaption, consumers’ expectations for customization options have also increased, says Zhou Ting, Head-Research, Yoak Institute that surveyed over 40,000 Chinese millionaires and billionaires. They now look at customization as a way to express their personality and quality standards.

Customizing brands’ back-end operations

As luxury brands roll out new customization services, fashion tech entrepreneurs in China are endeavoring to adopt the made-to-order functionality to back-end operations. One of them is PlatformE, the start-up that drove to the creation of ABCDior, the customization pop-up launched by Dior. China’s luxury brands no longer depend on the inventory system as it often adds to fashion’s waste problem, adds Ben Demiri, Co-founder. For them, deadstock is a financial burden that can be unloaded only with made-to-order fashion.

Made-to-order also makes the current supply chain model more agile, opines Janice Wang, CEO, Alvanon which offers technologies to accelerate brands’ product development process by almost eight weeks. The company helps leading luxury brands Chanel, Alexander Wang, and Coach, develop their own sizing schemes with 3D scanning and data analytics. The technology can help shift the legacy design process to a 3D virtual sample creation, development and approval, adds Wang. 3D can help brands not just expand their made-to-order services but also enhance customers shopping experiences, he affirms.

PlatformE, which attracted leading investors including The Amorim Group, The Luxury Fund Management and Carmen Busquets, is known for transforming the linear supply chain model to an interconnected one. The startup helps brands personalize production as per customers’ request. It uses a platform approach that enables brands to engage into one-to-many-type of communication with consumers, says Demiri.

Made-to-order is also gaining popularity on China’s social media platforms. Louis Vuitton’s e-commerce brands Monogram and Goyard Chevron offer customization in their classic offerings. The sprouting of customization shops across China is also helping consumers personalize luxury items with cartoon figures, drawings of pets, portraits of their loved ones. Various customization options are being explored by luxury brands. Gucci is exploring made-to-order menswear services beyond Tier I cities like Beijing and Shanghai to Tier-II cities like Shenyang and Chengdu.

Brands are also exploring new customization types, notes Zhou Ting, Head. One of this is the ‘under the brand’ customization, which is similar to consumers’ perception of made-to-order luxury. The second ‘above the brand,’ customization enables brands to offer customization beyond their current offerings.

Lack of product samples and longer deliver times

Expansion of made-to-order has also given rise to new issues such as lack of customized product samples for Chinese consumers. Many brands are tackling this issue by using the new infrared technology, though the technology is yet to be widely adopted.

Another issue with Chinese brands is the longer time taken for delivering customized orders. Brands like Chanel and Celine take almost six months to ship a bespoke order. Reason includes, customization done from a European perspective rather than Chinese perspective. China therefore, needs to explore new customization techniques and combine them with previous experiences to offer a truly bespoke experience to customers.

IAF’s member from Korea, KOFOTI will hold the 22nd edition of PIS, Korea’s flagship textile exhibition, on both off & online platforms this year due to the ongoing COVID-19 situation.

The online edition, PIS 2021 Digital Show, will accommodate foreign textile companies that won’t be able to participate in the PIS offline exhibition due to COVID-19 pandemic. This offline edition will take place from the end of July to the end of December. Exhibitors can upload digital content such as photo’s and video clips onto their showrooms. From September 1 to September 3 foreign exhibitors will also have the option to display their physical samples during the physical fair in Seoul.

The fair will enable its exhibit to promote their products on a hybrid platform. They can also expand their promotion before and after the fair on the online platform. The fair will support business opportunities through the on/offline business meetings. It will propose future leading technologies through cooperation between each stream of major companies, expand opportunities of consumer goods, offer trend information through eco-friendly companies and expand buyer sourcing convenience.

adidas has launched a new share buyback program through its new strategy ‘Own the Game.’

The brand aims to generate substantial cumulative free cash flow over the next five years. It plans to share the majority of this – between € 8 billion and € 9 billion – with its shareholders through regular dividend pay-outs in a range of between 30 per cent and 50 per cent of net income from continuing operations, complemented with share buybacks.

Against this background and with the approval of the Supervisory Board, the Executive Board of adidas AG has decided today to launch a new share buyback program in the second half of 2021.

Starting on July 1, 2021, the company plans to buy back shares worth up to € 550 million until the end of the year. Taking into consideration the dividend payment of € 585 million which was made in May, the total amount of cash which the company will return to its shareholders in 2021 is expected to exceed € 1 billion.

As per data released by the Japanese Chain Store Association, menswear sales remained less affected for the second consecutive month in May ’21.

The apparel segment in Japanese chain stores generated sales worth 60,889.61 million yen ($549.57 million) in May ’21 as compared to 64,326.58 million yen ($587.42 million) in April ’21 – noting 5.30 per cent monthly decline.

As per Apparel Resources, revenues from menswear sales increased marginally by 0.10 per cent on M-o-M basis and hit a figure of 11,272.91 million yen ($101.75) in May ’21, while the sales increased by 12.70 per cent on yearly basis as compared to May ’20.

The sales of womenswear products valued 15,766.13 million yen ($142.30 million) in May ’21 and dropped by 2.40 per cent on M-o-M basis.

All other types of clothing including kidswear took a significant dent of 8.30 per cent on monthly note in May ’21 and accommodated 33,850.54 million yen (US $ 305.52 million) revenues.

A delegation of Tajik textile and clothing (T&C) companies is on an intense business tour to Uzbekistan to participate in an initiative promoted by the International Trade Centre under the Global Textiles and Clothing Program (GTEX). The tour aims to encourage regional linkages and share best practices among companies from the T&C sector, the International Trade Centre (ITC) in Tajikistan said.

The group comprises 24 Tajik institutions, including managers and representatives of 17 T&C companies, two consulting firms, two universities, two business associations, and one sector state ministry. The visit to Uzbekistan is scheduled from June 28 until July 3. The study tour aims to present and familiarize Tajikistan’s apparel sector to the textile value chain in Uzbekistan’s Fergana valley, namely Fergana, Namangan, and Andijan. Participants are expected to establish new business contacts and explore possibilities for sourcing materials and expand retail opportunities. In addition, they will also learn about business-specific subjects in Uzbekistan, such as taxes, import and export procedures, access to finance, and country’s support for the national T&C sector. Besides the business exchange, this initiative aims to build linkages with sector associations, T&C training institutes and universities for future collaboration.

Moreover, as part of the tour, the Tajik delegation will also visit local leading textile and clothing companies to learn about the technology and manufacturing processes.

During the second quarter spanning from March 01- May 31, 2021, H&M India’s net sales grew by 200 per cent to Rs 307 crore.

The Swedish fashion retailer a 30 per cent jump in net sales in India for the six-month period ended 31 May, 2021. As per Textile Excellence, the retailer’s net sales in India rose to Rs 836.6 crore during the period

H&M operates 50 stores in the country—apart from its own e-commerce channel as well sales on e-commerce marketplace Myntra. Globally too sales increased in the first half of the year, compared to a year ago period. The pandemic led to reduced footfall as a result of continued restrictions and store closures. At the most, around 1,800 stores were temporarily closed, i.e. around 36 per cent of the group’s total number of stores.

In the year-ago quarter, the retailer had reported 70 per cent y-o-y dip in net sales as India remained under a strict lockdown for most of the period. The retailer was quick to roll out more comfort and casual wear as the pandemic struck last year. This was true of its collection in India as well.

Apart from H&M, the retail group owns fashion brands such as COS, Monki, Weekday, & Other Stories among others. It plans to close 350 stores in 2021 and open 100 new stores. Most of the openings will be in growth markets while closures will mainly be in established markets.

Australian Wool Innovation (AWI) believes EU’s new labeling laws launched recently on apparel products is a disadvantage for all natural products. Don MacDonald, Director, Australian Wool Innovation says, his organization is advocating for robust science to underpin the PEF's rating methods, thereby maximizing wool's reputation and minimizing the risk that wool could be disadvantaged.

According to Macdonald, the Higg Index currently only measures the carbon footprint of that product up to the shop rack. He said, the organization is partnering the cotton industry in South Africa for the project. It is also urging the EU Council not to be swayed by the technical secretariat who advises the EU Council, adds Macdonald.

World’s largest trade fair organizer, Messe Frankfurt believes, demand for new and unique products has increased since last year with consumers emphasizing on quality over quantity. As seen from the first-hand accounts from exhibitors and buyers from the Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics editions in September 2020 and March 2021, and Intertextile Shenzhen Apparel Fabrics in July 2020, the pandemic has popularized anti-bacterial, anti-viral and other health related concepts.

Buyers are placing orders in small quantities. They are also ordering more patterns, brands and categories. In terms of consumer trends, people are now paying more attention to functional fabrics, such as anti-bacterial and sustainable products, which I think will prove to be even more popular in the future, says Hui Zhang, Regional Sales Manager, Beijing Vitality Textiles Co, China.

The pandemic has accelerated Chinese consumers’ high requirements for product quality and safety, adds David Chu, general manager, Shanghai Baosai International Trade Co. The overriding feeling that textile industry is recovering and progressing in China dominated conversations at the fair amongst the nearly 2,600 exhibitors and 80,000-plus buyers.