China’s plus-size fashion market presents a huge opportunity for brands. As much as six per cent of the Chinese population is classified as obese, though in wealthier cities where people have access to unhealthy fast food that figure could reach 20 per cent.

A small group of mostly new retailers serves the full-figured market using tried-and-true techniques involving key opinion leaders and WeChat communities. Some like startup Garden Lis only hire designers with a minimum of four years’ experience conceptualizing clothing for plus-size women, which the brand defines as adults weighing between 130 and 180 pounds. Garden Lis also has franchise stores selling its premium style-forward clothing in sizes from L to 6XL.

MsShe, for its part, leverages influencers to get its products in front of its target demographic. The brand has ten full-figured women on staff tasked with giving every new style a dry run and then showing customers how to incorporate these pieces into their existing wardrobes. Another newbie, Muzi Lixiang, has amassed more than 8,00,000 fans and followers since it arrived on the scene in 2016. The company requires employees to weigh at least 150 pounds to ensure that they can relate to their customers.

Western plus-size players could gain share and grow their revenue by serving this market.

The Asia-Pacific region is expected to grow 5.7 per cent this year, predicts the Asian Development Bank. For 2020, the region is forecasted to grow 5.6 per cent, which would be the slowest since 2001. The trade conflict between China and the United States could undermine investment and growth. Uncertainties stemming from US fiscal policy and a possible disorderly Brexit are other risks.

China’s economy will probably grow 6.3 per cent this year. Beyond trade risks, China’s growth will also be retrained by restrictions on shadow banking, which is expected to limit credit expansion even as fiscal stimulus provides some offset. By region, South Asia will remain the fastest growing in Asia Pacific, with the Asian Development Bank predicting an expansion of 6.8 per cent this year and 6.9 per cent next year. From an estimated seven per cent growth in 2018, India's economy is projected to expand at a faster pace of 7.2 per cent in 2019 and 7.3 per cent in 2020 as lower policy rates and income support to farmers boost domestic demand.

This year’s growth forecast for Southeast Asia has been trimmed to 4.9 per cent from an earlier estimate of 5.1 per cent as Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines and Thailand are expected to grow slower than previously thought.

L Brands is losing its sheen mainly due to the dwindling performance of its brand Victoria’s Secret. Victoria’s Secret sales dropped five per cent in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2018. Meanwhile, comparable sales fell three per cent while comparable store sales (comps) tumbled seven per cent. L Brands is focusing on restructuring Victoria’s Secret, which was once known as the success formula for mass-market lingerie in the United States. The company plans to shut down 53 Victoria’s Secret stores in fiscal 2019, which failed to generate the desired results. Also, the company has relaunched the brand’s swimwear category. With this move, the company aims at boosting seasonal sales and store traffic.

Additionally, L Brands has sold its luxury lingerie brand La Senza. Further, in order to focus on its core product categories, L Brands plans to close operations at the luxury fashion accessories store Henri Bendel. L Brands’ gross margin has been contracting year over year for the past few quarters. For fiscal 2019, its gross margin rate is likely to decrease year over year, mainly due to lower merchandise margins. Also, SG&A costs are expected to increase year over year, stemming from higher wage rate and inflation-related pressure. Further, L Brands’ balance sheet doesn't look healthy, owing to a high debt level.

Kornit Digital, a global market leader in digital textile printing innovation, recently unveiled the game-changing Kornit NeoPoly Technology, which is the industry’s first digital, industrial process for high-quality printing on polyester. The new ground-breaking Kornit NeoPoly Technology addresses these challenges with a new process and ink set implemented in the renowned Kornit NeoPigmentTM process. Kornit’s new process handles polyester applications without compromising on design, run size, substrate or labor.

The breakthrough technological innovation is achieved by an innovative ink set and a physical and chemical process specifically developed for low temperature curing, and polyester enhancing functionalities developed to maintain fabric characteristics and provide superior fastness. This unique process prevents dye migration on polyester. The inks are Oeko-Tex and Eco-Passport certified and do not contain PVCs or other toxic ingredients.

The first system equipped with the Kornit NeoPoly Technology is the new Kornit Avalanche Poly Pro, a member of Kornit’s world-class reliable, highly productive industrial platform. The single-step Poly Pro is the perfect system for the industry, enabling easy and cost effective short-runs and on-demand printing on polyester garments.

Indian Technical Textile Association (ITTA) – the apex body of Technical Textile manufacturers has signed an MoU with the Taiwan Technical Textiles Association (TTTA) to promote the Technical Textile Industry in both the countries. The MOU would facilitate Indian and Taiwanese companies to form joint ventures for technical textile manufacturing in either of the countries. Also, companies from both the countries would be able to collaborate for sharing technical knowledge and compliment the supply chain with trade of technical textile materials.”

ITTA office would facilitate Indian companies to trade and form joint ventures with TTTA members.

Volcom is a sports and lifestyle brand. It was acquired by Kering in 2011. The sale follows Kering’s decision to focus on the development of its luxury houses. The disposal will not have a material impact at the group level, either in terms of net result from discontinued operations (a non-significant capital loss) or cash flow (proceeds from disposal).

Kering manages the development of a series of renowned houses in fashion, leather goods, jewelry and watches like Gucci, Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta, Balenciaga and Alexander McQueen. By placing creativity at the heart of its strategy, Kering enables its brands to set new limits in terms of its creative expression while crafting tomorrow’s luxury in a sustainable and responsible way. Kering is enhancing its omni-channel capabilities. Kering is working on a suite of apps, the first of which is a store experience app that enables sales associates in-store to access stock levels in real time to provide their customers with a fully personalized service. Via the app, sales associates know instantly if a specific size or color is available in-store or if it can be ordered from other stores; they can also give customized styling recommendations.

India’s apparel exports are estimated to fall by four per cent or five per cent this year. Though exporters are targeting new countries, India has not been able to capitalise on the opportunity, mainly because of the cost advantage enjoyed by Bangladesh and Vietnam. The problem is further compounded by increasing competition from other exporting nations such as Cambodia and Bangladesh which enjoy lower labor costs than India. Demand from key import markets such as the Middle East, France, Sri Lanka and Sudan has been continuously on the decline in recent months. Exports have fallen between 16 per cent and 49 per cent.

Tamil Nadu is India’s biggest apparel exporter, followed by Maharashtra, Delhi, Karnataka and Punjab. These five states account for over 92 per cent of India’s apparel exports. The major exporting countries are the US, the EU (mostly Germany, France, Belgium, Spain, and the Netherlands), the UK, and the UAE. These four markets import 75 per cent of India’s apparel shipments. Markets that have seen an increase in demand for Indian apparels in the past two years include the US, UK, Japan, Chile and Israel. Overall, exports in these markets have risen between 23 per cent and 51 per cent.

The most promising new names on the Chinese fashion scene will star next June in Florence at Pitti Uomo 96’s guest nation project, promoted by the Pitti Immagine Discovery Foundation in collaboration with the Shanghai Fashion Week. The project will showcase 11 Chinese designers, and culminate in a show by the creative duo in charge of Chinese label Pronounce, Yushan Li and Jun Zhou, also featuring on the catwalk a deconstructed version of the Converse Jack Purcell sneakers.

For the occasion, Pitti Uomo will also host an exhibition by Leslie Zhang, one of China’s foremost fashion photographers. The 11 labels taking part in the guest nation project are 8on8 by designer Gong Li, who was awarded a Grand Prix LVMH Scholarship, Danshan, Ffixxed Studios, Junwei Lin, Percy Lau, Private Policy, Pronounce, Samuel Guì Yang, Staffonly, The Flocks and Untitlab.

Brazil is promoting its apparel and textile industry in Mexico through a series of roadshows. Executives from Brazilian companies like Dohler, Scanone, Ober, Suominen and Fibertex are meeting companies in the cities of León, Aguascalientes, Guadalajara, Puebla, Monterrei and Mexico City.

The trade mission is aimed at companies in the technical fabrics and nonwoven fabrics segments. Mexico happens to be a market with lots of potential since there are very developed technical fabric and nonwoven fabric industries, such as footwear, civil construction, automobiles and more. The roadshow is being held from April 1 to 4, 2019 and being organized by Texbrasil (Brazilian Textile and Fashion Industry Internationalization Program), a partnership between the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency and the Brazilian Textile and Apparel Industry Association.

Brazil’s apparel market is expanding at a substantial CAGR. Brazil is one of the largest exporters of apparel and fashionable goods. Arab countries are some of the largest importers of apparels and textiles from Brazil. The United Arab Emirates accounts for the highest imports from Brazil, followed by Egypt, Algeria, and Morocco. Advanced techniques used in manufacturing helps manufacturers meet the demand from various countries. With the recovering economy, the apparel industry is expected to rebound over the coming years.

The safety of workers making clothing for global brands like Adidas and H&M could be at risk if Bangladesh's Supreme Court moves orders a factory inspection mechanism set up by European fashion labels to shut down. The government has shown a shocking level of unreadiness to take over from the Bangladesh Accord — signed by about 200 major brands and unions after the 2013 Rana Plaza disaster — including Clean Clothes Campaign.

Bangladesh, the world's second-largest garment producer, is capable of monitoring the country's thousands of factories through its Remediation Coordination Cell (RCC), which is currently responsible for the safety of 745 factories.

Worker safety has come under scrutiny in Bangladesh after the Rana Plaza factory collapsed, killing about 1,100 people, and putting big brands under pressure to ensure their products are responsibly sourced.

The Supreme Court is considering an appeal by the Accord against a ruling last year which ordered it to shut down, following a petition by a factory owner who was prevented from working with Accord brands and accused of false test results. None of 745 factories under the government's RCC inspectors has eliminated high-risk hazards — such as lockable exits that could trap workers during a fire — identified at least three years ago.

The Clean Clothes Campaign report said that Accord had banned 114 critically unsafe factories from supplying its signatory buyers, but half of these facilities remain open under the government's inspection program.