The deadline for submitting the second round of bids for purchase of sports brand Reebok from parent company Adidas, has been set on August 02. As per Women’s Wear Daily, Adidas hopes to complete the sale deal by the end of this year.

One of the potential buyers for Reebok includes brand management firm headed by Jamie Salter, the Authentic Brands Group. The group already controls the intellectual property of Shaquille O’Neal, the brand’s ambassador during the 1990s.

Another potential bidder for Reebok is WHP Global, the owner of the Joseph Abboud, Anne Klein and Toys “R” US labels, Headed by Yehuda Shmidman, WHP has received $350 million in equity commitments from funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management

Other private equity firms on the short list to buy Reebok include Advent International, Cerberus Capital Management, CVC Capital Partners and Sycamore Partners.

Adidas bought Reebok for $3.8 billion in 2006 and the price tag now is expected to be around $2.4 billion. In its most recent earnings release on May 7, Adidas only said it has incurred costs of 60 million euros related to the intended divestiture of Reebok in the first quarter, and is reporting all income and expenses for the brand as discontinued operations.

Seamless knitting machine manufacturer Santoni has collaborated with Australian Wool Innovation, and a number of yarn and fibre specialists for two new cycling garment collections that demonstrate the full potential of Merino wool used in technical seamless performance apparel.

As per Textile Value Chain, the two cycling clothing ranges have been made using Merino wool yarns from Südwolle Group and Santoni. They offer modern cyclists greater comfort, durability, and performance.

AWI has also launched a range of women’s riding clothing. The set includes a cycling bib, shirt, arm warmers, and socks, resulting in a full, layered gear for maximum riding performance. To develop the collection, AWI collaborated with creative knitwear designer Studio Eva x Carola. It is created from Hildago yarn from the Südwolle Group 83% Merino wool, 17% Nylon knit and Nylon.

Studio Eva x Carola has designed a line of cycling apparel and socks. The short sleeve cycling jersey has a gradient yarn colour application, a closed mesh body for air flow, and a varied density for breathability. The socks are manufactured with Südwolle Group’s Wagin yarn, which is composed of 100% Merino wool of 17.5 micron knitted along with Nylon/Elastane core spun yarn.

AWI created the AWI cycling jersey and short in conjunction with the Hong Kong-based business Chemtax. The men’s seamless cycling clothes were knitted using Santoni’s Top2 Fast technology and a Merino yarn from Südwolle Group and Fulgar’s bio-based EVO yarn. This collection’s burst strength and abrasion resistance have been thoroughly tested.

Ahead of the peak season, Mark & Spencer (M&S) has launched group suit fittings service at twenty-five of its biggest stores.

As per Fashion Network, the new service includes walk-in styling sessions alongside new virtual options. It allows men to book a slot for suit styling and fitting, an option that wasn’t available pre-pandemic.

The brand also offers online consultation featuring video calls and virtual appointments with an “extensive” suit offer. These sessions take place with experienced M&S menswear staff and follow the successful rollout of video consultations for bra fittings and furniture shopping, it said.

Customers fill in a short form ahead of their appointment, allowing the fitter to prepare some options in advance “making the service seamless and convenient”.

As well as exploring different styles and trying on various options, customers are measured “so they can purchase with complete confidence that it’s the correct size”.

And while the service is centred around suits, it also gives the retailer’s online and in-store services the opportunity to introduce customers to more casual items alongside formalwear and how they can be dressed together.

Italian men’s, women’s, and children’s clothing retailer OVS topped the Transparency index scoring 78 per cent of a possible 250 points, an increase of 44 per cent compared to 2020. Compiled by sustainable fashion campaign group Fashion Revolution, the Transparency Index ranked 250 of the world’s largest fashion businesses. As per Textile Today, the companies were ranked on the basis of information disclosed about their sustainability practices.

This year, for the first time, OVS disclosed some of its raw materials suppliers. It was one of only two brands, alongside Patagonia, to publish data on the number of workers in the supply chain that had been paid a living wage.

H&M Group came in second scoring 68 per cent, then Timberland and The North Face which both scored 69 per cent. European fast-fashion retailers C&A and Vans both achieved 65%.

Gucci achieved a score of 56 per cent and is the first luxury brand to enter the index’s top ten since it launched in 2016.

A total of 20 brands received a score of 0 per cent, including surfwear brand Quiksilver, denim brand Pepe Jeans, and luxury brands Max Mara and Tom Ford.

Almost all of the 250 brands included in the index did not disclose the number of workers in their supply chain that have been paid a living wage. Around 96 per cent did not publish a roadmap on how they plan to achieve a living wage for all workers in their supply chain.

While 62 per cent of brands published their carbon footprint in their own facilities, 26 per cent disclosed this information at the processing and manufacturing levels, and 17 per cent at the raw material level.

A total of 18 per cent of the companies in the index published data relating to their order cancellations during the pandemic. Only 14 per cent of brands disclosed the percentage of discounts applied on previously agreed payment terms.

Held from July 10-12, 2021, the Miami Swim Week included tradeshows such as Destination, Cabana, and SwimShow.

The events featured 33 Brazilian brands from the Brazilian fashion internationalization project Fashion Label Brasil, Texbrasil, and Brazalian Footwear, internationalization programs carried out through partnerships between Apex Brasil (Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency), and Abest (Brazilian Stylists Association), Abit (Brazilian Textile and Apparel Industry Association), and Abicalcados (Brazilian Association of Footwear Industries), respectively.

Held from July 10-13, 2021, the tradeshow Destination focused on premium audiences, emerging brands, and new designers. The Brazilian brands attending the tradeshow included Ampersand Heart, Raissa, NHall Resort Wear, Nay Sunset Wear, Paola Bernardti and Pura Swim from Texbrasil and Height, Andrea Bogosian, Nadia Gimenes Nannacay, Sau Swim Bikinis rom Fashion Label Brasil.

The SwimShow was held between July 10-13 and featured brands like Guria Beachwear, Planet Sea, Rio de Sol, Despi from Texbrasil and Mos Brazalian Beachwear from Fashion Label Brasil.

The event is one of the most traditional in the segment and has existed for over 30 years, annually attracting more than 7,500 buyers, manufacturers, designers, influencers, and fashion industry leaders from over 60 countries.

After many months of deliberating, L Brands’’ board approved the spin-off of the lingerie brand Victoria’s Secret that includes the Victoria’s Secret Lingerie, Victoria’s Secret Beauty and Pink divisions.

The move puts Victoria’s Secret on the New York Stock Exchange as a stand-alone firm, under the stock ticker “VSCO.” In addition, L Brands inc Inc. will soon become Bath & Body Works Inc., with the stock ticker going from “LB” to “BBWI.”

The changes are expected to take effect August 2. L Brands’ common stock will begin trading under the new stock ticker the following day.

L Brands plans to distribute 100 percent of the shares of Victoria’s Secret to eligible shareholders of L Brands’ common stock after market close on Aug. 2, with L Brands stockholders receiving one share of Victoria’s Secret common stock for every three shares of L Brands common stock held at the close of business on the record date of July 22.

Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan are serving as financial advisers for the deal.

Victoria’s Secret has been trying for over the last 18 months to revive the innerwear brand, which has been losing revenues and market share for at least three years prior to the pandemic.

After the deal to sell a majority stake of Victoria’s Secret to private equity firm Sycamore Partners fell through amid the pandemic, L Brands said it would separate the lingerie brand from the more lucrative Bath & Body Works brand.

The summer edition of Innatex will be held as per schedule from July 31-August 02, 2021 at the Messecenter Rhein-Main exhibition centre in Hofheim-Wallau.

As per Textile Network, more than 170 green fashion labels will exhibit at the 48th edition of Innatex.

Alexander Hitzel, Project Manager, Muveo GmbH, organizer of Innatex, says, the community is in desperate need of a trading platform that gives them the opportunity to meet their business contacts in person. There is also consensus among participants that the organizer should remain committed to the original dates rather than postponing the event until early autumn.

The pioneering trade fair for the green fashion industry certainly has no shortage of new concepts – among others, a new store concept is planned under the patronage of the IVN, International Association of Natural Textile Industry, and a special space celebrating African labels, created in collaboration with GIZ, the German Society for International Cooperation.

The safety and hygiene measures will be adapted to the latest regulations and approved by the health authorities.

Leigh Fibers and Tidal Vision have partnered to reduce toxicity in traditional textile treatments. According to this partnership, Tidal Vision will apply its Tidal-Tex water-based textile treatments, which incorporate chitosan, to products from Leigh Fibers, which is known for its textile-waste conversion.

To create Tidal-Tex, Tidal Vision processes its chitosan through crab and shrimp shells, sourced as by-products from seafood-industry waste. A nontoxic, biodegradable polymer, chitosan is a product that can be added to a textile manufacturer’s existing system.

Tidal-Tex is used by manufacturers of fiber at the top of the supply chain, such as Leigh Fibers Those fibers are turned into textiles by textile manufacturers further down the supply chain, and the treated products end up in all sorts of products from furniture, mattresses, carpet and more.“

The South Carolina location of the facility where the Bellingham, Wash.–headquartered Tidal Vision will produce its Tidal-Tex within Leigh Fibers’ 1 million-square-foot headquarters is centrally located in a hub of the United States textile industry. Tidal-Tex is applied via a simple act of dipping, spraying or coating. As a versatile product, Tidal-Tex can be applied to fibers, yarn, and woven and nonwoven fabrics. Through this partnership, the use of the facility will allow Tidal-Tex to be available at a lower cost than more-traditional treatments.

Held from July 07-09, 2021, Chinese international fashion brand fair, Fashion Shenzhen hosted over 1,000 Chinese fashion brands and companies. The fair included over 20 forum activities held in nine halls spanning 110,000 sq m.

The Fashion Shenzhen show featured three theme-based pavilions; Premium Label, Industry Value Chain, and Apparel Fabrics and Accessories. It had nine areas focusing on specific topics like vogue force, modern manufacture, design attitude, fashion accessories, fashion solution, modern home, premium apparel fabrics and accessories, and fashionable apparel fabrics and accessories to make more efficient business matchmaking between fashion enterprises and professional buyers.

In 2020, the Fashion Shenzhen show was upgraded to two shows per year spanning 80,000 square meter of exhibition space. The event hosted 827 exhibitors and 116,752 visitors despite COVID-19 restrictions across the world. The show attracted professional buyers from all over the world, making it one of the most popular fashion trade shows in Asia after COVID-19 outbreak.

Kering Eyewear has signed an agreement to acquire 100 per cent of the share capital of Lindberg, a high-end manufacturer of design-oriented, lightweight, and customizable optical frames with a specialization in titanium.

This acquisition is an important milestone in the successful expansion of Kering Eyewear and perfectly fits with its development strategy. Since its start in 2014, Kering Eyewear has built an innovative business model that enabled the company to reach a critical size in the market with close to €600 million wholesale external revenues pre-COVID (FY2019).

This acquisition will further reinforce Kering Eyewear as the most relevant player in the luxury eyewear market segment, adding to its portfolio a complementary and proprietary brand with strong legitimacy, undisputed know-how and best-in-class customer service in optical frames. Thanks to their business complementarities, both companies will be able to leverage on their respective strengths across the value chain, with synergies in distribution and geographical reach notably. This will contribute to accelerate the growth and enhance the profitability of Kering Eyewear.