Beating its competitors in the US market, became the largest denim exporter to the country in 2020.

As per Textile Today, Bangladesh is also the number one denim products supplier to the European Union, which imported over 65 per cent of the clothing products of Bangladesh.

According to the US Office of Textiles and Apparel (OTEXA), Bangladesh’s earning from its denim exports to the US declined by 4 per cent ito $561 million in 2020 from $585 million in 2019.

However, Bangladesh’s market share in US denim products rose to 20.03 per cent in 2020 taking the first position from Mexico. Mexico holds the second position with a 16.74 per cent market share followed by China 11.85 per cent.In the last five years, Bangladesh recorded a 7.18 percentage point gain to 20.03 per cent from 12.85 per cent in 2016.

The country holds a 29 per cent market share of total EU denim markets as of 2020. According to statistics from the Directorate-General of the European Commission, Eurostat, Bangladesh has earned over €1 billion from exporting denim products to EU countries during the January-December period of 2020, which was €1.27 billion in the previous year.

A strong backward linkage industry especially in fabrics manufacturing and washing helped Bangladesh to become a leading exporter of denim products. Exporters also invested a lot in research and innovation, product development and technological upgradation, which paved their way to growth.

Branding of Bangladeshi denim products through expositions also helped the country attract the attention of global buyers.

Steve Lamar, CEO and President, American Apparel & Footwear Association President welcomed the passage of the PPP Extension Act of 2021, which will extend the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) application period beyond the March 31, 2021 sunset date.

Lamar said, giving small business more time to file PPP applications is essential for our industry, and our workers, to make it through to the other side of the pandemic. This is an important signal from the federal government that they will continue to support American businesses and American workers until the economy can sustain itself.

Earlier this month, AAFA called on Congressional leadership to lead swift bipartisan action on PPP extension to provide relief to America’s small businesses that led to today’s passage of the PPP Extension Act. Beyond stimulus, AAFA continues to remind Congress that the industry needs legislation to build a backstop for trade credit insurance and create limited liability protections, both of which are needed to sustain the industry's recovery.

Amazon has urged the Indian government not to change e-commerce foreign investment rules until investigations into its business practices had been concluded.

As per an Economic Times report, the government has been planning to revise e-commerce foreign investment rules for weeks. The last time they were changed, in 2018, it forced Amazon and Flipkart to rework their business structures and soured trade relations between India and the United States.

Last month a Reuters report, based on internal Amazon documents, revealed that the US firm had for years given preferential treatment to a small group of sellers on its platform, giving them discounted fees and helping one cut special deals with big tech manufacturers.

Amazon said, CCI and the Enforcement Directorate were probing the allegations and it would be premature to make any policy change until those proceedings have concluded. It added that it welcomed the government consultation process and the foreign investment policy needs to be stable and predictable for investor confidence.

More foreign retail brands were criticized by the Chinese social media in the wake of Beijing's propaganda offensive against H&M over the Swedish company's previously aired concerns on Xinjiang.

Earlier, Chinese state media had singled out H&M for making a statement against forced labor in Xinjiang, and that it did not source products from the Chinese region.

A social media frenzy ignited by a government call to stop foreign brands from tainting China's name sent internet users looking for other previously issued statements by foreign retailers on Xinjiang.

Nike Inc, which said earlier in an undated statement expressed concerns about reports of forced labour, came under fire. And so did German sportswear firm Adidas.

Many internet users vowed to stop buying Nike and support local brands such as Li Ning and Anta, while others bluntly told Adidas to leave China. Internet users also targeted the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI), which in October had suspended its approval of cotton sourced from Xinjiang for the 2020-2021 season, citing concerns over human rights.

As per data compiled by Local Data Company, better known as LDC, UK could see closure of as many as 18,000 stores in 2021.

As per Apparel Resources, UK high-street retailers and those in shopping malls are still battling the crisis. After a disappointing holiday season late last year, 2021 too began with the fall of mighty retail giants like the Arcadia Group and Debenhams.

Even other British clothing brands like Apricot too have been struggling. Apricot recently got approval from creditors for its company voluntary arrangement (CVA).

A data, compiled with PwC, reportedly, found that of the 11,000 stores that closed down in 2020, 9,877 were retail units run by chains, while 1,442 were independent stores, restaurants and leisure outlets.

The number 9,877 is the highest on record so far – equivalent to 48 stores shutting down every day.

With vaccine now getting rolled out at a faster pace and Government committed to help the retailers, one just hopes situation too improves fast and 2021 doesn’t turn out to be as bad as predicted.

Despite a decrease in production of 5 Mb compared with the preceding year, US cotton shipments have grown by 15.25 million bales this year, says the latest USDA report. China accounted for nearly half of US exports in the first five months with its overall import estimate at 10.5 MB bales, the maximum for seven years.

According to the report, Chinese demand is estimated to rebound by 5.5Mb and hit 38.5Mb in the past year, which account for more than one-third of global usage in 2020-21. China’s demand for US cotton has largely been driven by the SOEs, which accounted for more than 3/4 the overall import of US cotton by 2020/21.

Despite US prices being higher compared to Brazil and India, US sales and shipments to China through December exceeded previous year by more than 2.3Mb. Australia, another significant supplier to China, witnessed exportable supplies decimated by a 2020 drought. Like the US, Australia is a significant supplier of high-quality cotton to the world’s largest importer.

Boohoo has slashed the number of suppliers to 78 approved factories in 100 locations, down from an estimated 200 main manufacturers.

That reduction comes after the majority of its suppliers were audited twice by two independent companies via unannounced visits over the last eight months. Boohoo said the resulting review had identified many failings, alongside recommended improvements to the firm’s related corporate governance, compliance and monitoring processes".

Group CEO John Lyttle said the review had identified significant and clearly unacceptable issues and that it was clear that the brand needs to go further and faster to improve our governance, oversight and compliance.

The published supplier list comes after damaging newspaper reports last year highlighted the firm’s controversial supply chain in Leicester where factory staff were allegedly paid less than minimum wages.

Boohoo stressed that the reports showed it had not deliberately allowed poor conditions and low pay to exist within its supply chain and it did not intentionally profit from them and its business model is not founded on exploiting workers in Leicester”.

Lyttle said the group is implementing necessary enhancements to its supplier audit and compliance procedures, and the board’s oversight of these matters will increase significantly.

A sector that has benefitted immensely from the pandemic-induced lockdown and movement curbs in India is the e-commerce sector. Convenience of online shopping is encouraging many to move to digital platforms not just in metros but also in Tier II cities and beyond. As per a Live Mint report, consumers are fast adapting to changing e-commerce trends as more kirana stores and offline stores launch online retail. Amongst new users on the Grofers platform last year, 64 per cent were first-time online grocery shoppers while 20 per cent were new e-commerce users, says it spokesperson.

Adding new features to expand consumer base

Flipkart’s new e-commerce user base also grew 50 per cent during the first lockdown. Among them, Tier III and smaller city users registered the highest growth from July to September. The e-commerce firm introduced new features like a voice assistant and vernacular interfaces to enhance the shopping experience of its consumers. This helped it expand customer-base during the pandemic, observes Saurav Chachan, Engagement Manager, RedSeer Consulting.

Consumer demands for online goods during the lockdown reflected their lives under the influence of the pandemic. They mainly shopped for essentials like groceries, home office essentials like laptops and headphones, furniture, consumer electronics products, health and fitness products, household products, personal grooming products, apparel, toys and books. Demand for laptops and desktops tripled in 2020 compared to pre-COVID levels, says Flipkart,

Initial hiccups

However, opportunities also brought along challenges for e-commerce companies as they had to struggle with product deliveries initially as the lockdown halted goods transport and movement of personnel in the country. The first two phases of the lockdown allowed e-commerce companies to sell only essential items like grocery, healthcare and pharmaceutical products. The complete ban on sale of non-essentials resulted in a low gross merchandise value for online retailers, says Chanchan. They also had to reorganize their systems and explore cross-industry tieups to deliver products to customers residing in containment and red zones, he adds.

For fashion e-commerce, the initial phases of lockdown were a complete nightmare as they led to zero business, says Amar Nagaram, CEO, Myntra. The e-commerce company had to introduce a new gameplan to overcome the grave situation. It collaborated with over 80 brands to procure and deliver masks across the country. It also launched the Myntra Studio to keep fashion-related content to its customers.

Market experts including Sachin Taparia, Founder and Chairman, LocalCircles, believe, changes triggered by the pandemic are likely to persist and shape the future growth of e-commerce market. According to them, online shopping is slowly being a way of life for Indian consumers.

All’s not well with the Chinese fashion industry. While sales of luxury brands like Dior, Chanel and Louis Vuitton are surging rapidly, fast fashion brands like Gap are being compelled to shut shop due to lack of business. As per a Bloomsberg report, Old Navy has decided to pull out of Chinese market due to lack of business. The brand debuted with a prominent flagship in Shanghai in 2014.

Brands like Inditex-owned Bershka, Pull & Bear, and Stradivarius also decided to shut down all physical stores in January. Together, these brands own 100 physical stores in the country. Inditex’s flagship brand plans to keep stores open as it has very few outlets in the country compared to local brands like Peacebird, Metersbonwe, Semir, and La Chapelle. Swedish rival H&M with over 500 stores in China registered 17 per cent decline in sales till November 30 last year, and had to close around 23 stores. It now plans to introduce Arket and & Other Stories later this year.

Penchant for local designs and products

Though China is a developing country with a young population, tastes in fashion are completely different. The Chinese favor local designs and products, resulting in growing popularity of Taobao brands, says Eddie Lim, a China veteran of fast-fashion brands including Bestseller, Etam and Beaumanoir.

One fast fashion giant that managed to make a mark in China market is the Bestseller Group. Established in 1996, the company has multiple brands — including Jack & Jones, Vero Moda, Only and Selected — and operates more than 7,000 stores across China. Its Chinese business is run as an independent 50:50 venture and creates own localized collections. For instance, a spaghetti-strap, long maxi dress is sold alongwith a T-shirt and a jacket in China while in Europe it may be sold as a standalone piece.

Brands also have to contend with China’s’ approach to COVID-19 recovery. While Western consumers are still stuck with loungewear, Chinese have returned to pre-pandemic styles with dining and social activities open at full capacity since April 2020.

Overall, fast fashion has not having a smooth ride for the past few years. Many brands are facing problems even in their home markets says Jane Du, General Manager, China World Exhibitions. For instance, once a popular domestic brand La Chapelle clocked in heavy losses and plans to delist from the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

Influencers, live streams to boost collections

To survive, brands need proper marketing, opines Du. They need to create freshness by roping in influencers and live streaming their products. A brand that is doing well in China is Uniqlo which retails basic wardrobe staples besides introducing crossover collection to attract customers. Another aspect, fast fashion brands need to consider while entering the Chinese market is the turbo-charged speed with which fashion market keeps changing, especially with the rise of e-commerce brands on Taobao. A Guangzho-based online brand creates design samples in half a day, beating brands based in Beijing or Hangzhou that require at least a week to cut and fit new samples.

Therefore, new fast fashion brands quicken their pace of launching new products. The market is still dominated by price rather than other factors like sustainability, though there is a slow shift to sustainable fashion in the country.

The local garment manufacturers are expecting good gains during the summer season as the import of garment from China and Vietnam have been hit owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Expressing their satisfaction, the local garment manufacturers believe that if the trend continues for some more time, the local garment industry will benefit hugely and buyers will start reposing confidence in ‘Make in India’ products.

During winters, the local garment industry gained profit because the import of readymade garments from China, Vietnam and Bangladesh was hit. Sudershan Jain, president, Knitwear and Apparel Manufacturers’ Association, said owing to the pandemic, the imports from Red Dragon had been hit hard.

Local garment dealers believe that not only garments but accessories as well were difficult to obtain China, owing to which, innovation on garmenthas taken a blow and the demand is hit.