The Fashion Pact has launched a series of initiatives geared at curbing the sector's impact on biodiversity loss after securing a $2million grant from the Global Environmental Facility.

The sustainable fashion coalition said the funding would go towards developing and sharing best practices geared at cleaning up supply chains, improving agricultural practices, decreasing deforestation, and minimizing pollution and natural resource extraction.

The funding, which will be co-executed by the Fashion Pact's technical partner Conservation International, will go towards providing signatories with a "foundational understanding" of the environmental impacts of fashion supply chains, with a focus on the production and extraction of raw materials such as gold, cashmere, and leather.

It will also be spent on identifying existing projects and opportunities that could enable the fashion industry to lessen its immediate and long-term impacts on biodiversity, according to the update.

Funding will be channeled into creating specific analyses that form the basis of action plans for the industry geared at addressing issues related to the intersection of climate change and biodiversity loss, the Fashion Pact said.

The grant money will also be spent on providing the Fashion Pact with tools it needs to track, measure, and monitor progress towards its sustainability goals.

Sales for spinning machinery leader Rieter fell by 25 per cent in 2020 as a direct consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As per Innovation in Textiles, the company’s 2020 sales were CHF 573.0 million, compared to CHF 760 million in 2019. Due to the low sales volume, a net loss of CHF 89.8 million was recorded and order intake was 31% down on the previous year.

With the exception of Turkey and Africa, all regions were affected by the low demand. In Turkey, Rieter benefited fro a willingness to invest, with sales up by 83% to CHF 122 million and in Africa a year-on-year increase of 11% was recorded.

The company now expects an order intake in the first half of 2021 exceeding that of the previous half year of CHF 389.5 million. Thanks to improved capacity utilization, Rieter is planning short-time working in only a few areas in the first half of 2021, but still anticipates that sales in the first half will be below its break-even point/ It does, however, expect to achieve an operating profit for the full year 2021.

US based fashion retailer of women's intimate and other apparel L Brands has posted 8.3 per cent sales decline to $11.8 billion in its complete fiscal 2020 ended on January 30, 2021 compared to the sales of $12.9 billion in the prior fiscal. The company's net income for the year jumped to $844.4 million compared to the net loss of $366.3 million in FY19.

The retailer’s gross profit during FY20 rose to $4.6 billion while operating income increased to $1.5 billion.In FY20, sales of Bath & Body Works grew 20.1 per cent to $6.4 billion. However, Victoria’s Secret sales slipped 27.9 per cent to $5.4 billion.

Looking forward, the retailer aims to remain focused on delivering compelling merchandise and experiences to its customers while maintaining a safe environment. It also plans to continue moving ahead in its plans to separate its two businesses.

E-commerce has helped lift China sales of Italian luxury goods group Salvatore Ferragamo, said Michele Norsa, Deputy Chairman. Norsa said, he expected sales in China to keep growing by double-digit percentage. Asia being the company’s largest market, accounts for half of the group’s revenues. In the first nine weeks of 2021, there has been a 86 per cent jump in digital sales with China and Korea both performing strongly.

The company’s Earnings before interests and taxes (EBIT) recorded a €62 million ($74 million) loss in 202 due to impairment charges booked on assets such as property and machinery. Analysts had on average expected a €64 million EBIT loss for 2020 in a Refinitiv consensus forecast.

Luxury goods high-end retailer Salvatore Ferragamo S.p.A was founded by the namesake Italian shoe designer who established a reputation for his innovative footwear in the 1930s. He was known for his experimentation with materials including kangaroo, crocodile, and fish skin for his shoes.

International and domestic suppliers at the upcoming Yarn Expo Spring will focus on sustainable products. The fair will now be held from March 17-19, 2021, a week later than its original scheduled date. International suppliers of organic and regenerated cotton at the exhibition will include Hengbang Textile from Vietnam which will showcase recycled cotton yarn and Xiamen Naseem Trade from Pakistan that will showcase organic / BCI yarn, 100 percent cotton single and double yarn.

Yarn Expo Spring will also be held online. Exhibitors will now also be online to connect with buyers through its AI-driven business matching platform. The online show will also allow ‘hybrid exhibitors’ to display their products onsite at the dedicated showcase area for buyers to examine in-person. Yarn Expo is a leading sourcing platform to both exhibitors and visitors. Suppliers from Asian and European countries showcase their latest collection of natural and blended yarns including cotton, wool, flax/regenerated flax, and man-made fibers and yarns, as well as specialty products including elastic, fancy and blended yarns.

Outland Denim is expanding operations by foraying into the ready-to-wear segment. As per Sourcing Journal, the B Corp-certified company has launched its Spring/Summer 2021 capsule collection known as Reset. Defined by luxurious fluid shapes with a subtle edge, the collection has been designed using Maeka Standard, a set of guidelines established by the label that include providing a living wage and education for garment workers, ethical sourcing and more.

The collection includes 100 per cent Tencel slip dresses, cotton button-down shirts and linen A-line skirts. Its swing dresses and shirt dresses are made from a blend of organic cotton and linen. The brand made its fabrics using handlooms sourced from sustainable clothing manufacturer Five P. The color palette of the collection includes neutrals and faded rose punctuated by stripes and blue leopard print.

The Reset capsule collection is now available exclusively on Outlanddenim.com and retails for $135 to $295.

ITMA Asia + CITME 2020 have started registrations for online visitors. To be held at the National Exhibition and Convention Centre (NECC) in Shanghai, the fair will offer special rates for visitors who purchase their badge at www.itmaasia.com and www.ctme.com.cn.

Show owners and organizers will work closely with authorities, such as the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council and the Shanghai Convention and Exhibition Industries Association (SCEIA), to implement preventive and social distancing measures to enable the combined exhibition will be held safely.

Ernesto Maurer, President, CEMATEX urged visitors to purchase their badge online to avoid onsite queues and allow better and smooth entry process. Wang Shutian, Honorary President, China Textile Machinery Association said, the association is organizing a combined exhibition looking at the needs of the industry. The pandemic has created pent-up demand for quality machinery for sectors such as nonwovens and technical textiles as less sales and marketing opportunities last year. Therefore, machinery manufacturers are eager to reconnect with the market.

The seventh edition of the combined exhibition is expected to feature a gross exhibition space of 170,000 sq m. Till-date, the exhibition has attracted the participation of 1,500 exhibitors, including many established machinery manufacturers from 24 countries.

As per China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA), applications for patents by the Chinese sewing machinery industry increased by 29.77 per cent on Y-o-Y basis to 7,326 in 2020. Among these, patent for invention constituted 25.39 per cent of the total while patents for novel constituted 60.66 per cent and those for appearance design contributed 13.95 per cent. CNIPA granted 518 new patients for inventions in 2020.

During the 13th five-year plan (2016-2020), the Chinese sewing machinery industry applied for 25,835 patents – 60.95 per cent higher than those applied during the 12th five-year plan (2011-2015). In particular, the industry applied for 82 per cent more patents for invention.

As per data, Chinese enterprises have invested more than 4 per cent of their sales into research and development with some companies applying for over 100 patents in a year. Enterprises have made noticeable achievements in terms of intellectual property, significantly improved their strength in innovation and mastered dozens of core technologies to help prepare a blueprint for the 14th five year plan.

Asif Inam, Chairman, APTMA-Sindh-Balochistan Region has strongly condemned mala-fide propaganda about shortage and unavailability of yarn despite imports being allowed from all over the world except India. He said, yarn is currently being imported from 59 countries and the customs data has been fabricated to magnify a slight decline by comparing exports of 28 days in February 2021 to 29 days in February 2020.

As per Inam, the downstream industry is creating a hue and cry over unavailability of cotton yarn even though they are provided all facilities including subsidized Export Refinance Facility, Duty Local Taxes and Levies (DLTL), etc. Moreover they are also allowed to import duty free cotton yarn under DTRE, Export Oriented and Manufacturing Bond Schemes if they find the local yarn expensive. On one hand, the downstream industry is pushing the government to introduce long term policies, and on the other, it is urging it to rescue them from the forward selling of foreign exchange, non-selling of foreign exchange and higher commodity prices all over the world. Inam urged the government not to allow import of cotton yarn, from India until trade relations between the two countries are normalized.

Intertextile Shanghai Apparel Fabrics Spring 2021 edition has been postponed and will be held from March 17 to 19 2021 at the National Exhibition and Convention Center. The fair has attracted a diverse line-up of global companies to join in-person, and seize business opportunities in China’s recovering textile market. International exhibitors will satisfy their visitors’ sourcing needs with quality products and extensive offerings.

Buyers who cannot attend the fair in person can access its online business matching platform, Connect Plus two weeks before and four weeks after the fair. Users can search for products from over 4,500 global exhibitors through AI-driven matching recommendations. They can chat via instant messaging and video call functions, and schedule online or onsite meetings.

Online exhibitors can also join the fair’s Hybrid Showcase to display their products for onsite buyers to touch and feel. Located in hall 5.1, SalonEurope zone at the fair will present the finest European fabrics to cater to the increasing market demand for high quality solutions. Swiss exhibitor Alumo will highlight the rising trend for luxurious casual looks with its fine Swiss cotton and leading shirting fabrics. First-time Spanish exhibitor Sidogras will offer finest fabrics for shirting, including the Continuity collection with permanent stock, the Season collection for responding to fast changing fashion trends, as well as its Bottom Up line for pants, jackets, dresses and drapery.

The Verve for Design zone will feature studios from Argentina, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands and the UK who will showcase their innovative designs. Participating exhibitors in this zone include Fairbairn & Wolf Studio and Anteprima Designs.