As per a new report from fashion search engine Tagwalk and “contemporary vintage” retailer Byronesque, the luxury secondhand market is estimated to grow 12 percent by 2021, compared to the overall luxury market at 3 percent. And looking even further ahead, by 2024, the secondhand market size is expected to spike 61 percent to a value of $50 billion.

This estimate closely follows the denim industry’s takeover of vintage denims that’s been snowballing over the past few years as sustainability shifts to the forefront. Tommy Hilfiger teamed with vintage retailer Procell last year to offer vintage pieces from its archives. Levi’s and Guess also announced their own vintage resale offerings earlier this year. Resale success, even during pandemic times, indicates a fruitful future for the category.

According to Byronesque, consumers aren’t looking for classic vintage denims. They’re specifically looking for creative pieces, such as Vivienne Westwood’s iconic slashed denim suit from the S/S 1991 show, Alexander McQueen’s bum-baring “bumsters” look from F/W 2000, Margiela’s oversized jeans from F/W 2000 and Helmut Lang’s paint-splattered splash jeans from S/S 1998.

As per an Economic Times reports, British fashion retailer Ted Baker’s half-year losses ballooned as coronavirus-led lockdowns dented retail sales.

The company had already being hit by profit warnings, management changes and an accounting scandal since founder Ray Kelvin stepped down as CEO in 2019 after misconduct allegations, before coronavirus compounded difficulties.

This year, the company overhauled its top management team and raised about 95 million pounds in equity to bolster its pandemic-hit finances. It expects its three-year turnaround plan to deliver £31 million in annual savings. Its pretax loss widened to £39 million in the six months ended August 8, from £2.7 million a year earlier.

José “Pepe” Vidal Royo, Co-founder, Jeanologia, passed away on November 30, at the age of 85.

The Spanish businessman started his career with the family business Tejidos Royo. He was the architect for the international expansion of the company and transformed it into a key denim player worldwide.

He co-founded Jeanologia in 1994, Royo alongwith his nephew Enrique Silla. This started a relevant movement in the fashion industry aimed at making denim manufacturing more responsible and sustainable.

In the ’90s, Royo, together with the Japanese Omori San, became an active promoter of Tencel, the fiber that revolutionized denim shirting and introduced the soft jean concept.

His continuous concern for the planet and the people led him to create the “Amigos de Rimquieta” Foundation in Burkina Faso, an organization dedicated to improving the quality of life in one of the poorest areas on the planet.

He also built wells and set up handlooms and traditional dyeing with natural indigo in Africa.

As per a report by the Hindu, Coimbatore-based KPR Mill plans to invest Rs 250 crore this financial year to set up a new garment production facility.

The plant will produce 42 million pieces of garments a year and will take the total garment production capacity of the company to 157 million pieces a year. The additional capacity produced by the plant will be exported to new and existing customers. The plant will commission production in the first quarter of next financial year.

Earlier, the company had planned to expand its facility in Ethiopia too. However, it finally decided to concentrate only on India. It will ramp up the capacity of its new plant gradually.

There was a lot of panic and fear in the market in March-April because of the spread of COVID-19. The market started picking up in August and the company has been registering good demand for its products since.

South Korean textile leader, Hyosung has forayed into the Brazil and Turkey markets to better serve clothing brands that depend on European and South American textiles in their performance material development. The company is expanding its creora elastane manufacturing facility in these two markets. The Brazil project will increase its elastane capacity to 22,000 metric tons after completion by mid-2022.

On the other hand, the Turkey project will increase the company’s elastane capacity to 40,000 metric tonne by Q3 ’21. These expansion plans are a result of rising demand for elastane in the global clothing sector due to consumers’ pick for comfort and athleisure segment in wake of pandemic. As per a Wood Makenzie report informs demand for elastane has been growing by 9 per cent per annum, which is more than three times of the growth rate of standard apparel fibers.

Addressing an AEPC event, Indian High Commissioner in Canada Ajay Bisaria said Canadian companies growing trust in India gives Indian apparel manufacturers a huge opportunity to increase market share in Canada.

Biseria explained, there is a great deal of faith amongst Canadian companies in the medium- and long-term prospects of India. Partnership between the two countries is propelled by India’s growing apparel exports to Canada. India currently exports apparels worth $318 million to Canada. Many top quality brands including GAP, M&S, Uniqlo and Calvin Klein already source from India.

A Sakthivel, Chairman, AEPC opined said, Canada is a thrust market for India and the country is taking continuous efforts to increase its share in the Canadian market. India is focusing on higher value and specialized products like manmade fibre (MMF) apparels, medical textiles and technical textiles. It is encouraging Canadian investors to set up manufacturing facilities in India directly or through joint ventures, Sakthivel informed.

Since India’s share in Canada’s MMF garments imports is only 1.5 per cent, it is working on expansion and improving MMF products in India’s apparel export basket, said Sudhir Sekhri, Chairman, AEPC. There are 1,000 Canadian companies doing business with India. Trade between the two countries amounts to $100 billion.

Textile Exchange’s Corporate Fiber and Materials Benchmark (CFMB) program plans to launch a tool to help the fashion and textile industry take urgent action on biodiversity, reports Sourcing Journal. Known as The Biodiversity Benchmark, the tool will be launched in partnership with The Biodiversity Consultancy and Conservation International, and supported by Sappi. It will allow companies to deliver positive biodiversity outcomes and benchmark their progress.

The Biodiversity Benchmark was co-created by Textile Exchange and The Biodiversity Consultancy, technical and policy specialists in biodiversity and ecosystem services, and Conservation International, a global nonprofit working to protect nature. Generous support was also provided by bio-based materials provider Sappi, as a corporate partner.

The Biodiversity Benchmark integrates biodiversity into business strategy and operations before making commitments, setting targets, and aligning with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It then explores the mapping of sourcing locations against the biodiversity value of the location. This helps companies make good intervention decisions, prioritize, and design actions.

The Biodiversity Benchmark was developed with the support of a multi-stakeholder advisory group, involving some 30 biodiversity experts, NGOs and representatives from across the fashion and textile industry.

Bangladesh apparel exports are suffering due to rising prices of raw materials in the country. As per Dhaka Tribune, prices of raw materials such as fabrics, yarns, cotton and packaging materials, have risen 5 to 10 per cent in the last couple of months. This is mainly a result of a rise in cotton prices, low productivity caused by the pandemic and a stronger Chinese yuan.

As per SM Khaled, Managing Director, Snowtex, raw material prices are rising every week, adding to manufacturers woes. Besides, importers are ordering more ahead of Chinese New Year holidays in February, leading to further rise in prices. Right now, manufacturers are under pressure to accept orders at lower prices, says Fazlee Shamim Ehsan, owner of Fatullah Apparels. In last three months, cotton prices have increased by 8-10 cent per pound, impacting the prices of yarn, adds Monsoor Ahmed, Secretary, Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA)

Bangladesh exports mainly five items: T-shirts, sweaters, trousers, jackets and shirts, which together constitute more than 70 per cent of the orders, according to Mostafiz Uddin, Managing Director, Denim Expert. Basic raw materials of these five items are cotton. As Bangladesh does not produce any cotton, an increase in cotton prices will indeed contribute to the rise in the production cost, adds Uddin.

Apparel industry accessory suppliers, who form its backward linkage, have also been sucked into this predicament as the apparel manufacturers are offering lower prices for their product in the face of price squeeze from Western retailers. On the other hand, the increase in raw material prices has left manufacturers in severe trouble and they are incurring huge losses, said Abdul Kader Khan, Managing Director, Khan Accessories and Packaging Company and President, Bangladesh Garments Accessories and Packaging Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGAPMEA).

The Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) has urged the government to simplify rules and changes in the Special Advance Authorization Scheme for garment exporters. The Council has recommended the issuance of Special Advance Authorizations to the apparel sector on self-declaration and self-ratification basis. At present, the facility of self-certification and self-ratification is not available to the apparel sector. Hence, apparel exporters have to wait for a longer period for getting SION fixed in the norms committee.

So, for faster clearances of cases, facilities of self-certification and self-ratification must be made available to the apparel sector as well, said A Sakthivel, Chairman, AEPC. He also suggested some changes in the Export Promotion Capital Goods (EPCG) scheme to take care of the growing need of capital investment in the sector. He further emphasized on the need to address the issues of duty disadvantage in the overseas market through free trade agreements.

Isko has launched the second edition of its Light on the Land capsule collection. Designed in partnership Miles Johnson and Isko’s own Italian style and washing research hubs, Creative Room and Iskoteca, the collection features 32 denim pieces made from low-impact materials and responsible finishing techniques, reports Sourcing Journal.

All of the fabrics used in the collection were carefully selected from Isko’s R-Two platform, which uses a mixture of reused cotton and recycled fibers. The reused cotton comes from Isko’s own production loss, which is tracked, traced and has the Content Claim Standard (CCS) certification. The reused cotton is then blended with recycled polyester derived from PET bottles. Fabrics can have the Recycled Claim Standard (RSC) certification or Global Recycled Standard (GRS) certification depending on the percentage of materials contained.

Light on the Land 2.0 also incorporates Cadica’s new and innovative trims made of organic materials, more efficient low-waste pattern cutting and design processes, improved sewing methods, removable rivets for end-of-life and biodegradable thread.