In the US, Mirae Asset Global Investment is pleading that Anbang Insurance Group breached the terms of its $5.8 billion hotel chain sale by shuttering properties. Mirae claims that closures in response to the outbreak are irrelevant. A unit of Anbang has sued to force the Korean investor to complete the transaction.

These lawsuits are being watched closely in India. Indian acquirers of a stake in Victoria’s Secret have sought legal advice as private equity firm Sycamore Partners has walked away from the beleaguered lingerie chain

Sycamore argued that the clause had been triggered because current owner L Brands Inc failed to pay rent and furloughed thousands of workers. The pandemic was no defense for L Brands violating terms of the agreement, the buyer said in its complaint in the Delaware Chancery Court.

Marquee Brands LLC, a leading global brand owner, marketing and media company plans to take back the BCBGMAXAZRIA and BCBGeneration licenses from Centric Brands, which has filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 11. Marquee Brands will continue operations of the wholesale and e-commerce business to ensure seamless continuity.

With this announcement Marquee Brands is accelerating its rapidly growing digital business. In launching Marquee-Direct, the company made the decision to bring all e-commerce in-house and to handle all site design and development, merchandising, content creation and customer engagement. This was made possible with Marquee’s long-term relationships with best-in-class logistics partners for delivery and customer service. In this ever-changing retail environment, these capabilities will be crucial to assisting the growth of Marquee’s other operating partners as well as allowing the company to scale by adding new brands to the platform.

Adding the BCBG Group to this platform, which includes Ben Sherman, Body Glove, Dakine, Bruno Magli, Motherhood Maternity and Pea in a Pod, will allow Marquee Brands to achieve a more sustainable scale while also achieving better operating leverage.

More than 150 global corporations, including Burberry, H&M, Zara owner Inditex, PVH Corp signed a United Nations-backed agreement urging governments to align their COVID-19 economic aid and recovery efforts with ambitious, science-based climate action in a bid to recover better.All 155 companies, which represent a combined market capitalization of more than $2.4 trillion, are calling for policies that will guard against future disruptions by promoting efforts to rein in global temperature increases within 1.5 degrees celsius above pre-industrial levels, and in line with achieving net-zero emissions well before 2050.

The statement arrives as world leaders are preparing not only trillions of dollars in stimulus packages to prop up their pandemic-battered economies but also their enhanced national climate plans under the 2015 Paris Agreement.

A study published by Oxford University earlier this month concluded that incorporating climate targets into policy and spending will reduce vulnerability to future shocks and disasters, create good jobs, cut down emissions and ensure clean air.

Casa Everz Gmbh, the owner of Germany-based healthy footwear brand Von Wellx, will shift its entire shoe production of over three million pairs annually from China to India with an initial investment of Rs 110 crore. The brand will set up a new manufacturing unit with a production capacity of over three million pairs in Uttar Pradesh through a collaboration with Latric Industries as part of an understanding with the state government.

Casa Everz Gmbh had two manufacturing units in China with an annual capacity of over 3 million pairs. Latric Industries already has a capacity of five lakh pairs for Casa Everz Gmbh specifically under which it produces Von Wellx Germany – five another 5 lakh pairs, he added.

Now, the brand will set up a new unit with a production capacity of over 3 million pairs. The investment in Phase 1 of the project will be about Rs 110 crore over two years.

The company chose India over other locations since it believes that India is going to be the next manufacturing powerhouse of the world if it is well supported by business conducive government policies.

Post COVID-19, the growth of wedding rental market in the US seems uncertain. Rent the Runway, the poster child for fashion rental, has already announced lay-offs, temporary pay cuts and furloughed staff in response to the pandemic. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the company’s sales have dropped significantly. It has also faced allegations of not properly protecting its warehouse employees from coronavirus. The brand has enacted a series of safety measures in its warehouses, as well as giving employees the option of choosing not to work, staying home and using paid benefits.

Rent the Runway is not the only rental company facing challenges as a result of the pandemic. Other platforms, including UK-based, peer-to-peer site Hurr Collective, have also seen a dramatic fall in the number of people renting. While some sites have encouraged people to continue renting items for all those Zoom meetings we’ve been having, it’s a difficult sell considering the price point.

While rental has been hit hard during international lockdowns, there are already positive signs that the sector is recovering. YCloset in China has seen the numbers of people renting increase since lockdown measures were eased at the end of March. Some rental companies may also look at shifting their current models following the pandemic. YCloset, which is backed by e-commerce giant Alibaba, added resale to its services in September 2019, for example.

Hurr Collective has already started encouraging people to list their garments online, considering so many of us are sorting through our closets right now.

PVH Corp, owner of a portfolio of iconic brands including Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein plans a phased reopening of its stores in the US and around the world as the company continues to navigate the COVID-19 crisis. So far, the company has opened approximately 180 company-operated stores across all its brands in North America, along with 350 in Europe, 1,000 in Asia, 75 in Australia and four in Brazil. This phased reopening will continue over the next several weeks as additional localities lift restrictions on retail operations and other requirements are met.

PVH Corp also plans to expand its digital connections with its consumers. Tommy Hilfigier will host a May 26 shoppable livestream event across North America and Europe on Tommy.com, featuring stylists and influencers. Calvin Klein launched the Pride campaign -- #Proudinmycalvins -- which explores the different perspectives of the shared experience of the LGBTQ+ community. Van Heusen and IZOD unveiled the new Heritage Brands corporate-responsibility platform on their websites. The company believes its overall digital penetration will continue to increase throughout 2020.

The PVH global leadership team has worked across its businesses and functions on the reopening plan that includes protocols applicable to stores, warehouses and offsite locations designed with health and safety in mind from warehouse through purchase. Protocols in stores include extensive use of masks, reduced occupancy, social-distancing measures, added cleaning procedures, changes to fitting room use and enhanced return policies.

Garments Manufacturer Welfare Association (GMWA), an organisation of around 750 garments manufacturers in Mumbai proposes to set up a textile and apparel park in Kutch. Anil Gami, President, GMWA, an organization of around 750 garments manufactures in Santacruz area launched an online demand survey for a textile and apparel park in Kutch on April 30.

Around 1,400 businessmen have filled up their forms for the survey. Around 90 per cent of those who have evinced interest in the idea are Kutch businessmen settled in Mumbai while the rest are from other districts of Kutch. One of these manufacturers, Apex Garments Solutions has revealed that the park will include facilities for yarn manufacturing to ready-made garments. It may employ around 250,000 people and seek government aid for its operations.

While sales depots and showrooms can continue to be in Mumbai, manufacturing can shift to Kutch to cut down costs. According to Ashwin Mehta, a native of Kutch and a garment manufacturer in Mumbai, a textile park can make the garments manufacturing industry more organised.

Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) in its budget proposals has demanded 10 per cent cash incentive against using local raw materials and 4.0 per on imported ones for the next two years. Global demand is expected to decline 40 per cent resulting in price fall of products hence, it would be difficult for exporters to sustain. Also, due to the ongoing Coronavirus outbreak, many factories would close down. Hence, BKMEA also recommended the government to provide a guideline for exit in the upcoming budget. The association also demanded continuation of the existing 0.25 per cent source tax for the next year and withdrawal of 5.0 taxes on cash incentive.

Other demands include: duty-free import of the industrial racking system (IRS), industrial thermostat dehumidifier and other safety equipment. Regarding the IRS, the trade body expects to get more work orders from global buyers if they can set up international standard compliant factories and bonded ware house facility. According to it, a modern IRS helps to store huge quantity of products at a short space and to find them out easily in a bonded ware house.

To reinforce a digital culture within the Prada Group and improve its customer relations, the Italian fashion company has sealed a partnership with leading Customer Experience Management platform Sprinkler. This collaboration will help the group to have clearer oversight of its ROI [return on investment] on its digital strategy and ultimately engage with i consumers and social communities online.

The fashion group is addressing challenges that include creating a digital-first culture, which is not a small piece of technology, but involves a change in the mind-set and approach within the company, reviewing the entire working.

Based in New York, Sprinklr uses the modern advertising platform to optimize return on spending, reduce advertising production costs, protect brand reputation and relies on artificial intelligence to analyze all data, which can help tailor the next message.

Sprinklr is a global software service with more than 1,800 employees helping brands in more than 150 countries.

British Fashion Council (BFC) is supporting creative fashion businesses and individuals across the UK. by doling out as much as £50,000 ($60,900) 87extra funding to continue operating during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The grants, awarded from the council’s £1,000,000 ($1.2 million) emergency fund, are allocated to 37 viable businesses depending on their urgency and capability to function and thrive after the crisis.

The emergency fund pools talent support grants that would usually have been awarded for either early-stage showcasing support or business growth and promotion, including the BFC and Vogue Designer Fashion Fund (VDFF). Prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, six of these designers—Alighieri, Charles Jeffrey Loverboy, David Koma, Halpern, Metier and Rejina Pyo—were named as finalists for the BFC and VDFF 2020. The winner was set to receive a cash prize of £200,000 ($243,700) and a year’s worth of mentoring, but the BFC and Vogue made the decision to split the prize money among the six designers in early March when COVID-19 upended the U.K. market.

The fund has seen more than 220 applications to date. All applicants who did not receive funding through this round will be informed when new rounds of funding open and will be advised of government support schemes.

Fund recipients will receive a maximum of £50,000 ($60,900) and will also be given access to BFC business support and mentoring from the BFC’s Fashion Business Network including DLA Piper, Eco-Age, Farfetch, FashionEx, Google, HSBC, Instagram, Lewis Silkin, Lloyds, LVMH, Mishcon De Reya, RSM, Sheridans, Taylor Wessing, The Ellen MacArthur Foundation, The Bicester Village Shopping Collection and YouTube, plus individual expert one-to-one mentors from across the business value chain.