Italian fashion brand Diesel is launching D Verse NFT platform to expand its presence in the non-fungible token (NFT) sector. As per a Ledger Insights report, the platform will feature collections that combine physical and digital items and support a digital community on Discord.

The collections will include digital collectibles of runway pieces, limited edition physical garments, sneakers and accessories. The NFTs will potentially be used as wearables in the metaverse, but no partnership with an existing virtual reality platform was mentioned. The company is launching a D:VERSE key, which is a token-like asset that can be exchanged for discounted NFT pre-sales, raffles, prizes, and other NFTs.

The first collection will be based on pieces showcased at this year’s Milan fashion week from the Fall/Winter 2022 collection. In total, there will be four different NFTs that will be sold on the D:VERSE platform on a first come, first serve basis. However, no pricing has been released. In addition, there will be one single edition NFT that will be sold through an auction on Rarible’s platform.

This is not Diesel’s first go at NFTs. The brand launched a collaboration with digital fashion house The Fabricant and NFT Platform Neuno, which specializes in bringing luxury digital wearables to the metaverse.

The interaction of physical and virtual reality is growing in the fashion industry. One aspect that brands need to consider is how NFTs and digital assets in general can provide some utility for consumers instead of just being a static image on a screen.

DovCharney, Founder, American Apparel Inc, filed for bankruptcy along with his latest business venture, a vintage clothing store.

As per a BloomsbergQunit report, Charney was forced into bankruptcy court because he owed $30 million to a hedge fund involved with American Apparel, which shut down all of its outlets and became an online retailer after going through two of its own bankruptcies.

While in bankruptcy, Charney will be able to halt any debt-collection efforts while he works out a plan to repay as much as he can.

In the 1990s, Charney built American Apparel into a major retailer known for its made in USA marketing and racy advertising. The Los Angeles-based company became publicly traded in 2007 but within a few years, Charney was forced out as the company began losing money. It filed the first of two bankruptcies in 2015.

At its height, American Apparel had more $600 million in sales from hundreds of stores and employed thousands of people, including at a manufacturing plant in California.

Charney made a number of attempts to take back the company but was never able to get the financial backing he needed to close a deal.

The 53rd IHGF Fair 2022 will offer visitors a seamless in-person buying experience for those wanting to find new products and suppliers for Home, Lifestyle, Fashion, Textile & Furniture products.

The Asia's biggest show for home, lifestyle, fashion, textiles and furniture products will feature about 2,500 exhibitors presenting their new takes across fourteen product categories in its upcoming edition, scheduled from March 30 to April 3 2022.

. Inspired by a rich heritage and crafted from a variety of raw materials by a skillful workforce base, these products lines never fail to impress. Fit for new times, redefined lifestyles, reinvented households, altered routines and multiple work spaces, the product variations and innovations are in resonance to the emergent world. At the same time, there is plenty for craft connoisseurs, curators and collectors to choose from.

Theme Pavilions, Regional Exclusives, Artisanal Fare, Live Craft Making, Ramp Presentations, Workshops and Seminars will be part of the experience. This edition also focuses on major current themes like, sustainability, young entrepreneurs, women led export establishments and integrated design development outcomes.

Leaders in the US and Europe are banning export of luxury goods to Russia, and stripping it of favored trade status as it continues its assault on Ukraine. President Biden and G7 Leaders from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom as well as the European Union have criticized the assault on Ukraine, further isolating Russia from the global financial system.

Biden has signed an executive order to end the export of luxury items to any person located in the Russian Federation. Ursula von der Leyen, President, European Union, The EU also plans to take action to “make sure that the elites, proxies and oligarchs that support President Putin’s war are deprived of their access to luxury goods and assets.

Designers from Giorgio Armani to Demna Gvasalia are protesting against the war. Last week, several international brands and luxury fashion groups, from LVMH and Kering to Prada, Hermès and Moncler, announced they were temporarily pausing their commercial activities and shuttering their stores in Russia as a sign of protest against the country’s invasion of Ukraine.

Kingpins was held in Amsterdam, October 19 to 20, 2022. The show provided a stage for mills, trims, technology companies and chemical suppliers to present their new concepts for spring/summer 2024.

While consumers are enthralled with jeans with an authentic stonewashed look, the industry is working overtime to give them what they want without reverting to the unhealthy dry finishing processes used in the 90s to achieve the effect.

Rudolf’s Dry Way is made without sand or other silica-containing compound. To add softness to the fabric, a new laundry aid that works in the dryer replaces traditional fabric softening. Dry Way allows for significant and measurable water and energy savings and is usable with any type of machinery. Technology company Tonello unveiled updates to its Laundry (R)Evolution that increases transparency, traceability and productivity. While much of Tonello’s focus has been on developing and enhancing its laser range, the company’s creative juices were also on display at the show. Garments featured a mix of static ozone and bleaching effects, colors derived from natural sources like persimmon, and layered effects, such as a jean that was mostly discharged of its indigo and then overdyed with natural dyes. The garments featured grades A to F on hangtags, determined by Metro, Tonello’s software that automatically measures the actual consumption of a laundry and summarizes the findings in environmental passports for each garment.

Zipper giant YKK presented the world’s first detachable button and rivet. The invention helps streamline the separation of metal trims from garments from recycling—a pain point for garment recycling centers—and brings metal trim-based fabric waste to zero.The buttons and rivets can be attached with standard machines and easily detached with a simple hand tool. They can also be finished with YKK’s Acro Plating technology, a range of non-toxic metal finishes produced using 65 percent less water, 60 percent less electricity and 90 percent less sludge generation compared to conventional processes.

Calik debuted B210, a multi-prong process that biodegrades its stretch and rigid fabrics within 210 days. B210 is a process that takes place across all stages of production, from yarn to dye, and is compatible with normal washing treatments and can be applied to non-denim fabrics as well.

Lycra Circular

Lycra presented a range of circular products, including CoolmaxEcoMade and Thermolite EcoMade. Made from 100 percent textile waste, the fibers are achieved by collecting scraps of polyester waste, followed by a depolymerization and refining step that turns the waste into chips. The chips become fibers woven into new fabrics with the same performance benefits as virgin materials.Lycra also introduced a new visual tool to help demonstrate the benefits of Lycra Adaptiv fiber. The CGI video showcased how the patent-pending polymer’s unique chemistry adjusts to fit a wearer’s functional needs. When the wearer is at rest, the polymer adapts its holding force to deliver the right fit, shape, and control. But when the wearer is in motion, the polymer adapts its elasticity to provide improved comfort and a second-skin effect that enables the garment to stay in place. This breakthrough fiber enables brands and retailers to create jeans that adapt to fit different body shapes and genders while offering consumers a liberating wearing experience with its soft and easy stretch.

Renowned athletic apparel brand Lululemon has forayed into the footwear market. The Vancouver-based apparel brand plans to launch four women’s footwear styles in 2022. It will also launch a men’s footwear collection in 2023, as per an Apparel Resources report.

The brand’s maiden collection of running shoes called Blissfeel will be available in selected stores across the UK, North America and Mainland China from April 2022. It will launch three more styles in 2022: Chargefeel, Restfeel and Strongfeel. A cross-training shoe Chargefeel will be especially made for gym training and short runs, On the other hand, the Restfeel range can be used as a post-workout shoe. The third Strongfeel, can be used for multi-directional movement. It will be released in the autumn.

Founded in 1998 as a retailer of yoga pants and other yoga wear, Lululemon has since expanded into athleticwear, lifestyle apparel and fashion accessories.

Burberry’s new show at the Methodist Central Hall in Westminster was attended by actors, models, artists and musicians. As per a Women’s Wear Daily report, the show did not have any seats, front-row and guest hierarchy. Organized by designer Riccardo Tisci, the show was preceded by a low-key drinks party attended by actors Adam Driver, the new brand ambassador of Burberry; Rebecca Hall; Jacob Elordi; Eiza González; designers Christopher and Tammy Kane, and model pals Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell, and Carla Bruni. There were also social media personalities including Dixie D’Amelio and Xenia Adonts.

Besides well- known personalities, the show was attended by a few of Tisci’s.personal friends including Italian singer-songwriter Mahmood; the British professional boxer Richard Riakporhe, film director Jared Buckheister and musician Andrew Vvarholla.

Among the models were Gigi and Bella Hadid, Irina Shayk, Ano Kyai, Mariacarla Boscono and Selena Forrest. During the show, they wove their way through the crowd, climbed on top of tables set for dinner with crystal and silver, and swept through the vast hall in feathery ballgowns and plaid skirts.

RMG shipments from Bangladesh to Russia and the payments from the buyers are declining every day as the country continues its war against Ukraine. As per a Daily Star report, garment suppliers in Bangladesh are not receiving payments as Russian Banks have been banned from using SWIFT, the global payments messaging network. The US recently also announced sanctions on four large Russian

The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) has opened a desk to help all types of apparel exporters inform it about orders received, executed and payments unpaid. Also, many shipping lines are not accepting goods for Russian buyers due to sanctions. These goods continue to lie idle in the Chattogram port.

The port currently has garment items amounting to $3 lakh as no shipping company is willing to transport them to the destination. Another 11 lakh of garment pieces are waiting to be manufactured as per orders. But there is uncertainty as the buyer is asking the supplier to delay shipments.

Local suppliers are also suffering due to the refusal of the international courier service companies’ to take documents to Russia. In the July-January period of the current fiscal year, suppliers sent garment items worth $415.47 million to Russia, registering a 36.47 per cent year-on-year growth, data from the Export Promotion Bureau shows.

The recent edition of fashion and accessories trade shows, Tranoi, held in Paris from March 4 to 7, scaled up operations after two years of small format shows. As per a Woman’s Wear Daily report, Tranoï returned to its original Bourse venue with around 90 exhibitors. Focusing on accessories, the event hosted around 259 brands.

Footfalls at Première Classe, Maus declined between 20 and 25 per cent compared to March 2020, the last full-scale edition of the event. Adopting the showroom type model, Only Woman featured just 10 labels. Newcomers made up around half the selection at Tranoï, and roughly 60 at Première Classe. There was an increase in participants from abroad. Nine designers form the Seoul Fashion Week participated in Tranoi.

Tranoï also featured a selection of Italian designers returning for the first time since the pandemic, as well as labels from Hong Kong under the Fashion Farm Foundation, including Central Saint Martins graduate Celine Kwan, who presented her first collection of colorful 1960s-inspired designs, and Rickyy Wong Studio. There were three labels from Georgia. Lilia Litkovskaya, one of very few Ukrainian designers who made it to Paris — without her collection — used her booth to raise awareness about the war and the unfolding humanitarian crisis in her homeland, displaying a giant Ukrainian flag adorned with flowers and QR codes linking to the works and profiles of her compatriot photographers, artists and designers

Première Classe showcased the work of African designers in a central space thanks to WSN’s partnership with accelerator Birimian. They included Christie Brown, from Ghana; Rich Mnisi, from South Africa, and This is Us, from Nigeria.

Having completely upended the e-commerce industry with its flexible supply chain, the Chinese giant manufacturing company Shein is now infamous for all the wrong-doings that go on behind its factory walls. While Shein has met the demands of global manufacturers, with on-trend and budget-friendly trends, the true cost of its manufacturing process on Chinses workers and environmental damage, has made industry activists criticize its business model and call for change.

Since its inception in Guangzhou in 2008, the Chinese-owned e-commerce store has become extremely popular with its fast fashion garments. While most thought Shein’s manufacturing process was automated, it was later realized the actual method is traditional human labour, where workers are exploited and made to work around 18 hours a day with high daily targets and low wages.

Documentary highlights pitiful factory conditions

Many secret documents and studies on its factory have been carried out to understand the wrong-doings but since nothing is proven and the Chinese authorities are in denial, industry analysts can only sympathise with the workers for now without taking real action. One of these documentaries titled Untold: Inside the Shein Machine, hosted by award-winning freelance journalist, producer and presenter Iman Amrani, has shown footage from hidden cameras that reveal the dismal labour practices of workers, who are regularly working 16-hour days with a target of 500 garments a day with a fine attached if it is not made to precision.

Women especially are the most exploited as manufacturing factories are predominantly women, who are making the clothes, whose own designs are being stolen and reused by the factory owners and also who are manipulated to advertise the products to look happy.

The environmental damage of these fast fashion apparel from Shein is another big concern as these garments are not made for the resale economy as they are of cheap materials made in such exploitative conditions that they can be worn only a few times before being discarded. But the amount of water and other chemicals used to make a single piece remains the same and just goes to the environmental pollution daily. The resale and renewed purpose of these same clothes in another person’s wardrobe instead of being discarded is non-existent and the real issues of overproduction and overconsumption just pile up.

Use and throw policy increases environmental pollution

Maria Chenoweth, CEO of Textile Reuse points out, they’re producing and making these clothes and then trying to offer some small solution to the much bigger problem that they’re creating. Its greenwashing, making people think it's OK to buy this rubbish when it’s not.

It is ironic and laughable that Shein has launched a resale program to address the issue of textile waste in its factories at the same time as this secret documentary about the pitiful conditions within its factories. It just goes to prove that Shein management and the Chinses government are just greenwashing the entire manufacturing process with no intention to address sustainability or humanitarian issues. However, with industry malpractice analaysts and human rights activists now waking up and taking action the complacent attitude of the Shien management will soon be over.