The third quarter profits of Urban Outfitters, owner of brands Anthropologie, Free People, Terrain and Bhldn increased 38 per cent year-over-year, thanks to strength in the Urban and Free People brands, along with reduced overhead expenses. For the three-month period ending October 31, the company’s total revenues declined from $987 million to $969 million. However, many of the company’s losses were in the food and beverage business. Its apparel brands, Urban Outfitters, Free People and even Nuuly increased their profit margins, year-over-year.

Urban Outfitters’ revenues increased from $374 to $394 million; that of Free People’s increased to $206 million from $205 million a year ago, while Nuuly logged $6.7 million in revenues, up from more than $2 million last year. However, the revenues of Anthropologie declined to $358 million from $398 million a year ago.

As a result, the company’s profits increased to $76.7 million for the quarter, from $55.6 million a year earlier. Not surprisingly, comparable retail segment net sales were flat for the quarter as a result of negative retail store sales and reduced in-store traffic with coronavirus cases on the rise and many consumers still fearful of in-person shopping experiences.

By brand, comparable retail segment net sales increased by 17 percent at Free People and 4 percent at Urban Outfitters, but fell by 9 percent at the Anthropologie Group.

The company ended the quarter with $624 million in cash and cash equivalents and 630 stores, or 250 Urban Outfitters locations, 234 Anthropologie units and 146 Free People shops, in addition to the company’s e-commerce businesses and catalogues. Free People also opened its first FP Movement stand-alone store during the quarter.

As per the data released by the Ministry of Commerce, India registered a massive increase in its apparel exports in October ’20 both on monthly as well as yearly basis.

A report by the Apparel Resources shows, India’s RMG exports increased by 10 per cent in October to $ 1.17 billion from October ’19. Similarly, India’s apparel shipments to the world also surged by 79.67 per cent on a monthly basis in October as compared to September when it shipped apparels worth just US $ 651.16 million.

However, India apparel exports during April-October ’20 period declined by 29.41 per cent from the same period of 2019 to $ 6 billion.

Though the increase in exports signals an export recovery in all major export destinations, a fresh wave of lockdown across major countries threatens to derail India’s exports in coming months.

In June this year, home textiles major Welspun India forayed into the health and hygiene vertical by creating antimicrobial towels, sheets and carpets. Besides, antiviral products, masks and other goods, the company also launched several sleepwear products. The company started by manufacturing masks and distributing it in its communities, notes Dipali Goenka, CEO and Joint Managing Director in an interview with The Economic Times. She believes the next generation of textiles will focus on value and extensions. And the importance of health and care economy will grow, be it in terms of product, food, FMCG or home space.

Demand for sustainable textiles to grow

Goenka emphasizes besides, health and hygiene, consumers will emphasize on sustainability in textiles which is the second biggest polluter in the world. There will be increased demand for anti-viral fabrics that help in inhibiting the micro-organisms, says Goenka. According to her even sleep inductive textiles will become important as they will promote physical and mental well-being. Currently, there is a surge in demand for home textiles with all of Welspun’s factories working at full throttle. The company is highly dependent on MSMEs and hopes to make it the foundation of its future business.

Textile industry to save India from COVID-19 downfall Goenka expects India to create 90 million non-farming jobs in the next couple of years. According to her, textile is the biggest employer after agriculture in the country. Hence, the industry needs to create an ecosystem to make India an important growth center for textiles. Industry leaders need to focus on localization which will help India become the bright spot of the textile world, she adds.

Textiles will also become an important industry for India in the next two years as more people will move towards non-farming jobs. Demand for home textiles will rise as consumers will spend more time at home, adds Goenka. The textile industry will emerge as a savior from the current crisis as India not only has the required manpower, technical knowledge and vertically integrated facilities but is also the largest producer of cotton in the world after China, she says.

ROICA has launched the ‘Imagining Sustainable Fashion Award ‘that aims to recognize companies that have made investments, have innovated to achieve loftier ethical and responsible goals, but have not been able to communicate them. Takaaki Kondo, General Manager of ROICA™ Global Marketing Department of Asahi Kasei and Main Sponsor of the Award says, “ROICA™ is a world leading company bringing forward innovation and sustainability to manufacture premium smart and high-tech stretch for the wardrobe of tomorrow.”

The company strongly believes that together with responsible innovation, communication is the key to bring sustainability to the next level: to inspire, educate, inform and allow both professionals and consumers to make the right choices. That’s why it decided to endorse the “Imagining Sustainable Fashion Award.

Hashimoto, Senior Managing Director, Asahi Kasei Advance says, “Consumers’ needs have moved towards new pillars such as traceability, transparency, water, energy, CO2 savings, material health and social values. In this perspective, innovation plays an important key role, as it makes it possible to achieve important objectives and targets from a sustainable point of view. But when it comes to communicate all these values, we still experience some difficulties nowadays. Imagining Sustainable Fashion Award is the opportunity to find the most effective way to spread this new era of consciousness.”

The project is collaboration between Connecting Cultures, a non-profit research agency spearheading the Out of Fashion platform, and C.L.A.S.S., a smart platform that offers innovative tools for those directly interested in responsible fashion and textile business.

Richard Collier will become the new CEO of Jack Wolfskin effective December 1, 2020. In this function, he will be responsible in particular for the development of the strategic brand positioning and the further internationalization of Jack Wolfskin.

In June 2020, the outdoor company based in Idstein/Germany had already confirmed that its current CEO Melody Harris-Jensbach and Callaway Golf would be amicably preparing a succession arrangement. This follows the completion of the integration of Jack Wolfskin into the Callaway Group, which acquired the company in 2019. Harris-Jensbach, who has been CEO of the Jack Wolfskin since 2014, will continue to support the company in a senior consulting role.

Prior to his position at Jack Wolfskin, Collier worked at technical ski, sailing and workwear company Helly Hansen in Oslo for the last 17 years, most recently as Chief Product Officer. Before the British citizen gained experience at Tandberg Telecom, Kurt Salmon Associates and Adidas, where he held senior sales and marketing positions.

At least 110 garment factories in Cambodia have been closed in the first nine months of the year leaving over 55,000 workers without jobs.

Ngoy Rith, Undersecretary, Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training said as of early September, 111 factories had closed in the garment, footwear and travel product sectors. He added the number of closures was similar to the first nine months of last year, when 110 factories closed.

Rith said the government had been effective in introducing measures to keep factories open in one of the most important sectors of the Cambodian economy. He added that the global market for garment products had been virtually shut down by the Covid-19 pandemic and other factors.

He said the number of suspended employment contracts was gradually subsiding, noting that the number of garment factories that had frozen work contracts had decreased to 52, which affected the incomes of roughly 14,000 workers.

However, Fa Saly, President, National Trade Union Confederation, said the actual numbers might be higher than the figures released by the labor ministry and that more Cambodian workers were losing their jobs and incomes each day. Saly said even though Cambodia is under the General System of Preferences (GSP) program, which will facilitate imports to the UK starting in January, he was still not optimistic.

He called on the government to seriously address these problems and ensure that the Kingdom’s workforce has good working conditions and more jobs.

C.L.A.S.S. ecohub, the platform empowering responsible fashion and textile business will launch ‘For the Fashion4’ virtual talk on December 01, 2020 on Zoom. The seminar will set new rules and raise the bar in both responsibility and communication. Dignitaries at the talks will include World reknown Supermodel, actress and activist Amber Vallettam Carlo Capasa, Chairman of Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana, Sara Sozzani Maino Deputy Director Vogue Italia, Head of Vogue Talents

C.L.A.S.S. launched C.L.A.S.S. ICON, the annual award bestowing a visionary creative who innovates both in style and responsibility tuning with new sustainable values and, striving to raise consumers’ awareness. “C.L.A.S.S. ICON is more than an award; it highlights the 4th dimension of sustainability bringing together professionals and consumers in a virtuous path.”

In a letter to the shipping ministry, Chittagong Port Authority and Bangladesh Shipping Agents Association (BSAA), have demanded a withdrawal of the emergency cost recovery surcharge (ECRS) carrier as the apparel sector and other industries are already in jeopardy.

Global retailers are continuing to suspend or cancel work orders, which has created uncertainty for factories and workers, said Mohammed Abdus Salam, first Vice President, BGMEA.

Feeder vessels operating to and from Chittagong port have imposed $75 per laden teu and $37.50 per empty container congestion surcharge since 15 November.

They imposed the surcharge as the ports in Colombo, Singapore and Port Klang have experienced severe congestion in the last couple of weeks, with vessels facing berthing delays of up to 48 hours, causing productivity losses they are trying to recoup via the surcharge.

Ahsanul Huq Chowdhury, Chairman, BSAA, argues that the surcharge is not being collected locally. He said the feeder vessels are realizing the increased amount from mainline operators, which in turn are collecting it as a general rate increase from the global buyers.

World's biggest manufacturer of surgical gloves, Top Glove plans to close over half its factories after a surge in coronavirus cases among workers. The company has seen a huge jump in demand since the start of the pandemic as countries scrambled to stock up on protective equipment, pushing up both its profits and share price.

However, virus outbreaks amongst employees at factories near Kuala Lumpur are forcing the company to shut its operations again. The company recently registered 1.000 new cases of coronavirus and therefore decided to shut 28 factories.

Top Glove operates 47 factories, of which 41 are in Malaysia. Many of its workers hail from Nepal and live in crowded dormitory complexes. The company produces over 70 billion gloves a year and is a major global supplier. In July this, the US has banned imports from two of the company’s subsidiaries over concerns about forced labor.

Most wholesale markets in Gujarat witnessed heavy buying during Diwali from buyers across the country. Textile markets in Ahmedabad and Surat had remained completely closed for almost three months. As a result, textile traders faced acute liquidity crisis as most of their stock remained unsold. They witnessed almost zero demand till August end but from September the market started improving gradually.

The Diwali season came as a blessing for traders as they witnessed heavy demand during the festivities. Many traders recovered their payments ahead of Diwali. Items like rayon fabric are being sold in cash, which is an encouraging sign for the textile sector in Gujarat, says Gaurag Bhagat, President, New Cloth Market and Member, Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI)

Almost 90 per cent of the over 300 wholesale textile markets in Surat have started functioning, informs Dev Kishan Mangani, Chairman-Textile Committee, South Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SGCCI)

Mangani expects buying to continue post Diwali in the wake of marriage season as well as Pongal and Christmas festivities. However, everything depends upon COVID-19 situation in Gujarat as well as other parts of the country, he says.