Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel (HKRITA) hosted a webinar entitled ‘The Future of Fashion: Reimagine, Regenerate and Close the Loop,’ with seasoned global executives of HKRITA’s leading partners, including Monki, Shahi Exports, Gap Inc and H&M, sharing visionary views and insights into key industry trends in driving sustainability amid these new normal times and beyond. The webinar was attended by over 250 participants, including industry practitioners, senior executives and leaders.

Established in 2006, HKRITA is funded by the Innovation and Technology Commission of the HKSAR Government and is hosted by The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. HKRITA contributes to the competitiveness of the textile and apparel industry by providing one-stop services in applied research, technology transfer and commercialisation. HKRITA also plays a vital and expanding role in driving sustainable improvements in the industry and thus bringing benefits to society as a whole.

Edwin Keh, Chief Executive Officer, HKRITA, said these uncertain times have accelerated the shift to greener and more sustainable supply chains, where it is crucial for brands to communicate and demonstrate a social purpose to customers. It is a critical time for the textile and fashion industry to emerge stronger and gain resilience by adopting the new 3Rs approach – reimagine, repurpose and reinvent – and working towards carbon neutral goals to redefine the future of the textile and fashion industry.

As per a new report by the global intelligence firm Creditsafe, the US manufacturing industry including the apparel and textile sector may face severe negative impacts of COVID-19. The industry may lose $400 billion in revenue in 2020 due to the pandemic, the report says. It warns manufacturers, also including industrial machinery equipment, printing and publishing, and fabricated metal products, of significant decreases in their revenue and facing difficult decisions on navigating through these difficult times.

The US manufacturing industries represent over half a million businesses across the country, with more than 17 per cent expected to experience a severe downturn and financial crisis from the economic impact of the coronavirus. According to the National Council of Textile Organizations, the US textile industry supply chain, from textile fibers to apparel and other sewn products, employed 585,240 workers last year. Of the 31,735 manufacturers of clothing and other textile products reviewed by the report, 5.8 percent of them are likely to face severe risk.

They may face factors such as mandatory closures, changes in buyer behavior and disruptions to the supply chain are all contributing to the overall risk that the manufacturing industry is facing. These could then cause ripples through a loss of employment, decreases in revenue and delays in production, Creditsafe noted.

The pandemic has caused the US, and specifically manufacturers, to look to a more localized supply chain and bring several types of critical manufacturing sectors back on shore. The Creditsafe report cites the April Thomas Industrial Survey that shows 64 per cent of manufacturers planning to bring production and sourcing back to North America, with 25 per cent increasing their use of automation.

Textile exporters in Pakistan have urged the government to support its value-added textile chain by focusing on cotton production, cultivation area and yield, reports Tribune.

As per Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA), the country produced only 4.02 million bales till November 15, 2020, as compared to 6.85 million bales produced during the same period of last year. The major causes of this decline R: reduction in cultivation area and per acre production, low-quality seeds and shifting of farmers’ focus towards other crops due to a lack of government support. Production shortfall has had a devastating impact on Pakistan’s textile exports compelling exporters to seek government aid.

Muhammad Jawed Bilwani, Chairman, PCGA has requested the government to allow import of cotton yarn without customs and regulatory duty under the current sMutate of affairs as it had already permitted duty-free import of cotton.

The ongoing global health emergency and consequent measures taken by the Italian government have forced Pitti Immagine’s board of directors to move all three shows: Pitti Uomo, Pitti Filati and Pitti Bimbo to February, 21-23, 2021. The new dates for the shows were selected on the basis of their relevance for sales campaigns, preserving the event’s own identity and at the same time giving a strong sign from the system to the Italian productive-commercial value chain in terms of events of the Italian fashion calendar.

To support sales campaign, the organizers have ensured a good margin for placing orders, especially for those who need to meet insiders, and sense collections’ quality and style within a physical event, said Raffaello Napoleone, CEO, Pitti Immagine. The event will open its digital platform Connect in advance while it has already prepared all the necessary safety measures, including checking visitors while entering and visiting booths, the constant sanitization of the location and guaranteeing participants’ distancing.

For this special edition of Pitti events, Fortezza will also host an intense program of events and presentations while Stazione Leopolda,will host commercial initiatives.

Remake’s first brand transparency report calls sustainable denim brands Mud Jeans and Nudie Jeans as Rockstars. The report ranks 40 brands against a series of guidelines developed in partnership with human rights, climate, water and waste experts.

Using the brands’ sustainability reports and other public-facing documents, Remake uses the monikers ‘rockstars,’ ‘wannabes,’ ‘offenders’ and ‘up and comers’ to rank brands on topics like traceability and transparency, maker well-being, environmental sustainability, sustainable raw materials, and leadership, diversity and inclusion. It lauds Nudie Jeans for its initiatives like repair shops and water recycling programs. Remake also lauds Mud Jeans for its use of recycled denim and a detailed Code of Conduct, which outlines the social and environmental responsibilities of Mud and its suppliers.

Reformation was included in the “wannabes” list because of its decision to expand its supply chain into China. The brand was awarded a score of 53. J. Crew Group Inc.-owned denim label Madewell was criticized for its failure to scale its sustainable practices beyond its Eco-Denim collection.

The report’ also lists “offenders” such as Zara, H&M, Uniqlo, Forever21 and Urban Outfitters. This list also includes Everlane which was recently slammed for its convenient transparency and the negative attention it received from then-presidential candidate Bernie Sanders for alleged union busting.

Streetwear label Supreme earned a score of zero, bottoming out on Remake’s offenders list due to its lack of transparency. Its recent acquisition by VF Corporation, the owner of sustainable leaders like The North Face and Timberland, may be the start of a more transparent future.

Turkish denim mill Isko has teamed up with the Italian aquatic apparel company Arena, to launch a Fall/Winter 2020 unisex denim pieces collection. Featuring Isko’s lightweight denim fabric Bluejym, the collection uses Isko Blue Skin, a stretch technology that offers 360-degree elasticity. The technology ensures easy fabric movement without tension. This fabric is an internal part of Isko’s athleisure range of performance woven fabrics.

The denim garments in the collection reflect the aesthetic of ’80s activewear. The black jeans have been curated from joggers with a patch logo near the front pocket. The collection also features a unisex jacket that has asymmetrical panels of black-and-white denim. The logo has been designed with a jacquard weave that is placed on the sleeve of the jacket. The collection also offers a reversible half-zip jacket, bomber jacket and cropped women’s hoodie. This has been designed to reflect the bold multi-coloured print from the ’80s.

Arena is popularly known for its brand’s “creative lab”, where experts mix sports heritage with contemporary trends. The company aims to create garments characterized by the maximum freedom of use.

In its new rankings non-profit organization Canopy has granted Lenzing 30.5 points for their work on circular economy. The company got this position due to Refibra technology as well as high level of transparency in wood and pulp sourcing. Lenzing scored 4 points more than it did in previous year. Lenzing has launched a social impact and afforestation project in Albania in the South European forests to address urgent issues including land degradation, biodiversity loss, deforestation and climate change.

For this project, Lenzing has joined hands with Canopy to ensure that the wood sourcing is in line with sustainable practices in a pulp mill in Brazil. The new plant will comply with the highest productive and energy-efficient facilities in the world and feed 40 per cent excess bioelectricity generated on-site as “green energy” into the public grid.

The plant will produce lyocell fibre with Refibra technology that uses textile waste as part of the feedstock. This will take the company a step closer towards creating a circular economy. This technology has been available since 2017 that combines environmentally responsible lyocell technology with a closed-loop production process, by also ensuring cotton waste materials are upcycled. The fibre is currently available with 30 per cent recycled textiles as a raw material.

Canopy’s has ranked world’s 31 largest wood-based fiber producers with respect to their sourcing. It recognizes the brand’s efforts to use alternative non-wood feedstock and their achievements for lasting conservation, especially regarding critical forests around the globe.

As per IBS data from Refinitiv, L Brands Inc reported better-than-expected sales in third quarter as it benefited from a surge in demand for Bath & Body Works’ products. The company benefited from a sharper focus on hygiene standards during the pandemic which helped it to offset continued weakness at its Victoria’s Secret unit.

Andhre Meslow, CEO, believes the results were driven by continued strength at Bath & Body Works, whose comparable sales surged by 56 percent, improvement in performance of Victoria’s secret, whose sales grew by 4 per cent. The company reported a net income of $330.6 million, or $1.17 per share, compared with a loss of $252 million, or 91 cents per share, a year earlier, when it recorded some impairment charges. Net sales rose by 14 per cent to $3.06 billion, exceeding analysts’ average estimate of $2.67 billion.

Apparel exports by Bangladesh declined 7.8 per cent year-on-year and 7 per cent month-on-month in October to $2.320 billion. As per a report by the CCF Group, exports of knitted apparels declined 2.2 per cent year-on-year and 0.8 per cent month-on-month to $1.34 billion and the export of woven apparels declined by 14.4 per cent year-on-year and 7.4 per cent month-on-month to $0.99 billion.

From January-October, Bangladesh's apparel exports declined by 19 per cent year-on-year to reach $ 22.38 billion, The export value of knitted apparels declined by 16.5 per cent to $ 11.5 billion and that of woven apparels declined by 21.5 per cent year-on-on-year to 10.87 billion

In October, Bangladesh's home textile exports declined by 69 per cent year-on-year and 28 per cent month-on-month to $102 million, Cumulative export volumes from January-October increased by 20.8 per cent month-on-month and 9 per cent year-on-year to $743 million.

United Kingdom’s Bethany Williams and Matty Bovan, France’s Casablanca, Nigeria’s Kenneth Ize, Canada’s Lecavalier and South Africa’s Thebe Magugu are the finalists for the International Woolmark Prize. The winner will get a reward of AU$200,000 and an opportunity to be sold at retailers around the world. The winner of the Karl Lagerfeld Award for Innovation will receive AU$100,000.

The judging panel for the event will include educator, writer and activist Sinéad Burke, Garage magazine fashion director Gabriella Karefa-Johnson, talent scout the and BoF editor-at-large Tim Blanks. They will review the six finalists' Merino wool collections in February 2021. The aim of these collections is to build each item responsibly through a transparent supply chain, and celebrate the year’s theme of ‘less is more.