The Lenzing Group reported a significant year-on-year improvement in revenue and earnings in the first nine months of 2021 thanks to the largely positive market environment. Its revenue rose by 32.9 percent to €1.59 billion in the first nine months of 2021. This increase is attributable to higher sales volume as well as higher viscose prices, which stood at more than RMB 15,000 in May thanks to significantly higher demand for fibers, especially in Asia. The focus on wood-based specialty fibers such as the Tencel™, Lenzing™ Ecovero™ and Veocel branded fibers also had a positive impact on the revenue trend; the share of specialty fibers in fiber revenue amounted to 72.4 percent in the reporting period. This more than offset the negative impact of less favorable currency effects. EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) more than doubled to €297.6 mn in the first nine months of 2021. The EBITDA margin rose from 11.6 percent to 18.7 percent. Net profit for the period amounted to €113.4 million and earnings per share to €3.77.

Gross cash flow more than tripled to €301.1 million in the first nine months of 2021 compared to EUR 83.3 mn in the first nine months of 2020. This increase was above all due to the earnings performance. Cash flow from operating activities amounted to €307.8 million compared to €-14 million in the first nine months of 2020. Free cash flow amounted to €-317.9 million due to the investment activities related to the projects in Thailand and Brazil. CAPEX (expenditures for intangible assets, property, plant and equipment, and biological assets) increased by 40.3 percent to €631.1 million during the reporting period, of which roughly half was financed out of cash flow from operating activities. The strong increase in investments is attributable to the implementation of the key projects.

Though a number of export-oriented industries in the country have increased their production capacities, Indonesia’s export volume is expected to reach pre-COVID-19 levels only by next year, says Anne Patricia Sutanto, Deputy Chairperson, Indonesian Textile Association (API). The average utilization of the export-oriented textile industry has reached 100 percent with a number of business actors even adding capacity.

Indonesia's garment exports did not experience price adjustments as a result of unresolved global logistics problems. Some exportersmade deliveries using a freight on board (FOB) scheme, aka container fees paid by the buyer, adds Sutanto.

Data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) shows, Indonesia’s export volume of textile products with HS code 61 during January to August 2021 reached 160,854 tonne. Meanwhile, the export volume of textile products with HS code 62 from January to August 2021 reached 105,993 tonne. This volume is lower than the achievement in the same period in 2019 and 2020 which were 126,598 tonne and 111,163 tonne, respectively.

The recently concluded Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Russia in Moscow was unique in many ways. The event not only live streamed its shows and presentations on 110 websites in Russia and abroad and in VK, but also for the first time it collaborated with TikTok app for short video making and watching to launch #ФэшнВикХауз (in Eng. #FashionWeekHouse) as a part of the seasonal MBFW Russia reality show on TikTok.

MBFW Russia’s official account (@mbfwrussia) showcased five talented TikTok creators – Alex in style, the fashion influencer who promotes minimalism basics; Lana Nisnevich, a fashion critic, blogger, ex Fashion Editor for Cosmopolitan; Astemir, fashion blogger and stylist; Jenia Stelmah model and beauty blogger; and Nastya Yanb, creator, blogger and fashion influencer.the top. Forty three speakers shared their views during the live streams of the reality show on MBFW Russia’s official TikTok account (@mbfwrussia).

Exploring music and book service

This year, designers at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Russia compiled a playlist with tracks that inspired them to create new designs in collaboration with the music streaming Yandex.Music service. They also collaborated with major book service CIS LitRes, to prepare a topical selection of books about responsible consumption, sustainability in fashion and ecological issues in this sector.

Attended by over 70 designers, the show also included video presentations of designers from countries like UK, Germany, Brazil, Israel, India, Bolivia, and Nigeria.

Sustainability in focus

The theme this year was sustainable development in the fashion industry. Keeping this in view, sustainable brands VINA and RigRaiser launched new collections in collaboration with Vtoroe Dykhanie Fund. Made from garments donated by visitors of the Fashion Week in April 2021, these garments were collected by the Russian Fashion Council alongwith Vtoroe Dykhanie Fund and EcoLine. The clothes will be used by designers to upcycle new collections in the next season of MBFW Russia.

Another highlight was the upcylced uniforms worn by the volunteers and employees of the organizing committee of MBFW Russia. These volunteers and employers gifted visitors bags made from upcycled banners from the previous edition of the event. The Russian Council also installed separate waste collection bins in collaborations with Ecoline.

Sustainability experts prepared a series of articles on eco-friendly wardrobe essentials under the guidance of Anastasia Chizhevskaya, Alena Antipenkova, and Valeria Gromova from the Business Eco-Education Bureau Sustainable.ru; Boris Lorer, Blogger, Founder and Speaker, Sortirovochnaya YouTube blog; Olga Johnston-Antonova, Fashion Historian, Eco-sustainable Fashion and Design Teacher, Consultant-Fashion Business Ecologization and Sustainable Goals Implementation in Fashion.

Designers at the event

Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Russia hosted shows by Rogov, FOS x MBFW Berlin, Yana Besfamilnaya, Nastya Nekrasova, among others. Stylist and designer Alexander Rogov presented a new collection that could be reassembled in different ways like puzzles.

Russian brand Innominate presented a collection comprising oversize suits, pleated mantle-dresses and extensive shorts. Young womenswear brand from Russia Far North Sasha Gapanovich presented a collection inspired by the designer’s native lands’ uniqueness.

FOS X MBFW Berlin (Germany)

Fashion Open Studio and Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Berlin zone presented several brands, including Anciela, Anekdot, Barabara, Buki Akomolafe, Church of the Hand, #Damur, Emeka, Fade Out Label, Grandma would approve, New Blue, Rafael Kouto, Soup Archive, Therapy, Top Mantaden during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Russia. These brands focused on unusual cuts, sophisticated shapes, multilayerdness, patchwork, vivid colors and combinations of trends.

Nike has filed several new trademarks prompting speculation that it is gearing up to launch into the metaverse. In total, seven different applications have been submitted including for Nike, the brand’s famous slogan ‘Just Do It’, its swoosh logo as well as for the Air Jordan and Jumpman logos. Facebook will rebrand to Meta to create a metaverse where people can meet and connect virtually.

Nike will make and sell virtual Nike-branded sneakers and apparel. Nike is planning to launch its brands in a different web atmosphere that would allow them to provide online, non-downloadable virtual footwear, clothing, headwear, eyewear, bags, sports bags, backpacks, sports equipment, art, toys, and accessories for use in virtual environments.

Recent job postings for a virtual material designer of footwear and other virtual design roles suggest the company is gearing up to launch Nike-branded products in the metaverse. Nike previously made forays into the digital space in 2019 when Nike’s Jordan partnered with Fortnite to produce character skins wearing Nike sneakers. That same year, it also filed a patent for CryptoKicks, which would link physical shoes with an NFT to verify ownership.

Meanwhile Nike has lowered its fiscal 2022 outlook after its revenue rose to $12.25 billion from $10.59 billion in the first quarter ended August 31.

Ralph Lauren expects to face higher shipping and commodity costs in the next few months. The high-end apparel maker is spending heavily to ensure stores are stocked with its Polo shirts and sports jackets during the holiday season.

Unlike its European luxury peers, which manufacture the bulk of their products in their home market, Ralph Lauren sources the vast majority of its offerings from outside the United States, with 40 per cent manufactured in China and Vietnam alone, making the company more susceptible to shipping delays and factory closures. These supply chain disruptions have especially hobbled the clothing industry, with apparel having the highest online out-of-stock levels among US retail sectors in the run-up to the holiday season.

However, Ralph Lauren is confident of having enough stocks to meet holiday demand, in part because it is spending heavily to ship products by air. While it expects continued variability of inventory flows, from quarter-to-quarter, it believes its inventories are well positioned to meet demand for the upcoming holiday and spring ’22 seasons.

The retailer expects constant currency fiscal 2022 revenue to rise 34 per cent to 36 per cent. But Ralph Lauren kept its full-year operating margin forecast unchanged due to higher freight costs and increasing prices of raw materials such as cotton.

Vicunha has partnered with Polygiene to present a new collection featuring Polygiene Stays Fresh technologies for the 2021-22 season. The range features denim treated with a combination of Polygiene’s BioStatic and OdorCrunch technologies for the first time in Latin America. Biostatic is an antimicrobial technology that inhibits the growth of odor-causing bacteria, stopping odors at the source permanently. OdorCrunch removes any environmental odors such as cooking fumes, cigarette smoke or body odor, by encapsulating the odor molecules and cracking them, removing the offensive odor in the garment. In addition to providing effective odor control, the combination of technologies also reduces the number of times a product needs to be washed, saving energy, time, and money and extending the life of the product. By washing a product less, the form and fit and the rich color hues of the denim will last longer.

Brazil’s Vicunha is one of the world’s largest suppliers of denim. Polygiene is a Swedish firm. Offering the fashion market solutions that encourage consumers to save water and energy by washing their clothes less brings so many positive impacts that it ends up being not only a good technology for the textile industry, but also a practical and fast solution for society, which increasingly demands sustainable solutions from the fashion chain.

As projected by secondhand apparel marketplace, ThredUp, the fashion resale industry is expected to more than double from $36 billion in 2021 to $77 billion in 2025. The industry is likely to boom with new international expansions planned by companies. For instance, as per a Modern Retail report, Lithuania-based Vinted plans to grow its US base. Depop too aims to develop its global community upon acquisition by Etsy.

Resale frontrunner Poshmark aims to expand operations in the international market. The company reported a 28 per cent year-over-year increase in revenues in the first nine months of 2020. This helped it to turn its first profit during the period of $8.1 million. To offer customers a thrift store experience, Poshmark uses a peer-to-peer model. It generates revenue by charging sellers a fee for buying items from the platform. Its focus remains on turning passive users into active traders. However, the active buyer base of rival TheRealReal has halved to 20 per cent year-over-year since 2019. The company currently has 730,000 buyers. Similarly, the growth of active buyers on ThredUp declined from 67 per cent in the first quarter of 2020 to 8 per cent in the second quarter of this year to reach 1.34 million.

Promotional campaigns to boost awareness

A reason for this decline in active buyer base is lack of awareness amongst consumers, particularly youngsters, says Simeon Siegel, Senior Retail and E-commerce Analyst, BMO Capital Markets. Hence, many of secondhand marketplaces are launching promotional campaigns to boost awareness. This in turn is expanding their marketing budgets. For example, the marketing spend of Poshmark increased by over 47 per cent to $68 million in just six months upto June 30, this year. The marketing expenditure of ThredUp also increased to $31.4 million during the same timeframe from $23.9 million a year earlier.

Some top resale marketplaces are exploring authentication services to attract their overseas buyers. They are opening stores in various countries across the globe. However, there, they are facing stiff competition from incumbents like eBay and an uncertain trading environment induced by the pandemic.

Startups drive the sneaker resale market

Expected to reach $30 billion globally by the end of 2030, the sneaker resale market is witnessing the rise of many new startups including livestream shopping platforms platforms like Whatnot and NTWRK, according to American investment bank Cowen. The market is also prompting incumbents to provide similar services, adds Matt Powell, Anaylst, NPD. With 159 million users, eBay opened a sneaker authentication center in Australia in July this year. The platform also has an authentication services in the US and Canada.

Sneaker specialists StockX also certifies that the footwear it sells is in mint, investment-grade condition. The reseller currently has 14 stores, including 12 authentication centers. These help the company tackle local supply and demand issues, says Jesse Einhorn, Senior Economist. The company uses its warehouses for certify that the footwear its merchants sell is genuine. In future, it plans to open stores in Hong Kong and Australia. Its international locations help the company facilitate transactions.

Luxury resellers eye international expansion

Pre-owned designer handbag reseller Handbag Clinic plans to leverage the post-pandemic retail environment to purse international growth. The company operates a hybrid retail business. Online, it sells handbags sourced from consignment partners, with three franchise locations that offer restoration services across Qatar and Saudi Arabia, and a joint venture in France. It plans to launch more stores across the Gulf in coming months.

Jordan has become a top destination for skilled garment workers from Bangladesh. Hundreds of Bangladeshi women are finding employment in the kingdom’s clothing sector every week. Bangladesh started exporting skilled garment workers to Jordan in 2010. Jordan’s garment industry has expanded rapidly in the past few years, and two-thirds of Bangladeshi female workers in the kingdom now find employment at its clothing factories. The Jordanian garment sector currently employs 40,000 Bangladeshi women.

Demand for Bangladeshi labor has been on the rise since the lifting of coronavirus restrictions. In 2020, the kingdom accepted only about 3,700 garment workers from Bangladesh but this year more than 12,300 have already left for the Middle Eastern country. Jordanian employers bear all the costs of processing working permits, travel, accommodation and healthcare. The employer bears all costs to have the migrants’ services. For workers higher incomes are also a factor. And they find the working environment and salary structure much better than in Bangladesh. They earn more and don’t have to face abuse.

Jordan’s garment industry has been spared the worst effects of the pandemic, proving to be relatively resilient in its adaptability to new market trends. The economic downturn in Jordan’s garment industry has only had a 15 per cent reduction in garment exports and a full rebound is expected by the end of 2021.

American weekly exports of cotton are up nearly a third from last year. The only thing holding shipments back is logistical chaos, and the difficulty of moving product right now amid high freight rates between Asia and the US.

December contract gained 2.9 per cent on ICE Futures US, bringing October’s gain to 7.5 per cent. The commodity surged 52 per cent this year supported by projections for a second world deficit. Stockpiles at ICE-monitored depots are poised to drop to the lowest level in a year. A large short position held by commercial traders has also kept prices firm, with those participants expected to cover shorts during retreats. Late US harvest, low certified stockpiles and huge demand from China will likely cause a squeeze for December contract.

Prices may climb higher in the next two months. While the US is expected to collect a bigger crop, the harvest is very late. Heavy rains in Southwest Georgia, the second-biggest producer, parts of Alabama and northern Florida will probably prove disruptive, though long lasting damage is unlikely. Consumer demand for cotton apparel is also exceeding supplies. The US is importing more, yet clothing stores are experiencing record low inventories compared to sales.

Taipei Innovative Application Show (TITAS) is being held in Taiwan in November 2021. The month-long event looks forward to creating boundary-free, one-stop-for-all, and totally virtual business opportunities for textile suppliers and global buyers of Taiwan. Some 150 international and domestic exhibitors are participating. Prominent R&D institutions, textile-related associations are anticipated to join the fair.

TITAS focuses on exhibition areas to highlight the diversity and strengths of textile supply chains. The exhibitor hall will feature six categories: fiber and yarn, industrial/home textiles, apparel, trimming and accessories, textile machinery and sewing equipment and other relevant services. The Association and Institute Hall will line up leading textile related associations and institutes as well as their members.

The trend zone will shine the spotlight on three themes: functional applications, sustainability and personal protective equipment. The theme of functional applications will point to end uses such as sports, outdoor and work-from-home products. The theme of sustainability will emphasise on how natural materials bring added values to the products as well as processes that are environmentally friendly. The theme personal protective equipment will look at post-pandemic demands in areas of professional, everyday life, and medical apparel. The events zone will host the new product launch and fashion show videos for exhibitors to present their product highlights and advantages in diverse ways.