As per a Vietnam Plus report, export turnover of Vietnam’s footwear and handbags industry is expected to return to growth in the fourth quarter of this year during the year-end shopping rush in European and American countries.

A report from the Ministry of Industry and Trade estimates orders of businesses in the footwear industry to gradually recover from the third quarter of this year. Though some businesses in the leather and footwear sector have already secured new orders, the purchasing power of consumers is still weak as the main import markets for Vietnamese leather and footwear products are still being affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

After more than two months implementing the EU-Việt Nam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), footwear has been added as a commodity in the list of Vietnam’s exports with positive changes. Leather footwear production is estimated to have increased by 5.3 per cent to 31 million pairs last month. It is estimated to have increased by 0.8 per cent year-on-year to 249.1 million pairs in the past 10 months of the year.

Footwear export turnover of all kinds in 10 months was estimated to have decreased by 9.9 per cent to $13.38 billion over the same period last year.

The recent development of luxurious, realistic-looking fur-free furs has helped some brands shed the animal hide from collections. As per Humane Society International YouGov poll, 93 per cent British population does not wear fur. Designer labels like Gucci, Chanel, Versace, Armani, Coach, Prada, etc have all gone fur free. Even Fendi, which started life as a fur house in 1925, has scaled back its use of animal hides, emphasizing the less controversial parts of its offering – from lace dresses to handbags.

As per Jing Daily, China represents 80 per cent of the global fur trade Euromonitor predicts China’s fur production to increase from £6.6billion last year to £6.9billion in 2021. Russia and the US are big fur markets, too, as is South Korea. In the West, however, Euromonitor expects the US to photograph fewer high profile figures in fur coat.

Outliers include Jennifer Lopez, who wore a huge fur coat in much of the 2019 movie Hustlers, though she was protested against at the movie’s premiere. Hip hop stars, including Cardi B and Diddy, have also been photographed in fur.

For its second quarter that ended September 30, 2020, Himatsingka Seide has reported total income of Rs 659.55 crore as compared to Rs 183.29 crore during the period ended June 30, 2020. The company posted a net profit / (loss) of Rs 3.81 crores for the period ended September 30, 2020 as against net profit / (loss) of Rs (139.79) crore for the period ended June 30, 2020.

The company reported EPS of Rs.0.39 for the period ended September 30, 2020 as compared to Rs.(14.20) for the period ended June 30, 2020. On a yearly basis, Himatsingka Seide reported total income of Rs 659.55 crore during the period ended September 30, 2020 as compared to Rs 653.48 crore during the period ended September 30, 2019.

The company posted net profit / (loss) of Rs 3.81 crore for the period ended September 30, 2020 as against net profit / (loss) of Rs 34.08 crore for the period ended September 30, 2019.

The company has reported EPS of Rs 0.39 for the period ended September 30, 2020 as compared to Rs 3.46 for the period ended September 30, 2019.

Dutch denim brand G-Star has launched ‘Relz Black Denim’ fabric, the world’s most sustainable black denim fabric in eight styles for its winter ‘20 collection. As per an Apparel Resources report, the fabric has been launched in collaboration with Artistic Milliners and Archroma. It is made from pure organic cotton, dyed and treated without the use of any harmful chemical.

The dye is applied to the fabric in a five-step process instead of the conventional eight to ten steps, which saves around 52 per cent water, 65 per cent energy, 71 per cent CO2 emissions and 14 per cent chemicals. The residual of the black liquid dye and the pigment coating level left behind is easy to clean and is reusable. G-Star’s long-standing cooperation partners Artistic Milliners and Archroma have helped the brand to achieve the Gold Status certification by the Cradle to Cradle Product Innovation Institute for its Raw Relz Black Denim.

This makes it the first black denim to achieve the Cradle to Cradle Certification, which is given to the products that are safe, circular and responsibly produced. The eight denim styles launched by the brand include a lined denim peacoat, a button pencil skirt, ultra-high mom and dad ankle jeans, boyfriend crop jeans, ultra-high straight ankle jeans and a bomber jacket.

OTEXA stats reveal volume of blue denim imports by the US has decreased 32.19 per cent to $1.69 billion per year until August. As per Textile Focus, this decline was a little higher than the fall in seven months to July of 35.26 percent annually. Cambodia and Vietnam were the major suppliers during the period. Jeans exports from Vietnam increased 1.51 per cent to $230.1 billion and from Cambodia by 23.2 per cent to $89.03 million.

US’ denim imports from Bangladesh decreased 8.46 per cent to $333.55 million in the period, while Mexico’s imports decreased by 50.89 per cent to $274.45 million. China’s market share declined to be equivalent of Vietnam’s share by volume. In the eight-month span, imports of jeans from China fell by 60,21 per cent.

The remainder of top 10 suppliers increased marginally during the month, while shipments remained substantially reduced for the year. Imports from Pakistan declined by 16.44 per cent to $142.79 million; by 31.12 per cent to 55.7 million from Nicaragua and by 12.47 per cent to $31.78 million for Lesotho.

Denim production and consumption in India is increasing at a CAGR of 15 per cent, says a report by Business of Fashion and McKinsey. The pandemic has challenged the fashion sector in the nation. Executives from three Indian denim mills shared their views on the current denim industry at a Carved in Blue webinar recently.

AamirAkhtar, CEO, Arvind , noted that as brands still hold their spring inventory and plan to repurpose the same, they aren’t buying new. However, capacity at several mills still remains underutilized. Over the next six months, most Indian mills won’t surpass a capacity of 45-55 per cent, said AdityaGoyal, CEO and Managing Director, Anuhba Industries.

However, demand in rural areas has been increasing where denim is being purchased as a workwear essential. These individuals are able to sell their goods and have received support from the government. Meanwhile, cities are taking longer to bounce back and make denim purchases since workers are unemployed and businesses are struggling. Because of this, commoditized denim is rebounding at a greater rate than fashion denim.

Even though consumers’ stay-at-home lifestyles have caused denim sales to take a hit, denim mills expect demand for denim to bounce back soon. It cannot be challenged by anything but itself, asserted Subir Mukherjee, Business Head, Bhaskar Denim.

The South African fiber industry hopes to regain the glory of its golden days as international buyers and investors set their sights on sustainable fiber source Earlier in October, SA’s wool industry participated in Europe’s Torino Fashion Match for the first time. Cape Wools SA general manager Deon Saayman spoke at the event as part of a virtual Focus Africa segment with the aim of creating awareness of the sustainability of the South African wool clip and generating interest in beneficiation in the wool pipeline in South Africa. He said the move signaled a significant boost for the country’s wool sector.

Increasing the production and export of wool to Europe will be a game-changer for SA. An inclusive approach targeting global marketing on one end, as well as community upliftment on ground-level, is sought to strengthen the industry. The recent awarding of a R5m grant to the Free State’s Centre for Sustainable Agriculture, Rural Development and Extension (Censarde) hopes to empower communities to create a sustainable livelihood for communal wool farmers in the province in the long run.

Sensil® BodyFresh Fabrics from NILIT, a manufacturer of innovative, customized nylon (polyamide) 6.6 solutions, has demonstrated a 99.85 per cent reduction in viral activity when tested according to ISO 18184:2019 criteria against Betacoronavirus 1 (OC43), an enveloped, positive-sense, single-stranded RNA virus.

The confirmation has been received from Microbe Investigations AG (MIS) – a microbiological testing services lab. The additives integrated into Sensil® BodyFresh yarn delivers long-lasting protection that does not deteriorate with laundering, indicating that the additive is not washed out of the fabric.

The use of the technology helps in controlling the microbial growth allowing fabric to stay fresher longer and require fewer launderings. Moreover, the Sensil® BodyFresh is responsibly made at NILIT’s water- and energy-optimized facilities and meets NILIT’s Total Product Sustainability guidelines.

The February 2021 physical edition of British trade fair Moda has been cancelled and the event will now be held digitally.

The event was originally planned to be held in September 2020, but – thanks to COVID-19 – it was pushed back to February 2021 to be held alongside organizer Hyve’s retail show Spring Fair.

However, witnessing the current situation of the pandemic, the company announced that it will no longer go ahead due to fresh lockdown and subsequent restrictions.

The virtual forum will take place on February 23, 2021, and will be open to both brands and buyers. It intends to allow fashion professionals to do business despite all pandemic-induced travel restrictions.

Messe Frankfurt France has introduced an innovative alternative solution for the fashion industry following the cancellation of its February 2021 trade fairs. The organizer will organize an event for fabrics and clothing buyers which will have a quite innovative format. Organzsed over one week, at the beginning of February, in the heart of Paris, it will allow buyers to discover, with absolute safety, the offer from selected exhibitors whose products will be grouped together in specific areas.

The event will be open to visitors by exclusive invitation and reservation, in order to show them the textiles and clothing collections selected from the exhibition offer. Organised around the traditional trend forum, several dedicated areas will group together by category the samples of fabrics and finished products from hundreds of textile companies and clothing manufacturers gathered by our selection committee.

The organizer has decided to cancel the February 2021 edition of its Apparel Sourcing, Avantex, Leatherworld, Shawls&Scarves, Texworld and Texworld Denim Paris shows.