US’ apparel imports from NAFTA countries, Canada, Mexico fell by 38.22 per cent on yearly basis during the first half of 2020, according to OTEXA. These apparel imports were valued at $1.16 million during the period. However, as markets in the US picked up from late May this year, the US’ imports from these two countries increased by 90.65 per cent in June ’20 over May ’20.

US’ apparel shipments from Mexico totaled $1 billion falling by 37.21 per cent on Y-o-Y basis during H1 2020, while in June ’20, Mexico’s shipments grew by over 90 per cent to $179.46 million garments. On the other hand, Canada apparel’s shipments grew by 87.78 per cent growth in June ’20 to $19.63 million while the country fell in its apparel shipment by 43.91 per cent on yearly note in January-June ’20 period.

Many Asian workers working for suppliers to global fashion brands retailers including Hennes & Mauritz, Topshop and Gap, have allegedly received only partial or no wages at all in the three months ending May, according to a report by labor union alliance Clean Clothes Campaign. The average worker in the 50 million strong Asian supply chain for garments has lost about a fifth of pay, representing roughly $5.8 billion in unpaid or lost wages, says the data gathered by the group.

When pandemic lockdowns hit Europe and the US, many of the world’s largest retailers demanded heavy retroactive discounts or refused to pay for orders, as they struggled to sell clothes and revenues slumped. Reports of workers’ pay being withheld began in February, after the pandemic broke out in China and severely hampered the flow of textiles, zippers, buttons and other accessories used in the Asian garment industry. As per Christie Miedema, Clean Clothes Campaign, things worsened after this as Bangladesh manufacturers lost out on more than $3 billion in payments for clothes already produced or sourced, according to the BGMEA.

In March, nearly 1million Bangladeshi garment makers were sent home without any pay at all, with suppliers reporting that the vast majority of buyers refused to contribute to severance pay. In some parts of India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan, the average garment worker made roughly half of normal pay in the three months ending May.

Excluding China, where workers have access to more support from the government, garment workers in Asia have seen their pay drop by more than a third, representing roughly $3.2 billion in unpaid or lost wages, the report found.

Organizers of Copenhagen Fashion Week (CFW) have unveiled its new digital platform, CPHFW72H, designed to stream this season’s 72 hours of shows, talks, and events.

The spring/summer 2021 edition of Copenhagen Fashion Week will feature 32 shows and presentations including Ganni, Stine Goya, Holzweiler and Rixo, kicking off with a digital show from Swedish brand Whyred aired at 10 am CET on Monday, August 10, while Henrik Vibskov will officially close fashion week with a physical presentation to be live streamed on August 12.

All showcases, whether physical, digital or a combination of the both will be presented on Copenhagenfashionweek.com , where organizers have stated that they have shared a “no rules dictating show format” and that has resulted in a range of pre-produced and live presentations – including adapted runway shows, presentations, films, exhibitions, and installations.

Brands scheduled to hold a physical catwalk show, presentation, exhibition or event, include Berlin-based MalaikaRaiss, sustainable Danish fashion brand Designers Remix, Mark Kenly Domino Tan, activewear label 7 Days Active, Copenhagen-based Soulland, Ganni, Danish designer Soeren Le Schmidt, luxury ready-to-wear label Munthe, Samsøe and Samsøe, Danish designer Stine Goya, Rains, Remain Birger Christensen, Copenhagen-based Lovechild 1979, Baum und Pferdgarten, Danish sustainable fashion brand Skall Studio, Helmstedt, menswear label Mfpen, Bestseller brand Selected, By Malene Birger, Henrik Vibskov and Copenhagen-based outerwear brand Saks Potts.

Copenhagen Fashion Week is quick to stress that while it is able to host physical events, this edition of fashion week will “naturally be adapted in compliance with the COVID-19 health and safety measures.

The coronavirus pandemic has triggered massive job losses, especially for women, in the readymade garment sector of Bangladesh, says an information note by the WTO.

On account of future order cancellations and customer refusals to pay for current orders, more than a million garment workers in Bangladesh have already been dismissed or furloughed, indicate recent surveys, underlined the WTO of which, orders received by garment manufacturing units in Bangladesh declined by 45.8 per cent over the first quarter of 2020.

Titled ‘The effects of COVID-19 on Bangladesh’s ready-made garment sector’, a box item in the information note pointed out that there was a marked effect on employment subsequent to contraction in demand and order cancellations. Around 81 per cent contraction was experienced in April alone.

Further, an information note, titled ‘The economic impact of COVID-19 on women in vulnerable sectors and economies’, maintained that subsequent to order cancellations and temporary closure of retail shops, many garment manufacturing units in countries such as Vietnam, Bangladesh and Cambodia had to shut down operations thereby causing substantial job loss.

Organizers of Copenhagen Fashion Week (CFW) have unveiled its new digital platform, CPHFW72H, designed to stream this season’s 72 hours of shows, talks, and events.

The spring/summer 2021 edition of Copenhagen Fashion Week will feature 32 shows and presentations including Ganni, Stine Goya, Holzweiler and Rixo, kicking off with a digital show from Swedish brand Whyred aired at 10 am CET on Monday, August 10, while Henrik Vibskov will officially close fashion week with a physical presentation to be live streamed on August 12.

All showcases, whether physical, digital or a combination of the both will be presented on Copenhagenfashionweek.com , where organizers have stated that they have shared a “no rules dictating show format” and that has resulted in a range of pre-produced and live presentations – including adapted runway shows, presentations, films, exhibitions, and installations.

Brands scheduled to hold a physical catwalk show, presentation, exhibition or event, include Berlin-based MalaikaRaiss, sustainable Danish fashion brand Designers Remix, Mark Kenly Domino Tan, activewear label 7 Days Active, Copenhagen-based Soulland, Ganni, Danish designer Soeren Le Schmidt, luxury ready-to-wear label Munthe, Samsøe and Samsøe, Danish designer Stine Goya, Rains, Remain Birger Christensen, Copenhagen-based Lovechild 1979, Baum und Pferdgarten, Danish sustainable fashion brand Skall Studio, Helmstedt, menswear label Mfpen, Bestseller brand Selected, By Malene Birger, Henrik Vibskov and Copenhagen-based outerwear brand Saks Potts.

Copenhagen Fashion Week is quick to stress that while it is able to host physical events, this edition of fashion week will “naturally be adapted in compliance with the COVID-19 health and safety measures.

Coats, the world’s leading industrial thread company has launched Coats Armoren™, a range of cut protect yarns engineered for both protection and comfort in gloves and which offers game-changing solutions to the hand safety industry.

Coats Armoren uses a pioneering engineered yarn technology developed by Coats that incorporates cutting edge innovation for hand safety. New generation stretch fibres and high quality core yarn coverage create laser-fine gloves that are comfortable and have ultimate tactile dexterity. The proprietary helical core construction provides the power of extreme cut resistance; multi-risk and arc flash protection; and high contact heat resistance – even at fine knitting gauges.

Armoren Ultracut has proprietary reinforced core constructions to meet extreme laceration hazards. Armoren Ultralight has extra-soft fibres engineered which provide yarns for laser-fine knitted gloves that offer ultimate dexterity and protection.

Also being brought under the Coats Armoren range are two existing products. Armoren X13 incorporates the latest fibre and spinning technology to provide superior cut resistance and high durability. Armoren X14 has a special fiber blend with cooling technology that wicks moisture and reduces body heat.

Fashion giant H&M has suspended a few of its employees for using racist language to describe the name of a hat to be sold at stores of its & Other Stories brand.

In 2018, the Swedish company was forced to apologize for an advert that was perceived as using racist language.H&M acknowledged that it had challenges with the diversity of some of its own teams.

It said it would also take further measures including specific targets for boosting diversity in its major markets by the end of 2020 and the creation of an external advisory council to consult on its business direction.

H&M's & Other Stories has 70 stores in 17 markets in Europe, the United States and Asia.

Fast Retailing-owned J Brand has launched Limitless Stretch, a fabric created at the company’s Jeans Innovation Center in Los Angeles. Available exclusively in its new Sophia skinny fit, the fabric is able to stretch to twice its size and retract without any sagging. The fabric features 30 percent more stretch than other premium denim fabrics on the market

The brand predicts the fabric to be an immediate customer favorite, as it’s an update to its signature skinny fit that helped launch the label 15 years ago. The super skinny silhouette features a mid-rise waist and a slightly longer inseam than other J Brand styles, and will be available for Fall 2020.

To accompany the launch, J Brand is rolling out a black-and-white campaign that pays homage to the updated classic and underscores the “effortless beauty” of the J Brand customer.

J Brand’s Limitless Stretch fabric also checks off another box on the list of consumer demands increasing in light of the pandemic: sustainability. The new denim is washed using J Brand’s Eco Wash water-saving process. By the end of the year, the brand will incorporate sustainable technologies into 100 percent of its washed denim.

Kontoor Inc., with a portfolio led by the Wrangler and Lee brands, has strengthened liquidity and improved its financial position in the second quarter, even as the economic crisis that resulted from the global pandemic brought down sales and earnings.

The company ended the quarter with $256 million in cash and equivalents, and approximately $1.1 billion in long-term debt. It repaid $175 million against the revolver in conjunction with the closing of the amendment to the credit facility in May.

Due to the company’s strong cash generation, in June it made an additional discretionary repayment on its revolver of $75 million. As of June, Kontoor had $225 million of outstanding borrowings under the revolving credit facility and $273 million available for borrowing against it.

Inventory at the end of the second quarter of 2020 was $433 million, down $105 million or 20 percent compared to the prior-year period.

Revenue for the second quarter ended June 27 decreased 43 percent to $349 million. Kontoor said the revenue declines were primarily the result of COVID-19-related wholesale and owned-door closures, and stay-at-home orders, as well as an approximate $33 million timing shift of shipments from the second quarter to the third. Revenue on a year-over-year basis sequentially improved each month as the quarter progressed.

Curato, a Mumbai based multi-designer store exclusively for men is all set to launch their E-commerce website to provide as the part of seamless shopping experience to its patrons. Curated by Tanisha Rahimtoola Agarwal, the website features a plethora of Indian designers across athleisure, occasionwear, experimental to classic wear.

The website showcases a finely curated collection of designers across categories, stocking everything from apparel, footwear, and accessories. For contemporary silhouettes, it has brands like Antar-Agni, Rajesh Pratap Singh, Kunal Rawal, Rohit Gandhi & Rahul Khanna; They have a host of designers who also represent athleisure wear such as Nought One & Gully; For quirky Silhouettes, they have Sahil Aneja, Noo-Noo & Shivan & Naresh. With the festive season around the corner, the newly launched portal offers a repertoire of ethnic, timeless Indian wear by leading names like Payal Singhal, SVA, among many others. The e-commerce website will offer a seamless shopping experience to the shoppers.