Global Fashion Group expects a second profitable quarter on an adjusted EBITDA basis, as well as its first cash flow-positive three months. It’s expecting the second quarter to end with net merchandise value (NMV) growth on a constant currency basis of above 20%, despite the virus impact in April, driven by more than two million new customers.

The company operates webstores such as The Iconic, Zalora, Dafiti and La Moda in Asia Pacific, Latin America and Eastern Europe. They sell own labels, as well as major brand names under partnership deals from Mango to Dorothy Perkins, Lee, Topshop, Guess and many more.

It’s predicting its adjusted EBITDA profitability will be due to a strong gross margin and “significantly better marketing efficiency”.

The company also said it has seen improved Marketplace share of more than 30% (up from 19% in Q2 2019) and around 90% Marketplace NMV growth “as a result of category mix shift and increased Marketplace SKU share”.

The company added that profitability, alongside disciplined working capital management and capital expenditure, resulted in strong cash generation and a pro-forma cash balance at 30 June of around €260m, up €50m from the end of March.

The newly released report ‘Nature of Fashion by the Biomimicry Institute’ notes many apparel and beauty brands like Adidas and Genusee are using recycled plastics to make their products. In 2020, Adidas plans to produce a record 15 to 20 million pairs of shoes made with plastic waste in partnership with Parley for the Oceans. The brand will also make 50 per cent of its polyester from recycled plastic this year.

Similarly, eyewear brand GlassesUSA.com recently launched its SeaClean collection made from upcycled plastic bottles. Another eyewear brand Genusee has also starting making eyewear from recycled plastic. A report titled Waste & Opportunity 2020 by Plastic Free July shows that though the production of plastic is set to quadruple by 2050, only 13 per cent is recycled in the US, which greatly contributes to climate change. The report predicts green house gas emissions from plastic to reach 13 per cent of the earth’s entire remaining carbon budget by 2050.

Over 110 fashion brands have committed to participate in the 2020 Circular Fashion Pledge launched by Sustainable Brands, the premier global community of brand innovators. The pledge asks brands to commit to one of three goals by the end of 2020: enable take-back or resale, increase recycled content, or design for durability. It provides them with options to either upcycle, repair, donate, or recycle their unsold items.

The community also urges brands to increase the total percentage of certified recycled content or scrap fabric by 10 percent in their top selling items. It also challenges brands to increase the use of non-blended materials, and/or modularity and repairability in their top five selling times.

Of 117 brands, 62 percent have pledged to enabling take-back/resale, 60 percent to increasing recycled content, and 50 percent to design for durability; roughly half have pledged to at least two commitments.

A survey by UK-based End of Tenancy Cleaning Services reveals, there has been a massive surge Google searches for clothes recycling in EU countries. Ireland has registered the highest number of searches with around 12,670 people googling how to recycle old clothes. This is followed by high search results in Germany where 9,390 people and the Netherlands where 6,840 people have searched for the same.

On the other hand countries like Luxembourg, Slovenia, and Slovakia have reported the lowest number of searches with 330 searches in Luxembourg, Slovenia and Slovakia are as low as 300 and 270 searches a month, respectively. Saveonenergy.com/uk also analyzed search volumes to find out which of the most-worn items of clothing are recycled most in each of the Top 10 EU countries. The results show shoes to be the most recycled item of clothing in 70 per cent of the ten countries analyzed, including Ireland, the Netherlands and Spain. While jeans are the most recycled item of clothing in 30 per cent of the 10 countries analyzed, including Germany, France, and Italy.

Industry leaders who attended the recent webinar ‘Carved in Blue’ noted denim manufacturers in Pakistan are slowly recovering from the COVID-19 induced lockdown. Hasan Javed, Director, Artistic Garment Industries (AGI), which resumed business by the end of April said his company aims to focus on implementing training and awareness sessions at the facility about how to conduct work safely under the new guidelines. The company aims to resume operations at full scale in July both in the fabric and garment business.

Azgard Nine, which is experiencing a surge of orders due to pent-up demand for garments, particularly from Europe, warned the flurry of orders is fleeting. The company expects Pakistan to regain its share when markets finally resume at a normal level. However, in order to be agile, companies may need to eliminate the number of suppliers essential to production. Zaki Saleemi, Representative, Crescent Bahuman said companies will have to simplify their suppliers and inventories, which may bode well for Pakistan’s crop of vertical denim manufactures.

As per Ebru Debbağ, Executive Director, Soorty, the industry will see an imbalance of supply and demand in future as the purchasing power of the customers have diminished by 50 per cent.

Lowering its profit outlook for the year through April, Japan's Fast Retailing, owner of clothing brand Uniqlo, now expects its annual operating profit to decline by 50 per cent to 130 billion yen rather a previously expected drop of 44 per cent as the company reported operating loss of 4 billion yen in March-May quarter.

However, the company reported a strong rebound in Uniqlo's domestic same-store sales for June as its business in China was recovering at a faster-than-expected pace. Uniqlo's domestic same-store sales, including online purchases, rose by 26 per cent in June from a year earlier. The brand is seeing a faster-than-predicted pace of recovery in Japan and China, and would continue to open more stores around the world. Fast Retailing has also opened most of its stores in China and Japan. The company’s focus on Asia may help shelter it from the worst of the global pandemic.

Gap Inc has launched a B2B product program to supply large organizations reusable, non-medical grade cloth face masks for their employees as they return to work. These masks are made with triple-layer cotton and comfortable ear straps designed per Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. They are available in a variety of colors like brown, red, navy, and shades of pink and green with an option to add a custom logo. These masks are sold in packages of five.

Gap has already sold 10 million non-medical grade face masks to employers, including the City of New York, the State of California, Kaiser Permanent and a leading consulting firm. This is in addition to the sourcing of millions of non-medical masks and other personal protective equipment (PPE) for the healthcare sector during the pandemic, and production of cloth masks that Gap Inc.’s brands are selling to consumers.

The company’s brands are also donating 200,000 masks to community organizations and causes that help those in need. In May, it signed its first ever multi-brand licensing agreement with IMG to deliver cross-category product extensions with a focus on the brand’s casual, American style that includes support for Gap Kids and babyGap.

Men’s contemporary fashion and lifestyle trade show Liberty Fairs plans to launch a virtual market place with wholesale platform Joor. The marketplace will go live from August 3-5. Liberty Fairs also plans to cancel the shows originally slate for August and September, citing safety concerns and restrictions as a result of the continuing COVID-19 pandemic. The organizer recently welcomed its former Project sales manager Edwina Kulego to the team, who will be joining as the vice president of Liberty Fairs.

Earlier this month, Informa Markets had announced its plans to cancel its September apparel and footwear trade shows, including Coterie, Fame, Moda, Sole Commerce, Project and Children’s Club. The trade shows were to be held in New York City.

Other trade show organizers such as Pitti Immagine and Kingpins have opted for digital events, though each has indicated that virtual gatherings will not replace in-person events in the future.

Putting around 1,300 jobs at risk, British department store chain John Lewis plans to close eight stores. The closures will include two major outlets in Birmingham and Watford as it would continue to invest heavily in e-commerce, with online sales looking set to represent around 60 to 70 per cent of total sales this year and next, compared with 40 per cent prior to the COVID-19 crisis. The closures will help the retailer secure the sustainability of partnership and continue to meet the needs of its customers however and wherever they want to shopp.

Considered as middle England’s favorite department store, John Lewis, follows menswear shop TM Lewin, department store Harrods, sandwich chains Upper Crust and Pret A Manger and fast-food outlet Burger King among other UK brands to have warned of job cuts in the last two weeks.

UK retailers have been hammered by the lockdown and data shows that shoppers remain wary of entering stores even as the restrictions ease, with footfall down 50 per cent year on year during the third week of reopening in England and Northern Ireland, according to the British Retail Consortium. The pandemic has heaped additional problems onto many retailers who were already struggling due to tight margins, competition from online-only stores and the cost of business rate taxes.

The Foreign Buyers Association of Philippines (Fobap) has received $80 million worth garments orders from American fashion brands. These are the first purchase orders that the association has received since March. The association is a group of buyer representatives that monitor for their foreign principals how orders are being done in economic zones in the Philippines, from sampling and sewing to shipment and even after-sales.

Fobap members had been appealing to their principals abroad to give them at least some of the orders, especially since many workers are having a difficult time to cope with the health crisis. Around $300 million worth of planned orders were canceled at the start of the year due to the pandemic.

However, the situation improved last week as popular brands Ann Taylor, Vineyard Vines and Ralph Lauren confirmed orders worth $28 million. Another $50 million was made by Lucky Brand Jeans, Talbots, Kohl’s and Champion.