Data from UK-based Columbus Consulting reveals, 64 per cent shoppers in the country are ready to purchase new fashion items within a month of the coronavirus lockdown’s end, with another 24 per cent expressing interest in buying within the following three months.

While 70 per cent shoppers admitted to tightening their purse strings amid the virus’ economic disruption, Columbus Consulting partner Charlotte Kula-Przezwanski was quite surprised to find that more than three-fifths of shoppers were already contemplating their next shopping excursion.

Despite being confined to their homes in the near-term, shoppers are likely getting antsy about returning to some semblance of their normal lives, she said. UK’s high street retailers and others have undoubtedly suffered, she admitted, pointing to popular department store Debenhams, which officially filed for administration, equivalent to bankruptcy, in early April. Nearly one-quarter of surveyed shoppers said they wouldn’t purchase any fashion items while the pandemic rages on, and about half said they might—but the purchases will be few and far between.

More than 70 percent of all consumers admitted to increased purchases via e-commerce channels, while 29 percent copped to significantly upping their online shopping game since the lockdown began.

Kula-Przezwanski touted sites like Boohoo, Missguided and PrettyLittleThing as winners with Gen Z and millennial shoppers ages 14-30. Brands are also bombarding young shoppers—who are glued to their mobile devices—with unbeatable deals.

With consumers relegated to their living rooms and home offices, comfortable, casual picks have resonated best, Kula-Przezwanski said. One-third of shoppers said casual wear would be their most likely purchase, while 19 per cent said active wear was their shopping priority.

Consumers are also placing a much larger emphasis on quality than they did before the crisis, with 80 percent of shoppers saying the global health event has prompted them to consider and appreciate their purchases more than they did in the past.

The South African fashion industry is evolving to meet the needs of those living under lockdown conditions by initiating the production of masks. For instance, Milliner Crystal Birch is producing a range of fabric face masks, as well as protective shield visors with transparent panels which cover the eyes, nose and mouth. Similarly, Sandy Rogers, a designer in Johannesburg’s Victoria Yards, is making face masks on behalf of Goodbye Malaria, which is donating them to the Solidarity Fund and to Nando’s, to protect its employees.

Polo South Africa recently pledged to provide 250,000 face masks which are being provided to at-risk commuters and essential-service providers. Polo is using its shirt factory in Atlantis, Cape Town, to generate these cotton masks. Like the others, they are not medical grade but they are washable and reusable and can help prevent people spreading infection and from touching their noses and mouths in the course of travel.

Indie brands The Watermelon Social Club and Klipa Denim are producing face masks for employees, customers and, hopefully, for hospital staff in the future. ERRE Fashion, a local luxe favourite, is making a range of masks, as well as producing scrubs for nurses in a collaborative venture with designers Isabel de Villiers and Jacques Bam.

Ludhiana Spinners Association (LSA), which wants to resume production of yarn, is now demanding that the anti- dumping duty on the import of acrylic fiber should be withdrawn with immediate effect.

Acrylic fiber is the basic raw material for making value added products like sweaters, shawls, etc. and continuation of the duty on this fiber will be double whammy for us, particularly in the times of this pandemic. Millions of units of spinning, textile and garment sector are of the view that in a recent petition filed for review of the anti-dumping duty the decision taken will be made purely on merit basis and duty will be totally waived.

However, three big wigs of the acrylic fiber industry for protecting their profits are putting lakhs of jobs and thousands of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) at stake and lobbying for continuation of the anti-dumping duty on the acrylic fibre. These three players wish to control the market by putting other spinners and hosiery industry at a disadvantage. It’s a matter of survival for these millions of units. Combined together, these fiber producers employ about 6,000 persons versus 45,000-50,000 employed by 50-60 spinning factories of Ludhiana on which the knitwears industry is fully dependant. Besides, nearly 10 lakh persons are employed by the knitwear industry.

Ravindra Verma of Northern India Textile Mills Association (NITMA) also requested the government to provide a level playing field to the spinners and knitwear manufacturers in Ludhiana as users of this raw material have always been at the receiving end of these unwarranted duties, whereas the few Indian producers of acrylic fibres are enjoying a very strong financial situation.

In an interaction with members of Merchants' Chamber of Commerce and Industry through a webinar, Union textiles minister Smriti Irani urged the industry to reorient itself and not depend financial packages from the government as its finances are already under strain due to coronavirus pandemic. Irani cited the example of JCT group in Punjab which had sought support to ferry the samples of PPEs to a laboratory in Aurangabad for testing during the lockdown and the government had helped the firm for this.

She told members of the city-based industry body that the government’s job is making policy and provide support and it has been doing its best to support all. The Reserve Bank of India has already given relaxations and banks are supporting businesses to tide over the crisis.

Irani said the textiles ministry is in discussion with the West Bengal government to work out a plan to help the jute industry. Farmers need 4,500 million tonne of certified jute seeds to improve quality of the golden fiber, and only a part of this is available now.

Milan has opted for digital streaming of its fashion week scheduled from July 14-17, 2020. Dubbed ‘Milano Digital Fashion Week,’ the event will showcase Spring/Summer 2021 menswear collections alongside both men’s and women’s Spring 2021 pre-collections.

Milan-based organisation Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana (CNMI), will set up a digital platform for streaming, accessible through its website – www.cameramoda.it, as well as popular social media channels including Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Weibo and YouTube.

The platform will provide photographic and video content, interviews and backstage peaks to creative moments and alternative and unique viewpoints, all organised in a calendar with slots for each brand, the aim being to create a rich and varied palimpsest of use to all operators in the industry.

Alongside the Milano Digital Fashion Week’s showcases, one section of the platform will be dedicated solely to CNMI-accredited showrooms, which will be able to present their brands via photos and videos, with the objective of supporting Italian businesses through this first post-COVID-19 campaign.

Milan is the next city after London and Paris to have announced a digital fashion week amidst the global coronavirus crisis. On 21 April, the British Fashion Council declared a digital presentation of both its men’s and womenswear showcases under the London Fashion Week banner, through a single genderless digital platform.

E-commerce portal LovetheSales, which allows consumers to shop all sales in one place says, the demand for luxury fashion has shot back up in the past fortnight, with searches for luxury brands up 27 per cent year-on-year. While celebrity fashion choices have been less relevant, one key influencer is continuing to make an impact. The Duchess of Cambridge —whose Boden Aurora midi wrap dress, worn in the second part of the interview, drove searches for Boden dresses up 98 per cent in the last week on the LovetheSales marketplace.

Other trends embraced by the famous have also moved away from the Instagram-fuelled excess of full-on celebrity culture to a more community-focused direction. Views for rainbow fashion wear, for instance, skyrocketed 566 per cent in April, compared to a year ago.

Demand for fashionable face masks increased by 285 per cent, month-on-month. In fact Lyst report had suggested, the Off-White mask was the most searched item for fashion masks online and is currently sold out. Other brands seeing high demand for fashionable face masks include US label Rag & Bone. The brand recently released a mask, which is also now sold out, with part of the profits going to Covid-19 charities. Boohoo’s masks have also seen a 218% surge in page views in the past fortnight.

Another clear trend has been big demand for activewear whose demand has shot up by 141 per cent. The demand for loungewear also rose by 433 per cent. Under Armour and New balance are the brands of choice for runners, with demand for them up by 65 per cent and 60 per cent year-on-year. Cycling clothing brand Castelli has seen the biggest jump in search with demand up by 98 per cent this month.

A report by Leathergoods and Footwear Manufacturers & Exporters Association of Bangladesh (LFMEAB), the ongoing COVID 19 pandemic led to 77.94 per cent decline in exports of leather products and footwear in the country. As per the Export Promotion Bureau stats overall export earnings from leather products and leather footwear declined by 6.59 per cent, 21.72 per cent and 79.30 per cent during February, March, and April respectively.

Over four months from January to April, export earnings from leather products and leather footwear declined by 19.26 per cent to $200.43 million in 2020. Exports of leather footwear declined by 22.10 per cent to $128.82 million while those of leather products declined by 15.59 per cent to $82.87 million.

Comparing April alone, overall export earnings from leather products and leather footwear in April 2020 dipped by 79.70 per cent over April 2019. Leather products fell by 82.47 per cent whereas leather footwear fell by 77.94 per cent.

This unprecedented export fall is due to most retailers, chain stores and shops remaining closed in major export markets as in EU countries: Germany, Italy, France, and etc.; the US and Japan. In these markets, demand for footwear and leather goods has almost dwindled to zero. Reportedly, sales for this year's spring season are as much as 70 per cent lower than last year.

Retail continues to take a blow from the COVID-19 pandemic as Kontoor Brands recorded a loss of 22 Y-o-Y loss in first financial quarter amounting to $504 million. The parent company of Wrangler and Lee, reported 14 per cent decrease in revenue as compared to Q1 of last year. It also reported 16 per cent loss of revenue from the US market that contributed $379 million to the overall sales.

The company recorded a 41 per cent rise in digital wholesale as the stores continue to remain shut during the lockdown. China’s contribution towards revenue was hit the most as the international level fell to $126 million from $172 million of Q1 2019.

The company has suspended dividend distribution for the upcoming future to strengthen its financial holding. It also reported that their revolving credit facility of $475 million will be able to provide some financial buffer until retail sales start catching up.

Kingpins 24 online event, which was first launched in April in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, will target the US denim market in its June edition. The two-day April event garnered nearly 10,000 visitors to its website, with 3,500 viewers tuning into the livestream. The on-demand content pulled in nearly 29,000 views, with more than 13,000 views during the show and in the week following.

The June event will look slightly different from the first, with updates to everything from content to scheduling. For one, there will be a larger focus on product-related information from mills and manufacturers. Also, all members of the denim supply chain—not just Kingpins New York exhibitors—are welcome to apply to join the online event as exhibitors.

In terms of scheduling, the livestream will run for 8 hours instead of 10, beginning at 9 a.m. EST and ending at 5 p.m. EST both days, and include more co-hosts and interviewers than the inaugural edition. The show will once again be hosted by Olah and Vivian Wang, Kingpins’ managing director and head of global sales, and content will be shared at no cost to viewers, with the exception of the $35 Kingpins Trend x Denim Dudes trend forecast.

French luxury group Kering has issued bonds worth €1.2 billion in total. The bond issue is split in two tranches: a first tranche worth €600 million maturing in three years with a 0.25 per cent coupon, and a second one, also worth €600 million, maturing in eight years with a 0.75 per cent coupon, as indicated by Kering in a press release.

Kering, which owns among others Gucci, Saint Laurent, Balenciaga and Bottega Veneta, said the operation contributes to the diversification of the group’s financing resources and to an increase in its financial flexibility, by enabling the group to refinance its existing debt and extend the maturity date of its funding sources.

Kering underlined that the issue was received very favorably by bond investors, confirming the market’s confidence in the group's creditworthiness. In 2019, Kering had generated revenues of €15.9 billion.