Omnichannel eyewear retailer Lenskart plans to shift its entire manufacturing operations in Southeast Asia, including for its recently-acquired Japanese eyewear chain Owndays, to its largest manufacturing unit in Bhiwadi, Rajasthan.

The fully-automated facility uses mobile bots and can cater to up to 100 million customers every year. It is aimed at helping Lenskart grow production manifold and boost margins, said one of the people cited above.

SoftBank-backed Lenskart, which is planning a public listing by the end of 2023, currently has a revenue run rate of Rs 2,800-2,900 crore.

With the merger, Lenskart now has access to around 13 markets in Asia, including India, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Japan.

The Bhiwadi facility comprises a lens lab and frame manufacturing centre. This unit will also handle distribution of specialized stock keeping units (SKUs) such as sunglasses. Omnichannel distribution requires the use of technology, and Lenskart has been investing in a highly-automated distribution centre, capable of delivering more than 200,000 eyewear daily for the Indian and overseas markets.

To design and implement this modern distribution centre, Lenskart has partnered with robotics firm Addverb Technologies.

Orders for apparel exporters in Bangladesh have been falling with a rise in inflation, global recession and Russia-Ukraine war. As per a Daily Star report, the decline is also resulting from inventory pile up by retailers and brands amid tightening budgets by Western consumers, particularly in Europe.

Fall of orders threatens forex reserves

This could prove as a major blow to the apparel sector in Bangladesh, one of its biggest forex earners. Last fiscal, the RMG sector accounted for about 85 per cent of Bangladesh’s export earnings of over $52 billion. With orders for over three months on an average, one of Bangladesh’s top exporters, Envoy Textiles currently has less than a month’s order in hand, informs Kutubuddin Ahmed, Chairman. The company’s buyers are concerned about piled inventories as demand for garments has dipped due to a rise in inflation and threat of oncoming recession. Rising inflation in the Eurozone has encouraged Ahmed to shift production to low-cost fabrics to survive through difficult times.

Similarly, another garment exporter, Ha-Meem Group had plans to boost production capacity by 10 per cent to achieve exports worth $700 million in 2022. However, the target looks difficult as buyers are placing smaller orders due to the war, says AK Azad, Chairman.

Diversifying to the US

To maintain good business growth the DBL Group, another top exporter has diversified its markets. Instead of the EU, the group has started focusing on the US and exporting over 10 per cent of its total exports there. The group had set a target of exporting garments worth $500 million in the current fiscal.

Yet, to be hit by lower orders, one of Bangladesh’s top fabric maker and exporter, Mahin Group, does not predict a bright outlook for the future as buyers are already voicing concerns about looming recession and rising inflation, says Abdullah, Al Mahmud, Managing Director. The Mahin Group is also being saddled with rising inventories as a few buyers are not accepting deliveries of Russia-bound goods with European retailers/brands closing their outlets in the country.

Buyers offer lower prices

Taking advantage of the situation, a few buyers are offering lower prices for goods, alleges Nusrat Bari Asha, Managing Director, Benetex. The sector has also been receiving 30 per cent fewer orders for the last two seasons, points out Md Shahidullah Azim, Acting President, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association.(BGMEA)

All garment buyers from Bangladesh, Walmart, Target, Kohl's, have decided to cancel orders to deal with their inventory issues as global demand for apparel declines. Big buyers including Gap, Costco and H&M are also cutting back orders led by the Russia-Ukraine war, global inflationary trend, supply chain crisis and inventory pile up, adds Asif Ibrahim, Vice-Chairman, Newage Group.

John Railey, Chief Financial Officer, Walmart informs, the company cancelled orders worth billions of dollars to deal with inventory issues. Target too has cancelled orders worth $1.5 billion for discretionary products to avoid inventory pileup. On the other hand, Kohl’s is increasing product promotions besides pulling back on receipts, informs Jill Timm, Chief Financial Officer.

Wrangler® has launched a licensed collegiate apparel collection in collaboration with the University of Texas at Austin

Wrangler has teamed up with current and former student athletes, including Texas Longhorns quarterback Quinn Ewers and linebacker DeMarvionOvershown, baseball player Trey Faltine, swimmer Caspar Corbeau, softball players Lauren Burke and Mary Iakopo and volleyball players Molly Phillips, Asjia O’Neal and Madisen Skinner, in addition to a strong network of campus ambassadors to promote the collection to students, fans and alums.

Wrangler worked in collaboration with Colosseum Athletics, a leader in collegiate manufacturing, having over 700 license agreements with colleges and universities across the nation, as well as leading collegiate licensing company, CLC, to design and produce this collegiate collection.

An additional 31 collegiate institutions will roll out with customized Wrangler gear throughout September including Auburn University, Florida State University, Iowa State University, Louisiana State University, Michigan State University, Mississippi State University, North Carolina State University, Purdue University, Texas A&M University, Texas Christian University, University of Alabama, University of Florida, University of Mississippi, University of Nebraska, University of Oklahoma, University of South Carolina and the University of Tennessee.

Feeling the heat of volatile Europe, Turkish apparel exporters have reduced export growth target by 15 per cent. Latest figures indicate that Turkish garment exports remained fluctuating in recent past.

According to an office bearer of TOBB (Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey) Garment and Apparel Council, Turkey has reduced its year-end export growth target for the apparel industry from 15 per cent to barely any growth at all. He said that there is a slowdown in new orders from the US and European markets in recent months, and hence exports are anticipated to remain flat or only slightly up from last year.

According to the latest available data, Turkish garment exports increased to $1.798 billion in June 2022 but had registered a steep fall in May 2022 at $1.235 billion. Exports were $1.869 billion in April, $1.835 billion in March, $1.655 billion in February and $1.413 billion in January 2022. Turkish garment exports declined in last three quarterly consecutively. The exports dropped from $4.944 billion of October-December 2021 to $4.905 billion in January-March 2022. It further decreased $4.903 billion in latest April-June quarter.

Turkiye is heavily dependent on European market for garment exports. In 2021, the country had exported garments worth $13.702 billion to Europe out of its total export of $17.570 billion in 2021. It means the country had exported 77.98 per cent of its garment to a single region. Currently, Europe is facing a series of challenges including supply disruption of crude oil and other commodities which fuelled inflation not only in Europe but also in other regions of the world.

Of the $48.176 billion worth of apparels imported by the US during first half of this year, trousers & shorts topped with a share of 26.52 per cent. Together, the top three items; trousers & shorts, jerseys and T-shirts accounted for over 50 per cent of the total apparel import during the same period.

The US trousers & shorts imports increased by 37.31 per cent to $12.777 billion in the first six months of this year. Jerseys constituted the second largest apparel product with import of $7.533 billion or 15.64 per cent of the total import. The same trend was noted for last three years in terms of import value of the item during the first half. Jerseys import surged 37.08 per cent in January-June 2022 over the corresponding period of last year.

The import of T-shirts by the US was recorded at $4.658 billion (9.67 per cent) during the first half of current year. The import of top three items totaled 51.83 per cent of total apparel import in first half of this year. During January-June 2022, other major items of the US apparel imports were shirts (8.90 per cent), innerwear (8.45 per cent), dresses (6.54 per cent) baby wear (2.86 per cent), socks (2.63 per cent) and accessories (2.46 per cent).

The plus size clothing market is projected to grow at a 5.7 per cent CAGR to reach $1,044.3 billion by 2032.

Sales of plus size clothing are anticipated to increase at the quickest rate during the duration of the prediction. The need for products that give the same level of luxury as customers in other sizes will increase the market for plus-size clothes between 2022 and 2032.

In response to the rising demand for plus size clothing, retailers are focusing on launching plus size apparel. In order to attract more customers, Walmart launched a new plus-size brand named Terra and Sky in 2018. High street plus size apparel retailers such as River Island, Marks & Spencer, and New Look offer a wide range of plus size items to suit demand.

This move by the multinational companies is anticipated to boost the sales of plus size clothing and plus size clothing market revenue growth in the forecast period.

The male category is expected to lead the plus size clothing market in terms of customer orientation. The Asia-Pacific region is forecast to grow at the highest rate, resulting in rising obesity rates among individuals in the next years.

Represented by Euratex, the European textile & fashion industry has called for a single European strategy to tackle this energy crisis. To safeguard the future of the industry, a revision of the electricity price mechanism is necessary and an EU wide cap on gas prices at 80€/MWh. Special company support needs to be granted to avoid bankruptcy and relocation of textile production outside Europe.

Gas and electricity prices have reached unprecedented levels in Europe. Due to severe global competition in the market that characterizes the European textile & clothing industry, these cost increases are impossible to pass on to customers. This has already led to capacity reductions and production stops. Closures and the shift of production outside Europe are being forecasted should the current situation persist, leading to further de-industrialization of our continent and increased dependency on external suppliers.

Specific segments of the textile industry are particularly vulnerable. The man-made fibres (MMF), synthetic and cellulose-based fibres, industry for instance is an energy intensive sector and a major consumer of natural gas in the manufacturing of its fibres. The disappearance of European fibre products would have immediate consequences for the textile industry and for society at large. The activities of textile dyeing and finishing are also relatively intensive in energy. These activities are essential in the textile value chain in order to give the textile products and garments added value through colour and special functionalities (e.g. for medical applications).

The European textile industry calls for an EU-wide cap on gas prices at €80/Mwh, and a revision of the price mechanism for the electricity market, to reduce the huge price gaps with our foreign competitors.

Governments should ensure that critical industries, such textiles and all its segments, are able to ensure gas and electricity contracts towards the end of the year at an affordable price. Stable and predictable energy supply is of the utmost importance. Gas restrictions and rationing must only be used as a last resort. No mandatory consumption cuts should be foreseen.

The foreign direct investment (FDI) policy in the e-commerce space needs to be clarified and the sector promoted by plugging loopholes, said industry body PHDCCI in the letter to Anurag Jain, Secretary, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT).

The chamber said, online retailers are exploring loopholes in the current policy to conduct inventory-based e- commerce/multi-brand retail trade in the garb of running marketplace platforms.

The present policy allows 100 per cent FDI in marketplace e-commerce platforms and prohibits foreign direct investment in inventory-based models of e-commerce.

A report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Commerce has made some key observations and recommendations in the interest of the Indian consumer and other stakeholders who not only influence the consumers' choices in e-commerce but also shape the e-commerce ecosystem, it added.

Financial results released by Gap Inc for its second quarter ended July 30, 2022 show, the company’s net sales declined by 8 per cent to $3.86 billion compared to last year. Compared sales declined by 10 per cent Y-o-Y while online sales declined 6 per cent to represent 34 per cent of total net sales. Store sales declined 10 per cent compared to last year. The company ended the quarter with 3,390 store locations in over 40 countries, of which 2,799 were company operated.

The company expects to open about 30 to 40 Athleta stores and 20 to 30 Old Navy stores in fiscal year 2022. As part of its 350-store closure plan, the company continues to expect to close about 50 Gap and Banana Republic stores in North America during the year.

The National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) has initiated a research project titled “National Sizing Survey of India” to develop a comprehensive size chart for ready to wear garments based on body measurements of the Indian population. Sanctioned in May 2017 by the Ministry of Textiles, within its Research and Development scheme, this project aims to measure 25,000 male and female persons aged 18 to 65 years old in six different regions of India using contactless 3D whole body scanners by Size Stream.

Size Stream’s scanners meet NIFT’s prescribed technical requirements at the lowest price. The company supplied three 3D whole-body scanners to NIFT for this very purpose. It provided technical support for scanner movements to the six locations throughout India. As of June 2022, NIFT has completed body measurements of over 21,000 people across five regions. All three scanners are working to their full potential and to the utmost satisfaction of the client.