The FY20 Q4 sales of Chico's FAS, a US-based omnichannel specialty retailer of women's private branded, casual-to-dressy clothing, declined 26.7 per cent to $386.2 million compared to $527.1 million in the same period prior fiscal. The company incurred a net loss of $79.1 million. The company’s gross margin for the quarter declined to $73.3 million from $171.4 million reported during the same quarter in previous fiscal. Its selling, general and administrative expenses declined to $136.2 million from $176.9 million. The company’s loss from operations increased to $64.0 million from $5.6 million.

Sales of Chico’s brand slipped to $161.1 million from $249.6 million. Sales of its House Black Market brand dropped to $106.0 million while those of Soma brand fell to $119.0 million.

The company is reinvigorating growth through new initiatives that emphasize loyalty, community and design. Its White House Black Market brand is focusing on fabric, fit and fashion that meets its customer’s needs.

As against the entire world, COVID-19 has proved to be a blessing in disguise for the Pakistan textile sector. The country has not only received backlogged orders but also orders diverted from other regional countries like India and Bangladesh. As per Business Recorder, against 5.6 per cent growth recorded during the same period last year, Pakistan’s textile exports increased by 8.2 per cent year on year during the first seven months of FY21. The industry attributes this to the growth in exports of value-added products particularly bedwear, home textile, and knitwear. During the period, Pakistan’s knitwear exports grew by 42 per cent year-on-year, while the export revenue generated from this segment grew 19 per cent year-on-year.

Volume declines but revenues surge

Pakistan’s bedwear exports declined 3 per cent during the seven months. However, the revenue generated from these exports grew 16 per cent year-on-year due to the higher pricing of these products. Towels exports grew 11 per cent and export revenues grew 20 per cent year-on-year. Revenues from RMG exports grew by 5.5 per cent though their export volume declined 39 per cent year-on-year.

During 1HFY21, profits from Pakistan’s textile sector grew by 30 per cent year-on-year primarily on account of increase in exports. However, experts expect this growth to slowdown in the next few months. In January 2021, textile exports from Pakistan declined 5.5 per cent as against December 2020. Cotton cloth and yarn exports also declined both on a monthly and yearly basis.

Role of regional players critical

Though manufacturers claim to have enough orders to keep their factories running at full capacity till June 2021, growth in export depends on how regional players process these orders once their factories begin operating at full capacities. Textile manufacturers are also facing a shortage of local yarn, which can impact their exports in coming months.

Hence, the government needs to introduce a textile policy that focuses on high value-added segments such as the readymade garments sector. Fawad Anwar, Managing Director, Al-Karam Textile Mills, believes the garment sector has a capacity to grow quickly due to its low capex requirement and inclusion of both small and medium players in it.

With order cancellations and payment deferrals becoming the order of the day during the pandemic, factory owners started laying off workers without paying even their due wages. As per an Al Jazeera report, some of these workers hail from countries that do not offer social security. In February 2020, a garment factory in a Southeast Asian country failed to pay workers as Chinese suppliers cancelled a pre-confirmed order.

Taking a view of this, the International Organization of Employers (IOE) along with International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and IndustriALL Global Union launched an initiative known as Call to Action (CtA) with support from the International Labour Organization (ILO).

An excuse for inaction

The initiative has so far attracted 130 industry stakeholders, of whom two-thirds are brands and retailers. The CtA aims to protect garment workers and manufacturers from the economic fallout of the pandemic and create a sustainable protection system for them. Though a welcome move, the initiative is now being used by some brands as an excuse for their inaction. Michael Levine, Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer, Under Armour warns such brands, being a signatory of the CIA does not absolve these brands from their accountability to workers, he says.

From the beginning, the CtA working group has been focusing only on eight priority countries: Bangladesh, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Myanmar and Pakistan. Countries like the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Vietnam, which are experiencing mass lay-offs, are being ignored. Also, the agreement fails to prioritize countries in which brands like Primark manufacture their garments.

Wage assurance scheme for workers

Even in countries prioritized by the agreement, its implementation is painstakingly slow. For instance, the European Union and the German government announced a $135 million fund to Bangladesh in October last year. However, the commitment is yet to be fulfilled with Bangladesh has so far received only $2.15 million funds from the initiative.

As a result, less than 2,000 workers have received direct income support. These workers are owned at least $3 billion alone for March to June 2020 period. They need immediate support from both factory owners and the government. Trade unions and labor rights organizations have been demanding pubic commitment from these brands to pay their workers and support them in case of job losses.

Brands need to stop using such initiatives to back out of their commitment towards workers. They need to set up wage assurance and severance guarantee fund to help build a better future for the industry.

Speciality chemicals company Clariant has officially joined the EU Circular Plastics Alliance which aims to enhance plastics recycling in line with the objectives of the EU Circular Economy Action Plan and the Green Deal programme.

Clariant’s engagement is part of the company’s active support for the transition towards a more circular plastics economy.

Clariant is committed to the Alliance’s goal to boost the EU market for recycled plastics to 10 million tons by 2025. The company’s focus is on addressing the obstacles that are hampering a higher circularity of products within the plastics value chain, in line with the waste hierarchy principles. The company’s strategy is based on a smart combination of design for reduction, recycling, and reuse options, as well as solutions for mechanical or chemical recycling.

In 2019, Clariant established EcoCircle, a company-wide initiative that goes beyond a product focus, looking at the entire value chain, identifying the most sustainable and viable solutions for a circular plastics economy.

Pakistan and Germany have signed an agreement to improve labor, social and environmental standards in the Pakistan’s textile industry.

Germany would provide GIZ up-to €7,500,000 as German contribution for three years, according to Pakistani media reports.

The project aims to increase value-addition and competitiveness, and foster innovation by synergising the environmental, social and economic dimension of sustainability in the textiles and apparel industry. It will support digitalization of labor and human resource department’s (LHRD) downstream institutions like Punjab Employees Social Security Institution (PESSI), formulation and implementation of measures to ensure sustainable production, transform 15-20 companies that made use of good environmental practices, innovative technologies or labour standards to move to higher value addition or enter new markets, and initiate two campaigns on occupational safety and health (OSH), particularly for small and medium enterprises, to achieve international certification in labour and environmental standards.

French accessories brand Ceriz has launched its spring-summer collection of shoes and handbags. As per Fashion Network, the brand has roped in Bollywood actor Sara Ali Khan as its brand ambassador for the collection.

The brand is actively promoting its new collection through social media platforms to engage with the millennials and strengthen its customer base.

Sara Ali Khan says, the collection truly embodies her personal sense of style- practical and comfortable. It also enables her to effortlessly glamorous.. The line has launched in multi-brand stores across India including Shoppers Stop, Central, Brand Factory, and Pantaloons, etc. Ceriz’s main retail footprints are in cities including Mumbai, Delhi-NCR, Pune, Bengaluru, Kolkata, and Hyderabad

The collection will also be available on e-commerce websites including, Muntra, Tata Cliq, Nykaa Fashion, Amazon, Flipkart, and Ajio.

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) in association with Principal Coordinator, Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Affairs, Prime Minister’s Office and Global reporting Initiative (GRI) launched a report on Bangladesh National Priority Indicators & Sustainable Development Goals. The report highlights the sustainability initiatives of 47 BGMEA member factories. These factories were awarded with a certificate of appreciation for their contribution to NPIs and SDGs through sustainability reporting in the presence of Chief Guest Zuena Aziz, Principal Coordinator, Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Affairs, Prime Minister’s Office, and Special Guest Dr. Nihad Rashid, Additional Secretary Economic Relations Division, Ministry of Finance.

Aziz highlighted the role of private sector for attaining SDGs by 2030. Only the inclusive participation of government, private sectors and civil society will ensure the timely implementation of SDGs, he said’. Rubana Huq, BGMEA said, the report measures RMG industry’s impact on SDGs to communicate with key stakeholders, such as the government, buyers, trade partners, and communities. It aims to inspire more RMG factories and other industries to undertake sustainability reporting in future.

Swiss textile machinery firms Rieter and Uster are being targeted for their reliance on China amid allegations of forced labor involving Uyghur and other minorities in the garment supply chain.

As per reports by the Swiss Info, it’s difficult to know how many Swiss textile machines wind up in Xinjiang. As per customs data, in 2019, Xinjiang imported $6.4 million (CHF6 million) worth of machines of all sorts from Switzerland making it the 37th-largest exporter of machinery to the region. Customs data from the Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC) shows that Xinjiang imports most of its machinery from three countries: Germany ($26.8 million), Japan ($23.4 million) and Italy ($7.4 million).

Switzerland, however, is a major exporter of knitting machine accessories such as spindles, dobbies, and automatic stop motions used in big spinning, weaving or knitting machines. Over the last three years, Switzerland exported knitting machine accessories to the autonomous region worth around $2 million per year.

Faruque Hassan has been appointed as the new president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA). Hassan’s party Sammilita Parishad won BGMEA’s biennial election securing 24 posts of directors while the other panel, Forum, led by ABM Shamsuddin won 11 posts. The voters elected 35 directors. A president and seven vice-presidents will be picked from the elected directors.

Managing director of Giant Group, Hassan promised to address COVID-19-related challenges and unite BGMEA to help the sector grow. The BGMEA election is an important event as the industry is the single largest export earning sector and employs 4.2 million workers directly.

In fiscal 2018-19, Bangladesh exported garment items worth more than $34.13 billion. Its earnings had declined to $27.94 billion last fiscal year as sales collapsed in Western markets because of the fallouts of the pandemic. The sector contributes 15 per cent to Bangladesh’s gross domestic product annually.

Tiruppur Exporter’s Association ‘s(TEA) sincere efforts have resulted in the Ministry of Textiles examining and working to resolve the crisis emerging from the frequent increase in yarn prices and disruptions in regular supply of yarn, says, Raja M Shanmugham, President, TEA. As per him international cotton prices are declining and domestic prices have also gradually reduced; normal price range is expected to in near future.

He believes exporters will have a better run in the new fiscal with strong business confidence. Tirupur Exporters’ Association popularly known as TEA was set up in 1990 in Tirupur under the leadership of A. Sakthivel and strived for the development of exports. TEA has always been quick in taking up issues and stand in forefront to get them addressed. A. Sakthivel was the president of association till September 27, 2016.