The Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA) has urged the government to increase alternative cash incentives for the upcoming fiscal year from 4 per cent to 7 per cent to fight the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. As per Dhaka Tribune, the association also urged for a reduction in source tax to 0.25 per cent from the existing 0.50 per cent for the next fiscal year. It placed a set of demands to the National Board of Revenue (NBR) for the tax regulator's consideration ahead of the national budget in June, to help the textile sector turnaround from the pandemic.

Due to the devastating impact of the pandemic, 4 per cent alternative cash incentives is not enough for the sector, says Mohammad Ali Khokon, President, BTMA. After the LDC graduation, there will be new challenges for the sector due to erosion of duty benefits enjoyed as a least developed country, he added.

Export earnings from the apparel sector have witnessed a negative growth due to the pandemic, which also hit the backward linkage industry badly, Khokon added. In the given context, the government should set source tax at 0.25 per cent for the next fiscal year, he said.

At the virtual B2B meeting with MMF garment exporters and fabric suppliers, buying houses said, Indian manmade fiber (MMF) garment exporters can aspire to grab $20 billion business in global MMF garment trade even as the domestic apparel industry works at resolving its limitations. The meeting organized by Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) was attended by buying houses like Triburg Apparel and Impulse. Sanjay Shukla from Triburg Apparel urged attendees to create a supply chain starting with design, product development, fabric development, and, garmenting to target 10 per cent of the $200 billionl.

R A Sakthivel, Chairman, AEPC said, government measures like the PLI scheme for MMF segment and creation of seven mega textile parks will increase production and export of MMF garments from India. Fabric producers assured they have ample machinery and technology to produce fabric of international standard, and that they are already supplying to the exporters in a big way. They said that the exporters need to ask for their needs and they will facilitate.

Ajay Sardana from Birla Group of Companies said his company will do everything to produce all types of viscose fabric and is willing to further hire global consultants if certain viscose based fabric with the required finish is not available in India.

Sudhir Sekhri, Chairman (Export Promotion), AEPC, in his concluding remarks said, the government's PLI scheme and the mega parks will expand the MMF weaving and processing sector.

The sixth EY future consumer index survey of 14,500 international consumers, found consumers are more worried than four months ago, about their health, their families and future. The Index found the pandemic has made people more concerned about the health of their family, access to necessities, personal finances and basic freedoms. However, the level of this concern varies globally.

Respondents in India and Brazil have consistently been the most concerned overall throughout the pandemic, while people in other countries are now more worried about their family's health than they were four months ago. Respondents in China and Germany said they’re increasingly worried about their finances and freedom to enjoy life since October 2020.

Nearly half of consumers believe post-COVID life will be better than before the pandemic. In fact, the pandemic may have accelerated changes that were already happening that contribute either to a better quality of life or an easier way of living, such as moving out of cities, shopping online more and prioritizing health, affordability and sustainability.

Nearly 91 per cent global respondents intend to take the vaccine, although some countries have more people with reservations than others, such as 15 per cent in the US and 19 per cent in France. Around 56 per cent would be more likely to shop with retailers that require employees to take the vaccine, while 48 per cent of respondents think that those who refuse to take the vaccine are selfish.

Around 58 per cent said they’d be more aware and cautious of their spending in the longer term and 63 per cent said price will be the most important purchase criteria for them three years from now. And 57 per cent aimed to make healthier choices in their product purchases in the longer term.

As many as 56 per cent say they will also be more likely to buy from companies that ensure what they do has a positive impact on society, while 38 per cent will buy more from organizations that benefit society.

The AATCC International Conference has been renamed as the AATCC Textile Discovery Summit. Name change will not affect the event’s nature and it will continue to serve as a valuable opportunity for the textile community to connect, share, and learn.

To be held from November 16-18, 2021 at the Sheraton Imperial in Durham, NC, the event will include educational presentations, networking receptions, interactive breakout sessions, special onsite activities and resources, an exhibitor showroom, a poster session, the Herman & Myrtle Goldstein Graduate Student Paper Competition, and the awards luncheon.

The event also provides tabletop exhibits and sponsorships to share news about products, services, and processes directly with attendees. This year’s exhibitor and sponsorship package also includes new offerings and opportunities.

The impact of COVID-19 on the world’s second largest RMG exporter, Bangladesh was much more devastating than that on the rest of the world. As per reports, the country lost an estimated 357,000 jobs between January and September 2020 as brands cancelled over $3 billion worth of orders. Brands such as Topshop, Hema and TJ Maxx failed to pay for completed or in-production orders, says the Workers’ Rights Consortium’s COVID-19 Tracker.

Jobless workers face poverty and hunger

Garment workers who lost their jobs did not receive any outstanding pages or severance pay despite the government rolling out a $ 590 million stimulus package in March 2020. Workers who managed to retain their jobs faced reduced work hours resulting in reduced pay. This resulted in extreme poverty for workers who died more of hunger than the disease.

Female garment workers in Bangladesh are often underpaid and overworked. Many of them are financially responsible for their family members both back home and in the city. Many workers returned to their villages last year after losing their jobs due to the pandemic while others remained in the cities, struggling to make a living.

COVID-19 reveals workers’ anxieties

As per a recent study of 610 garment and textile factories conducted by the Centre for Policy Dialogue and Brac University’s ‘Mapped in Bangladesh’ project, over 357,000 garment workers lost their jobs in 2020. Over the years, Bangladesh garment industry has witnessed some of the worst industrial disasters. On November 24, 2012, a fire broke out at the Tazreen Fashions garment factory, killing around 17 workers. On April 24, 2013, the Rana Plaza factory building in Dhaka collapsed, killing some 1,134 people and thousands more injured. This incident alerted the whole world about the appalling working conditions of the Bangladesh garment workers.

The COVID-19 pandemic has further demonstrated the incredibly difficult lives of garment workers. As per a July 2020 study, many of workers are battling anxiety over the possibility of catching the virus, meeting daily expenses and returning to old factory jobs. These workers earn approximately $96 in wages, which is almost half of the prescribed living wage.

Benefactors’ aid to rescue

This leaves garment workers at the mercy of aid provided by different benefactors, including trade unions, NGOs and donor agencies. They receive staples including rice, potatoes, cooking oil, onions and pulses from these benefactors, and are likely to soon receive a welfare fund worth €113 million from the European Union and Germany.

One of the trade unions that have been helping jobless garment workers, Akota Garments Workers Federation also donates things like food, masks and hand sanitizers. However, Kamrul Hasan, General Secretary, believes Bangladesh garment workers need more initiatives to deal with social and financial consequences of COVID-19.

The Timberland, Vans and The North Face brands of VF Corporation have launched an integrated partnership with Pensole Academy™ called DiverCity x DESIGN.

This new corporate apprenticeship program will provide unique access to professional design experience and empower Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) students as they learn, create, and build a career in the footwear industry. The mission of the partnership iscreate a program that ensures diversity of thinking and experience.

The immersive curriculum was developed in partnership with PENSOLE™, a Portland-based footwear design academy, which provides students with the knowledge and experiences required to become well-rounded professional footwear designers. DiverCity x DESIGN will equip students with footwear design principles, product creation process, hands-on experience, professional development training and brand engagement. The top performing students will be granted career mentorship with cultural experiences at each of the brand's headquarters.

The Fashion Pact has launched a series of initiatives geared at curbing the sector's impact on biodiversity loss after securing a $2million grant from the Global Environmental Facility.

The sustainable fashion coalition said the funding would go towards developing and sharing best practices geared at cleaning up supply chains, improving agricultural practices, decreasing deforestation, and minimizing pollution and natural resource extraction.

The funding, which will be co-executed by the Fashion Pact's technical partner Conservation International, will go towards providing signatories with a "foundational understanding" of the environmental impacts of fashion supply chains, with a focus on the production and extraction of raw materials such as gold, cashmere, and leather.

It will also be spent on identifying existing projects and opportunities that could enable the fashion industry to lessen its immediate and long-term impacts on biodiversity, according to the update.

Funding will be channeled into creating specific analyses that form the basis of action plans for the industry geared at addressing issues related to the intersection of climate change and biodiversity loss, the Fashion Pact said.

The grant money will also be spent on providing the Fashion Pact with tools it needs to track, measure, and monitor progress towards its sustainability goals.

Sales for spinning machinery leader Rieter fell by 25 per cent in 2020 as a direct consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As per Innovation in Textiles, the company’s 2020 sales were CHF 573.0 million, compared to CHF 760 million in 2019. Due to the low sales volume, a net loss of CHF 89.8 million was recorded and order intake was 31% down on the previous year.

With the exception of Turkey and Africa, all regions were affected by the low demand. In Turkey, Rieter benefited fro a willingness to invest, with sales up by 83% to CHF 122 million and in Africa a year-on-year increase of 11% was recorded.

The company now expects an order intake in the first half of 2021 exceeding that of the previous half year of CHF 389.5 million. Thanks to improved capacity utilization, Rieter is planning short-time working in only a few areas in the first half of 2021, but still anticipates that sales in the first half will be below its break-even point/ It does, however, expect to achieve an operating profit for the full year 2021.

US based fashion retailer of women's intimate and other apparel L Brands has posted 8.3 per cent sales decline to $11.8 billion in its complete fiscal 2020 ended on January 30, 2021 compared to the sales of $12.9 billion in the prior fiscal. The company's net income for the year jumped to $844.4 million compared to the net loss of $366.3 million in FY19.

The retailer’s gross profit during FY20 rose to $4.6 billion while operating income increased to $1.5 billion.In FY20, sales of Bath & Body Works grew 20.1 per cent to $6.4 billion. However, Victoria’s Secret sales slipped 27.9 per cent to $5.4 billion.

Looking forward, the retailer aims to remain focused on delivering compelling merchandise and experiences to its customers while maintaining a safe environment. It also plans to continue moving ahead in its plans to separate its two businesses.

E-commerce has helped lift China sales of Italian luxury goods group Salvatore Ferragamo, said Michele Norsa, Deputy Chairman. Norsa said, he expected sales in China to keep growing by double-digit percentage. Asia being the company’s largest market, accounts for half of the group’s revenues. In the first nine weeks of 2021, there has been a 86 per cent jump in digital sales with China and Korea both performing strongly.

The company’s Earnings before interests and taxes (EBIT) recorded a €62 million ($74 million) loss in 202 due to impairment charges booked on assets such as property and machinery. Analysts had on average expected a €64 million EBIT loss for 2020 in a Refinitiv consensus forecast.

Luxury goods high-end retailer Salvatore Ferragamo S.p.A was founded by the namesake Italian shoe designer who established a reputation for his innovative footwear in the 1930s. He was known for his experimentation with materials including kangaroo, crocodile, and fish skin for his shoes.