Strengthening its online presence, eyewear retailer Lenskart has partnered with e-commerce majors like Nykaa, Myntra, Tata Cliq and other platforms to sell its products

The move will helpLenskart make deeper inroads in the country’s booming online market and expects online marketplaces to drive the company’s next phase of growth.

It will also boost its business goal of gaining 50 percent of the eyewear market share with access to both metros and smaller cities through the etailers.

PeeyushBansal, CEO and Co Founder, says, the strategy will leverage the brand's strong technology muscle to launch into new marketplaces with global aspiration and focus on brands including Lenskart, John Jacobs, Hooper and Aqualens

Lenskart backed by Softbank and Temasek has received over $900 million in funding to date. The business runs stores across India and is also present in international markets including Singapore, Dubai, and the US.

LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, the world’s leading high-quality products group, recorded a 29 per cent rise in revenuesto€18 billion in the first quarter of 2022. The group’s organic revenue growth was 23 per cent. All business groups achieved double-digit revenue growth, except for Wines & Spirits, which continued to see supply constraints. The United States and Europe also achieved double-digit revenue growth; Asia continued to grow over the quarter despite the impact of a tightening of health restrictions in China in March.

The Wines & Spirits business group recorded organic revenue growth of 2 per cent in the first quarter of 2022 compared to the same period of 2021. The Champagne business had an excellent start to the year, with volumes rising sharply, particularly in Europe and Japan, and a firm price increase policy.

The Fashion & Leather Goods business group recorded organic revenue growth of 30 per cent in the first quarter of 2022. In Perfumes & Cosmetics, organic revenue growth was 17 per cent in the first quarter of 2022 compared to the same period of 2021. The business group enjoyed excellent momentum thanks to sustained growth in perfume and makeup, particularly in the United States. Christian Dior achieved remarkable growth and gained market share, benefiting from the progress of its iconic fragrances Sauvage, Miss Dior and J’Adore, and its makeup. Guerlain successfully rolled out its Aqua Allegoria line and its new collection of fine perfumery l’Artet la Matière. Its Abeille Royale skincare line also contributed to the performance of the Maison. Parfums Givenchy unveiled its new eau de toilette Fraîche Irresistible. Maison Francis Kurkdjian continued to see rapid growth.

In the first quarter of 2022, the Watches & Jewelry business group recorded organic revenue growth of 19 per cent compared to the same period of 2021. In jewelry, Tiffany & Co. had an excellent start to the year, still driven by strong growth in the United States.

In Selective Retailing, organic revenue growth was 24 per cent in the first quarter of 2022 compared to the same period of 2021. Sephora achieved excellent performance in the quarter with a strong rebound in the activity in its own store network, which had been partly closed at the beginning of 2021. Momentum was particularly strong in North America, France and the Middle East, driven notably by perfume. DFS’s revenue rose in the quarter but at a lower level due to the persistent weakness of international travel.

At its upcoming media briefing on April 19, 2022, the Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel (HKRITA) will showcase and demonstrate 9 leading-edge innovations from the Special Edition 2022 Inventions Geneva Evaluation Days, including 3 promising projects which received the ‘Gold Medal’ and six ‘Silver Medal’ titled projects.

The projects that bagged the gold medal include: ‘Developing a Customized Comfort Bra to Aid.’ ‘Recovery from Mastectomy,’ ‘Regenerating Bio-based Leather from Leather Waste,’ and ‘Flexible Loop Structure Technology.’

The projects that bagged the Silver Medal include: ‘A Sustainable Approach of Growing Extra Long Staple (ELS),’ ‘Cotton: Vertical Hydroponic Cultivation (VHC),’ ‘Acousweep: An innovative MicroplasticFibre Separation,’ ‘System Using Sweeping Acoustic Waves,’ ‘Removal of Indigo Dye in Denim Plant Wastewater by CO2- Capturing Macroalgae,’ ‘Waterless Solid State Decolourization and Durability, etc

Companies like H&M and Nike have often made claims of an overall decrease in emissions while in reality, their emissions have been increasing, according to a Guardian report. This discrepancy is possibly due to the manner in which the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) calculates scores.

The Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) was established to help companies and other organizations publish their carbon emissions. The international non-profit tries to encourage companies to reduce their emissions by scoring their progress in the reduction of emissions.

It calculates the gross emissions of a company but only against its total revenue in a year. In essence, a company can get scored for decreasing their overall emission levels just by having a larger increase in their revenue, the report explained.

Nike, for example, reported a net emission increase of 1 percent Y-o-Y in FY 2019 but it was offset by 7 percent year-on-year revenue growth, resulting in over a 5 percent drop in emissions per revenue, as per the company’s climate change report in the year 2020.

The textile sector’s healthy growth will help India boost exports to $100 billion by 2030, says Piyush Goyal, Union Textile Minister. Zero duty access to the UAE and Australia markets will also help India emerge as a top textile exporter to these two countries. India is also trying to get zero duty access to the EU markets, Canada, the UK and GCC member countries. Last fiscal, it exported textiles worth $43 billion against $ 33 billion exported in the previous year.

The current geopolitical situation provides huge opportunities for the industry to boost exports, adds Goyal. He further emphasized on the need to promote cotton production in the country as current figure of about 500 kg per hectare is half the world's average. Goyal emphasized on the need to control current high cotton prices in order to benefit both farmers and the industry.

Lingerie brand Victoria’s Secret has released its first environmental, social and corporate governance, or ESG, report outlining statistics on company gender and ethnic makeup, etc. Besides highlighting current operations, the ESG report outlines the brand’s future goals, says Martin Waters, CEO. In 2021, Victoria’s Secret embarked on its journey as stand-alone company. Women make up the majority of associates at all levels, including 87 per cent company-wide and 86 per cent of the board. Women also make up 59 per cent director and above roles, 95 per cent of in-store associates and 57 per cent of distribution center associates. The report also outlined the number of people of color in the company which make up for 65 per cent of its in-store and 71 per cent of distribution center associates.

The report says as per a ‘2021 internal review,’ in partnership with the nonprofit Fair Pay Workplace, Victoria’s Secret found 99 per cent of its workforce was paid equitably. For the remaining 1 percent, it has made adjustments to processes and compensation to address inconsistencies.”

On the sustainability front, Victoria’s Secret reported sourcing 24 per cent of its polyester and 11 per cent of polyamide from recycled materials. The company set a target to only use chemicals that are 100 per cent certified on the Manufacturing Restricted Substance List for its core lingerie and apparel suppliers by 2030. In the beauty division, Victoria’s Secret said it continues to oppose animal testing and that no branded products, formulations or ingredients are tested on animals.

Surpassing overall apparel imports, US’ jeans imports surged 32 per cent to $607.3 million in February this year, reveals Commerce Department’s Office of Textile & Apparel (OTEXA) data. Imports from all top five denim apparel suppliers surpassed 20 per cent year-over-year in February. Imports from Bangladesh increased 29.07 per cent to $122.82 million, while shipments from Mexico rose 22.45 per cent to $107.11 million.

Imports from Vietnam surged 33.68 per cent compared to February 2021 while those by Pakistan jumped 66.28 per cent year over year to $71.44 million, while shipments from China surged 21.34 per cent to $59.89 million. Imports from Egypt more than doubled to $34.46 million as Bill Curtin, Owner, BPD Wash House, struck a deal with Egyptian denim mill Sharabati Denim to lead its US East Coast and Canada sales.

Other notable second tier suppliers–Cambodia, Nicaragua, Sri Lanka, Turkey and India–also posted substantial increases in their denim exports to the US.

One of the fastest-growing premium denim exporters in Bangladesh, Pacific Jeans Group aims to raise its export turnover to $1 billion in the next five years. This year, the group is likely to rake in $500 million in export earnings as apparel shipments continue to grow steadily. As per The Daily Star report, the company registered $450 million export revenues in fiscal year of 2020-21. It has been posting a consistent growth for the last few years, and now plans to diversify products to materialize its long-term vision of becoming a global lifewear solution company.

Currently, the group runs six units -- Pacific Jeans, Jeans 2000, Universal Jeans, NHT Fashion, Pacific Accessories, and Pacific Casuals -- at the CEPZ and Pacific Knitex at Sitakunda. In the last few years, it has focused on product development, production efficiency improvement, human resources development, development of skills of mid-level managers, and optimum utilization of resources. The company's major markets are Japan, Europe, and the US. It aims to penetrate bigger markets like China, India and other emerging Asian markets.

Pacific Jeans Group has also stepped up efforts on environmental sustainability and improving the working environment in the last four to five years besides enhancing its financial and corporate governance. It has also invested in the knitwear segment as it eyes to work with various knitwear items.

Phoenix Fashion Week will host its annual series of more than 20 runway shows from April 15-16 in North Phoenix. The two-day event will celebrate the successful organization of the rigorous emerging designer bootcamp, led by Brian Hill, Executive Director, Phoenix Fashion Week. The bootcamp featured four hand-selected designers from around the nation preparing to launch their collections.

The two-day event will include a variety of fashion and business focused seminars sponsored by the Arizona Department of Education and taught by industry experts, offering insight and real take-a-way tools on how to launch, market and successfully run a fashion business long-term. This year’s line-up of seminars will be led by Mike Spangenberg, Owner, State Forty Eight, and Director of Education, Alison Callaway.

On Saturday, April 16, Phoenix Fashion Week will award both ‘Designer of the Year’ and ‘Model of the Year’ Male and Female. The two winning models will each receive full modeling contracts from industry leader, Agency Arizona, successfully launching their careers. Phoenix Fashion Week team will also announce the ‘Designer of the Year’ and a $10,000 prize package comprised of goods and services to ensure long-term brand success for the winning designer.

In addition to designer runway shows, the event will include the new Chateau Luxe VIP champagne lounge, featuring gourmet hors d’oeuvres by two-time award-winning private chef, Will Turner. Visitors will also enjoy a VIP Front Row seat, coveted swag bag filled with fashionable goodies, red-carpet experience, exclusive access to designer pop-up shopping in the Style Villa Marketplace, designer meet and greets, live music, high energy performances, etc.

Kingpins Amsterdam plans to organize a physical trade show from April 20-21, 2022 in Amsterdam. The US-based denim tradeshow will be held in a new venue, SugarCity, located in Halfweg near Amsterdam. The new venue is 40 per cent larger than Westergasfabriek and boasts of a whopping 100,000 sq. ft show space.

The building has three levels: ground floor holding the majority of exhibitor booths as well as Kingpins Trend and Most Sustainable Product installations; Level 1, which will host the Transformers and remaining exhibitor sections; and Level 2, which will house seminars, initiatives and serves as the main catering area for the tradeshow.

Kingpins Amsterdam will host its physical edition almost two years after the tradeshow transitioned to a virtual format, Kingpins24, following the outbreak of the pandemic which led to social restrictions.