Connecting the fashion supply chain to buyers and designers, Pure Origin will run alongside UK’s leading fashion retail event, Pure London, July 17 to 19, 2022. From fiber to finished garment, Pure Origin’s focus is on sustainability this season, with dedicated pavilions from 20 countries showcasing raw materials, fabrics, trims and more. Leading brands from across the globe will bring their unique and diverse products for the UK fashion community to responsibly source all they need to inspire and create their next collections.

From raw materials, fabrics, trims, packaging, all the way through to contract manufacturers offering in house design services, Pure Origin brings the inspiration and tools together in one exciting destination to allow buyers and designers be inspired and then bring their own collections and ranges to life. From Peru to Nepal, India to the UAE, and Turkey to North Macedonia and back to the UK, Pure Origin brings diverse international manufacturers and unprecedented choice of fabrics together for the UK fashion community to responsibly source and create their next collections and best-selling ranges. Pure London is the UK’s leading trade fashion buying event, representing womenswear, footwear, accessories, jewelry and young fashion. It brings together the brightest minds and creatives in the industry twice a year to showcase the best of the season’s collections, discover the latest trends, exclusive business insight, and all-important international connections.

The global leggings market is growing at six per cent a year.

The growth is driven by rapid urbanization, shifting consumer preferences, and increasing sports activities such as gyms and yoga. Leggings are used for both casual and athletic purposes because they are cozy, form-fitting, and flexible. Leggings are more popular than any other type of bottom clothing and can be worn in place of pants and jeans. Several e-commerce websites are concentrating on providing private label apparel brands to increase sales and diversify their customers. Rising sportswear manufacturing and an increase in multinational corporations forming joint partnerships with local players are expected to continue to support the revenue growth of the market to some extent. Also, the availability of affordable exercise equipment and rising household use of cardiovascular equipment like cycles and walkers are an opportunity for leggings manufacturers.

Women prefer nylon leggings as they are robust and resistant to moisture. Nylon clothing is not only inexpensive but provides good ergonomic comfort. Leggings made of nylon are popular among female athletes. Nylon apparel is easy to clean and can be worn throughout the year. The mid-calf leggings segment accounts for the largest share. Women prefer a mid-calf legging since it is stylish. Its short length places it between the knee and the ankle. It goes well with shorts or a skirt. This style of leggings is great for people who want to wear them while working out or going to the gym.

Barbeito will lead the brand in delivering its unique value proposition, offering style, quality and cultural relevance at remarkable prices. Barbeito has a strong track record of delivering growth through challenging times at complex global organizations. His sincere customer empathy, operational excellence, and passion for product and marketing innovation are expected to fuel Old Navy’s competitive strengths, rooted in fun, family, fashion and value.

Barbeito most recently served as president and CEO of Walmart Canada where he led more than 70,000 associates and drove significant growth in the online business. During his 26-year career at Walmart, he served in a variety of leadership roles across merchandising, marketing, supply chain and store operations with global experience in five countries.

Old Navy is owned by Gap. The company is expecting net sales in the second quarter 2022 to decline in the approximately high-single digit range, relatively in-line with its prior expectations. The company continues to navigate margin headwinds and has taken a more aggressive approach to assortment balancing resulting in increased promotional activity during the quarter, which it expects will have a negative impact on gross margin in the quarter. Furthermore, the company now anticipates second quarter 2022 adjusted operating margin percentage to be zero to slightly negative.

Global brands are being forced by the looming recession in the US and Europe to engage in tough negotiations with Indian exporters. They want Indian apparel exporters to supply garments at the pre-Covid level prices. However, Indian exporters can’t give huge discounts despite the rupee weakening because cotton prices have not come down to the 2019 level. According to Narendra Goenka, Chairman, AEPC, from a high of Rs1 lakh per confection, cotton prices have decreased by 15 per cent and the following weeks are expected to see a further decrease.

Foreign purchasers are making aggressive offers to reduce the cost of clothing as a result of the rupee's depreciation against the dollar. The rupee has dropped to a new record low against the US dollar as a result of the increasing dollar index and economic concerns, with investors continuing to choose the greenback as a safe-haven investment. 

So, orders for spring 2023 that are built and transported between October and March will be impacted by the recessionary trend in the US and Europe. Indian exporters are expecting a reduction in export orders up to 10 per cent for spring 2023, which will harm their second financial year. They are now looking at newer markets like Japan, Latin America, and Australia to make up the predicted losses.

Bangladesh’s knitwear exports maintained robust growth in the 2021-22 fiscal year. As per Export Promotion Bureau The sector bagged nearly 55 per cent of the export earnings in the apparel sector. Knitwear registered a growth of 36 per cent in FY22; earned 18.96 per cent more than the export target set for the fiscal. The apparel sector as whole, the highest earner of the export receipts, grew 35 per cent. Woven garments grew by 33.82 per cent. 

During the 1980s, woven clothing, like shirts and pants, was the main export item of the apparel sector, with a share of nearly 90 per cent. Demand for knitwear has been increasing lately, thanks to the maintenance facilities, durability and fashionability. Knitwear uses 85 per cent raw materials from local sources. So the rate of value addition is high. 

Domestic value addition is 60 per cent in knitwear, while it is around 45 per cent in woven. This convinced entrepreneurs to invest more in the knitwear sector and for this reason Bangladesh’s export of knitwear is increasing. Knit garments have a strong backward linkage capability. Knitwear clothing is much more comfortable and easier to wear than woven. Another reason knitwear exports have been rising is that people now use sports tracks instead of sweaters during winter.

Lanvin is looking to boost sales in the US and China by adding new product areas and diversifying beyond European brands and into a younger age bracket. Fosun, a Chinese conglomerate, bought a controlling stake in Lanvin in 2018 and has continued to add new brands since then. China’s Fosun is on the hunt for an addition to its collection of fashion brands, which includes Lanvin and St John Knits. 

First, Fosun aims at floating Lanvin on the New York Stock Exchange via a blank-check company in October or November. A potential acquisition would come after that. The purchase could follow the template established by Lanvin’s acquisition of Sergio Rossi last year, which allowed it to bolster its offering of accessories. The company is looking at areas including beauty and skin care as well. Lanvin houses the eponymous French fashion brand as well as Italian shoemaker Sergio Rossi, Austrian lingerie brand Wolford, US women’s wear maker St. John Knits and Italian menswear brand Caruso.

Lanvin’s 2021 revenue grew 39 per cent, including sales from Sergio Rossi after the brand was acquired in the second half. Lanvin hopes to achieve profitability before taxes, depreciation and other items by 2024 as planned.

India Trend Fair will be held in Tokyo from July 20 to 22, 2022. The fair aims to boost bilateral trade and investment in sectors spanning fashion, accessories, and handmade goods. Around 150 Indian businesses will showcase their latest collections to Japanese buyers, wholesalers, importers, and retailers. 

Businesses will present products specially designed to suit Japanese customer demand and local market trends.  The trade show will feature six broad product categories comprising apparel and fashion, leather goods, accessories, bags and shoes, handmade goods, and household items. Each section will feature numerous sub-categories of products to present a diverse selection of Indian products available for export. The fair is expected to provide an opportunity to encounter Indian apparel and provide visitors with plenty of stimulating ideas and exciting experiences to take home. India’s leading brands and companies will be presenting many exhibits.

The trade show is organized by the Japan India Industry Promotion Association, a non-profit that works to promote trade between India and Japan. It collects and analyses information on Japanese and Indian industrial markets. The event is supported by Indian traders’ bodies, the Apparel Export Promotion Council, Handloom Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts and The Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts. 

At least 300 textile mills have closed in Pakistan due to severe energy crunch and the subsequent suspension of gas supply, says All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) chairman Abdul Rahim Nasir.

Earlier this week, Pakistan sought more gas imports on deferred payments from Qatar to restore gas supply to the textile industry on an urgent basis. A 26 per cent upsurge in export of textiles during the fiscal year 2021-22 was made possible only due to the supply of energy at a regionally competitive tariff. The exponential growth in the textile sector has promoted massive investments and the establishment of 100 new textile units, which, after becoming operational, would result in fetching additional exports. 

If this momentum is lost due to energy supply and cost constraints, exporters say, Pakistan will be forced to seek additional loans from abroad, which under the circumstances may not even be possible. So the export-oriented industry has underlined the immediate restoration of gas supply. Gas supply to the industry was suspended for a week, which led to the large-scale closure of mills that ultimately resulted in massive layoffs and unemployment. Not only industry but owners of hotels and restaurants are also complaining of a gas shortage, as it is having an adverse impact on their business.

The Southern India Mills Association (SIMA) has welcomed the RBI announcement on the international trade settlement in Indian rupees, saying this would benefit Indian exporters and importers, who have been facing challenges owing to the tightening of monetary policies all over the world.

SIMA says the policy would encourage countries having substantial trade with India and having a forex shortage to increase their trade thereby opening more opportunities to boost exports apart from helping India reduce its trade deficits on account of oil imports. Though the real benefit would be reaped only after considerable time, in the long run this would encourage several countries intending to trade in Indian rupees to opt for such trade and thereby make the rupee a currency for international trade.  

Since several textile exporters are struggling to realize the money from certain countries, including Russia and Sri Lanka that are currently facing economic crisis and sanctions, the RBI decision would greatly help to settle export/import payments and encourage a cordial trade relationship.

The Indian textile and clothing industry’s exports account for around 10 per cent of the country’s exports. The textile industry has been facing challenges on account of volatility in forex rates especially the US dollar rates.  The rupee has depreciated to a record level in recent days.

Fashion brands across the world may rejoice over putting pandemic gloomiest seasons behind but fashion manufacturers in Italy, both big and small, are keeping a close watch on current economic and geopolitical scenario.  As per a Woman’s Wear Daily report, the government in Italy is introducing a range of initiatives to help fashion companies retain business. It is helping established and new brands connect with local supply chain besides offering marketing expertise. 

Engaging third party manufacturers

Supporting SMEs since 2015, David Clementoni, Founder, Artisan has developed a platform to recruit firms with employees numbering four to 100. He has also been engaging third-party manufacturers across 30 out of 54 of Italy’s fashion manufacturing hubs and helping them connect with international fashion brands and retailers. Introduced in its current version in 2019, the platform has onboarded around 700 manufacturing, points out Clementoni. He is continuously hunting for new players to add to the platform. New players have led to the evolution of the platform’s goals. Brands continue to join the platform as they look to re-shore production from abroad to leverage the ‘Made in Italy’ label. As of June, the platform boasted of 10,000 registered brands. 

The platform aims to ensure efficient and effective execution of business, says Clementoni. It acts more as a facilitator than an intermediary as its business model is based on royalties from produced goods and add-on services provided by it, he adds.  Artisan recently collaborated with British platform Arts Thread, which has 300,000 users from fashion schools across the globe, and Italy’s Camera Buyer to allow local retailers develop house brands. Through these initiatives, the platform aims to attract 60,000 brands by 2028 and generate more than 370 million euros in business.

Connecting with players beyond Italy

Like Artisan, Italy’s association of leather goods manufacturer Assopellettieri has been boosting relationships between manufacturing and players operating outside Italy through its Mipel Lab format, developed in collaboration with tanning industry trade show Lineapelle.

An area within Lineapelle’s biannual fair, the format introduced a digital business-to-business platform in collaboration with the Intesa Sanpaolo bank and Ds Group, which provided the AI-enabled software. The association aims to seek new opportunities for our enterprises, says Franco Gabrelli, President, Assopellettieri. Leather goods firms in the country have been moving towards third-party manufacturing as sales of in-house brands are declining with growing competition from fashion houses having marketing prowess.

Having 16 manufacturers, which together post revenues of €500,000 million, the association looks to Italy’s supply chain besides engaging brands operating outside Italy  due to rising production and logistics costs from overseas manufacturing, adds D’Alessandro.

Earlier, brands viewed manufacturing costs as squandering, as they often had to deal with two to four intermediaries. This dented their bottom lines and wasted resources, affirms D’Alessandro. They also had to seek reliable production partners and offer high-value services which weren’t feasible for small manufacturers. Hence, they preferred to outsource production to neighboring countries such as Spain and Portugal were seen as less expensive. However, this is no longer the case, he pronounces.