A business unit of Saad Group, Nice Denim Mills organized a fabric show tilted Fabric Mine’ from October 28-31, 2021 in Dhaka. As per a Textile Today report, the show focused on sustainable developments including non-denim blended fabrics.

The show presented over 400 developments for the upcoming Spring-Summer 2023 season. These included viscose, Tencel, modal, etc. blended fabrics in the non-denim category for US-based buyers. It also presented special bi-stretched fabrics and sustainable Repreve, Refibra, Ecovera, Coolmax products.

One of the leading manufacturers and exporters of denim fabric, Nice Denim Mills is a business unit of Saad Group. It was established in 2016 with a vision to become the largest denim manufacturer in the world.

According to Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA) data, Nice Denim exported 41,827,240 m/kg or $845.22 million worth of woven fabric in 2020. From January-July 2021, it exported 33,679,592 m/kg or $656.71 million worth of fabrics.

Coloreel and the ground-breaking instant thread coloring technology for the embroidery and textile industry has been awarded the Quality Innovation Award in the category “Circular economy and carbon neutrality innovations by SIQ, the Swedish Institute for Quality.

The Quality Innovation Award is a co-arrangement between quality institutes in several countries that annually awards companies, organizations, or individuals with innovations that have a clear connection to conscious systems in their work and a clearly identified customer need as a starting point. It is crucial to receive the award novelty, usability, learning, customer orientation, and efficiency.:

The innovation ‘Instant Thread Coloring (ITC)Technology for embroidery and textile industry’, is an excellent example of how innovation, technology and environmental awareness can make the world a better place. The innovation is pioneering in that yarn is dyed on site and as needed and the innovation shows the way for the textile industry and other industries that need to take a step towards more sustainable production.

Red Carpet Green Dress™ (RCGD), in partnership with Tencel™ and CLO, have named Yuriko Fukuda and Zhi Hong Benjamin Koh as this year’s global design contest winners.

Open to emerging and established designers over the age of 21, this year, applicants submitted a digital sketch of their sustainable red carpet design before the international contest closed on the August 23, 2021. One gown and one suit design were selected by the international contest judging panel, consisting of Suzy Amis Cameron, Founder, RCGD; Harold Weghorst, Vice President -Global Marketing & Branding, Lenzing AG; Micaela Erlanger, Celebrity Fashion Stylist and AbrimaErwiah, Co-founder, Studio 189.

Born in Japan, UK-based Yuriko Fukuda is this year’s womenswear winner. As a current Regents University London student, she strongly believes in sustainable fashion.

Singapore-based fashion, textile and product designer Zhi Hong Benjamin Koh is this year’s menswear winner. He embarked on his journey in design during his studies at Singapore Polytechnic

The two designs chosen by the winners will be put into production in early 2022 with sustainable eco-couture textiles in collaboration with Tencel™ and sponsored by CLO. The looks will be showcased as part of an exhibition to leading sustainable advocates in Los Angeles.

The Lenzing Group reported a significant year-on-year improvement in revenue and earnings in the first nine months of 2021 thanks to the largely positive market environment. Its revenue rose by 32.9 percent to €1.59 billion in the first nine months of 2021. This increase is attributable to higher sales volume as well as higher viscose prices, which stood at more than RMB 15,000 in May thanks to significantly higher demand for fibers, especially in Asia. The focus on wood-based specialty fibers such as the Tencel™, Lenzing™ Ecovero™ and Veocel branded fibers also had a positive impact on the revenue trend; the share of specialty fibers in fiber revenue amounted to 72.4 percent in the reporting period. This more than offset the negative impact of less favorable currency effects. EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) more than doubled to €297.6 mn in the first nine months of 2021. The EBITDA margin rose from 11.6 percent to 18.7 percent. Net profit for the period amounted to €113.4 million and earnings per share to €3.77.

Gross cash flow more than tripled to €301.1 million in the first nine months of 2021 compared to EUR 83.3 mn in the first nine months of 2020. This increase was above all due to the earnings performance. Cash flow from operating activities amounted to €307.8 million compared to €-14 million in the first nine months of 2020. Free cash flow amounted to €-317.9 million due to the investment activities related to the projects in Thailand and Brazil. CAPEX (expenditures for intangible assets, property, plant and equipment, and biological assets) increased by 40.3 percent to €631.1 million during the reporting period, of which roughly half was financed out of cash flow from operating activities. The strong increase in investments is attributable to the implementation of the key projects.

Though a number of export-oriented industries in the country have increased their production capacities, Indonesia’s export volume is expected to reach pre-COVID-19 levels only by next year, says Anne Patricia Sutanto, Deputy Chairperson, Indonesian Textile Association (API). The average utilization of the export-oriented textile industry has reached 100 percent with a number of business actors even adding capacity.

Indonesia's garment exports did not experience price adjustments as a result of unresolved global logistics problems. Some exportersmade deliveries using a freight on board (FOB) scheme, aka container fees paid by the buyer, adds Sutanto.

Data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) shows, Indonesia’s export volume of textile products with HS code 61 during January to August 2021 reached 160,854 tonne. Meanwhile, the export volume of textile products with HS code 62 from January to August 2021 reached 105,993 tonne. This volume is lower than the achievement in the same period in 2019 and 2020 which were 126,598 tonne and 111,163 tonne, respectively.

The recently concluded Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Russia in Moscow was unique in many ways. The event not only live streamed its shows and presentations on 110 websites in Russia and abroad and in VK, but also for the first time it collaborated with TikTok app for short video making and watching to launch #ФэшнВикХауз (in Eng. #FashionWeekHouse) as a part of the seasonal MBFW Russia reality show on TikTok.

MBFW Russia’s official account (@mbfwrussia) showcased five talented TikTok creators – Alex in style, the fashion influencer who promotes minimalism basics; Lana Nisnevich, a fashion critic, blogger, ex Fashion Editor for Cosmopolitan; Astemir, fashion blogger and stylist; Jenia Stelmah model and beauty blogger; and Nastya Yanb, creator, blogger and fashion influencer.the top. Forty three speakers shared their views during the live streams of the reality show on MBFW Russia’s official TikTok account (@mbfwrussia).

Exploring music and book service

This year, designers at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Russia compiled a playlist with tracks that inspired them to create new designs in collaboration with the music streaming Yandex.Music service. They also collaborated with major book service CIS LitRes, to prepare a topical selection of books about responsible consumption, sustainability in fashion and ecological issues in this sector.

Attended by over 70 designers, the show also included video presentations of designers from countries like UK, Germany, Brazil, Israel, India, Bolivia, and Nigeria.

Sustainability in focus

The theme this year was sustainable development in the fashion industry. Keeping this in view, sustainable brands VINA and RigRaiser launched new collections in collaboration with Vtoroe Dykhanie Fund. Made from garments donated by visitors of the Fashion Week in April 2021, these garments were collected by the Russian Fashion Council alongwith Vtoroe Dykhanie Fund and EcoLine. The clothes will be used by designers to upcycle new collections in the next season of MBFW Russia.

Another highlight was the upcylced uniforms worn by the volunteers and employees of the organizing committee of MBFW Russia. These volunteers and employers gifted visitors bags made from upcycled banners from the previous edition of the event. The Russian Council also installed separate waste collection bins in collaborations with Ecoline.

Sustainability experts prepared a series of articles on eco-friendly wardrobe essentials under the guidance of Anastasia Chizhevskaya, Alena Antipenkova, and Valeria Gromova from the Business Eco-Education Bureau Sustainable.ru; Boris Lorer, Blogger, Founder and Speaker, Sortirovochnaya YouTube blog; Olga Johnston-Antonova, Fashion Historian, Eco-sustainable Fashion and Design Teacher, Consultant-Fashion Business Ecologization and Sustainable Goals Implementation in Fashion.

Designers at the event

Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Russia hosted shows by Rogov, FOS x MBFW Berlin, Yana Besfamilnaya, Nastya Nekrasova, among others. Stylist and designer Alexander Rogov presented a new collection that could be reassembled in different ways like puzzles.

Russian brand Innominate presented a collection comprising oversize suits, pleated mantle-dresses and extensive shorts. Young womenswear brand from Russia Far North Sasha Gapanovich presented a collection inspired by the designer’s native lands’ uniqueness.

FOS X MBFW Berlin (Germany)

Fashion Open Studio and Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Berlin zone presented several brands, including Anciela, Anekdot, Barabara, Buki Akomolafe, Church of the Hand, #Damur, Emeka, Fade Out Label, Grandma would approve, New Blue, Rafael Kouto, Soup Archive, Therapy, Top Mantaden during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Russia. These brands focused on unusual cuts, sophisticated shapes, multilayerdness, patchwork, vivid colors and combinations of trends.

Nike has filed several new trademarks prompting speculation that it is gearing up to launch into the metaverse. In total, seven different applications have been submitted including for Nike, the brand’s famous slogan ‘Just Do It’, its swoosh logo as well as for the Air Jordan and Jumpman logos. Facebook will rebrand to Meta to create a metaverse where people can meet and connect virtually.

Nike will make and sell virtual Nike-branded sneakers and apparel. Nike is planning to launch its brands in a different web atmosphere that would allow them to provide online, non-downloadable virtual footwear, clothing, headwear, eyewear, bags, sports bags, backpacks, sports equipment, art, toys, and accessories for use in virtual environments.

Recent job postings for a virtual material designer of footwear and other virtual design roles suggest the company is gearing up to launch Nike-branded products in the metaverse. Nike previously made forays into the digital space in 2019 when Nike’s Jordan partnered with Fortnite to produce character skins wearing Nike sneakers. That same year, it also filed a patent for CryptoKicks, which would link physical shoes with an NFT to verify ownership.

Meanwhile Nike has lowered its fiscal 2022 outlook after its revenue rose to $12.25 billion from $10.59 billion in the first quarter ended August 31.

Ralph Lauren expects to face higher shipping and commodity costs in the next few months. The high-end apparel maker is spending heavily to ensure stores are stocked with its Polo shirts and sports jackets during the holiday season.

Unlike its European luxury peers, which manufacture the bulk of their products in their home market, Ralph Lauren sources the vast majority of its offerings from outside the United States, with 40 per cent manufactured in China and Vietnam alone, making the company more susceptible to shipping delays and factory closures. These supply chain disruptions have especially hobbled the clothing industry, with apparel having the highest online out-of-stock levels among US retail sectors in the run-up to the holiday season.

However, Ralph Lauren is confident of having enough stocks to meet holiday demand, in part because it is spending heavily to ship products by air. While it expects continued variability of inventory flows, from quarter-to-quarter, it believes its inventories are well positioned to meet demand for the upcoming holiday and spring ’22 seasons.

The retailer expects constant currency fiscal 2022 revenue to rise 34 per cent to 36 per cent. But Ralph Lauren kept its full-year operating margin forecast unchanged due to higher freight costs and increasing prices of raw materials such as cotton.

Vicunha has partnered with Polygiene to present a new collection featuring Polygiene Stays Fresh technologies for the 2021-22 season. The range features denim treated with a combination of Polygiene’s BioStatic and OdorCrunch technologies for the first time in Latin America. Biostatic is an antimicrobial technology that inhibits the growth of odor-causing bacteria, stopping odors at the source permanently. OdorCrunch removes any environmental odors such as cooking fumes, cigarette smoke or body odor, by encapsulating the odor molecules and cracking them, removing the offensive odor in the garment. In addition to providing effective odor control, the combination of technologies also reduces the number of times a product needs to be washed, saving energy, time, and money and extending the life of the product. By washing a product less, the form and fit and the rich color hues of the denim will last longer.

Brazil’s Vicunha is one of the world’s largest suppliers of denim. Polygiene is a Swedish firm. Offering the fashion market solutions that encourage consumers to save water and energy by washing their clothes less brings so many positive impacts that it ends up being not only a good technology for the textile industry, but also a practical and fast solution for society, which increasingly demands sustainable solutions from the fashion chain.

As projected by secondhand apparel marketplace, ThredUp, the fashion resale industry is expected to more than double from $36 billion in 2021 to $77 billion in 2025. The industry is likely to boom with new international expansions planned by companies. For instance, as per a Modern Retail report, Lithuania-based Vinted plans to grow its US base. Depop too aims to develop its global community upon acquisition by Etsy.

Resale frontrunner Poshmark aims to expand operations in the international market. The company reported a 28 per cent year-over-year increase in revenues in the first nine months of 2020. This helped it to turn its first profit during the period of $8.1 million. To offer customers a thrift store experience, Poshmark uses a peer-to-peer model. It generates revenue by charging sellers a fee for buying items from the platform. Its focus remains on turning passive users into active traders. However, the active buyer base of rival TheRealReal has halved to 20 per cent year-over-year since 2019. The company currently has 730,000 buyers. Similarly, the growth of active buyers on ThredUp declined from 67 per cent in the first quarter of 2020 to 8 per cent in the second quarter of this year to reach 1.34 million.

Promotional campaigns to boost awareness

A reason for this decline in active buyer base is lack of awareness amongst consumers, particularly youngsters, says Simeon Siegel, Senior Retail and E-commerce Analyst, BMO Capital Markets. Hence, many of secondhand marketplaces are launching promotional campaigns to boost awareness. This in turn is expanding their marketing budgets. For example, the marketing spend of Poshmark increased by over 47 per cent to $68 million in just six months upto June 30, this year. The marketing expenditure of ThredUp also increased to $31.4 million during the same timeframe from $23.9 million a year earlier.

Some top resale marketplaces are exploring authentication services to attract their overseas buyers. They are opening stores in various countries across the globe. However, there, they are facing stiff competition from incumbents like eBay and an uncertain trading environment induced by the pandemic.

Startups drive the sneaker resale market

Expected to reach $30 billion globally by the end of 2030, the sneaker resale market is witnessing the rise of many new startups including livestream shopping platforms platforms like Whatnot and NTWRK, according to American investment bank Cowen. The market is also prompting incumbents to provide similar services, adds Matt Powell, Anaylst, NPD. With 159 million users, eBay opened a sneaker authentication center in Australia in July this year. The platform also has an authentication services in the US and Canada.

Sneaker specialists StockX also certifies that the footwear it sells is in mint, investment-grade condition. The reseller currently has 14 stores, including 12 authentication centers. These help the company tackle local supply and demand issues, says Jesse Einhorn, Senior Economist. The company uses its warehouses for certify that the footwear its merchants sell is genuine. In future, it plans to open stores in Hong Kong and Australia. Its international locations help the company facilitate transactions.

Luxury resellers eye international expansion

Pre-owned designer handbag reseller Handbag Clinic plans to leverage the post-pandemic retail environment to purse international growth. The company operates a hybrid retail business. Online, it sells handbags sourced from consignment partners, with three franchise locations that offer restoration services across Qatar and Saudi Arabia, and a joint venture in France. It plans to launch more stores across the Gulf in coming months.