Japanese holding company of brands like Uniqlo, Helmut Lang, Comptoir des Cotonniers, among others Fast Retailing has committed to minimize the impact of microfibers on the environment by signing the Microfiber 2030 Commitment. As per Spin off, established by The Microfiber Consortium (TMC), Microfiber 2030 Commitment aims to eliminate the environmental impact from microfibers.

The agreement mandates signing companies to conduct tests on their products and manufacturing processes, and contribute data to build an industry-wide database and assessment system. The agreement aims to encourage 80 per cent member companies to adopt research-based microfiber standards in their products and manufacturing processes, so that the release of microfibers into the environment is appropriately managed.

Fast Retailing will conduct prescribed fabric testing annually through 2023 and provide the data to TMC. This will be combined with data from member companies in a database, and used to develop tools and resources for the entire industry to achieve the Commitment. Fast Retailing will utilize this data and knowledge to implement measures to limit microfibers from its products and manufacturing processes and, by expanding best practices to the industry as a whole, contribute to achieving the Commitment.

Apparel retailer C&A plans to modernize 400 stores across Europe in upcoming months. As per a Textile Today report, the new stores will combine corporate identity (CI) and communication to enhance customers’ shopping experiences. C&A will first modernize stores in Germany in Dusseldorf Schadowstraße, Trier, Berlin Köpenick and Oberhausen. The brand cleaned its showrooms to allow products to take centre stage, especially the denim collection.

C&A is a Belgian-German-Dutch chain of fast-fashion retail clothing stores, with European head offices in Vilvoorde, Belgium, and Düsseldorf, Germany. It has stores in many European countries. It serves only the largest markets of Asia, North America and South America. C&A's brands include Angelo Litrico, Avanti, Canda, Clockhouse, Here+There, Palomino, Rodeo, Westbury, Yessica, Yessica Pure and, Your Sixth Sense. The company was founded in 1841 as a Dutch textile company, taking its company name from its founders initials.

Responding to an article published in Daily FT on September 28, Sri Lanka’s Joint Apparel Association Forum (JAAF) said the accusation of hoarding foreign currency against them is baseless as it accounted for almost 40 per cent of the total exports and 52 per cent of merchandize exports in addition to 6 per cent of the national GDP. In an article titled ‘Exporters hoarding $ 2.76 b in earnings overseas: CB’, the Central Bank of Sri Lanka accused exporters of hoarding foreign currency export earnings. JAAF refuted all allegations and recommended legal action against companies that did not comply with the directives of full repatriation and conversion of 25 per cent.

JAAF also disputed the rationale advanced in the article in justification of enforced conversion of foreign currency earnings to rupees. It further noted controls of repatriation and conversion of foreign currency earnings were only implemented in the past year. In the same time, the national economy contracted by 3.6 per cent and the rupee fell by 7.5 per cent against the dollar. Between November 2019 and the present day, Sri Lanka’s reserves fell from $ 7.5 billion down to $ 2.8 billion. As such, the current foreign exchange crisis taking place in the country cannot possibly be attributed primarily to the practices of exporters broadly.

Moreover, international banks are increasingly wary of discounting Letters of Credit to Sri Lankan banks, resulting in already stretched supply chains facing even further difficulties. The Sri Lankan Apparel industry has never backed away from its responsibilities in ensuring operational continuity and continuous flow of foreign exchange earnings into the country, it added.

G-III Apparel Group and Inter Parfums, Inc have entered into a long-term global licensing agreement for the creation, development and distribution of fragrances and fragrance-related products under the iconic Donna Karan and DKNY brands. Inter Parfums, Inc. will take on the exclusive license, effective July 1, 2022.

Jean Madar, Chairman & CEO, Inter Parfums, Inc. states, these global lifestyle brands will make excellent additions to the company’s portfolio. With this agreement, the company is gaining several well-established and valuable fragrance franchises, most notably Donna Karan Cashmere Mist and DKNY Be Delicious, as well as a significant loyal consumer base around the world. It also plans to launch new fragrances under these brands in 2023.

Morris Goldfarb, Chairman and CEO, G-III Apparel Group, adds, Inter Parfums ability to develop fragrances for an impressive portfolio of brands, combined with their extensive worldwide distribution capabilities, are a testament to their leadership position in the fragrance market. G-III is very pleased to partner with Inter Parfums in the next chapter of developing fragrance for the Donna Karan and DKNY brands.

Spurred on campaigners including veteran naturalist and broadcaster David Attenborough and Swedish teen activist Greta Thunberg, British retailers including Marks & Spencer have responded by cutting waste and their use of plastic.

Marks & Spencer has pledged to achieve zero carbon emissions across its own operations, its entire supply chain and products by 2040, ten years ahead of a government target for Britain. The brand launched a sustainability program in 2007 and in 2012 became the first major carbon neutral retailer for its direct emissions.

It aims to cut its total carbon footprint by a third by 2025 and has committed to zero deforestation in sourcing palm oil and soy by 2025, using more sustainable fibres by 2025 and supporting suppliers to advance lower carbon farming methods. To get customers on board, the retailer will now reward the 12.5 million members of its "Sparks" loyalty scheme with treats if they donate unwanted clothes to British-based charity Oxfam.

Last month, M&S upgraded its profit outlook after a jump in demand for food in its home market and an online clothes sales surge indicated a turnaround plan was working.

With poor weather hurting crops around the world and unrelenting demand for the fiber from the US, Cotton futures rose to the highest in almost a decade.

As per a Bloomsberg Quint report, cotton prices rose by 20 per cent this quarter, the most since March 2011. This also raised the price of cotton garments, adding to inflationary pressures rippling through the global economy this year.

Demand for American cotton continues to increase with China emerging as the largest importer, as per a Robobank International report. This may compel the US Department of Agriculture to increase its estimates for world consumption, adds the report.

Jordan Lea, Senior Trader, DECA Global LLC estimates, prices could increase around $1.12 a pound. While current shipping disruptions are frustrating, a decade ago when prices rose to a record, world reserves were half of what they are now. If prices rise further or shipping snags prevent Asian consumers like Vietnam or Bangladesh from getting the cotton they need, they may turn to polyester to make up for the lack of cotton, adds Lea.

Inditex owned Spanish casual chain of stores Bershkahas has launched DNM Lab, a temporary store experience in its Milan flagship store on Corso Vittorio Emanuele within the September edition of Milan Design Week. The project has been developed in collaboration with Jeanologia, a specialist in denim treating technology.

The project offers customers an opportunity to buy a jean or a denim jacket for €59.90, choose how to customize it in-store by adding their favorite patterns, aged areas and ripping obtained through laser treatment. They can also choose buttons and a back label and have them applied on the garment at the end of the process.

The overall customization and treatment takes 45 minutes, including the washing and drying phase. The project aims to optimize all the treating steps to reduce waiting time to 30 minutes and reach 100 customized pieces per day.

In addition to attracting customers to the store, have them interact directly with the brand and make them feel unique and part of the creative process of their denim item, the initiative was also meant to teach them about a sustainability component of the project.

DNM Lab also plans to host similar projects in other worldwide Bershka stores in the future.

Global retail giant Walmart plans to triple its exports from India to $10 billion annually by 2027. The retailer has been undertaking extensive training sessions for MSMEs alongwith Flipkart.

Under the Walmart Vriddhi Supplier Development Program (Walmart Vriddhi), the retail giant has so far trained over 2,500 MSMEs in modern business management frameworks to enable them to modernize and become part of the digital retail revolution. The e-commerce company aims to triple exports from India to $10 billion annually by 2027.

The different phases in the program delivered by partner Swasti, give MSMEs access to advanced business tools and strategies, as well as one-on-one expert consultation, to help them unlock their entrepreneurial capacity, modernize their business, and thrive.

Walmart and Flipkart expect many more entrepreneurs to graduate from the Vriddhi program over the next few months. Both the companies plan to partner with MSMEs by providing access to online and offline markets in India and around the world.

Launched in 2019, Walmart Vriddhi program aims to empower 50,000 MSMEs across India over five years.

Lenzing Group is among the trade show Filo’s important protagonists embodying the concepts of environmentally-friendly processes, products and mindset. Its TencelL™-branded specialty fibers have been long appreciated for their outstanding characteristics – softness, smoothness, luxurious shine and flow.

As part of the space dedicated to Cittadellarte – Fondazione Pistoletto and Fashion B.E.S.T., the first Italian collective of responsible fashion designers, a selection of Tencel™’s key technologies will be under the spotlight at the trade fair

Tencel™ x Refibra™, using cotton textile waste and wood pulp as the feedstock for cellulosic fibers, creating a circular solution

Tencel™ x Indigo Color, infusing pigment into fibers directly during the spinning process; - Tencel™ Luxe, providing superior aesthetics, performance and comfort to be the perfect partner of other noble fibers such as silk, cashmere or wool

Tencel™ Carbon Zero, offering carbon-zero CarbonNeutral®-certified products by Natural Capital Partners; - Tencel™ x Eco Clean, bringing totally chlorine-free-bleached TENCEL™ Modal fibers to the textile industry.

An Austrian-based company that has focused on fibers for more than 80 years, Lenzing has been producing fibers for many sectors in a sustainable way. Each Lenzing product is made of cellulose from wood, a renewable natural resource, coming only from certified sustainable sources. An important characteristic of cellulose is its biodegradability and compostability: at the end of their life cycle, cellulosic fibers can re-enter the ecosystem and create a closed loop. Lenzing’s production process itself mirrors the circular concept of nature: water and chemicals are re-used over and over, re-circulated within the system.

The Lenzing Group operates two commercial-scale biorefineries with 100% wood utilization, which ensure that the totality of wood constituents are used to produce fibers, biobased chemicals, and bioenergy, thus maximizing value creation from an economic and environmental perspective. This concept is illustrated by Carlo Covini, Lenzing Business Development Manager Italy & Switzerland, in his presentation “Lenzing’s biorefinery concept” on September 30 at 3 pm at Dialoghi di Confronto – Networking Area. At the heart of the concept is the notion that renewable source material wood is used by Lenzing as universal replacement for non-renewable raw materials, such as crude oil. Therefore, Lenzing aims to utilize and commercialize all of the wood’s natural components by turning them into pulp for Lenzing fibers or other useful Lenzing solutions for various industries.

Bangladesh-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BGCCI) delegates have urged Bangladesh to maintain higher human rights and environmental standards in production comply to the new due diligence laws to be implemented from 2023, said business leaders yesterday.

As per a Daily Star, the new law will apply to countries doing business with Germany, said the delegates at a webinar on "German Due Diligence Act – Implications for Manufacturers and Exporters in Bangladesh".

The new due diligence law will come into effect from January 2023 for companies with more than 3,000 employees. It will be applicable to companies with 1,000 workers from January 2024.

The law would assess human rights and environmental protection measures related to the emission of noise and water consumption in production and in the whole supply chain. It would be monitored by a separate federal body on exports and imports that will focus on human rights, green production facility and environmental protection in the supply chain, says Karl Borgschulze, Managing Director, Consulting Service International, a German social auditing and certification firm.