Struggling UK fashion retailer French Connection has received a takeover offer from a group of bidders including its second-largest shareholder, sending its London-listed shares up by 15 per cent

The offer of 30 pence share from a group including Apinder Singh Ghura, Amarjit Singh Grewal and KJR Brothers values the once dominant player in British fashion at about 29 million pounds ($39.6 million).

Ghura is the company's second-largest shareholder with a 24.95 per cent stake, according to Refinitiv data, and with a 41.5 per cent stake, founder and CEO Stephen Marks remains its largest shareholder.

Talks with the consortium are ongoing. French Connection began seeking new suitors earlier this year after investment firms Spotlight Brands and Gordon Brothers pulled out of early talks to buy the company.

Once known for its provocative ‘FCUK’ brand of clothing, French Connection, has not been profitable in a decade and the COVID-19 pandemic has only hit sales harder.

Focusing on a holistic approach, Testex offers complete sustainability solutions for the pandemic-hit industry. Founded in 1846, Testex is one of the oldest fiber-testing institutes in Switzerland. The organization recently completed 175 years of operations. Initially involved in determining the commercial weight of raw silk, Testex extended its testing to other fibers in the second half of the 20th century.

Testex joined the Oeko-Tex Association in 1993. The association and its founding institutes have spent almost three decades envisioning a sustainable textile industry and are pioneers in offering sustainability solutions. They offer a variety of modern testing equipment for both physical textile testing and analytical tests. Their most modern and up-to-date testing equipment and software allows laboratory staff to process their results competently at home and to control devices remotely.

The government’s new production linked incentive (PLI) scheme will make technical textiles the next sunshine industry for India Inc, believes Shailesh Mehta, Managing Director, Texel Industries in a report by ANI News. The industry will reach $5 billion in the next 3-5 years. It is working in partnership with different ministries, research institutions and focuses on quality, cost, economies of scale to excel in exports by creating economies of scale, adds Mehta.

The government on September 8 announced an incentive scheme for attracting private investments into the labor-intensive textiles sector including 10 technical textile products. Under the scheme, the government will offer incentives of around Rs 7,000 crore to man-made fibres and around Rs 4,000 crore for technical textiles. The announcement is expected to cover around 10 product categories in the technical textile category. An incentive of 3 to 11 per cent of the annual incremental revenues' for five years will be provided to existing as well as proposed investments in the sector.

Established in 1989, Texel Industries is the pioneer of tarpaulins and geomembranes in India. The company manufactures a wide range of geosynthetic textile products which includes tarpaulins and geomembranes. The manufacturing facility is located at Santej, Gandhinagar, with an installed capacity of 9,000 MT per annum.

The US ban on cotton originating from the Xinjiang region in China has evoked mixed responses from Japanese apparel makers. In April, a French nongovernmental organization supporting Uyghurs filed a complaint against Uniqlo’s unit in France, Inditex, the Spanish owner of the Zara apparel retail chain, and two other global apparel makers, claiming that they were benefiting from forced labor in Xinjiang.

In May, US blocked import of shirts for Uniqlo casual wear chain, alleging that they were made from Xinjiang cotton. The US Customs and Border Protection took the action against Uniqlo in January on suspicion of violating a US ban on the import of goods from the Chinese region, where forced labor is reportedly practiced. Uniqlo denied the allegations, saying the shirts were made from cotton produced outside China and sewn at its plant in the country. The clothing chain also said it had not confirmed any use of forced labor in the production process for the cotton it uses.

Ryohin Keikaku, the retailer and wholesaler of Muji- products, initially maintained a hands-off stance on the question of Xinjiang cotton However, in mid-April, the company admitted to the use of the cotton. Mizuno Corp, a comprehensive producer of sporting goods, announced a decision in May to stop using Xinjiang cotton, while underwear maker Gunze plans to adopt an alternative cotton for certain types of socks.

The new US rules require importers to prove that cotton they use was not made in Xinjiang. They are required to provide evidence that there has been no trade whatsoever with the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, a Communist Party of China-affiliated economic and paramilitary organization in the region, at any stage of the marketing channel after production.

The European Union (EU) has extended General System of Preferences (GSP) plus status for Pakistan, with six new Conventions. As per Business Recorder, Pakistan will continue to enjoy GSP plus status till 2022, after which the EU will announce new criterion to qualify for the scheme. The EU is Pakistan’s second most important trading partner, accounting for 14.3 per cent of Pakistan’s total trade in 2020 and absorbing 28 per cent of Pakistan’s total exports.

In 2020, Pakistan was EU’s 42nd largest trading partner in goods accounting for 0.3 per cent of EU trade. Pakistani exports to the EU are dominated by textiles and clothing, accounting for 75.2 per cent of total exports to the EU in 2020. Pakistan’s imports from the EU mainly comprise of machinery and transport equipment (33.5 per cent in 2020) as well as chemicals (22.2 per cent in 2020).

The EU and Pakistan have set up a Sub-Group on Trade to promote the development of two-way trade. Set up under the auspices of the EU-Pakistan Joint Commission, the new Sub-Group on Trade is the forum for discussions on trade policy developments more broadly and also aims to tackle individual market access issues which hamper trade between the two parties.

Predicting lockdowns and factory closures in Vietnam’s impact on operations, analyst from BTIG Research & Strategy have cut Nike’s outlook for the current fiscal year. They believe, factory closures in Vietnam will cause acute shortages in supply of the brand’s footwear as around half of its production facilities are located in the country. Three months ago, Nike had given a rosy outlook for the rest of the year as it benefited from consumers splurging on sneakers for running and hiking as they returned to their routines after over a year of staying at home.

The American multinational corporation is engaged in design, development, manufacturing, and worldwide marketing and sales of footwear, apparel, equipment, accessories, and services. The company headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, in the Portland metropolitan area is the world's largest supplier of athletic shoes and apparel and a major manufacturer of sports equipment, with revenue in excess of $37.4 billion in its fiscal year 2020 ended May 31, 2020.

Owner of the Wranger and Lee brands, Denim giant Kontoor Brands will launch bold new science-based targets for both businesses next year. Kontoor confirmed its commitment with the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) to develop, validate and publish a target next year, reinforcing Kontoor’s commitment to sustainability. Kontoor also aims to set a greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction target at is aligned with the United Nations Paris Agreement.

The Science Based Targets initiative is collaboration between CDP Global, the World Resources Institute (WRI), Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF), and the UN Global Compact (UNGC). The 2015 Paris Agreement committed 191 world governments to lower greenhouse gas emissions and limit the rise in worldwide temperatures to no more than 2 degrees Celsius. The agreement is widely expected to accelerate the transition to a low-carbon world economy.

The latest announcement reflects Kontoor’s commitment to sustainability across the enterprise and combat climate change as an active member and stakeholder within the greater global community.

Portuguese brand Duarte plans to launch its Spring/Summer 2022 collection developed in collaboration with C.L.A.S.S. ecohub. The streetwear collection offers 40 pieces that support a holistic view of the sustainable values aligned with style, performances, look and touch and Duarte identity.

The collection has 20 outfits. Majority of them are unisex, apart from some small specific details linked to sizes or ergonomics. They are colored in bright red and mustard yellow to coexist with denim, grey and pale azure tones, simultaneously blending in with the colorful prints. The textures are varied to create a sense of movement. Exclusively conceived by the designer, the prints on the collection recall urban landscapes and the appeal of big metropolis.

With the support of White and its WSM (White Sustainable Milano), Duarte’s creations will be featured online at WSM-White website, and showcased in a dedicated physical booth on September during Milan Fashion Week. The collection will also be presented on its new brand page on Renoon, an online platform devoted to Responsible Shopping. In addition, Duarte will be supported by IDEE Brand Platform in the development of commercial activities for the SS22 collection.

Huntsman Textile Effects, the leading global provider of high-quality dyes, chemicals and digital inks for textile related industries has been conferred ‘Top Exporter of the Year’ award by the Gujarat Dyestuffs Manufacturers Association (GDMA).

The award, which recognizes excellence in direct exports of dyes and dye intermediaries in 2018 to 2019, was presented by Ranjeeth Kumar, IAS, Commissioner, Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprises, Government of Gujarat at a ceremony in Ahmedabad recently, amid strict Covid-19 protocols. Huntsman operates a state-of-the-art global dyes and chemicals manufacturing unit in a designated industrial zone of Padra in Baroda, Gujarat. The facility is spread across 62 acres and offers direct and indirect employment to over 800 people.

The site is currently involved in a community outreach project with three surrounding villages, focusing on Education, Health, Water and Sanitation, and Animal Husbandry under CSR Initiatives.

The GDMA is an apex body of all Dyes & Dye Intermediate manufacturers in Gujarat, established in 1962. It represents 80% dyestuff manufacturers of Gujarat contributing approximately 60% of the total exports of the country. These units have a combined turnover of about Rs. 25,000 crore.

Uster will present a combined solution to control contamination in nonwoven materials at Index 2020, in Geneva, Switzerland from October 19-22, 2021. The first of these is the Uster Jossi Vision Shield N solution that helps textile brands overcome small contaminant particles hidden inside bigger bundles of materials. The solution is a result of surveys, close collaboration with international nonwovens companies and countless hours of field tests.

The solution can be easily installed as its slim design fits perfectly into existing lines – and readily copes with the high output of standard production lines. For best detection results, the fiber cleaner is tuned to identify the typical contamination types in nonwovens, including colored fibers.

The built-in spectroscopes of Uster Jossi Vision Shield N operate on a much greater wavelength range. This enables detection of contamination within the ‘invisible’ range of infrared and ultraviolet light, and even contamination fragments of the same or similar shade as the fibers themselves.

The second solution launched by Uster is the EVS Fabriq Vision N, the nonwovens quality assurance system which ensures a consistently high rate of fault detection using automated inspection during the production process.

Uster EVS Fabriq Vision N enables seamless integration of an inspection system into any production process – and ideally into nonwovens manufacturing lines – detecting contamination, holes, irregularities and any other defect. Installation is simple and flexible: a fixture bar bridges the full width of the process line, holding as many spectroscopes as required for the application.