In a direct completion to Lululemon, apparel brands are expanding their athletic apparel offerings. As per a Pymnts.com report, Gap Inc.’s Athleta brandhas launched a new wellness platform, while Victoria’s Secret has started a new collection of athleticwear and Kate Hudson-backed Fabletics plans to launch a $5 billion IPO soon.

Footwear company Wolverine Worldwide acquired UK-based direct-to-consumer (D2C) athletic apparel brand Sweaty Betty for $410 million in cash. Wolverine also owns Keds, Sperry, Stride Rite, Merrell and Saucony, among other brands. Brand Sweaty Betty plans to accelerate the opening of brick-and-mortar stores in the US. It also aims to convert its 60-plus stores into experience for consumers. It has already evolved its product range to be beyond just performance activewear to more lifestyle.

As per Blake Kreuger, CEO, Wolverine Worldwide, the athleisure segment is poised for continued accelerated growth. The market represents over $200 billion in revenue and is currently growing in the mid to high single digits. Earlier this year, Calvin McDonald, CEO, Lululemon had said that the pandemic has accelerated and accentuated trends that have caused athleisure to grow in the last several years.

Indian Parliament awaits approval for the proposed scheme to launch seven mega funding textile parks (MITRA) from the Cabinet. As per Darshana Jardosh, Minister of State for textiles, so far, the Scheme for Integrated Textile Parks has launched a Rs 1,469 crore grant, generated employment for 1.02 lakh people and attracted investments worth Rs 13,311 crore.

The second wave of COVID-19 had led to closure of all National Textile Corporation (NTC) mill operations in April, 2021. However, NTC restored operations in some mills in July, 2021 as per raw material availability. The Government has on-boarded about 1.50 lakh weavers on government e-marketplace that allows them to promote their merchandise straight to varied authorities departments and organizations and to improve productiveness, advertising and marketing capabilities and guarantee higher incomes, 125 Handloom Producer corporations have been shaped in several states.

Parliament also granted Rs 1,107.5 crore towards the pending installments of 2019-20 and former years, in 2020-21 to clear the dedicated liabilities beneath Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS),

The UK Fashion and Textile Association (UKFT) has launched a blockchain traceability project in partnership with IBM and retailers including H&M, Next and New Look. As per a Ledger Insights report, the nine-month sustainability project will develop and pilot a supply chain traceability solution for the UK fashion industry with £1.4 million support from Innovate UK.

As per the data firm Quantis, the global fashion industry is one of the world’s biggest polluters. The apparel sector makes up 6.7 per cent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, rising to 8 per cent when footwear is included. The new platform will use IBM’s blockchain technology to share information about the clothing products – such as place and date of production, product composition and environment-related certificates – accessible to consumers via a QR code.

Key supply chain processes will be digitized, creating a shared system of data that different parties can access. This will all be stored on IBM Cloud, which will also use AI technology for optimization and to detect and respond to supply chain disruption. Other retailers participating in the pilot include N Brown and yarn manufacturer Laxtons.

Bangladesh’s exports earnings dropped to $3.47 billion in July this year from the $3.91 billion last year. As per a report by the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), exports earnings dropped by 11.9 per cent year-on-year in July. Professor Mustafizur Rahman, Fellow, Centre for the Policy Dialogue attributes this decline to Eid holidays, factory closures amid lockdowns, and container congestion at the Chittagong port. However, Bangladesh is getting a lot of purchase orders being diverted from China, India, Myanmar, and Vietnam, he adds. He hopes exports will recover in August, and Bangladesh will soon return to pre-pandemic levels.

Apparel manufacturers also agree that the current dip in exports is temporary as they have enough purchase orders from retailers in the EU and the US markets. Shahidullah Azim, Vice-President, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), said they are very optimistic about export performance in the coming months as manufacturers receive a lot of orders from buyers right around this time of the year.

In July, Bangladesh’s export earnings from woven products declined 18 per cent year-on-year whereas that from knitwear shipments fell 5 per cent. Earnings from the jute and jute sector slumped by 41 per cent year-on-year to $60.7 million. Home textile product exports declined by 1.76 per cent to $92.36 million.

Leather and leather goods exports surged by 1 per cent to $90.5 million in July, up from $89.9 million in the same month last year.

With input from over 3,500 exhibitors, buyers and partners, Spring Fair, the leading Home and Gift show, Spring Fair will become a four-day show. The new show dates run from February 06, 2022=February 09, 2022 at NEC Birmingham and will include the introduction of late-night openings until 7.30pm on the Sunday and Monday.

Simon Lau, Event Director, Spring Fair, says: “Buying behaviors have changed in recent years and visitors have communicated that they welcome a 4-day show and that a more condensed few days with the same number of talks, demonstrations, and meetings would make it a more dynamic and action-packed event. We are also really pleased to introduce two late night openings. A trend common in retail already, the additional opportunities to trade will greatly benefit visitors attending for one day only.”

Sarah Ward, CEO, The Giftware Associationadds: “This change has been a long time coming, driven by collaboration and feedback from the community with the aim of delivering a better return on time and investment for both exhibitors and visitors alike. Spring Fair is still the largest and longest home and gift trade show in the UK, and I’m excited by the prospect of late-night shopping!”

New initiatives introduced at the show focus on newness and delivering improved return on investment and return on time. Curated Meetings will offer dedicated networking and facilitated, pre-approved and pre-booked meetings between exhibitors and buyers.

In 2020 several new trade patterns emerged in the global textile and apparel industry, as per the new World Trade Statistical Review 2021 report released by the World Trade Organization (WTO). A new course material from Fash455 course shows, some of these patterns were a continuation of earlier trends while others evolved with companies’ shifting production and sourcing strategies in response to the changing business environment.

Textile exports rise while apparel exports decline

The first trend was a 16.1 rise in global textile exports against a 9 per cent decline in apparel exports. Driven by an increased demand for personal protective equipment (PPE), global textile exports grew to $353 billion during the year. In comparison, affected by recurrent lockdowns, reduced discretionary spending and a declining economy, apparel exports fell to $448 billion from 2019.

Apparel exports rebounded to 95 per cent of pre-COVID levels by 2020-end as economic activities returned to normal. However, resurgence of COVID-19 case in the mid-year caused an uneven balance in the recovery of global textile and apparel trade.

China, EU and India export 65.8 per cent of world’s textiles

Textile exports from China, the European Union and India gained a new momentum during the pandemic. Together these three countries exported 65.8 per cent of the world’s textiles in 2020. Exports by China and Vietnam grew 28.9 and 10.7 per cent during the year. Exports by the US dropped during the year leading its position dropping from fourth to fifth largest textile exporter in 2020. The country exported 3.2 per cent of the world’s textiles during the year. Around 67 per cent of its exports were directed to the Western Hemisphere including 48 per cent for USMCA (US-Mexico-Canada trade agreement) members.

China’s share rebounds

Efforts to diversify apparel sourcing from China slowed during the year as its share in the global apparel market rebounded to 31.6 per cent in 2020 from 30.7 per cent in 2019. Even in the US, China’s market share recorded a marginal decline from 30.8 per cent in 2019 to 29.8 per cent in 2020 as the sourcing criteria of brands and retailers matched China’s competitiveness during the year. Also, China faced a shorter lockdown period compared to other nations and resumed production sooner. By July 2020, Chinese textile and apparel factories had resumed 95 per cent of their operational capacity.

Nevertheless, fashion companies remain determined in their efforts to reduce China sourcing. They are being pushed in their resolve by non-economic factors, particularly the concerns about forced labor in China’s Xinjiang region, Post COVID-19, China’s share is likely to be picked up jointly by its Asian competitors like Bangladesh and Pakistan.

Textile imports by developing countries decline

Driven by increasing demand for PPE, textile imports by developed economies, including EU members, the US, Japan, and Canada, surged over 30 per cent in 2020. Meanwhile, though developing countries imported more textile raw materials like yarns and fabrics, their textile imports declined during the year.

Apparel imports by the world’s three largest importers the European Union, the United States, and Japan reached a record low in the past 10 years. Imports by these three countries combined dropped to 58 per cent during the year. On the other hand, China’s apparel imports increased 6.5 per cent from 2019. From 2010 to 2020, China’s apparel imports grew by 15 per cent annually. Of this, around 30 per cent constituted luxury items made in the EU.

As latest step in its sustainable path, the Italian company Officina+39 has joined the Bluesignnet work of stakeholders to actively support sustainability and best practices in the industry.

This landmark achievement confirms a longstanding pledge to minimize environmental impacts by envisioning and developing forefront solutions and technologies that reduce the use of energy and hazardous chemicals, while increasing waste recycling and water conservation.

Together with the high-profile players involved who share Bluesign’s purposes, the company will work to ensure a responsible use of resources and to guarantee the highest possible degree of consumer protection. This also allows the company to deliver a unique and eco-conscious range of chemical specialties, dyestuffs and pigments for the denim and garment industries as well as selected ecocompatible chemical auxiliaries and innovative processes – each one developed in compliance with rigorous safety and quality standards.

According to an ESOMAR-certified market research and consulting firm FactMR’s market intelligence report, knitted fabric sales will rise at nearly 5 per cent CAGR from 2021 to 2031, reaching almost US$ 40 billion in revenue.

Historically, the market expanded at a CAGR of 4 per cent, closing in at around $ 24 billion by the end of the 2016-2020 periods. Advanced knitted fabrics with high compression strength, anti-tear, and flame-resistant properties have been developed as a result of technological advancements. Manufacturers' productivity has risen as a result of the rapid use of 3D knitting machines.

The growing usage of high-tech medical textiles in healthcare applications is projected to open up a slew of new prospects for knitted fabric manufacturers. To improve the texture and flexibility of knitted materials, they are using new printing processes.

By fabric type, warp-knitted fabrics will yield over 50 per cent of market demand by 2031. The automotive industry will remain dominant application area, growing at almost 5 per cent CAGR. The US will emerge as a substantial market, expected to register a CAGR of around 4 per cent. Asia will be the maximum contributor to market demand, yielding almost 60 per cent of overall sales

Fashion retailers are raising prices and scaling back discounts to make up for lost sales in 2020, and to offset rising supply chain costs.

According to the Department of Labor's June Consumer Price Index, apparel prices rose by 4.9 per cent in June versus the year before - the largest jump in a decade. Crocs, Michael Kors, and Ralph Lauren are among those brands that have already raised prices.

The supply chain crisis is driving up the cost of transporting goods, and leading to long delays. At the same time, retailers are trying to find workers in a tight labor market, and are raising wages or offering perks to attract talent. Ralph Lauren has been raising prices and cutting discounts since 2019. In its most recent quarter, its average selling prices have increased by 17 per cent.

Crocs has raised s average selling price by 8 per cent to $21.84, in the most recent quarter, and it is planning more price hikes in 2022, mostly for customers in Asia.

LVMH-owned Louis Vuitton has raised the prices of its Pochette Accessoires Monogram Canvas handbags by 25 per cent this year, from $630 to $790.

Chanel has hiked the prices of its handbags to offset missed sales in 2020. According to a note from Jefferies analysts, average global prices of its handbags went up as much as 17 per cent at the start of July.

John Idol, CEO, Capri, the retail giant behind Michael Kors and Jimmy Choo, said that prices at Michael Kors had already gone up and will go up "considerably" next spring.

German sportswear company Adidas raised its outlook for full-year sales and profitability as demand soared in most of the world but took a hit in China where Western brands faced a boycott of their products in late March. The brand now expects 2021 sales to grow up to 20 per cent, compared to a previous forecast for a "high-teens percentage rate", and for net income from continuing operations to reach 1.4-1.5 billion euros, up from a previous 1.25-1.45 billion.

Adidas’second-quarter sales soared by 52 per cent to €5.077 billion ($6.01 billion), while operating profit came in at €543 million, beating analysts' average forecasts for 4.97 €billion and €458 million respectively.

Currency-neutral sales almost doubled in North America and Europe, Middle East and North Africa in the quarter, but fell 16 per cent in Greater China, in part because the region saw a strong recovery a year ago as it emerged from coronavirus lockdown.

In May, Adidas initially saw a steep drop in demand in China but sales have since recovered slowly but steadily.