For the last few years, Asia Pacific region has been making significant contributions to global luxury fashion business. Though global market for personal luxury goods shrunk 15 per cent in 2020, Asia Pacific’s share increased from 32 per cent in 2019 to 37 per cent in 2020, reports Euromonitor International.

China to lead Asia Pacific’s personal luxury goods market

The future outlook for personal luxury goods market in Asia Pacific remains favorable with sales likely to increase 10 per cent CAGR from 2020-25. The market is likely to account for 40 per cent of the global personal luxury market by 2025. China leads followed by Taiwan, Japan and Hong Kong. The country benefits from spending by affluent and middle class consumers in mainland China where luxury sales are likely to return to pre-pandemic levels by 2021-end. China’s share in all personal luxury sales in the Asia Pacific region is likely to rise to 41 per cent by 2025 from 36 per cent in 2020.

Popular characters attract millennials

Luxury brands are increasingly adopting popular characters, from pop art to Japanese Manga to attract young consumers. They are also entering innovative and unique collaborations to engage with these new set of consumers. Euromonitor International’s The Voice of the Consumer: Lifestyles Survey, 2021 shows, these brands have so far attracted 62 per cent millennial and Gen Z consumers to try new products and 47 per cent of Gen Z and millennials to engage with brands for product innovation. In 2020, Loewe and Gucci launched cross-over editions of Japanese characters managa. These collections helped both brands attract young customers, especially in China and Japan.

The importance of localization

Rising importance of Asia Pacific in the global personal luxury goods market has increased the importance of localization amongst brands. They need to establish a deeper connect with local luxury consumers to enhance brand value in the post-pandemic world. They need to study their consumers’ needs to drive sales. Around 43 per cent respondents to the Euromonitor’s Voice of the Consumer: Lifestyles Survey, affirmed they prefer to shop from brands that upload their values. These customers opine, brands need to align their universal equity with the cultural or societal values of the local market.

Sustainability a strong driver

For the last few years, pre-loved luxury goods market in Asia Pacific has been growing exponentially. This growth further accelerated during COVID-19. The market is being driven by the three values: sustainability, affordability and collectability. Since the onset of COVID-19, Asia Pacific consumers have been showing greater interest in sustainability. Key opinion leaders and opinion consumers are opting to shop in vintage stores, driving growth in vintage luxury goods market. Online vintage luxury site, Vestiaire Collective has collaborated with luxury groups including Kering to sell a 5 per cent stake in the company to the brand.

All about premium, exclusive experiences

So far, luxury brands have stayed away from digital sales channel as they fear it may compromise their exclusivity. However, with the pandemic, they have adopted an omnichannel strategy to increase accessibility and maintain exclusivity. This helps brands integrate across online and offline channels to connect with consumers. Consumers in Asia Pacific value their connections with brands and exclusive shopping experiences much more than global consumers, says Euromonitor’s Digital Consumer Survey in 2021.

To survive and grow in post-pandemic era, luxury brands in Asia Pacific need to keep tab on emerging trends. They need to focus on providing premium and exclusive luxury experience to customers by focusing on sustainability and digitization besides ensuring high-level of personalization in their offerings.

Following the outbreak of COVID-19, fashion retailers were forced to accelerate their e-commerce strategies overnight to restrict dwindling sales. Around 27 fashion companies filed for bankruptcy during from April 2020. They had to also move their stocks to shippable locations as digital purchases increased almost 160 per cent, as per an Accenture estimate.

A report by the Edited shows, to reduce the value of deadstock by 38.7 per cent, retailers introduced new shipping strategies such as ‘Buy Online Pickup In Store’ (BOPIS), ‘Buy Online Return In Store’ (BORIS) and curbside strategies from April 2020 to April 2021. They also reduced the number of products in each category to restrict the accumulation of unsold stock. Shipping time reduced 21.4 per cent as they concentrated on best-selling items.

Comfort dominates apparel and footwear choices

A McKinsey & Co report published in August 2020 indicated, the pandemic curbed consumers spending on categories such as apparel, footwear, home furnishings, skincare and makeup. Their expenditure on groceries, home entertainment and household supplies increased during the period.

The rise in work from home saw many brands switch to casualwear, benefitting retailers of sleepwear, activewear and loungewear. Comfort became the defining fashion trend during the period as demand for women’s flat shoes increased by 7 per cent while that of heeled shoes declined by 23 per cent from April 2020 to April 2021. Retailers also reported 32 per cent Y-o-Y growth in demand for hoodies during the period while demand for blazers reduced by 19 per cent from April 2020 to April 2021.

Luxury prices remain resilient

To offset pandemic induced losses, brands planned to realign their pricing strategies. For instance, Victoria Beckham planned to merge main collection with more affordable diffusion brand besides lowering prices of dresses by 40 per cent. Similarly, Forever Unique aims to shift focus to lifestyle products and drop its average price tag to approx $100 against the earlier $130.

However, luxury brands remained immune to this price drop. Their average prices increased by almost 13 per cent from April 2020 to April 2021. Categories which recorded most price hikes include jewelry, outerwear and handbags. Chanel recently hiked its handbag price by 15 per cent indicating a continuation of this trend in future.

Unsold stock leads to increased discounting

To clear unsold stock and improve liquidity, retailers increased discount levels on online platforms. The average discounting percentage of retailers in US increased to 65 per cent in March 2020 while in UK it reached 54 per cent. This impacted the profitability leading to 8 per cent reduction in depth of weekly discounts.

Sustainability key to survival

With increased vaccinations and lifting of curbs, retailers are once again embracing pre-pandemic categories. As per Retail Intelligence by Edited, demand for swimwear and blazers is back to 2019 levels. Stores are reopening especially in the UK where the total like-for-like sales increased 39.9 per cent during the week ending June 27.

The pandemic has taught fashion retailers to run their online operations more efficiently. Retailers have also learned to manage their inventories and monitor discounts on these platforms. Whether they are able to sustain this learning remains to be seen.

Sensitive® Fabrics by Eurojersey has launched a AW 2022/23 Lingerie collection titled Relax that combines sex appeal with comfort thanks to vibrant colours, decisive prints and light fabrics.

Laces, audacious details, romantic flowers on the garments are accentuated by reassuring pastel shades, powdery and delicate nuances. The fabrics used in this collection offer breathability, freshness and lightness, dressing as if with a second skin.

Delicate and comfortable, these fabrics dry rapidly and have a three-dimensional elasticity for a perfect wearability. They adapt to the body, making every piece of underclothing elegant, even the most structured ones.

Eurojersey SpA manufactures and sells warp-knit fabrics. The company’s fabrics are used in underwear, swimwear, sportswear, and ready to wear applications. It sells its products through branch offices and local agents in Italy and internationally. The company was founded in 1960 and is headquartered in Caronno Pertusella, Italy. Eurojersey S.p.A operates as a subsidiary of Carvico Spa.

Textile finishing expert, Devan Chemicals, has been supporting high performance sport in the UK and Belgium with its ‘cool comfort technology’ Moov&Cool.

Working alongside the English Institute for Sport (EIS) and Sally Cowan the technology is being applied to garments with the aim of improving the thermal comfort of elite athletes. Moov&Cool consists of a multi-functional polymer technology that proposes to absorb heat during performance and improve the moisture management properties of the fabric. The treatment has been designed to simultaneously react to sweat build up and heat emission.

In Belgium, Devan has been involved in the Gold2Gold project carried out by Sport Vlaanderen. Gold2Gold is a unique collaboration between sports, government and the industry to prepare Belgian athletes to perform better in hot environments during world-level championships.

Accelerating Circularity, Inc has released a report on US trials of commercial scale textile-to-textile systems. Titled, ‘Putting Textiles to Good Use,’ the report concisely presents the rationale and goals for the trials, including ambitious content minimums of 40 per cent recycled blends and 20 per cent post-consumer inputs for all trials. In response to stakeholder demand, the report also lays out the role, benefits, and responsibilities of each prospective participant.

The group proposes specific trials targeting post-industrial and post-consumer feedstocks, mechanical and chemical recycling technologies, recycled cotton, polyester, and manmade cellulosic fibers, and several finished product categories.

These serve as a starting point for Trial Partner collaboration within the project that will generate multiple circular textile products at mass retail scale. Brand and retail partners have the option to buy-in at several stages in the process to maximize the potential for the circular fibers to be plugged into existing commercial supply chains. Several major brands and supply chain partners – including those on Accelerating Circularity’s US Steering Committee -- have already opted into the project.

AATCC directly supports products purchased through its website or order team. Authorized resellers also provide genuine AATCC products. Product support, however, should be directed to the reseller who will work with AATCC to resolve any concerns. Buyers can also review the AATCC Buyers Guide located on the AATCC website.

According to the Trends in Trade in Counterfeit and Pirated Goods report issued by OECD.org, in the European Union alone, counterfeit trade represented 6.8 per cent of imports from non-EU countries. These figures do not include domestically produced counterfeit goods or pirated products distributed over the Internet.

Counterfeiting impacts most business sectors and is most pervasive in the textiles and consumer goods markets. Footwear, clothing, and leather goods account for the top three industries most hit. (OECD, 2019)

The criminality surrounding counterfeiting often funds other illegal activity, which frequently strengthens criminal organizations. The escalation of criminal activity creates cascading negative societal consequences.

Counterfeiters increasingly use new technologies and 3D printing to make it harder to spot fakes of quality control materials. They also use new processes to hijack well-known brands to get their products on established e-commerce sites.

Ade Sudrajat, Chairman-Advisory board, Indonesian Textile Association (API) believes has urged for temporary suspension of lawsuit for Postponement of Debt Payment Obligations (PKPU) against PT Pan Brothers Tbk (PBRX). Postponement can give the textile and garment industry time to recover. He emphasized companies like Pan Brothers need special attention from the government.

Sudrajat also believes the export market orientation will recover in 2022 as the American, European and Japanese markets are expected to recover soon. The rising employment opportunities in these countries will help increase consumers’ buying power, he adds. On the other hand, recover in the domestic market might not be as fast as the export market because it is still facing various obstacles. He estimates the domestic market will grow significantly in 2023.

As per an Indo Textiles report, the PKPU lawsuit against PBRX was filed by Maybank Indonesia. Maybank, in its petition, asked the panel of judges to grant a number of requests including granting PKPU to Pan Brothers (PBRX); setting PBRX in PKPU status for 45 days from the date the decision is pronounced; appointing a Supervisory Judge from the Commercial Judges at the Commercial Court at the Central Jakarta District Court to oversee the process of Postponing the Debt Payment Obligation (PKPU) of PT Pan Brothers TBK; appointing Ray Winata, Joel Baner Hendrik Toendan, David Togap Marsaor as the Pan Brothers PKPU management team and ordering the management team to summon Pan Brothers and creditors known by registered mail or by courier, to appear in court.

Turkish denim mill Isko is partnering MIT’s’ Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab (CSAIL) to develop smart textiles and wearable technologies with the help of the program’s researchers, students and industry partners. Last month, a team of 27 Isko employees participated in the CSAIL Alliances Annual Meeting to discuss cutting-edge research and network in anticipation of the new partnership.

As per Sourcing Journal, the program brings together more than 1,200 people, 60 research groups, 120 researchers and 600 students working on more than 900 active projects. Through its participation, CSAIL hopes to accelerate its vision for a more sustainable future. It will spearhead new research in computing that improves the way people work, play and learn. It centers on 25 areas of interest, including AI, big data, computational biology, energy, healthcare, human-computer interaction, internet of things (IOT) and manufacturing.

Isko has a track record of using technology to create a better future for the denim industry. Earlier this month, the company joined forces with Pakistan-based denim manufacturer Soorty to bring Isko’s fabric technology to Soorty’s vertical production capabilities through an exclusive licensing agreement. The Isko Future Face by Soorty collection features a collection of patented woven fabric that looks like a knit.

At the 6th meeting of the Uzbek-Pakistani Inter-governmental Commission on Trade-Economic and Scientific-Technical Cooperation (IGC) in Tashkent, All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) signed a memorandum of understanding with the Governor of Bukhara, Uzbekistan to build a textile complex in the state. Spanning 30,000 hectares, the complex will reserve a vast space for cultivating cotton. It will also house spinning, weaving, processing and garment units built at a cost of $100 million.

Gohar Ijaz Ijaz, Leader, APTMA hopes, Pakistan’s cotton exports would reach $18 billion by next year. The country recently agreed to finalize a preferential trade agreement (PTA) with Uzbekistan within three months to boost bilateral trade volume. The meeting was co-chaired by Sardor Umurzakov, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Investments and Foreign Trade, Uzbekistan and Abdul Razak Dawood, Commerce Adviser, Pakistan.

After almost a year, the 14th edition of international beachwear show Maredamare will be held at the Fortezza da Basso in Florence from July 24-26, 2021. As per a Knitting Industry report, the trade fair will exhibit a number of new collections from foreign exhibitors. The agency involved in the foreign promotion of Italian companies, ACE will promote the trade fair and Italian exhibitors alongwith ICEX, a public corporation that aims to promote Spanish companies

ICEX alongwith the Economic and Commercial Office of Spain in Milan will coordinate the participation of a selection of Spanish companies. ABIT, the Brazilian Textile and Apparel Industry Association, will be present at the fair with a selection of Brazilian companies. The trade fair will include several meetings between brands and customers alongwith insights and meetings among operators. Outdoors meetings will be held on July 24 and 25. The fashion shows will be animated by dancers, live music and performers.

The fair will continue online until the beginning of September when Maredamare will reopen its virtual doors for a week of live shows with new videos from the companies.