Despite recent government announcements that regulations have been relaxed in France, several countries, particularly India, Taiwan, and Turkey, remain heavily impacted by the coronavirus crisis. Hence, Messe Frankfurt France has decided to schedule the next edition of Texworld Evolution Paris in February 2022. As per Knitting Industry, the trade fair will be held in its usual format at the Parc des Expositions du Bourget in Paris.

In the meantime, the Messe Frankfurt France team continues to work actively on the installation of Texworld Evolution Paris – Le Showroom, which will be held from July 05 to 09, 2021.

This second and expanded edition will host the collections of 150 international companies and 7000 products and samples in two exhibition venues (the Atelier Richelieu and the 5 rue du Mail). This intermediary event will allow buyers to exchange ideas with other professionals, to discover new creative approaches and to decode trends for the sourcing of Autumn-Winter 2022-2023 collections.

With 144 per cent increase in searches for leggings, gym gear has become everyday wear for consumers, says a Lyst report. As per Allied Market Research, the global activewear market is expected to reach £393bn by 2024.

Black-owned fashion brand Teflar and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, known for its vegan leather, gender-neutral handbag and luxury durags, plan to launch a sportswear line in September. Besides, sustainable fashion brand Pangaia has announced a 31-piece gym line.

Sales for athleisure have outperformed fashion sales, says Matt Powell, Senior Sports Adviser, NPD Group. Despite it being a trend before the pandemic, in 2020 the activewear market accounted for 40 per cent of all online sales.

Home gym goers are fully leaning into a new look. Lululemon announced an 88 percent sales increase in the first quarter of this year. Under Armour reported a year-on-year sales increase of 35% Gym brands such as Puma, Gap’s Athleta, and running shoe brands such as Brooks, On and Hoka all outperformed in their market.

Initiated by Fashion for Good, the Good Fashion Fund has signed the first investment contract with Indian manufacturer Pratibha Syntex. As per this contract, the investment company has granted a $4.5 million long-term loan to Pratibha Syntex to support its planned capital expenditures for machine replacement and sustainable equipment expansion in various sectors.

The $ 4.5 million investment will replace machinery in the spinning, processing and garment sectors, providing new equipment to expand its activities and facilities. The new equipment will significantly reduce the amount of water, energy and chemicals used. This enables Pratibha Syntex to drive a sustainability agenda to meet clients’ manufacturing demands while at the same time meeting their positive ambitions for climate change.

Pratibha Syntex supplies textiles and garments to popular brands such as C & A, H & M, Patagonia and Zara. Founded in 1997 in Pitampur, India, it is a sustainable, vertically integrated “farm-to-fashion” textile and garment producer. With more than 6,000 employees, the company connects 35,000 farmers in more than 20 countries with apparel brands and produces more than 40 million clothing annually.

China’s General Administration of Customs (GAC) has threatened action against H&M for manufacturing low-quality, hazardous products that fall below China’s quality and safety standards.

As per a Jing Daily report, nine batches of H&M cotton dresses for girls were found to contain harmful color additives and other chemicals that might be hazardous if ingested or absorbed through the skin.

However, the Western media alleges that Beijing is singling out global fashion brands that made statements on forced labor in Xinjiang. And while some actions might appear retaliatory, China isn’t the only country to accuse the Swedish retailer of producing low-quality garments, despite its sustainability pledge.

In recent years, Western styles and trends have lost influence. With the rise of patriotism came a revival of traditional Chinese culture and fashion trends, but international fast-fashion retailers ignored the new reality and continued to promote the same old Western designs. Moreover, H&M didn’t get localization right. In fact, H&M clothing items have a strong Western aesthetic that doesn’t resonate with Chinese customers.

Chinese netizens argue that H&M’s only leverage is that it commands lower price points. But that cannot be seen as a competitive advantage in a country like China, which is known as the largest producer and exporter of clothing, textiles and apparel.

Chinese consumers already have access to trendy, low-cost clothing designed by domestic players in accordance with the taste preferences of local consumers. As such, China doesn’t need affordable Western brands.

In the near future, H&M needs to expand its product lines to incorporate items that reflect the local culture. Moreover, the Swedish retailer needs to improve the quality of its ready-to-wear line and take its sustainability and social responsibility pledge more seriously.

Fashion is no longer an exclusively women’s domain. For last few years, the menswear category has been witnessing rapid development, compelling retailers to adapt to consumer’s changing fashion choices. As per a report by global fashion journal MDS, menswear section underwent a huge transformation in 2016 as it outperformed women’s wear sector for the second consecutive time. The sector broadened itself to embrace gender fluidity and new menswear styles.

Demand for suits grow 1.3 per cent in 2021

Though today menwear sector is dominated by New Age professionals who prefer to dress in casual and comfy clothes, suits still remain the standard attire for formal occasions. Data from analyst Statista shows, after a 0.7 per cent decline last year owing to the pandemic, demand for men’s suits in the US is likely to rise 1.3 per cent to $6.76 billion this year.

Pre-pandemic, menswear brand Hugo Boss recorded strong sales and earnings growth in Q4 2019. EBITDA rose 9 per cent during the period to €122 million ($134 million). The company had restructured operations in 2018 to address clients’ need to create status-oriented, classic yet modern clothes. The brand aims to offer customers with more fashionable choices in future.

Another prominent menswear retailer Ermengildo Zegna Group has decided to revive its men’s line after a 4 per cent increase in revenues in 2018. The company had discontinued menswear label Agnona in 2000.

Sportswear gain popularity, formal wear decline

While revenues of some menswear brands have increased over the years, those of others have declined. A reason for this is the exponential rise in popularity of sportswear in the last few years. Statista figures show, sportswear segment is likely to grow 2.7 per cent year-over-year in 2020. Revenues from the sector are expected to rise to $ 7.4 billion in the United States alone.

The menswear category underwent a huge transformation in 2020. Demand for suits has declined though they are not completely abandoned. On the other hand, casual and sportswear have in popularity, encouraging many formalwear brands to diversify into these two emerging segments.

There is growing demand for made-to-order garments amongst Chinese luxury consumers. As a Jing Daily report affirms, in the last few years, China has witnessed the rise of a whole range of technologically dependent customization services spanning from Nike sneakers to luxury handbags to personalized items of clothing. Chinese luxury consumers are increasingly adapting to this rising trend which helps them stand out from the crowd. As a March McKinsey & Co report shows, customization has become a necessity rather than just a possibility for Chinese luxury consumers.

With growing adaption, consumers’ expectations for customization options have also increased, says Zhou Ting, Head-Research, Yoak Institute that surveyed over 40,000 Chinese millionaires and billionaires. They now look at customization as a way to express their personality and quality standards.

Customizing brands’ back-end operations

As luxury brands roll out new customization services, fashion tech entrepreneurs in China are endeavoring to adopt the made-to-order functionality to back-end operations. One of them is PlatformE, the start-up that drove to the creation of ABCDior, the customization pop-up launched by Dior. China’s luxury brands no longer depend on the inventory system as it often adds to fashion’s waste problem, adds Ben Demiri, Co-founder. For them, deadstock is a financial burden that can be unloaded only with made-to-order fashion.

Made-to-order also makes the current supply chain model more agile, opines Janice Wang, CEO, Alvanon which offers technologies to accelerate brands’ product development process by almost eight weeks. The company helps leading luxury brands Chanel, Alexander Wang, and Coach, develop their own sizing schemes with 3D scanning and data analytics. The technology can help shift the legacy design process to a 3D virtual sample creation, development and approval, adds Wang. 3D can help brands not just expand their made-to-order services but also enhance customers shopping experiences, he affirms.

PlatformE, which attracted leading investors including The Amorim Group, The Luxury Fund Management and Carmen Busquets, is known for transforming the linear supply chain model to an interconnected one. The startup helps brands personalize production as per customers’ request. It uses a platform approach that enables brands to engage into one-to-many-type of communication with consumers, says Demiri.

Made-to-order is also gaining popularity on China’s social media platforms. Louis Vuitton’s e-commerce brands Monogram and Goyard Chevron offer customization in their classic offerings. The sprouting of customization shops across China is also helping consumers personalize luxury items with cartoon figures, drawings of pets, portraits of their loved ones. Various customization options are being explored by luxury brands. Gucci is exploring made-to-order menswear services beyond Tier I cities like Beijing and Shanghai to Tier-II cities like Shenyang and Chengdu.

Brands are also exploring new customization types, notes Zhou Ting, Head. One of this is the ‘under the brand’ customization, which is similar to consumers’ perception of made-to-order luxury. The second ‘above the brand,’ customization enables brands to offer customization beyond their current offerings.

Lack of product samples and longer deliver times

Expansion of made-to-order has also given rise to new issues such as lack of customized product samples for Chinese consumers. Many brands are tackling this issue by using the new infrared technology, though the technology is yet to be widely adopted.

Another issue with Chinese brands is the longer time taken for delivering customized orders. Brands like Chanel and Celine take almost six months to ship a bespoke order. Reason includes, customization done from a European perspective rather than Chinese perspective. China therefore, needs to explore new customization techniques and combine them with previous experiences to offer a truly bespoke experience to customers.

IAF’s member from Korea, KOFOTI will hold the 22nd edition of PIS, Korea’s flagship textile exhibition, on both off & online platforms this year due to the ongoing COVID-19 situation.

The online edition, PIS 2021 Digital Show, will accommodate foreign textile companies that won’t be able to participate in the PIS offline exhibition due to COVID-19 pandemic. This offline edition will take place from the end of July to the end of December. Exhibitors can upload digital content such as photo’s and video clips onto their showrooms. From September 1 to September 3 foreign exhibitors will also have the option to display their physical samples during the physical fair in Seoul.

The fair will enable its exhibit to promote their products on a hybrid platform. They can also expand their promotion before and after the fair on the online platform. The fair will support business opportunities through the on/offline business meetings. It will propose future leading technologies through cooperation between each stream of major companies, expand opportunities of consumer goods, offer trend information through eco-friendly companies and expand buyer sourcing convenience.

adidas has launched a new share buyback program through its new strategy ‘Own the Game.’

The brand aims to generate substantial cumulative free cash flow over the next five years. It plans to share the majority of this – between € 8 billion and € 9 billion – with its shareholders through regular dividend pay-outs in a range of between 30 per cent and 50 per cent of net income from continuing operations, complemented with share buybacks.

Against this background and with the approval of the Supervisory Board, the Executive Board of adidas AG has decided today to launch a new share buyback program in the second half of 2021.

Starting on July 1, 2021, the company plans to buy back shares worth up to € 550 million until the end of the year. Taking into consideration the dividend payment of € 585 million which was made in May, the total amount of cash which the company will return to its shareholders in 2021 is expected to exceed € 1 billion.

As per data released by the Japanese Chain Store Association, menswear sales remained less affected for the second consecutive month in May ’21.

The apparel segment in Japanese chain stores generated sales worth 60,889.61 million yen ($549.57 million) in May ’21 as compared to 64,326.58 million yen ($587.42 million) in April ’21 – noting 5.30 per cent monthly decline.

As per Apparel Resources, revenues from menswear sales increased marginally by 0.10 per cent on M-o-M basis and hit a figure of 11,272.91 million yen ($101.75) in May ’21, while the sales increased by 12.70 per cent on yearly basis as compared to May ’20.

The sales of womenswear products valued 15,766.13 million yen ($142.30 million) in May ’21 and dropped by 2.40 per cent on M-o-M basis.

All other types of clothing including kidswear took a significant dent of 8.30 per cent on monthly note in May ’21 and accommodated 33,850.54 million yen (US $ 305.52 million) revenues.

A delegation of Tajik textile and clothing (T&C) companies is on an intense business tour to Uzbekistan to participate in an initiative promoted by the International Trade Centre under the Global Textiles and Clothing Program (GTEX). The tour aims to encourage regional linkages and share best practices among companies from the T&C sector, the International Trade Centre (ITC) in Tajikistan said.

The group comprises 24 Tajik institutions, including managers and representatives of 17 T&C companies, two consulting firms, two universities, two business associations, and one sector state ministry. The visit to Uzbekistan is scheduled from June 28 until July 3. The study tour aims to present and familiarize Tajikistan’s apparel sector to the textile value chain in Uzbekistan’s Fergana valley, namely Fergana, Namangan, and Andijan. Participants are expected to establish new business contacts and explore possibilities for sourcing materials and expand retail opportunities. In addition, they will also learn about business-specific subjects in Uzbekistan, such as taxes, import and export procedures, access to finance, and country’s support for the national T&C sector. Besides the business exchange, this initiative aims to build linkages with sector associations, T&C training institutes and universities for future collaboration.

Moreover, as part of the tour, the Tajik delegation will also visit local leading textile and clothing companies to learn about the technology and manufacturing processes.