VF Corporation, a global leader in branded lifestyle apparel, footwear and accessories, has sold the occupational portion of its Work segment to a subsidiary of Redwood Capital Investments, LLC, a diversified holding company.

The occupational workwear portion of VF’s Work segment includes the following brands: Red Kap®, VF Solutions®, Bulwark®, Workrite®, Walls®, Terra®, Kodiak®, Work Authority® and Horace Small®. The sale does not include the Dickies® and Timberland PRO® brands.

Founded in 1899, VF Corporation is one of the world’s largest apparel, footwear and accessories companies connecting people to the lifestyles, activities and experiences they cherish most through a family of iconic outdoor, active and workwear brands including Vans®, The North Face®, Timberland® and Dickies®. The company aims to power movements of sustainable and active lifestyles for the betterment of people and planet.

Redwood is a long-term holding company headquartered in Baltimore, MD that acquires and builds businesses across a diverse set of industries. Redwood’s existing businesses operate in the distribution, dealership, equipment leasing and real estate industries. Redwood focuses on creating value through reinvesting in their businesses to drive growth and create opportunities for employee advancement while preserving company culture.

Kering Americas has launched a virtual mentorship program in collaboration with Candace Marie Stewart's Black in Corporate (BIC).

As per Fashion Network, the month-long training pairs Black professionals at different stages of their careers with a mentor at Kering Americas or one of its fashion houses. Departments includes Marketing/Advertising, Project Management/Operations, Human Resources, Financial Services, Media/Communication and Technology, and will give members access to resources, workshops, speaker events and more.

The partnership is the first of its kind for both BIC and Kering Americas, and highlights BIC’s commitment to engage with strategic partners that share values of diversity, equity, and inclusion, with a focus on creating systemic change.

Applications for the program are now open and will close on July 2.

Earlier this month, Kering entered into the rental market via an investment in London-based handbag rental specialist Cocoon. The foray will allow the luxury giant to monitor new consumption habits and digital practices.

Gas load-shedding and energy crisis are forcing Pakistan textile exporters to move their industries to other countries.

Pakistan’s textile exporters have formed a committee for due diligence to shift industries in wake of the crisis, says Jawed Bilwani, Chairman, Pakistan Apparel Forum.

The zero gas pressure since last 15 days has crippled industries and halted export production in Pakistan. Textile exporters having Regasified Liquefied Natural Gas (RLNG) connections and paying the amounts with great difficulty, to meet export orders at a rate of Rs 1,533 per mmbtu, are not provided gas.

The exporters questioned how industries would work without the basic raw material. They voiced concerns that there is no chance that the textile export industries will get the required gas smoothly with adequate pressure in future.

Faisal Moiz Khan, President, North Karachi Association of Trade and Industry has warned that depriving the industry of gas will hurt exports of the country. Bilwani also added that amid the continuous gas crisis in the country, especially in Karachi, and given contradictory moves by the government towards its business policies, textile exporters have constituted a committee for due diligence to shift textile export industries elsewhere, on the exporters demand, to correspond and negotiate with those countries which have much better business and export-friendly policies.

Agribusiness banking specialist Robobank forecasts recovering global demand and garment sales will drive Australia’s wool price benchmark up to the 1600c/kg clean mark in the next year. Dennis Voznesenski, Analyst says, demand indicators for wool are positive almost across the board. He believes, the rise in US retail apparel sales by 9.2 per cent in April has sparked recovery in wool prices.

Voznesenski says, while wool prices had not risen to seven-year highs like some other soft commodities, the Eastern Market Indicator (EMI) is 27pc higher than the beginning of the year and has recently cracked through the 1,400-cent mark for the first time in over a year. Prices of super-fine wool micron have exceeded those of coarser wool and also prices from early 2020 with 17 micron wools rising by 88 per cent since last year’s September low, he adds.

The prices of 20 micron wool have increased by 62 per cent over the same period. notes Voznesenski. The growth is fuelled by improving apparel sales in key end markets, particularly for knitwear and the close-to-skin sectors, together with the associated improvement in processor sentiment.

Americans are driving growth in secondhand fashion market by buying more resale goods. As per a GlobalData report, the secondhand fashion market in the US is expected to reach $77 billion in the next five years. Commissioned by online consignment startup ThredUp, the report surveyed 3,500 adults in the country.

The report found a record 33 million Americans bought secondhand for the first time in 2020. Over 76 per cent of these shoppers plan to increase their share of resale purchases in the next five years. The secondhand market is likely to grow 11 times faster than the clothing retail market during this period. Around 42 per cent retailers plan to adopt resale in the next five years making the market two times larger than fast fashion by 2030, predicts GlobalData. Around 58 per cent plan to offer financial incentives with resale. Forty-four per cent consumers believe, the government should play a role in promoting sustainable fashion.

As COVID-19 related restrictions began to ease, trade show Tranoi returned to the physical format with a live event at Palais de Tokyo in Paris. Held from June 25-27, 2021, the event featured 24 emerging designers. It was held in partnership with Federation de la Haute Couture de la Mode. The event was held in tandem with Sphere, French fashion’s governing body’s showroom for emerging designers, with the aim of creating synergies between the two events at the venue at the fashion week hub.

In September, Tranoï will once again collaborate with Sphere at the Palais de Tokyo for the main event featuring 50 young labels. The physical format is likely to make comeback this Fall with many events planned September onwards. WSN will organize next edition of Who’s Next and sister shows in September. Bijorhca jewelry event and Eurovet’s lingerie and swimwear shows will also be held during the month besides Tranoï’s next event. WSN’s Première Classe will be held from October 1 to 4 in the Tuileries alongiwth the Paris Fashion Week

Organizer of India International Textile Exhibition (ITME), India ITME Society, has postponed 2020 edition of the event. The exhibition will now be held from December 8-13, 2022 at IEML, Greater Noida due to rising COVID-19 cases that have disrupted the global textile and textile engineering sector.

The event will help India develop as global destination for sourcing textile and textile engineering products. It will encourage global textile leaders increase investments in manufacturing of textile machinery, thus supporting the government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative. It will also encourage new market development to generate custom leads from rural markets; facilitate connect to agents, dealers, distributors for overseas market as well as the domestic market for the manufacturers; facilitate joint ventures and technology transfer; and promote/support the growth of textile industry in India through new technologies, along with ancillary and allied industries and trade.

Driven by consumers’ willingness to once again buy high-end fashion items, the global luxury sector has started to recover. As per Vogue Business Index, around 16 per cent consumers plan to increase their spending on luxury fashion in the next six months. The majority of these shoppers will be millennials and Gen Z buyers. Around 19 per cent Gen Z luxury buyers will increase their spending on luxury compared to just 11 per cent at the end of 2020. Luxury fashion will be particularly preferred by Gen Z buyers in the US, UK and South Korea, says a report by The Star.

Consumers are also looking for renewed shopping experience. Henceforth, they plan to integrate all sales channels for a cross-channel experience. Future luxury fashion purchases will also be driven by consumers’ increasing emphasis on sustainability and transparency. Around 62 per cent consumers plan to purchase luxury fashion items from brands confirming to these principles only. They also plan to buy more from brands Louis Vuitton and Gucci

A coalition of European business associations representing different sectors have urged for the ratification of the EU-Mercosur agreement, the largest and most ambitious trade agreement ever negotiated by both sides. The agreement will help establish better trade links between the two. It will unlock growth and help both regions recover from the current economic and public health crisis, invest in the green transition and diversify global supply chains and the region’s core market base.

The agreement calls for the most advanced sustainable development provisions that will foster partnership, help mitigate climate change and bind both sides to effectively implement the Paris Agreement. Unilateral legislative initiatives at EU level, such as upcoming initiative on deforestation and the review of existing rules on timber trade and fight against illegal logging will enhance this cooperation and effectively ensure that exports to the EU will not contribute to deforestation or soil degradation.

The agreement includes enforceable commitments on workers' rights and environmental protection through a dedicated dispute settlement mechanism that includes an active role for civil society organizations and calls on the expertise of international bodies, whose reports and recommendations must be made public. In case of non-respect of any of these provisions an automatic mechanism will trigger formal government consultations.

Indian Railways has launched a new train service to export all raw materials like yarn, fabrics and goods from Ludhiana’s textile and garment companies to Bangladesh by train. The train was started by the railway’s Ambala division in collaboration with MGH Group. It consists of 20 parcel vans (VPU). Customers opting for this facility will get end to end transportation solution like exporting yarn, Fabrics & FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) from their respective factories across Ludhiana and Baddi to their buyers’ factories in Bangladesh including the customs clearance on both the sides of border.

Some of the potential customers from Ludhiana include Aarti International, Cedaar Textiles, Garg Acrylic, Nahar Spinning & Vardhman Textiles. The cost per tonne for carrying by Special Parcel train is Rs 5,491.

Vivek Sharma, Senior DCM, believes, the initiative will help rail transport small parcels of upto 500 tonne in each of the train’s trip. Sunil Tangri, Commercial Head, Vardhman Textiles, Ludhiana, adds, the train service to Benapole will help the whole textile industry in this region to commit to stringent delivery schedule which in turn will increase India’s exports and boost economic trade between two neighboring countries.