VF Corporation has entered into a definitive agreement to sell 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.

The transaction, which is expected to close in the first quarter of fiscal 2022, is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals for a closing to occur. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Barclays is serving as exclusive financial advisor to VF on the transaction. Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP is acting as legal advisor. J.P. Morgan is serving as exclusive financial advisor to Redwood Capital Investments and Kirkland & Ellis, LLP is acting as legal advisor.

In the current financial year, footwear brand Walkaroo expects to grow by 25 percent despite the COVID-19 disruptions.

As per Fashion Network, Walkaroo clocked revenue of Rs 1,200 ($161 million) in the last financial year and expects to surpass that figure amid high demand for footwear coupled with the sharp decline in Chinese imports.

V Noushad, Managing Director, says, reduction of Chinese footwear in the domestic market offers an opportunity for Indian manufacturers to produce kids, sports and knitted shoes. He highlightsthat the use pattern of Indians is slowly shifting from slippers to closed sandals, shoes and knitted footwear. Walkaroo started offering knitted products very early and has increased its capacity because of the faster growth in this area.

Walkaroo is part of Kerala-based VKC Group, one of the largest footwear manufacturers in India. The brand has exclusive outlets and also sells through distributors and retailers across the country. Currently, 70 per cent of Walkaroo’s business comes from the South while East, West and North contribute 10 per cent each.

Fashion-based social commerce platform Browzzin plans to invest $5 million in India to catalogue Indian and international labels and capitalize on the growing fashion influencer ecosystem.

Co-founded by Harry Markl, Former Managing Director, L Catterton, Browzzin,sets the stage for fashion influencers in the country who can use the app to curate fashion looks and drive traffic for brands and marketplaces by letting users discover similar or featured brands while getting paid for it. As per a Live Mint report, the Browzzin catalogue will offer 3 million products in India, including both Indian and international fashion labels and high street brands.

The catalogue is continuously updated for real-time availability. Apart from tie-ups with large marketplaces such as Amazon, Flipkart, and Myntra it is also eyeing tie-ups with independent Indian brand. Since its launch, the app has registered more than 250,000 downloads and is targeting to reach more than 5 million users this year in India.

The app essentially lets influencers upload their curated fashion looks from their phone or directly from Instagram. Browzzin's AI will scan partner brands and platforms for similar products. Browzzin will scrape through over 12 million products worldwide or 3 million products for India and show users similar products. Influencers in return get commissions from Browzzin on sale on of each product or even similar-looking products.

US’ imports of PPE increased 380.20 per cent on a Y-o-Y basis during the January-February 21 to $382 billion, reports OTEXA. Import of nonwoven disposable apparels grew 290 per cent during the period to 423.31 million under HS Code 6210105000/.The share of these apparels in total PPE import value of the US was 11 per cent.

During the period, US imported face masks, clubbing worth $ 860.44 million. They constituted 22.50 per cent of the total import value of PPE by the country. The import of plastic/rubber gloves valued $2.38 billion and constituted 62.40 per cent of overall PPE import value.

S Sakthivel, Executive Secretary, Tiruppur Exporters Association (TEA) says, exporters in the city are seeing increased demand for innerwear, children wear, long garments from overseas markets while demand for fashion garments has declined. The opening of the US and European markets has not only smoothened operations and also improved domestic market, he adds. Demand for masks and personal protection equipment (PPE) has declined. Last year Tirupur hosiery units exported garments worth Rs 25,150 crore, a decline from Rs 27,250 crore exported during 2019-20,

Though yarn and export of other inputs have increased, the units have been unable to pass on the benefits to buyers as they are not allowed to operate due to the lockdown, Sakthivel adds. TEA set up in 1990 in Tirupur has always been quick in taking up the issues and stand in forefront to get them addressed. TEA is representing as on August 2020, TEA is consisting of 1119 knitwear exporters as members.

The second Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of the Cotton made in Africa (CmiA) initiative stated the environmental footprint of cotton produced by CmiA is excellent. As per this assessment, CmiA cotton contributes less to climate change than the global average, with only 1.24 tonne of CO2 equivalents being released per tonne of harvested CmiA cotton fibres versus the significantly higher global benchmark of 1.43 tonne. This is largely because CmiA farmers use relatively little fertilizer and cultivate their cotton under rain-fed conditions only. In addition to protecting surface and ground water, rain-fed agriculture saves energy, since there is no need to power the water pumps otherwise required for irrigation.

In the course of the assessment, CmiA-verified cotton companies from Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon, and Zambia completed questionnaires on their practices, and data was collected on factors like average farm size, crop yields, and fertilizer application rates.

In this year’s LCA, the Cotton made in Africa (CmiA) initiative supplemented the usual criteria with a new key parameter: the impact of cotton farming on biodiversity. The results of this assessment are considered to be representative of CmiA cotton as a whole because more than half of all CmiA cotton is produced in the three countries under study.

The online spending of global shoppers is expected to increase by 20 per cent in 2021 says a new Adobe report. This will further add pressure to supply chains as they struggle to keep up with a surge in demand. Adobe expects global e-commerce sales to reach $4.2 trillion this year driven by demand in the United States, China and Britain. Online sales of items from toys and video games to furniture totaled $876 billion in the first quarter of this year.

Shortage of vaccines and new COVID-19 waves have compelled retailers to keep their physical stores shut and invest more in online platforms. Around 65 per cent of Nike’s stores in Europe, the Middle East and Africa opened last month while its digital sales surged to 60 per cent in the most recent quarter. In America, online sales surged 39 per cent to about $200 billion in the first quarter, with growth spiking in the three weeks following President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill. However, growth wasn't as impressive in other countries like Japan which saw only modest ecommerce sales.

Lululemon Athletica has forayed into the resale clothing market with the launch of a plot program in California and Texas stores. As per a Forbes report, the program aims to determine the viability of this new line of business. Dubbed ‘Like New,’ the test will give owners of Lululemon’s clothing an opportunity to trade in previously purchased merchandise. Lululemon plans to invest one hundred percent of all profits generated through this program into its other sustainability initiatives.

The trade-in phase of the program will kick off next month. Lululemon will begin selling traded-in items online in June. The retailer will only resell “like new” items. The chain will clean all merchandise it collects, offering for purchase only those items that meet its quality standards and recycling the rest. The chain will analyze customer response and feedback before it seeks to scale the pilot up or to incorporate it into its standard business model.

The Lululemon test program will put the retailer in the same space as a growing number of businesses that are taking similar approaches. Last week. Nike launched Nike Refurbished, a program that enables sneaker owners to return their shoes within 60 days of purchase for resale. The items selected are cleaned and sold to customers at a discount to buying the same shoes brand new. Nike is initially offering Refurbished shoes for sale in 15 stores before it further expands later this year and in the future.

Lenzing’s Tencel™ brand has launched a new eco-couture collection made with Tencel Luxe Filament yarn at this year’s Oscars Awards. The collection was launched in collaboration with Red Carpet Green Dress (RCGD). Derived from renewable wood sources, the Tencel Luxe Filament yarn is produced using eco-responsible production processes. The yarn gives fabrics an exquisite sensual appeal and is ideal for eco couture and luxury fashion.

The couture gown created under the RCGD X Tencel™ campaign was unveiled and worn by Oscar presenter Marlee Matlin, who represents as the campaign’s talent ambassador, showcasing elegance and the power of

Drawing attention to the importance of sustainable practices in fashion and being part of bringing those solutions to the global market, Red Carpet Green Dress was conceived in response to a lack of ethical choices on the red carpet. Founded by leading environmental advocate, Suzy Amis Cameron, the organisation has been committed to creating positive change for over a decade.

Tencel™ brand aspires to lead the pursuit of eco-friendly solutions for textiles, garments and fashion as they aim to blend high fashion with sustainability whilst maintaining quality. With the fashion industry being one of the top polluters across the globe, the RCGD x Tencel™ collection aims to contribute towards positive change for a more green future.

Kontoor Brands is expanding its collaboration with Dallas-based Panda Biotech, LLC, an emerging leader in the industrial hemp fiber industry. Through this collaboration, Kontoor Brands and Panda Biotech plan to bring traceability and scale to the textile-grade cottonized hemp grown and processed in the United States.

Both companies will focus on traceability from farm to product. Industrial hemp is a regenerative crop due to its ability to grow with little water, minimal-to-no pesticides and herbicides, production of a high per acre fiber yield, and absorption of more carbon dioxide per acre than any forest or commercial crop.

As a global producer of millions of products each year, Kontoor Brands is committed to using its global scale to advance the denim industry. Earlier this year, Kontoor expanded its Indigood Progam, an initiative that targets water savings during the fabric construction phase of the apparel supply chain. The company remains focused on sourcing and producing apparel and accessories in a way that’s good for people and the planet and is committed to bringing consumers the latest in sustainable fashion through the commercialization of cottonized hemp.

Through the Panda Biotech collaboration, which first kicked off in 2019 after the passing of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, Kontoor Brands plans to have US grown and processed hemp in market in its denim apparel by 2023.