Currently, India’s cotton yarn exports are under intense pressure due to high prices. As per CCF Group, this pressure can ease if Pakistan allows traders to import cotton yarn from India. Participants along the textile industrial line have requested the Pakistan government to allow cotton yarn imports from India as high consumption rates and transfer of orders have tightened supply chains in the country. Apparel exporters argue, increase in raw material costs is also leading to a delay in delivery of overseas orders.

Cotton gains with high consumption, geographical proximity

Till the second half of 2019, India-Pakistan had close trade relations. Pakistan was the major export destination for Indian cotton yarn with India exporting around 4.62 per cent or 24.5kt of cotton yarn to Pakistan. India’s cotton exports to Pakistan increased every year from 2012-2019. From 7kt in 2012 it reached 68kt in 2018, accounting for 5.6 per cent of the country’s total cotton yarn exports. Its share in the Pakistan market reached its peak in 2017 when Indian cotton yarn had a 7.4 per cent share. Since 2016, Pakistan has also been one of the top three export destinations for India and the country depends on Pakistan due to its favorable consumption capacity, and geographical proximity.

Reopening and its impact on cotton market

Supported by a surge in raw material and downstream demand, prices of Indian cotton yarn increased after the Chinese Spring festival. This, despite ICE cotton futures plummeting and a decline in May contracts. The operating rate of Indian local spinners remained high with inventories averaging at less than one week, says the CCF Group report. Most spinners pre-sold their March and April orders pushing traders to maintain high prices despite stocks in hand. By March 5, no Indian cotton yarn producer had reduced prices to adjust to the volatile downward cotton price. This uncertainty in trade environment masks commodity and price trends in India. If trade with Pakistan is allowed, it will boost India’s cotton yarn exports and support its prices.

Popularized by the cost conscious Gen Z and millennial consumers, who according to the Boston Consulting Group will account for 60 per cent of all luxury spending by 2026, the sharing economy model is being endorsed by two of luxury fashion’s biggest brands: Kering and Ralph Lauren. As a Business of Fashion report suggests, French conglomerate Kering recently led a €178 million ($215 million) funding round in Vestaire Collective which led it to acquiring a 5 per cent stake in the company. The deal valued the luxury resale platform at over $1 billion, signaling the growing interest of luxury brands in the second-hand luxury market.

More consumers prefer second-hand luxury

One major trend catching luxury brands’ attention is: clothing rentals. American mega-label Ralph Lauren recently launched ‘The Lauren Look,’ a $125 per month subscription service powered by Caastle that allows consumers to rent items from its lower-priced Lauren Ralph Lauren line. Of the two, the resale trend is being favored more by luxury players as there is significant interest amongst consumers for second-hand luxury goods. However, secondary market also encourages sale of new goods by boosting perceived affordability, says Bernstein analyst Luca Solca,

So far, luxury houses have stayed away from the secondary market due to their fear of brand dilution. However, the market provides a significant revenue opportunity that they cannot afford to ignore. Secondary market players can help convince shoppers to view their luxury goods as assets rather than consumables, says Max Bittner, Chief Executive Officer, Vestiaire Collective.

Kering, whose Gucci and Alexander McQueen labels have already forayed into the second-hand market, expect its products to retain value over time. The retailer hopes to launch these products before a wider audience in order to bring greater trust and order in the secondary market

Rise in rental services

Nowadays, more consumers are opting for renting clothes. They are increasingly turning to monthly subscription services like Spotify or Zipcar which help luxury brands serve a wider audience besides giving insights into the changing consumer behavior and product design.

However, rental forms a negligible percentage of overall fashion market which the pandemic has further crushed. In future too, the percentage of rentals in consumers’ closet is likely to remain minute as they are likely to prefer a mix of seasonal and customized pieces alongwith wardrobe staples.

In 2020, the Lenzing Group successfully responded to the extremely difficult market environment due to the COVID-19 crisis by implementing a broad package of measures and remains fully on track in terms of its strategy. The measures focused on protecting Lenzing’s employees and partners and on safeguarding its operations. Lenzing flexibly adjusted production volumes and was able to offer its customers the usual delivery service at any time. In addition, Lenzing also intensified measures for structural earnings improvement to mitigate the effect of the pressure on fiber prices and demand for fibers, and reduced its operating costs.

The immediate effects of the COVID-19 crisis increased the pressure on prices and volumes in the textile fiber segment, in particular in the second quarter of 2020. The recovery of demand in the second half of the year, primarily for wood-based specialty fibers such as TENCEL™ Modal and LENZING™ ECOVERO™, had a positive impact on the revenue and earnings development, but could not compensate for losses. Revenue declined by 22.4 percent to EUR 1.63 bn in 2020. The earnings development was supported by measures for structural earnings improvements in all regions. EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) fell by 39.9 percent to € 196.6 mn. The EBITDA margin decreased from 15.5 percent to 12 percent. Net loss for the year amounted to €10.6 million.

Sportswear giant Nike has published its FY20 Impact Report in which it reveals its progress against sustainability - and other - targets and sets ambitious new ones to achieve by 2025.

Entitled 'Breaking Barriers', it reveals mixed progress on sustainability with the company meeting its target to source 100 per cent of its cotton more sustainably but failing to reduce its average product carbon footprint.

Nike also reduced freshwater use in textile dyeing and finishing by 30 per cent - smashing its 20 per cent target - and managed to divert 99.9 per cent of footwear manufacturing waste from landfill.

Other examples of successful progress included increasing the use of more sustainable materials in apparel from 19 to 59 per cent since 2015, and increasing the use of renewable energy in owned or operated facilities in the US and Canada to 100 per cent.

However, Nike made no progress at all towards its target of reducing by 10 per cent its average product carbon footprint, and managed to reduce energy use in its key operations by just three per cent against a 25 per cent target.

Nike's new sustainability targets, outlined in the planet section, include a 70 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in owned or operated facilities through renewable electricity and fleet electrification.

At the same time, it pledges that GHG emissions from key suppliers’ manufacturing and transportation operations will remain at or below 2020 levels despite anticipated business growth.

And it aims to save half a million tons of carbon emissions by increasing its use of environmentally preferred materials to 50 per cent.

Eastman, maker of sustainably sourced Naia™ cellulosic fiber, announces the launch of its Naia™ fiber in the sweaters/knitwear category. Naia™ fiber is a sustainable choice for sweaters and knitwear, giving designers more choices and versatility to create.

Luxurious features like luster, beautiful drape and silky soft hand—coupled with comfort and easy care—make Naia™ the perfect component* for spring/summer 2022 collections. AA Global knit with Naia™ and linen

Eastman Naia™ cellulosic fiber is a sustainable fiber made from wood pulp. With full traceability from tree to fiber, Naia™ cellulosic fiber is made in the U.S.A. with the highest safety, social and environmental standards. Eastman’s closed-loop production process allows recycling and safe reuse of solvents and water, resulting in fibers that have a low environmental impact. AA Global knit with Naia™ and BCI cotton Naia™ allows for the creation of sweaters that are comfortable, extremely soft, smooth, breathable and—depending on the blend— feel lightweight to provide longer-lasting comfort. Naia™ provides versatility to sweater yarns in lustrous or matte finishes.

As part of plans to achieve zero waste by 2030, the Canadian government has granted four innovative companies CA$150,000 ($119,000) in a bid to fast-track their solutions offering promise in the fight against plastics.

Two of the recipients, CacithInc and Met-Tech Inc, leverage systems that will focus primarily on plastic textile waste, such as that from polyester- and nylon-based clothing.

By providing finances through the Canadian Plastics Innovation Challenge, authorities will support the four companies in the development of their technologies and systems.

Cacith is a Montreal-based organisation with a network of recyclers that work to quantify and find new markets for material waste. Met-Tech on the other hand, headquartered in Ontario, claims to have developed a low-cost process of recycling textile waste.

Data suggests that Canada’s recycling infrastructure is weak at present. With limited collection points and recyclers, it’s estimated that upwards of 93 per cent of polyester and other plastic-based textiles end up in landfill.

Magemi Mining and Singular Solutions are the other two companies to have been granted funding. They offer an alternative to plastic packaging and a ‘bio-sustainable’ additive that hastens the biodegradability of plastics, respectively.

Mostafiz Uddin, Managing Director, Denim Expert, has been accorded the title of "Sustainable Fashion Champion" at Drapers Sustainable Fashion Awards 2021. As per the Daily Star, the awards were launched by Drapers, a 134-year-old fashion magazine based in the United Kingdom, last year at its annual Sustainable Fashion Conference, which brings together global fashion stakeholders.

They aim to recognize strides in reducing the fashion industry's environmental impact and creating fairer working conditions across the supply chain so that lessons can be taken from the best practices. This year the conference took place virtually on March 10.

Last year World Economic Forum made an honorable mention of Denim Expert in its "New Champion" award category for extraordinary leadership in sustainability and inclusivity in the apparel supply chain.

They highlighted Uddin as the founder and CEO of Bangladesh Apparel Exchange, which aims to bridge the gap between manufacturers, buyers and policymakers in the country to accelerate sustainability.

As per Trend report, the share of cotton yarn in Uzbekistan’s textile exports have increased to 50.7 per cent. The report refers to the State Statistics Committee of Uzbekistan for data. Uzbekistan’s textile exports increased 21.2 per cent to $1.86 billion in 2020. These exports accounted for 12.3 percent of the total volume of exports last year ($15.1 billion).

The main share in the exports accounted for cotton yarn (50.7 per cent) followed by finished knitwear and garments (36.3 per cent). These products were exported to 70 countries across the world. Russia held the largest share in exports, with products worth $655.5 million. China was second and Kyrgyzstan followed at third position. In fact, the value of exports to Kyrgyzstan increased three times during the period.

According to the LS Information Agency of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan has bypassed Russia in clothing exports to Kazakhstan. During the year, about 13,000 tons of Uzbek clothes worth $20.8 million were exported to the country.

Rio Sul is digitizing best practice production planning and control processes with FastReactPlan from Coats Digital. Developed specifically for the fashion, apparel, and textile industries, FastReactPlan supports a fast, reliable planning process, optimized for delivery and efficiency, and can be configured for the specific requirements of any apparel manufacturer. The project at Rio Sul will include detailed planning of the sewing factories using FastReactPlan’s highly visual planning board, automatic scheduling of cutting, embroidery and finishing processes, as well as a product development board and dynamic planning of material requirements (MRP). FastReactPlan’s remote collaboration tool will also be used to receive production updates from the sewing factories. The detailed planning of the laundry operations using FastReactPlan’s embellishment planning module is being considered as a second phase for the project.

Established in 1987, Rio Sul has cutting and laundry facilities centrally located in Puebla, with five sewing factories distributed across the country. The business is focused on developing and manufacturing high quality denim garments, offering flexibility and excellent customer service to a range of customers including VF Group, Perry Ellis, Ariat and Aeropostale.

Though full-year revenues for Prada SpA fell by 24 per cent to €2.42 billion, the Italian luxury giant was able to bounce back in the second half. As per Sourcing Journal, the company’s monthly retail sales topped 2019 levels in the second half, despite a second wave of lockdowns across Europe. The recovery in retail sales, which account for nearly 90 percent of Prada’s’s total, was driven in the second half by Mainland China (52 percent growth), Taiwan (61 percent growth), Korea (22 percent growth), with support from the Americas, which saw a 4 percent sales uptick.

In 2020, Prada Group permanently closed eight of its 160 Miu Miu stores, and opened its own franchise Prada location. Across its Prada, Miu Miu, Church’s, Car Shoe and other brands, the luxury group has 633 owned stores and 26 franchise locations.

The company focused on building a dynamic omnichannel experience, particularly with the rollout of nearly 80 popup and special in-store shops in 2020, with around 50 deployed in the second half. These experiences were fully integrated with Prada’s digital campaigns.

As of December 31, 2020, Prada’s net operating cash flows totaled €262.1 million. The group’s net financial deficit improved from €406 million as of December 31, 2019 to €311 million on December 31, 2020.

The brand’s net revenues for 2020 amounted to € 2.4 billion, a decline of 23.6 percent on a constant currency basis from €3.2 billion in 2019. Its net sales declined by 8 per cent in the second half.

The brand’s retail sales declined by18 percent on a constant currency basis, and by 6 percent in the second half. Its retail sales represented 82.8 percent of its total sales last year thanks to the company’s direct-to-consumer online sales, which skyrocketed 217 percent throughout 2020.