The Sustainability Report 2019 report highlights the key sustainability initiatives of Bestseller in the first year of its Fashion FWD strategy. Working with Life and Building Safety (LABS), Bestseller has helped improve the working conditions of apparel workers – especially in India – by addressing risks related to fire and electrical hazards, structural building safety and by providing proper safety training for workers.

Since 2015, the company has been engaged with five factories and 16,834 workers in its social dialogue Program in Bangladesh. By 2021, the company plans to achieve 100 per cent remediation and safety training under the Bangladesh Accord.

By 2025, its retail chain will support 100,000 women in Tier-1 factories to achieve workplace empowerment and improved life skills. In the same time frame, it will support all Tier-1 factories in implementing digital payment of wages. The company has intensified its partnership with BSR to become a catalyst member and a long-term partner of HERproject™, further accelerating its goal of supporting 100,000 women in Tier-1 factories.

It has started a new partnership with BHive and piloted their chemical management tool with 18 facilities in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Turkey. By 2025, the company will use 100 per cent approved and traceable chemicals in all its core products.

Experts agree that Asian markets in China, India and Japan will help Bangladeshi clothing exporters increase exports in coming days with recent export changes at traditional US and EU strongholds. While China offers the largest domestic clothing market after the US, Bangladesh’s exports to India will hit $115 billion by 2026.

Asiv Ibrahim, Managing Director, Newage Group, therefore advises Bangladesh manufacturers to create contacts with prominently Indian retailers and build a long-term relationship based on mutual confidence and profit. Shahidullah Azim, Ex Vice-President, BGMEA, adds that the increased costs of production in India following the introduction of the goods and services tax (GST) can provide a further boost to clothing imports from Bangladesh.

In addition, Bangladesh should concentrate more on Asian markets to revive its export revenues amid the COVID-19 outbreak. Asian markets, especially India and China, are very relevant from the export perspective of Bangladesh, says Mustafizur Rahman, Center for Policy Dialog (CPD). In addition, China lately became Bangladeshi RMG makers’ main export destination. Bangladeshi textile exporters were making steady incomes into China and exporting cotton-based textile to China, says Mohammad Hatem, Vice-President, BKMEA.

COVID-19 has made the returns process much more easier and eco-friendly than earlier, says Charlotte Monk-Chipman, Marketing Director, ReBound, which has worked with Asos since 2015, as well as Toms and PrettyLittleThing, among others. Earlier, customers had to download and print their labels and return information at home. Now, they can fill the required information via online forms or through their mobile apps. Retailers like Asos, Boohoo, Karen Millen and MissPap have even launched a returns portal to streamline operations and reduce waste.

In May this year, returns optimization platform Optoro studied the return habits of more than 2,000 US residents. The study noted a decline in total returns through the pandemic period. However, they are likely to make a comeback as stores reopen, says Ann Starodaj, Senior Director-Sustainability, Optoro.

Promoting ‘green’ returns

Earlier, shoppers, particularly those in the older age group preferred to return items in-store, even if they hand purchased them online. The pandemic has pushed retailers to launch online returns services. It has also compelled retailers to make returns policies more flexible and extend offers up to 90 days or unlimited.

Besides introducing flexible returns policies, retailers are also making the process more green. San Francisco-based online retailer Pact handles every return on a case-by-case basis. The retailer calculates the carbon footprint for the customer’s chosen shipping option and aims to roll out a carbon footprint measure for individual products later this year.

Similarly, Returnly, a turnkey returns management solution allows customers to keep their products free of cost thus reducing waste and supply chain and carbon costs. The company uses machine-learning and data science to direct real-time decision-making on whether individual items can be resold.

Options for managing returns

Returns can prove be a thorn for brands and retailers as serial returners may abuse their carbon-conscious returns model. In such a case, businesses need to be patient with shoppers as they have little indication of their current sizes says Monk-Chipman. Their rate of returns may reduce once they self-regulate their sizing issues.

McKinsey & Co’s latest survey indicates, the pandemic provides retailers with an opportunity to reset operations and shift to the online sale model. Unprepared businesses may end up land filling the anticipated surge in returns, opines Emily Cotterill, Head-Sustainability, ReBound. Her platform has been helping retailers’ keep returned items in circulation by exploring solutions for charitable donations, quality checks at return hubs and providing more data and insight to help understand what drives returns. This has helped the company to reduce its carbon emissions in the US by 36 per cent.

Vietnam’s textile and apparel exports in the second half of the year is poised to decline 18 per cent with total exports declining by 16 per cent year-on-year to reach approximately $32.75 billion, says Vietnam National Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex). According to a report released by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, textile and garment production in Vietnam increased by 7 per cent in July and by 1.8 per cent throughout the first seven months of the year. However, the epidemic caused numerous difficulties for textile and garment production, in addition to exports, largely due to a drop in export orders.

In July, local textile enterprises did not receive any orders for high-value products such as suits and high-end shirts during the previous two quarters. Moreover, the country’s production of medical masks and protective gear, goods that provided jobs for many garment businesses in the second quarter, declined due to an oversupply worldwide.

To make up for export order shortage, textile enterprises must exploit the domestic market. They should minimize the decline in sales and profits by managing production costs, maintaining product quality, and rearranging their production forces. Furthermore, they should identify their key workforce to maintain employment levels and income

The European Union Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) was approved on August 1 paving the way for increased trade between the EU and Vietnam. As per the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI), the EVFTA is expected to help increase Vietnam’s GDP 4.6 per cent and exports to the EU 42.7 per cent by 2025. Analysts expect the trade deal to give a much-needed boost to Vietnam’s industries, such as manufacturing, as it looks to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The agreement will eliminate 65 per cent duties on EU exports to Vietnam while the remaining will be gradually phased out over a period of 10 years. The agreement will also eliminate 71 per cent duties on Vietnam exports to the EU, with the remaining being eliminated over a period of seven years. The EVFTA also contains important provisions for intellectual property (IP) rights, investment liberalization, and sustainable development. This includes a commitment to implement the International Labor Organization (ILO) standards and the UN Convention on Climate Change.

The EVFTA aims to liberalize both tariff and non-tariff barriers for key imports on both sides over a period of 10 years. For Vietnam, tariff elimination will benefit key export industries, including the manufacturing of smartphones and electronic products, textiles, footwear and agricultural products, such as coffee. These industries are also very labor-intensive. Increasing Vietnam’s export volume to the EU, the FTA will facilitate the expansion of these industries, both in terms of capital and increasing employment.

Helsinki Fashion Week’s first purely digital and sustainable showcase via the “cyberspace utopia” platform Digital Village, enabled viewers to watch 3-D fashion films and livestreamings from around the globe. Around 31 designers presented their new collections over the week, and 15 of them were paired with 3-D designers months ahead of time to digitize their latest collections via HFW’s “Keeping Up With the Kardashians”- or “Big Brother”-style designer residency program, according to Evelyn Mora, founder of Helsinki Fashion Week.

Each video showcased a handful of looks from designers selected from around the world. Models’ faces, which were 3-D scanned from humans, may look a bit scary, but the details of the garments and the movements on the bodies were well executed. The show allowed designers to pick and choose the wildest settings to present their work in, instead of a blank runway. For example, Patrick McDowell’s runway was a protester’s heaven, where statues of angels were sprayed with graffiti. Nece Gene’s show took place on the surface of a deserted planet. AVTR’s new collection was presented on a chessboard, with dance and battle performances.

With the help of its blockchain partner LUKSO, Helsinki Fashion Week also launched a 3-D online store. The store houses virtual looks and garments of selected participating designers, It allows users to claim 3-D clothes and purchase the service of digitally wearing the garments.

Helsinki Fashion Week is expected to release a digital sustainability report later this month with Normative, a Swedish auditing company, to measure the environmental impact of its digital showcase compared with previous physical editions.

As per FTI Consultings’s Trends in the Apparel Sector survey, the economic catastrophe spurred by COVID-19 was particularly harsh on the apparel industry. With the entire world practicing self-distancing, governments across the US deeming apparel as ‘non-essential’ business, retailers saw their sales plummet. Around 36 per cent of the 1,000 consumers surveyed said support of COVID-19 victims and frontline workers influenced their brand loyalty. Nearly the same number of respondents reported being influenced by great prices.

Price and value drove the majority of customers to switch brands. Around 29 percent respondents switched brands during COVID-19 due to the product’s price and value factors. Around 54 per cent reported missing brick and mortar stores for the touch feel and see factor they offered. However, these consumers also highlighted the convenience of online purchasing and preference for contactless purchase/concerns about hygiene as being the core drivers for customers not looking to return to stores.

According to these respondents, online apparel sales are projected to cannibalize about 7 to 10 per cent of store sales. They advised retailers to improve distribution channels and automation to meet this demand. Retailers should also conduct a holistic review of their store portfolios to identify what store closures are necessary for long-term survival. One-third of consumers reported being excited to return to stores for the tactile experience of shopping, such as trying on clothes and leaving with new purchases in hand.

AEPC has hailed the government’s decision to raise exporters’ ceiling limit – both – liability and turnover – for availing the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee scheme (ECLGS). Many MSMEs earlier criticized the scheme for granting insufficient funds of Rs 3-lakh-crore for thousands of micro units in the country. But on July 29, member lending institution sanctioned a sum of Rs 136,155 crore for the scheme, of which Rs 87,277 crore has been disbursed.

The government has also decided to include individual loans given for business purpose within the ambit of ECLGS increasing the earlier liability ceiling from Rs 25 crore to Rs 50 crore and annual turnover from Rs 100 crore to Rs 250 crore. AEPC has sought a further increase in the liability limit up to Rs 100 crore and removal of the turnover limit as under the new classification export turnover would not be counted for MSMEs.

Investors group Club Deal 8 (CD8), which aims to buy American retailer Brooks Brothers, plans to collaborate with an American Group to support its strategies for the acquisition of the Black Label. Brooks Brothers has obtained $80 million in debtor-in-possession financing from ABG-BB LLC, a partnership between Authentic Brands Group LLC and Simon Property Group Inc. ABG is open to working with the Italian group, although any partnership would most likely involve a licensing arrangement rather than a co-ownership deal.

Last month, Brooks Brothers filed a motion in the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware to obtain court approval of an asset purchase agreement with Sparc Group LLC, a company backed by ABG with Simon Property Group. The CD8 offer will stand on three pillars: sustainability; a lower number of stores compared to the 125 proposed by Authentic Brands Group, which has stepped forward with a $305 million stalking-horse bid to purchase Brooks Brothers, and a greater emphasis on the online channel.

CD8 investors include Alessandro Giglio, President, Giglio Group; the Biella-based Gruppo Verzoletto; Brando Crespi, Founder, Pro-Natura; legal manager Lorenza Morello, and Studio Dentons as an adviser.

Analytics firm GlobalData expects the pandemic to cost the apparel and footwear industries across the Asia-Pacific region $95.4 billion in lost sales this year. The global industry will lose $395.6 billion in sales, which represents a 19.5-per-cent decline on last year’s figures. The sector will account for 29.1 per cent of the total $1.3617 trillion impact of lost revenues by the retail industry during the period.

According to research, 60 per cent consumers noted trustworthiness, risk-free and familiarity as being the major factors currently influencing their choices of products/services. To increase sales, brands should continuously engage with consumers through social-media channels and personalized messages said Vijay Bhupathiraju, Retail Analyst, GlobalData. They should build trust by delivering messages addressing CO VID-19 and social responsibility and advertise the safety and hygiene measures taken during the manufacturing process and in-stores to drive more consumers to the stores.