LondonEdge, a UK-based trade fair with focus on youth, lifestyle and subculture fashion, has cancelled the upcoming edition of its show scheduled on September 6 and 7, 2020 at Islington’s Business Design Centre. It will also not go ahead with the VegasEdge, the Las Vegas edition stipulated for 18-19 August. The shows scheduled for February, August and September 2021 are currently still planned to go ahead.

As the rest of the world moves towards a more digital approach, the organizers of the show have a pre-existing platform – LondonEdge, which is a virtual marketplace for buyers to view, source and order collections in the absence of a live event. Anybody can register on the multi-brand, wholesale sourcing platform and source the collections they would have otherwise viewed at the show.

Supima, the cashmere of cotton, is taking its next design competition for emerging talent online. The non-profit organization that promotes the use of US-grown American Pima cotton around the world, will hold 13th edition of its annual Supima Cotton Design Competition.

The virtual presentation, which will be simulcast on Instagram Live leveraging a mix of pre- recorded and live video content, will take place in September to align with New York Fashion Week.

The competition supports emerging talent by enlisting student designers from the nation’s top fashion schools to create capsule collections using Supima cotton fabrics. These will be presented in a collective digital runway show and evaluated by a panel of judges. The winner of the competition will receive $10,000 cash prize and industry recognition. Moreover, inalists of the Festival de Hyères will be given the chance to present one look in Supima.

At a webinar organized by the Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI), Sheikh Sultan Rehman, Vice President, said, Pakistan must have same level of access to the UK market after BREXIT which it currently enjoys with EU. He said, UK plays a key role in economic and social development of Pakistan. At present, the balance of trade between Pakistan and UK is in favor of Pakistan. Trade is being conducted under EU GSP Plus scheme which will end for UK from January 1, 2021. He urged the Pakistani government to sign Bilateral Investment Treaty with UK.

Kamal Shahryar, GSP Plus Advisor, TDAP stated Pakistan and UK are negotiating for a similar facility that Pakistan enjoys under EU GSP Plus. He added that after BREXIT, border trade with EU will not take place for moving goods in EU member countries. Zakaria Usman, Former President, FPCCI emphasized on the need to finalize the agreement with UK as Pakistani exporters have made huge investment in textile sector in accordance to EU GSP plus requirements which should not be affected with BREXIT.

Asim Yousuf, Vice President, Pakistan UK Chamber of Commerce and Industry added there are huge opportunities for Pakistan’s export in agriculture, textile and food items to UK. In this context, there is a need of early formulation of Pakistan’s trade delegation to UK for getting new orders from UK.

Sheikh Muhammad Tariq, Chairman-Pakistan UK Business Council, FPCCI urged Pakistan to comply with standards and SPS measures as UK is importing 1.2 million ton of meat. He also underlined the need of developing Pakistani business center in UK as UK is establishing business hub wherein all the countries are establishing their offices.

Shariq Vohra underscored the need of research for enhancing exports to potentials market as our Pakistan export is stagnant for 10 years.

Apex Brasil (Brazilian Agency of Promotion of Exports and Investments), ABEST (Brazilian Fashion Designers Association), ABIT (Brazilian Association of Textiles and Apparel) and Abicalcados (Brazilian Association of Footwear Industries) have collaborated to launch the Brasil Fashion Now project, which will be featured on the Blanc Fashion digital platform.

With an initial duration of six months, Brasil Fashion Now will be held via Fashion Label Brasil (Program of internationalization of value-added Brazilian fashion), Texbrasil (Brazilian Fashion Textile Industry Internationalization Program) and Brazilian Footwear, fashion export programs in partnership with Apex-Brasil.

It will introduce, facilitate and generate exports of Brazilian innovative and unique brands for international retailers, a model known as B2B (business to business). The project will appoint an exclusive space for Brazilian brands on the digital platform, which currently has more than 10k buyers from 60 registered countries.

A BGMEA survey revealed only 35 per cent of production capacity of Bangladeshi apparel manufacturers has been booked for the consolidated period of July-December this year. Moreover, prices of apparel goods booked by global retailers over the same period have fallen on an average 14 per cent due to shortages of work orders.

The survey examined responses of over 100 manufactures to determine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on work orders for the second half of 2020. Manufacturers confirmed work orders for 127.50 million pieces in the July-December period of 2020, while 365.78 million pieces can be produced at full capacity. December is the worst month in the second half of the year, with only 17 per cent of total production capacity having been booked, while in July, 56 per cent of the total production capacity has been booked.

The biggest decline in prices has been for men’s undergarments followed by babies’ garments with a 35 per cent fall. Only the price of knit bottoms rose this year, by 6 per cent.

Thanks to its financial strength and a diversified portfolio that includes champagne and spirits as well as perfume and beauty chain Sephora, LVMH is expected to weather the COVID-19 crisis better than most rivals. This is mirrored in its share price, which is just 9 per cent lower than its pre-COVID 19 peak, compared to -18 per cent for Gucci owner Kering, which will also release results next week, and – 40 per cent for Burberry

Yet, the group’s sales for the three months to June are forecast to plunge around 40 per cent on a like-for-like basis, a touch better than the sector average but not a significant outperformance. That is partly due to an unfavorable regional mix for the quarter. LVMH is more US-driven than China-heavy relative to peers even before the planned purchase of Tiffany. A big rebound in the key Chinese market, where shops reopened earlier, may have had less of a mitigating effect.

There are some signals already that point to LVMH being more upbeat than others about how quickly it can turn the corner. Its top fashion brands Louis Vuitton and Dior have raised prices recently, and Dior has also been very active in the past few weeks — it presented two new collections, opened a flagship store in Paris and held a series of events in China.

Bernard Arnault, Chairman has flagged some quite vigorous signs of recovery in June, even though he acknowledged that the fallout from the crisis would weigh on the group’s performance for some time yet.

Kingpins Show organizers have canceled their upcoming trade show scheduled on October 28 and 29 in Amsterdam. The event was aligned with the city’s Denim Days Festival and a Transformers conference. Kingpins was also forced to cancel its April event in Amsterdam, as well as its shows in New York and China. The organizer has stayed connected with the industry it serves through Kingpins24, a two-day online event with panels and interviews. It also pivoted its Transformers events to a virtual version this month.

Munich Fabric Start and Bluezone have also downsized their September event to hold a regional show called Fabric Days from September 1-3 at the Munich Order Center. Its organizers plan to return to the original format on Jan. 26-28, 2021.

Though Première Vision will take place in Paris on September 15-17, it will adopt a hybrid physical and digital format Denim Première Vision will be held as per schedule from November 24-25 in Berlin.

Giving in to pressure from Worker Rights Consortium (WRC), denim company Levi Strauss & Co has agreed to pay full price for all completed ready-to-ship orders and the production of in-progress garments. In later seasons, the company agreed to use the raw materials that suppliers had already received for product orders.

In early June, the 167-year-old brand credited with inventing blue jeans had appeared on a list of apparel giants not treating garment workers responsibly during the COVID-19 crisis. As of last week, Levi’s has settled its disagreements with suppliers. The business claimed that the decision by the brand to postpone the payments of negotiated terms put at risk the cash flow of suppliers and their ability to pay the salaries of clothing workers.

In partnership with the IFC, Levi’s has also introduced a new initiative that encourages customers to make early payments at competitive market rates. The company also helps companies in non-IFC areas. The foundation provided $1 billion in funding in April to meet the needs of clothing workers in the communities of provision of health, food and safety net.

Columbian fashion companies including Maaji, Uniondame, Color Siete, Layatee, Protela, Totto, Cueros Velez and Polito have launched new collections for adults and children featuring anti-fluid materials and face masks. These collections are being launched for clients in the international markets, such as the US, Bolivia, Ecuador, Guatemala, El Salvador, Panama, Chile, Aruba, and the Dominican Republic.

Maaji launched its 1World 2gether collection of overclothes including overalls, joggers, trousers, jackets with built-in face coverings and masks, all made in fluid-repellant fabric. Similarly Polito designed a protective collection, including jackets and full suits with masks. The company already has an order for these garments for June in Ecuador and hopes to reach more countries in South America, some in Central America, and the United States with this collection.”

Totto’s collection, Totto Element Block, is made with anti-fluid fabrics, includes reusable protective overalls, shoe covers, reusable protective collars, a wind-breaker, backpack protector, and a double-layer adjustable mask. The company has received orders from countries such as Bolivia, Ecuador, Guatemala, El Salvador, Panama, Chile, Aruba, and Dominican Republic.

Cueros Vélez, who launched a line of leather face masks with various designs and functionalities, etc has also received mask orders from Holland and is also in touch with potential clients in Spain and England.

Between January and April of this year, Columbia’s fashion exports rose to $212.6 million, according to DANE (National Administrative Department of Statistics) and ProColombia. The United States, Ecuador, and Mexico were the primary destinations for Colombian fashion exports. The country will hold its most important fashion trade show, Columbiamoda, virtually from July 27 to August 2.

The event will connect international demand to Colombia’s supply chain in an innovative way to support its businesses.

A market research report by Transparency Market Research (TMR) forecasts the global polyester staple fiber market to rise over a steady growth rate of 4.1 per cent CAGR by 2025. The market valuation of the said market stood is likely to attain a figure of around $34.546 billion by the end of the year 2025.

The key segments to drive growth are: personal care and hygiene, home furnishing, apparel, filtration, automotive, personal care and hygiene, construction amongst many others. The apparel segment is anticipated to be the main driver raising the growth rate of 4.2 per cent CAGR from the year 2017 to the year 2025.

Apart from apparel, the automotive and home furnishings sector will also drive growth in the world market for polyester staple fiber. On account of its durability and cost effectiveness, polyester staple fiber is finding another extensive application as car fabrics. They assist in keeping the cost of the automobile low also. Taking volume into consideration, the market share of the automotive is forecasted to remain at 14 per cent in the years to come.

Polyester staple fiber is also witnessing major uptake from home furnishings. The category is anticipated to hold on to its share of around 14.5 per cent in the years to come.

Asia Pacific leads the Polyester staple fiber market with a dominant share. The regional growth is primarily backed by the commercial construction activities, increasing residential, increasing spending capacity of the people, and rapid urbanization.