British fashion retailer Ted Baker plans to cut 500 jobs, of which 200 will be at retailer’s head office in London. The decision will impact both part and full time employees from its UK and Europe stores. The decision is an addition to 160 job cuts that the retailer had announced in February this year.

The decision is being seen as Ted Baker’s business strategy to revamp the organization, which has been struggling ever since late last year, which led to its CEO Lindsay Page resign from his post. The year 2020 brought with it the never-ending pandemic crisis, store closures and extended lockdowns leading to a 36 per cent slump in the retailer’s revenue between 26 January 2020 and 2 May 2020.

As a part of its restructuring plan, the retailer will now focus on expanding its apparel category to make it relevant for all occasions in addition to selling more shoes and fashion accessories. In addition, it will also make more investments in its digital business.

Messe Frankfurt India has announced new dates for the Mumbai edition of Screen Print India – the leading trade fair for screen, textile, sublimation and digital printing technologies. The exhibition will be held parallel with Gartex Texprocess India, from March 19 – 21, 2021 at the Bombay Exhibition Centre in Mumbai.

Screen Print India will launch products that will its enable business visitors and traders to track technological advances in digital textile and screen-printing technologies. The event will also host a series of sessions on processes and innovations related to the graphics industry. One of its key highlight will include Screen Print Excellence Awards that will honor technology inventors and trailblazers within the screen-printing industry. The tradeshow will also curate a special ‘SPI Gallery’ to showcase award winning pieces of screen-printing excellence.

The secure, business-focused ambience will enable both printing and textile sector players to showcase, source and strengthen their supply chains and keep pace with the shifting demand for screen printing, textile printing, digital and sublimation technologies across other sectors.

Screen Print India, which will also be launched in New Delhi in December this year, is being supported by leading industry associations including Screen Printing & Graphics Association of India (SGAI), South Indian Printers Association (SIPA), Madurai Screen Printers Association (MASPA), Tirupur Export Knit Printers Association (TEKPA), Tirupur Export Printing Managers Association (TEPMA) and Offset Printers Association (OPA).

Mainstream and luxury retailers like Hugo Boss, Burberry, Mulberry and Nordstrom are pushing their landlords for flexibility as sales decline. British luxury firm Burberry has been working with landlords on rental relief in its Asian store network. Hugo Boss is seeking ‘selective and temporary’ rental relief in difficult markets, while Nordstrom plans to lower rent payments until the beginning of next year.

Mid-market brands like H&M and New Look have requested landowners to link their lease payments to turnover in the future. Confindustria Moda, the body representing the Italian fashion industry, called for a pause on rental payments when stores across the country were all closed in March. Thierry Andretta, Chief Executive Officer, Mulberry has urged the British government to review rents and business rates, a form of tax on property you occupy, to protect jobs and give brands time to recover. Andretta has drawn the government’s attention specifically to London's Bond and Regent Streets which are considered some of the most expensive streets in the world. Such high rent cost forces luxury brands to increase prices in turn hurting the likelihood of tourists choosing London as a shopping destination over Milan or Paris.

The greater impact instead might be on future store openings. Brandon Famous, Executive Managing Director-Retail, CRBE says brands may avoid opening points of sale in Western cities where they do not already have a presence. They may instead more four more stores in China.

Jeanologia, world leader in sustainable and efficient technology development, has launched eDesinger an innovative tool that reinvents the way jeans are being created and manufactured. eDesigner is a software developed and adapted specifically for the production of jeans. It connects designers with wash developers and brands with manufacturers, standardizing formats, improving production processes by making it more efficient and accelerating time-to-market.

The tool enables designers to design in a more intuitive way, easier, faster and dynamic; introducing a technological, efficient and sustainable alternative to traditional design.

eDesginer streamlines and simplifies production. It can go from design to sample and to approval within an hour, because what you see on the screen is what you get on the jeans. This means a considerable reduction in samples allowing for a more sustainable production at the same time as reducing times.

Furthermore, it is an open platform that can be connected to other virtual stitching or 3D software, and interconnect development centers with production centers in real time, guaranteeing perfect reproducibility in production.

Some of the most well known Italian innovative brands are creating new digital showrooms that allow them to connect with their customers, and capitalize on never-before-seen circumstances. Liu Jo, an Italian clothing company founded in 1995, has launched its ‘digital first’ sales campaign for the 2021 line. The digital showroom will see the brand present its Liu Jo Dream On virtual show, broadcast on a dedicated website and following the format of a news program, with accompanying musical refrains and voiceover commentaries.

The platform will also host digital displays and stories where it will be possible to discover collections with the support of Liu Jo’s sales team in tailor-made consultancy sessions. Italian clothing maker, Diesel has launched Hyperloom, a digital tool which allows shoppers to explore its virtual showroom that is modeled on its flagship store in Milan. Shoppers can interact with clothing items online; products are rendered in 360-degree displays and are presented following the particular style and identity of the Diesel brand. The realistic visuals of products are accompanied by product descriptions as well.

The option for consumers to view a product close-up and in a dedicated virtual space with video-led fittings of each style collectively aims to replicate the touch and feel experience that consumers would get when shopping in real life. To help shoppers in the later stages of the customer journey, a live Diesel vendor will be connected with potential buyers and assist shoppers in the purchase process. By enlisting digital initiatives such as the digital showroom, the company aims to drastically reduce its carbon footprint.

Luciano Donatelli. Fashion Consultant and Former Group Manager, Ermenegildo Zegna Group, has quickly put together a group of investors under the Club Deal 8 moniker, including online retailer Giglio Group, the Biella-based Gruppo Verzoletto for buying Brooks Brothers.

Over the years, Donatelli has initiated prestigious licenses with brands such as Gucci and Valentino. He was the president of industry associations Confindustria Biella and vice president of Confindustria Piemonte. His experience in the Biella textile region can serve him well as Brooks Brothers has for years sourced fabrics from that area, as well as from Italy’s Veneto, Tuscany and Apulia regions. His goal in taking control of Brooks Brothers is to reach sales of $3 billion in five years and grow production by six-fold. Donatelli sees sales of about $1.2 billion to be derived from the Americas; $1.2 billion from the Far East and $600,000 from Europe and Russia.

He aims to keep the brand’s American spirit, but also produce more ‘glocal’ collections, adapting the label to different regional areas, highlighting a couture division in the US to be produced in the Boston and North Carolina plants.

The Indian textile ministry has opposed Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR)’s recommendations for imposing of anti-dumping duty on import of nylon multifilament yarn from China, Korea, Taiwan and Thailand.

Weavers in the country have stated the quality of nylon yarn manufactured by the domestic yarn spinners is not up to the mark and the weavers are forced to import better quality yarn from other countries to reduce production loss and to supply quality fabrics in the domestic and international markets.

According to news reports, the Gujarat textile commissioner’s office had written to the textile ministry in February that against the increase of 19 per cent in the import of nylon multi-filament yarn between 2015 to 2019, the production of yarn in the country had increased by almost 24 per cent during the same period.

The Council of Fashion Designers of America released the list of nominees for the 2020 CFDA Fashion Awards. Winners of the in-person event, originally scheduled for June 8, will be revealed on CDFA.com and CFDA’s social channels the morning of September 14, kicking off the official New York Fashion Week schedule.

This year only, CFDA has decided to focus on designer nominee categories and forgo honoree awards.

The nominees for America Womenswear Designer of the Year are Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen for The Row; Brandon Maxwell; Gabriela Hearst; Marc Jacobs, and Tom Ford.

Competing for American Menswear Designer of the Year are Emily Adams Bode for Bode; Kerby Jean-Raymond for Pyer Moss; Thom Browne; Todd Snyder, and Tom Ford.

The American Accessories Designer of the Year contenders are Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen for The Row; Gabriela Hearst; Jennifer Fisher for Jennifer Fisher Jewelry; Stuart Vevers for Coach, and Telfar Clemens for Telfar.

In the American Emerging Designer of the Year categories, the nominees are Christoper John Rogers; Kenneth Nicolson; Peter Do; Reese Cooper, and Sarah Staudinger and George Augusto for Staud.

The 2020 CFDA Fashion awards feature two new nomination categories: Global Women’s Designer of the Year and Global Men’s Designer of the Year. Nominees for the Global Women’s Designer of the Year are Daniel Lee for Bottega Veneta; Dries Van Noten; Miuccia Prada for Prada; Pierpaolo Piccioli for Valentino, and Rick Owens.

Vying for Global Men’s Designer of the Year are Craig Green; Dries Van Noten; Jonathan Anderson for Loewe; Kim Jones for Dior, and Virgil Abloh for Louis Vuitton.

Cabana, the main beachwear segment trade show in the United States, launched its special edition Cabana Virtual Marketplace in partnership with Joor an American digital platform on July 20, 2020. The three-day event is being represented by brands such as Água de Coco, Catarina Mina, Haight, Lenny Niemeyer, SERPUI, Triya and Yukio with the support from Fashion Label Brasi, and Adriana Degreas with support from Texbrasil, both internationalization programs created from a partnership between Apex-Brasil (Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency) and Abest (Brazilian Association of Fashion Designers) and Abit (Brazilian Association of the Textile and Clothing Industry), respectively. These brands will be featured on the JOOR platform for four weeks after the event is over.

Cabana’s partnership with Joor will help Texbrasil to promote the visibility of companies, even without the physical event: Fashion Label Brasil will be responsible for the attendance of Brazilian brands to the trade show since 2014.

A report by GlobalData revealed post COVID-19, sustainability has become one of the most important theme for fashion businesses across the world. Public anger over the lack of action on climate change and corruption has accelerated sustainability discussions amongst fashion retailers.

Retailers need to adapt to a different business model that incorporates circular fashion and sustainability, says the report. Retail Insight Network advises these retailers to promote circular economy which would not only protect the environment but also help them stay relevant in a changing retail landscape.

Replacing fast fashion with circular alternatives

UK-based charity Ellen McArthur Foundation defines circular economy as a way to redefine growth by separating economic growth from the consumption of finite resources and designing waste out of the system. It also includes regenerating the natural system by switching to renewable energy sources. One of the ways, the fashion industry can become sustainable is by replacing fast and linear fashion with circular alternatives.

One of the most-used retail models, fast fashion promotes a ‘wear once’ attitude, with its constant introduction of new stocks. Through this, it reduces the lifecycle of clothes, which are made, bought and disposed off after little use. As Waste & Resources Action Program (WRAP) reveals, UK consumers dispose an estimated £140m and 350,000 tons of used clothing annually.

Promoting sustainable transportation and delivery

But the fast fashion model does not damage environment just by wasting clothes but also through the pollutants that are released during their delivery and transportation. A circular business model can help retailers reduce this damage and grow businesses. Many fast fashion brands including Nike have embraced the circular fashion model. Nike has created its new trainer ‘Space Hippie’ with around 50 per cent recycled waste while Inditex has pledged to convert stores into ‘sustainability hubs’ within the next two years.

GlobalData’s June study conducted in partnership with ThredUp expects second-hand apparel market to grow to $64billion within the next five years. The study states, online thrifting is likely to grow to 69 per cent between 2019 and 2021, while the broader retail sector is likely to shrink 15 per cent. The analysis also expects resale to be a bigger industry than fast fashion by 2029, with traditional thrift and donation-based fashion to be worth $36billion, resale to be worth $44billion, and fast fashion $43 billion. The total value of second-hand fashion will be at $80 billion, almost double that of fast fashion.

Rise of fashion re-commerce

The rise of circular fashion may have been a result of changing perceptions of retail and the need for sustainability however, COVID-19 has accelerated its popularity amongst consumers. Stastistics by GlobalData and ThredUp reveals 79 per cent consumers plan to cut their apparel budget in the next year, with 88 per cent consumers preferring to adopt a new thrifty hobby such as mending clothes and sewing face masks.

Fashion retailers can benefit from this by switching to new business models, such as resale and re-commerce. Resale can prove as a green alternative for retailers as re-commerce sites like eBay, and Depop have been increasing in their focus on second-hand buying. Department stores are also integrating resale into the retail industry. American department store Macy’s has employed brick-and-mortar ThredUp thrift stores, with more department stores like JCPenney expected to follow soon. Another retailer & Other Stories sells pre-owned garments through the ‘pre-loved’ section of its website while Barclays, a British financial services company views COVID-19 as an opportunity for brands to embrace sustainability and switch to circular fashion.