VF Corp plans to open Orefici 11, a 22,000-sq. ft. multibrand store on Milan’s central Via Orefici. The three-story space will house apparel and lifestyle products from three VF brands: The North Face, Timberland and Napapijri. The company’s other labels would periodically take over with dedicated corners.

In keeping with its commitment to environmental sustainability, the development of this store takes into account eco-friendly protocols, starting from the selected building, which is LEED Gold certified.

The group’s renovation of its Milan unit is aimed at preserving the storied building and celebrating the city’s architectural scene of the past century. Its new reception area will feature a small-scale architectural sculpture inspired by the facades of the city’s Sixties buildings characterized by green ceramic tiles, while elsewhere the signature walkways and balconies of Milan’s apartments will coexist with large steel beams nodding to the city’s industrial history.

The ground floor, named The Lab, will be dedicated to exclusive product collaborations and capsule collections developed by the featured brands, in addition to fitting rooms and relaxation areas. Inspired by the city’s architecture in the Eighties, it will be punctuated by a red tube running across the whole space paying homage to the local subway line.

Data released by the National Bureau of Statistics reveals that the profit of China’s industrial enterprises from January to May decreased by 19.3 percentage points on a year-on-year basis to total over CNY 1.84 trillion. The profit of its manufacturing industry also declined by 16.6 per cent to total over CNY 1.54 trillion.

From January to May, the main business income of Chinese textile enterprises above designated size decreased by 7.4 per cent to reach CNY 36.88 trillion compared with the same period the previous year; the profit of textile industry totaled CNY 30.96 billion, with year-on-year decline of 10.3 per cent. While the main business income of enterprises above designated size in garment and accessories industry declined by 16.9 per cent year-on-year to reach CNY 464.7 billion. The profit of garment and accessories industry declined by 29.2 per cent year-on-year to reach CNY 18.05 billion,

From January to May, China’s main income from its leather, fur, feather and their products and footwear industry declined by 18.1 per cent year-on-year to reach CNY 362.85 billion, while their profit totaled CNY 16.74 billion, with year-on-year decline of 30.3 per cent.

From January to May, the main business income of enterprises above designated size in chemical fiber manufacturing industry declined by 18.0 per cent year-on-year to CNY 286.29 billion, while its profit declined by 59.1 per cent to total CNY 4.1 billion, In May, the profit of industrial enterprises above designated size improved by 6.0 per cent to total CNY 582.34 billion

Dora L International (DLI), a global intimate wear company has developed a range of cooling bras with hi-tech features. These bras are made up of a silky microfiber material with breathable mesh details and an open back to help keep things cool. DLI spends a significant amount of time and research on materials and testing the newest fibers that translate trends into viable products that women will love. The company has a large network of resources that allow it to create a ‘best in class’ solution that women of every shape and size will love.

These cooling brands are carefully designed using cutting-edge technologies to resist moisture, keep your body cooler for longer, and are made of fabrics that are specifically engineered to offer support and comfort. The DLI team used research from thermal imaging which shows the difference between body heat when wearing a “normal bra” versus one using cooling fabrics.

Wear testing was also used to ensure both technology and design work together with the intended style and purpose. Cooling bras developed by DLI have both cooling fabric and breathable pads to enable air flow in addition to the cool to touch fabric which wicks moisture away from the body. Another technology, 3D design, allows for illustrating and sharing with clients.

While Pitti Immagine has decided to team with Dolce & Gabbana to launch the brand’s bespoke tailoring and haute couture collections with runway shows in Florence, the organizer is also releasing a wide range of projects on its digital platform Pitti Connect. Some of the projects that Pitti Immagine has launched on its digital platform include 15 shorts videos by Olivier Saillard featuring as protagonists Eighties and Nineties’ models interpreting iconic men’s wear pieces.

Through these videos, the company gives visibility to 13 emerging brands focused on delivering eco-friendly collections, including Flavia La Rocca, Ksenia Schnaider, Kids of Broken Future, Myar, Nanushka, Nous Etudions, Philip Huang, Phipps, Raeburn, Uniforme, Viròn, Vitelli and Youngsang.

In addition, Pitti Uomo selected ANDAM winner Glenn Martens’ Y/Project as the special guest of the sustainable fashion section, which will present the designer’s ‘Evergreen’ collection. A partner of the project, Textile Company Reda in September will give the chance to one of the brands showcasing in the section to create a capsule for its B-Corp certified sportswear brand Rewoolution.

As per Japan Textiles Exporters Association based on Ministry of Finance trade statistics, the value of Japan’s textiles and apparel (T&A) exports dropped by 26 per cent in May 2020 compared to the same month of last year to $441.46 million. The country’s exports of textile fibers, yarns and woven and knitted fabrics also decreased, while exports of nonwoven fabrics increased in volume but decreased in value.

Japan’s textile fibers exports in May declined 41 per cent in volume to 10,792 ton. Exports of rayon staple fiber dropped 77 per cent, along with those of acrylic staple fiber 55 per cent. Though the country’s exports of polyester staple fiber grew by 16 per cent quantitatively but decreased by 2 per cent in value.

Japan’s yarn exports fell 41 per cent in volume to 5,443 tonne, with those of rayon filament yarn declining by 60 per cent, nylon filament yarn by 40 per cent and polyester filament yarn by 30 per cent. Export of woven and knitted fabrics also dropped 28 per cent to 46.93 million sq. mt. Exports of nylon filament fabrics decreased by 17 per cent to 5.92 million sq. mt. while those of polyester filament fabrics dropped by 25 per cent to 13.34 million square meters.

By destination, Japan’s exports to East Asia declined by 23 per cent to $328.26 million while exports to China dropped by 22 per cent to $147.12 million. The country’s exports to Vietnam also declined by 18 per cent to $61.44 million.

Luxury brand Chanel is likely to record a significant decline in its sales and profits in 2020 due to the pandemic. The next 12 to 18 months would be particularly challenging for the brand as even a strong recovery could not compensate for the lack of international travel in countries where the group’s shops have reopened.

Like rivals, Chanel had to shut down all its stores across the globe and idle production sites as the virus first emerged in China’s key market for the sector and then spread to the rest of the world.

Since then, the group has reopened 85 percent of its stores and its sales in China have also bounced back by over 100 percent. However, the brand, which aims to make a profit this year, is reducing ads and promotions by more than a quarter, cutting out production and canceling or changing certain activities such as this year’s fashion shows, including streaming them online.

Haryana cotton growers have opposed the state government’s move to increase their share of premium under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) from Rs 620 per acre to Rs 1,650. This is the result of withdrawal of the 3 per cent subsidy by the government on the premium. Under PMFBY guidelines, a farmer is required to pay 2 per cent of the sum insured in for Kharif crop and 1.5 per cent for Rabi crop as the premium and the balance is shared 50:50 by the state and the Centre.

This year, farmers’ premium share under the government insurance scheme was hiked up to Rs 50 per acre for paddy, Rs 10 per acre for maize, Rs 40 per acre for bajra, Rs 1,030 per acre for cotton, Rs 8 per acre for barley and wheat, Rs 15 per acre each for gram and sunflower and Rs 130 per acre for mustard.

Rajbir Sihag, a farmer from Bhiwani’s Miran, criticized the government move and demanded a reduction in the hiked amount. He says, the move adds to the financial burden of farmers who have invest a lot in cotton production.

Denim brand Levi’s plans to equip around 3,000 of its exclusive stores with UHF RFID by 2021. Around two thirds of these stores are operated by franchise partners. The smaller part of the stores is managed directly by Levi's. Levi's implements 100 per cent source tagging of all merchandise. The RFID tags are not used for the supply chain processes down to the individual stores. The brand sells around 25 million items through its own stores. A further 25 million items are sold via 50,000 sales outlets – online and offline – in 110 countries worldwide. The cost per day: seven cents. The company thus invests around €1.75 million per year in RFID tags, half of which are not used in Levi's store network.

RFID tags help the company to achieve the objective of selling every customer their desired products, which further increases it sale. Stores in which the RFID application is fully operational have recorded an average increase in sales of five percent.

Companies that once prided on having their supply chains spread across the world, are now mulling new technological solutions within Industry 4.0 domain such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), robotics and additive technologies (3D Printing) to bring manufacturing home (back-shoring) or in countries close to its borders (near-shoring). These companies have realized the risk of having a single supplier in one country and intend to find a solution soon.

Being a significant part of the value chain

India can prove to be a solution for many of these companies if instead of just an assembly point for imported components, the country focuses on being a significant part of the value chain. For instance, German company BDT which manufactures data storage hardware shifted its electric motor manufacturing from Philippines to India due to lower labor costs. However, now the company is being forced to source its components from European manufacturers as most of the raw material currently available in India is sourced from China. India can provide a solution by manufacturing these components locally.

Though beneficial, the trends of backshoring or nearshoring also pose a risk for labor intensive countries like India. The use of new automation technologies like Industry 4.0 represented by robotic factories may lead to the loss of jobs in the clothing and leather sectors of many developing countries. The introduction of Industry 4.0 on the back of 5G may also affect the outsourcing industry in the long run.

Though a decade from now, Indian industries will have to adopt Industry 4.0 to remain globally competitive, it will first have to install both 4G and 5G infrastructure widely as the backbone for Industry 4.0.

Tap agribusiness for employment generation

To retain its export markets as well as provide avenues of employment to millions of displaced workers, India should introduce extensive mechanization and automation to tap its potential in agribusiness. It should focus on turning khadi along with handloom into a value-added signature fabric of India by establishing extensive value chain from rural sourcing to buyers in prosperous countries. This can lead to innovations in area of organic chemicals like vegetable dyes. The organic sustainability supply chain could be a big seller in Europe, US and other high-income countries.

India can also link its agri-business with yoga to market organic and healthy lifestyle products abroad. For this, it needs to introduce new technologies such as hydroponic or vertical farming to enable small landholders to grow value-added organic medicinal herbs and spices. It can also set up distillation and extraction units near the farms to add value to farm produce.

And not just the garment industry but India should implement technological innovations in the entire gamut of industrial landscape. The country should apply foresight scanning to provide alternate employment avenues to workers displaced by factories opting to be more become automated due to the low-cost benefits it provides.

An industry coalition representing the full spectrum of domestic personal protective equipment (PPE) manufacturers such as Alliance for American Manufacturing, American Iron and Steel Institute, American Sheep Institute, etc has outlined policy principles and objectives needed for reshoring and safeguarding domestic PPE manufacturing.

The COVID-19 pandemic, which exposed severe shortages in our nation’s PPE supply and an over-reliance on foreign sourced products, underscores how important it is for the U.S. government to incentivize, support and maintain domestic manufacturing capacity for PPE.

The association members, encompassing every segment of the US textile, apparel and PPE supply chain, as well as unions representing workers, acted swiftly to convert manufacturing facilities and build supply chains virtually overnight to produce desperately needed PPE.

The associations are calling on Congress and the Trump administration to adopt principles outlined in the statement through legislation, executive order and other appropriate means.