With India-EU summit, European Union Ambassador to India, Ugo Astuto reinforced his belief in India’s capability to play an important role in the post-COVID world and the future of global supply chain. Astuto advised European companies to focus on diversifying their supply chains and supply chain sources rather than on-shoring.

Another EU official said India needs to resist protectionist measure and ensure access to supply and value chains. The envoy emphasized that economic cooperation, multilateralism and post-Covid response will be in focus at the summit. The summit will broaden the agenda of cooperation from maritime security to connectivity and research innovation, he said.

In the summit, the two sides are also expected to delve into finding a way forward to resume talks on the long-pending free trade agreement (FTA) which is known as EU-India Broad-based Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA).

Cambodia's garment industry has issued a renewed plea for help amidst new statistics revealing that more than 150,000 workers have now lost their jobs during the pandemic. Factory owners and trade unions both called on the government, and other agencies, to support the industry and former garment workers who were facing abject poverty.

The Garment Manufacturers Association of Cambodia (GMAC) has demanded the suspension of annual minimum wage negotiations to relieve pressures on factory owners, although this is opposed by trade unions. The GMAC has also urged the International Labor Organization (ILO) and European brands to support its call for the European Commission to postpone for one year its decision to partially withdraw Cambodia’s 'Everything But Arms' (EBA) trade privileges to allow the industry time to recover from the economic downturn.

The Cambodian Confederation of Unions (CCU) urged the Prime Minister to intervene and provide money to workers more quickly to provide them with desperately needed financial support. In an open letter, CCU claimed that workers had only received $20 from the government after their work was suspended for more than two months.

Administrators of collapsed clothing companies Seafolly, PAS Group and TM Lewin have received dozens of expressions of interest from potential trade, private equity investors and private buyers from Australia and overseas despite the uncertain outlook for the clothing and footwear sectors. More than 50 potential buyers expressed interest in buying swimwear brand Seafolly, which went into voluntary administration this month after its private equity owner L Catterton Asia withdrew its stake

The administrators of women’s wear retailer PAS Group, which collapsed in May, received more than 30 expressions of interest and more than a dozen indicative offers for its assets, which include the Review, Black Pepper, Yarra Trail and Jets brands, and a contract design and manufacturing business, Designworks. Buyers also approached the administrators of shirt and suit company TM Lewin, which appointed Colby O’Brien, Stewart McCallum and Adam Nikitins of EY as administrators this month after the collapse of its British parent due to the coronavirus crisis.

While PAS Group and Seafolly were struggling before the pandemic, TM Lewin's administrators blamed the retailer's collapse on the drop in foot traffic in the CBD as most people worked from home during the pandemic.

A report by Fitch Solutions predicts Cambodia, Myanmar, and Vietnam to gain most from shifts in apparel manufacturing. The report says, China’s reduction of apparel manufacturing operations creates new opportunities for its neighboring countries to expand their presence as suppliers to China, and grow their market share in North America and Europe at China's expense.

Vietnam has already benefitted by signing free trade agreements during the trade war between the US and China. As a result, the country’s apparel exports jumped 30 per cent and raised its global apparel exports share to 8.7 per cent in 2019, up from 6.8 per cent in 2018.

Similarly Cambodia can also benefit as its apparel manufacturing sector has grown at a compound annual growth rate of 13 per cent over the last decade, with relatively low labor costs and favorable investment policies -- including allowing full foreign equity ownership in the textile sector -- expected to continue supporting this.

Being able to use Vietnamese shipping ports also helps Cambodia with transport and import of raw materials from China. Myanmar is also expected to continue seeing strong growth in low-value and lower-quality basic garments with numerous seaports that facilitate shipping at one of the cheapest rates in the region.

The British Fashion Council (BFC) has called for more government support as data by Oxford Economics predicts the UK Fashion industry will lose 240,000 direct jobs. The data also predicts a further 110,000 indirect jobs to be at risk causing the industry’s total revenues to drop to £88 billion this year, compared to £118 billion in 2019. The New West End company also predicts a £5 billion loss in sales and 50,000 job losses if the government doesn’t take further action.

Hence, the council has laid out seven proposed measures tailored to the needs of fashion businesses. These measures include: government support for brands and retailers to renegotiate expensive leases and help keep retail stores open until footfall starts to recover; access to grants or interest-free loans for small and medium-sized businesses; an embargo placed on payments of tariffs to help restart international trade, and legislation to prevent large retailers from canceling orders or imposing sell-through guarantees on orders, which will help protect smaller businesses with limited cash flow.

The BFC is also demanding funds to enable research into sustainable practices like upcycling or waste management that will help restart the industry in a healthier, more circular way. It also highlights the importance of supporting the local manufacturing and textile industries, with the government building on its commitment to produce 2 billion pieces of personal protective equipment in the UK and further investing in the development of skills, material innovations beyond PPE, and tax-relief schemes that will create the “right trading environment.

Even though Asos is cautious about future growth outlook, the e-tailer is on track to deliver strong year-on-year profit growth and to return to positive free-cash-flow for the full year. First quarter online sales of Asos rose 10 per cent to £983.3 million. Though this was less than the 17 per cent rise in the 10 months to the same date but covering a period of unprecedented economic disruption, it was a strong result.

The UK sales of the fashion e-tail giant dipped by 1 per cent to £329.1 million while those in the US declined 2 per cent to £124,9 million. But, the company’s sales in the EU rose by 20 per cent to £328 million and in the rest of world unit rose by 19 per cent to £201.2 million. Its overall international retail sales rose by 15 per cent.

Though hampered by social distancing protocols, the e-commerce company saw steady improvement throughout the period, reflecting increasing warehouse capacity, underlying improvement in demand and a beneficial returns profile. While the company’s product volume grew by 15 per cent, its average selling price declined due to lockdown product mix and limited demand for occasion wear. It had adapted fast to refocus its product mix, but growth in popular lockdown categories was held back by availability given health and safety measures implemented across our product supply chain”.

However, the Asos’ consumer base increased 16 per cent to 23 million with particularly strong growth in new international customers.

PVH Corp, the parent company of Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger and several other fashion brands, plans to close all 162 of its heritage brand stores across North America in response to the Coronavirus pandemic.

Heritage Brand includes IZOD and Van Heusen, of which there are currently eight joint storefronts in New Jersey. All locations are expected to close by late 2021. Although not touted as a liquidation sale, IZOD and Van Heusen are currently offering up to 70 per cent off site-wide online. The company also operates Olga, Geoffrey Beene, ARROW, Warner’s and True & Co brands that do not have stores, but can be found at places like Amazon, Kohl’s, Macy’s and JC Penney.

PVH Corp also plans to lay off 12 per cent of its workforce, which would result in cost savings of about $80 million. It has been a rough few months for the brick-and-mortar retail industry, which already had been struggling before the pandemic hit. Many retail companies including Brooks Brothers and Sur La Table have announced stores closures.

Though earlier fashion brands maintained stoic silence about the existence of labor camps in Xinjiang for fear of businesses being penalized, a new campaign to pressure brands to end ties with factories connected to forced labor is gaining momentum. The issue of forced labor is not confined to Xinjiang region alone. Manufacturers across China are using thousands of Uighur workers under state-sponsored labor transfer programs, in conditions that appear in many cases to be forced labor, says Kelsey Munro, Senior Analyst, Australia Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI).

With a view to end abuses, EU Parliament member Raphaël Glucksmann, started a campaign on June 27 to pressure brands to end ties with factories connected to forced labor. Based on a March 2020 report by ASPI, the campaign implicated 83 companies as being directly or indirectly involved in forced labor.

Brands pledge to end forced labor

To verify these claims, Glucksmann met Adidas and received a signed letter from the brand agreeing to the terms of campaign and a reassurance that henceforth the brand will not source any yarn from the Xinjiang region. Lacoste, which gets supplies from Youngor Textile Holdings, also pledged to cease all activities with suppliers and subcontractors involved in the exploitation of Uighur forced workers, make all of its efforts public and conduct due diligence among its entire production chain in China.

The third brand that pledged to cut ties with factories involved in exploitation of Uighurs workers is Nike. The brand released a statement in March stating that its Taekwang factory stopped recruiting new employees from XUAR [Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region] to its Qingdao facility in 2019 and all remaining employees from XUAR have returned home.

Backing on suppliers’ support

However, some brands’ are relying on their suppliers’ support to ensure they not get involved in forced labor in any way. Victoria’s Secret parent company L Brands has directed all suppliers to re-certify that they have read and understood it’s no forced labor policy, including the prohibition on the use of cotton from Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, and any other form of forced labor.

H&M Group has conducted an investigation at all garment manufacturing factories that it works with in China and concluded that none of them employ workers from Xinjiang. The audit program conducted by Puma also did not find forced labor or connections to Xinjiang in its Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers. Jack & Jones’ Bestseller has banned production in Xinjiang and is conducting due diligence. Gap too has denied sourcing from Xinjiang and is taking steps to better understand how its global supply chain may be indirectly impacted by this.

Eco-friendly fashion is the new buzzword as high street fashion brands like Zara, H&M are launching sustainable collections with aspirational names like C&A's ‘Wear the Change’, Zara's ‘join life’ or H&M's ‘Conscious’. Capitalizing on the consumers’ growing interest in ecologically produced items, these brands are creating their own sustainability labels and criteria. However, they rarely divulge about their production processes, says Katrin Wenz, an agricultural expert.

According to Viola Wohlgemuth, Textiles Expert, Greenpeace, independent environmental certifications like the Global Organic Textile Standard label (GOTS) and the IVN Best certifications, can illuminate on the eco-credentials of the products launched by such brands.

Adhering to ecological and social production standards

Though most of these brands use organic cotton, this alone is not enough to make fashion sustainable, says Heike Hess, Head, IVN-Berlin. According to him, cotton production is a complex process as after being grown in fields, the fibers need to be separated from seeds, spun, dyed, printed and sewn to create finished items of clothing. Also, cotton producers need to adhere to ecological and social standards at each of these production stages. They have to not only minimize the use of harmful chemicals but also manage water usage and waste, limit carbon dioxide emissions and ensure human rights, fair wages, protections for workers, etc.

Since launching ‘Detox My Fashion’ campaign by Greenpeace in 2011, around 80 global fashion companies have committed to eliminate hazardous chemicals by the end of this year. To achieve this, the cotton cultivation method needs to change. According to Sabine, Ferenchild, Sudiwind Institute for Economics and Ecumenism, in order to be truly sustainable, cotton needs to be grown in regions with heavy rainfall and in combination with food crops.

New label prevents responsibility offloading by fashion companies

Ferenschild is highly skeptical of fashion brands who devise their own criteria for going green and labeling their products. Majority of products these brands sell are produced conventionally.

As a solution to this, Germany has launched a new green certification method with its government-backed ‘Green Button’ label. A company can use this label only if all its products comply with high environmental and labor standards. Though these standards are not as strict as those demanded by organic certifiers, the 'Green Button' label can prevent companies from offloading responsibility to subcontractors in the production chain, say experts.

Lack of clarity over sustainability percentage

Even though organic cotton is 50 per cent more expensive than conventional cotton due to the use of premium fibers boosts, global fashion brands like H&M are able to keep their prices down, as they produce in huge volumes, says Ferenschild.

However, it is not clear what percentage of organic cotton is used in the items produced by these brands. Though H&M claims to use 16 per cent organic cotton in all its clothes produced from 2017-18, according to the Bremen Cotton Exchange, just 0.7 per cent of the global cotton harvest during the season was organic.

Moving from production to service model

Experts say, the real culprit in all this is the consumptions habits of consumers. Even if fashion brands want to produce truly sustainable fashion, current consumption patterns make it impossible. To change this, the fashion industry needs to shift away from the production to service model, says Wohlgemuth. While achieving this, they need to encourage their consumers to buy fewer and long-lasting clothes, repair damaged clothes, donate clothes no longer in use and buy secondhand clothes instead of new ones.

As per Apparel Resources analysis, the value of T-shirts imported by the US declined by 65.50 per cent in May ’20, due to unprecedented situation created by COVID-19. The country imported $613.96 million worth of T-shirts in May, while its import value in the same month of 2019 stood at $1.78 billion.

On monthly basis, the imports of T-shirts by the US declined by 29.26 per cent in May ’20 over April ’20. China exported the most number of T-shirts to the US in May worth $94.95 million. While Bangladesh exported only $23.16 million worth of T-shirts with export value declining by over 63 per cent on Y-o-Y basis from US $ 63.47 million in May ’19.

India’s T-shirt shipments to the US fell 85.80 per cent to generate $14.40 million revenue. Exports continued to plunge in February, March and April as well. Vietnam too experienced a yearly fall of 47.86 per cent in May ’20 with its shipment valued at $154.80 million. However, the country remains top T-shirt exporter to the US with over 25 per cent share in its total T-shirt import values.