PVH Corp has received approval of its absolute greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction targets from the Science Based Target initiative, marking the company’s progress towards a zero-carbon economy, according to its 2019 annual Corporate Responsibility (CR) Report, first since last year’s launch of its ambitious CR strategy - Forward Fashion.

Forward Fashion sets a new level of ambition to drive transformational change across PVH, its businesses and the fashion industry. The CR report highlights the company’s progress in reducing negative impacts to zero and increasing positive impacts to 100 per cent. This is PVH’s 12th annual CR report.

This year’s report increases the company’s data disclosure and expands transparency around workforce inclusion and diversity (I and D) information. PVH sees this as an important first step in meaningful progress to ensure all people and communities are represented, and in creating a workplace environment where every individual is valued and every voice is heard.

The report highlights that the company sourced approximately 50 per cent of its cotton footprint sustainably. This is halfway towards its target to sustainably source 100 per cent of its cotton by 2025. It also expanded I and D data disclosing gender and racial/ethnicity representation breakdowns across both PVH’s corporate offices, and retail and warehouse facilities.

The company has reached its goal and CR target of achieving gender parity in leadership positions (defined as VP+ level). Going forward, PVH will focus on achieving gender parity at the most senior leadership levels (SVP+).

As Iconix Brand Group, Inc. continues its search for a financial lifeline, the New York-based brand management company is examining a range of strategic alternatives, including a potential sale or merger.

The company, whose owned brand portfolio includes Umbro, Lee Cooper and Ecko Unltd, announced that its management has received authorization from the board to explore options ranging from a possible sale or merger to debt and equity financings.

As it expands its strategic review process, the company will continue to work with financial adviser Ducera Partners, as well as its legal counsel, Dechert. The news comes after Iconix’s announcements that it is selling its Umbro and Starter businesses in China for $62.5 million and $16.0 million, respectively. According to the company, it intends to use the funds raised by these transactions for debt repayment and covering general corporate expenses. Both sales are expected to close by September 15.

As part of its strategic response to the negative impact of the coronavirus pandemic, Iconix has already reduced its headcount and eliminated non-essential operating expenses, measures which the company says will lead to more than $10.0 million in annualized cost savings.

A report by the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association said 80 per cent of businesses in the industry laid off personnel in April and May due to a massive decline in textile and garment production. Another report by the Ministry of Industry and Trade says, textile production in the country grew just 2.8 per cent year-on-year in the first half of the year compared to 11.5 per cent in the same period last year. Garment production also fell by 4.7 per cent with the industry having difficulties sourcing raw materials and rapidly losing export orders to the pandemic.

This led to either delay or cancellation of export orders. In May, up to 50 per cent orders were canceled or postponed, and global prices fell 20 per cent as a result of the plunging demand. Most companies shifted their focus from clothes to face masks to meet the rising demand globally. Vietnam exported 557 million masks in the first six months, with the US, Germany, Singapore and South Korea being the main markets.

However, mask exports would not make up for the lack of garment orders as garment exports are likely to decline by 23 percent this year to $30 billion, views Le Tien Truong, CEO of the Vietnam National Textile and Garment Group.

A study by the US-based Freedonia Group, a division of MarketResearch.com says, COVID-19 is transforming the global market for non-woven-based PPE products as producers are expanding capacities to avoid supply shortfalls

This capacity expansion also aims to mitigate lost sales in other key markets, like automobile and furniture manufacturing, both of which are declining amid the pandemic due to dampened consumer spending.

According to the study, demand for meltblown non-wovens is projected to grow by12 per cent in 2020 and by 6.3 per cent per year till 2024 to $6.71 billion. The surging demand for meltblown nonwovens, used in crucial medical supplies like masks, caused supply shortages and price hikes that were offset by losses in the large automotive filter market, as the need to combat the spread of COVID-19 boosted use of protective gear, said the Freedonia Group in a press release. Like meltblown, demand for spunbond non-wovens is forecast to grow by 3.3 per cent annually till 2024 to 5.23 million metric tonne. Demand for this product was boosted by a surge in demand for medical and hygiene product applications in the first half of 2020 due to the pandemic.

UK brand Primark, the fashion retailer owned by AB Foods does not plan to leverage the British government scheme, eschewing a bonus of about $38 million, to pay employers for bringing back staff from furlough. The company removed employees from government employment support schemes in the UK and Europe in line with the reopening of majority stores. The company believes it should not be necessary therefore, to apply for payment under the Bonus scheme on current circumstances.

The bonus scheme, which could cost up to £9 billion if employers brought back all nine million people who have been on furlough, also applies retroactively. The retailer had closed all its stores in March when the COVID-19 outbreak in Europe intensified, costing it about £650 million in net sales a month. It paid 68,000 of its staff members who were furloughed from government aid. It has since reopened stores, including sites in Britain last month, where around 30,000 employees were furloughed.

Pakistan plans to give tax incentives to any global brand that opens an office in the country. The country is exporting sanitizers and PPEs to the US and plans to graduate to medical and electromagnetic products soon. Abdul Razak Dawood, Trade Advisor, Prime Minister of Pakistan said exports of masks and other protective gear by the country have increased and the textile sector is witnessing an increase in orders.

The country’s textile exports had dropped by 7 per cent in the year ended in June. However, supply chain disruptions caused by the pandemic enabled it to secure its first sportswear order from Hugo Boss AG, said Ijaz Akhtar Khokhar, Chief Coordinator, Pakistan Readymade Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association.

Additionally, rupees’ depreciation — by more than 50 per cent since late 2017 — has made the country’s shipments competitive globally. The country has received an order for the export of microwave ovens for the first time and hopes to soon progress to exporting other engineering products.

Next Retail has becomes the latest licensee of Cotton USA in Europe. The largest clothing retailer in the United Kingdom, Next has around 500 stores and a strong online business reaching 70 countries, as well as 185 overseas stores in 31 countries. The retailer will label 1.75 million men’s T-shirts made of 100 per cent US cotton, representing the equivalent of approximately 2,200 bales.

US cotton’s sustainability program and a transparent supply chain led Next to commit to joining the Cotton USA licensing program. The retailer is committed to responsible sourcing and building full transparency to trace the raw materials they use back to source, as part of its 2025 Responsible Sourcing Strategy.

Next Retail is part of the Next Group which has an annual revenue of $5.4 billion. Next’s aim is to meet its customers’ expectations by providing exciting, beautifully designed, excellent quality clothing.

Gap Inc, owner of the Old Navy, Athleta, Banana Republic and Gap brands, has assured it will work collaboratively with vendors to compensate them in full for finished goods and goods in production that were canceled or subject to pack and hold. The company has extended payment terms on certain orders. It is also providing low cost financing to its vendor partners besides working with its banking partners to increase the amount of funds available within the program.

In June Gap had announced it had cancelled less than 3 per cent purchase orders by value for finished garments and garments in production, and was working with vendors to utilize uncut raw materials for future seasons. Earlier this year the Workers Rights Consortium’s (WRC) COVID-19 tracker had criticized Gap for cancelling its orders, imposing sizable discounts on some orders, related to storage charges; and its extension of payment terms for some orders, without the provision of adequate low-cost financing to affected suppliers.

WRC noted that the apparel giant’s supplier finance program commands sufficient lending capital to address supplier needs that may arise as a result of the delayed payments.

BGMEA has refuted allegations of by the Guardian blaming Bangladesh garment factories of sacking dozens of pregnant workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. In response to that, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) strongly disproved the report titled ‘We are on our own’: Bangladesh’s pregnant garment workers face the sack workers’ in the Guardian.

BGMEA said the report is not procedurally correct since it is based only on remarks from labor activists, and there is no regards for the RMG industry to assess and appreciate the huge efforts the apparel industry has made to guard employments of millions by upholding all safety precautions and hygiene standards.

BGMEA alleged the report quotes misleading figures and provocative statements appealing that, RMG manufacturers are using COVID-19 as a justification to eliminate ‘undesirable’ workers, whereas the complete situation tells a different story.

BGMEA also refuted the report’s claim that during lockdown hundreds of thousands of workers were not paid for work they had already done. The wage payment for the month of April, May and June was centrally coordinated by the government of Bangladesh, as PM of Bangladesh kindly extended timely support to the garment industry to digitally pay wages of the workers on time to keep the industry afloat.

Also, the RMG sector remunerated $539 million to workers who did not work for 25 days in April and partially May.

BGMEA also sought Guardian’s help to track the buyers from the UK and persuade them to reconsider their decisions to cancel orders.

A Sakthivel, Chairman, AEPC says, India can double its apparel exports in three years by implementing free trade agreements with the US, UK, European Union, Australia and Canada. Currently, the Indian apparel industry has a duty disadvantage of 9.6 per cent in the EU market as compared with competitors like Bangladesh, Cambodia, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. Hence, there is an urgent need to have a level playing field in terms of market access and margin of preference in our biggest global market and to rectify the distortion that we are suffering, Sakthivel said.

He added that an agreement with the US will have a significant impact on India’s apparel exports to America as the average tariff in the US is 12.5 per cent, and the peak tariff on certain items like man-made fiber based apparel, which India is promoting, is 28 per cent. The US is India’s major destination for apparel exports with over 27 per cent share. The council also pleaded for a comprehensive economic partnership agreement with Canada and Australia.