Exporters of the Sanganeri textile say altered consumption patterns and diminished purchasing power in their primary markets — the US and Western Europe — will continue to hurt their livelihoods long after the lockdown is lifted. As per Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts, countries such as the US, the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, France and Italy - account for 30 per cent of the overall export of hand-printed textiles from India in 2018-19.

Officials of Jaipur-based Federation of Rajasthan Handicraft Exporters (Forhex) say, the sector was already suffering from the aftereffects of the implementation of GST when the pandemic struck. In the financial year 2018-19, its exports dipped by 36 per cent year-on-year in the aforementioned countries because of the implementation of GST.

The lockdown has led to cancellation of hand-printed textiles orders worth Rs 1,000 crore for the months of March and April 2020. This may reduce the paying capacity of overseas buyers for the short to medium term.

Bangladesh has sought cooperation from the European Parliament for the restoration of apparel work orders, suspended or cancelled by various European brands and retailers after the COVID-19 pandemic. Cancellation or suspension of work orders has unsettled the sector and forced many owners to lay off workers, says Dr Jafar Uddin, the Commerce Minister in a letter to Bernd Lange, member of the European Parliament and chair of the committee of international trade.

Several thousand poor workers lost their jobs in recent weeks, throwing their lives and livelihoods into dire uncertainty. He urged Lange to take the initiatives to save the lives and livelihood of RMG workers, most of whom are women

BGMEA noted that at present, some four million workers employed in Bangladeshi clothing factories are the most vulnerable as till April 29, some 1,150 apparel factories reported order cancellation or suspension of products worth $3.18 billion.

BKMEA also revealed that its 523 members, out of 833, reported order suspension or cancellation of $1.78 billion.

Picanol rolled off its 100,000th rapier weaving machine at its plant in Leper, Belgium. The 100,000th rapier weaving machine — an OptiMax-i — will be shipped to SAITEX Fabrics, based in Long Tho, Vietnam.

Picanol has an extensive track record in the production of high-tech rapier machines. In 1975, it launched its very first weaving machine with a rapier insertion, which was named the PGW. Since the launch of the first rapier machine all that time ago, Picanol has introduced various new generations of rapier machines. These include, among other machines, the GTM in 1983, the Gamma in 1996, the GamMax in 2002, and the OptiMax and the GT-Max in 2007. Its current flagship rapier weaving machines — the OptiMax-i launched in 2015, and the GTMax-i 3.0 launched in 2018 — cover a complete range of applications.

The Bangladesh Bank has increased the loan limit for garment and textile factories from the Export Development Fund (EDF) to $30 million from an existing $25 million. Members of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA) will benefit the most from the new limit.

The enhanced portion - effective for disbursements until December 31, 2020 - shall be considered by foreign exchange dealer banks (Ads) on a case-to-case basis, depending on the actual needs of factories concerned. Exporters will get loans - from the EDF - at 2 percent interest against their raw material imports.

The Bangladesh Bank has introduced the facility as many exporters failed to arrange a buyer's or supplier's credit facility during the novel Coronavirus pandemic - due to supply chain disruptions.

Additionally, giving exporters relief from the interest rate shock during the pandemic is another reason behind granting the facility, said officials at the central bank.

William Skinner, Chairman, Savile Row Bespoke Association and managing director of Dege & Skinner, says tailors in London’s Savile Row street have called for rent reductions on their stores. Savile Row is a key destination for affluent shoppers visiting London and is also a tourist attraction with its status as the home of tailoring an important part of the overall package that makes the West End of London stand out.

The street has been under pressure for some time with relatively low margins, the rise of relaxed dress codes, higher business rates and rising rents all conspiring against it. Now a number of suit-makers on the street are asking for rent cuts and greater flexibility over payment terms.

The Pollen Estate is the biggest landlord in the area and has been mulling rent-free periods, rent deferments and monthly rents for reopening businesses. But recent periods have seen tailors like Hardy Amies, Chester Barrie and Kilgour either closing completely or exiting the street. And there are fears that after the crisis are over, if tailors can't afford the rents and if other retailers with deeper pockets are prepared to move in, the character of the street could change forever.

Policymakers worry the knock-down effects of April's historically low exports may cut short outbound trade in FY21 as the March-June period is crucial in the export cycle for many sectors such as apparels and engineering goods. Data released by the Commerce and Industry Ministry shows, India’s exports dipped 60.28 per cent in April to $10.36 billion shrinking for a second straight month as the COVID -19-induced lockdown took its toll on trade with other countries.

The rate of fall in outbound trade was the most since at least April 1, 1995, as manufacturing units remained shut for the first 20 days owing to the nationwide curbs, and faced major logistics and supply-side hurdles later on. The country’s exports had declined by 34.57 per cent in March.

Readymade garments, the sector in which India’s export competitiveness has steadily fallen over the past financial year, managed to push out just $126.31 million in April, registering a 91 per cent fall.

Receipts from the volatile processed petroleum exports fell by 66 per cent in April to just $1.24 billion as global oil prices crashed amid a major slump in -oil and non-gold imports declined by 52.08 per cent.

A recent webinar on retail and ecommerce by CommerceNext, for marketers in New York showed, the global apparel sector is cautiously optimistic as around 49 per cent apparel retailers reported a jump in their online apparel sales from March 29 to April. Sucharita Kodali, Vice President and Principal Analyst at Forrester Research, and J Bennett, Vice President Operations and Corporate Development at fraud protection platform Signifyd shared this view. Kodali said, apparel retailers are rapidly moving towards their sales goals by exploring the e-commerce platforms.

Around 43 per cent retailers reported their online sales tracking significantly ahead of their set goals. Another 56 per cent retailers credited this bump to store traffic migrating online, while 49 per cent attributed it to driving demand via marketing.

Intimate brands benefit as ecommerce sales surge

Rebecca Traverzo, VP-marketing at Thirdlove said, intimate brands are benefiting the most from this trend as consumers are feeling a lot more confident in the economy and are less concerned with a possible recession. They are spending money not only on essentials. Seeing this positive trend, the brand is cautiously planning its future actions.

Bennett views fashion and footwear as the two e-commerce verticals to have overcome challenges and continue selling during the pandemic. Though both these categories saw a pullback early on as consumers flocked to essential retailers for their online shopping needs, they have seen resurgence in the weeks since.

Signifyd also revealed though gross merchandise value (GMV) for fashion purchases that averaged $250 or less was at its lowest in the week of March 16, it has skyrocketed more than 50 per cent by April 13. A reason for this could be that retailers have been able to refocus efforts to delivering online, opined Bennett. They’ve gotten their fulfillment centers deemed to be essential, set up safety requirements so that their employees can work safely in these.

Product launches, efficient marketing mantra for success

Bennett also emphasized that many of these sales are driven by promotions, which makes it unclear just how much of these need to be maintained. In fact, there was a major difference in the dynamic between fashion purchases averaging $250 or less, versus the much smaller segment of those averaging between $250 and $550. These purchases peaked during the week of March 23 due to excessive promotions timed with new product launches, before leveling off in the two weeks afterward. Bennett said new product launches, when handled with efficient marketing are experiencing excellent success.

Though ThirdLove too experienced similar rebounds from both CommerceNext and Signifyd starting from April, the company has not done promotions or discounts for its brand throughout the pandemic. Moreover, they are seeing a drop in returns during COVID-19. It has also opened up a partnership with Returnly for customers to be able to return packages at their local establishes. Even Signifyd revealed a 25 per cent decline in returns due to lack of access to process a return, and new users typically generating lower return rates.

E-tailer Boohoo has raised almost £200 million in extra funding for acquiring new brands. Recently it raised £197.7 million in just 24 hours via a share placing, and that’s on top of the £240 million+ in net cash it had at the end of February.

The cash will used to acquire new brands to add to its existing portfolio of Boohoo, PrettyLittleThing, Nasty Gal, MissPap, Karen Millen and Coast. The company aims to take advantage of numerous opportunities that are likely to emerge in the global fashion industry over the coming months and is looking at a number of possible merger and acquisition deals.

Boohoo is focusing on deals in Europe and the US. However, currently it doesn't want to move out of its online comfort zone. The company is unlikely to continue to operate any physical shops if it bought them.

The Cambodian government has approved a request of the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) to produce all kinds of face masks, medical equipment, and protective clothing for both domestic consumption and export.

As masks, medical equipment, and protective clothing are being sought after by the world to help curb the COVID-19, the government supports and encourages factories to produce the aforementioned items, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance’s letter sent to GMAC president.

Spokesperson of the Cambodian Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training Heng Sour earlier said the export of garments and footwear is forecast to drop by 50-60 percent in the second quarter of this year due to the impact of the pandemic.

The Q1 exports nosedived by 80 percent year-on-year when the COVID-19 broke out in the EU and US – the two largest markets of Cambodian garment products – in February, he said.

Over 180 apparel factories have now suspended operation, and another 60 are thought to be close to suspension, affecting lives of about 200,000 workers.

According to the Cambodian Ministry of Industry, Science, Technology and Innovation, the Southeast Asian country is home to 1,099 factories operating in textiles, footwear and handbag industries.

While China has agreed to purchase an unspecified amount of hemp fiber from the United States in a recently signed agriculture trade deal, there are currently no suppliers of the material in the US

The leading company that had been processing hemp for fiber, Kentucky-based Sunstrand LLC, filed for bankruptcy late last year, in part due to its inability to source raw material. The company had been turning out fabric fibers for apparel maker Patagonia, and claimed to be producing hemp-fiber based door panels for BMW as well as filters for water treatment and hemp fiber products for the construction industry.

Wyndrige Farm, a private company based in southeastern Pennsylvania, USA buys purchasing Hemp Train decortication technology from Canadian Greenfield Technologies for $1.5 million to be installed in an 80,000-sq-ft fiber processing facility.

Dallas-based Panda Biotech has signed a contract with an international equipment manufacturer for construction of the largest hemp decorticator in the country, with plans to process hemp grown in Texas exclusively into textile-grade fibert and cellulose. But Texas farmers are yet to get licenses to grow the hemp fiber.