Imposed earlier this year, Armenia’s ban on clothing imports from Turkey has given a boost to local garment manufacturers. Many manufacturers have broadened their portfolios to include a wide variety of products instead of the standard innerwear and socks, says Elen Manukya, Co-Founder, Fashion and Design Chamber in a report by Eurasianet, an independent news organization. Before the ban, Armenia sourced most of its apparel products from Turkey. The ban changed Armenia’s perception towards Turkish clothing and increased their preference for local products, adds Manukya.

The Fashion and Design Chamber is also supporting Armenian designers by facilitating investments, providing proper training for designers and encouraging them to participate in international fashion shows. The government has also offered several tax cuts to textile investors.

Lack of business and education skills

The Armenian clothing and textile industry houses over 100 large and small companies. However, the scale of operations has declined with employee induction reducing from 8.000 people against 150,000 employed earlier. In 2013, the government proposed a development policy for the industry that focused on the unused potential manufacturing capacity and projected double-digit growth. The policy boosted Armenia’s textile production between 2015 and 2019.

However, the Armenian textile and garment industry continues to face many challenges. Earlier, it sourced most of its fabric requirements from Turkey. However, now, it would have to import from other countries, explains Manukyan. Armenia also lacks the required business and education skills. Universities in the country do not have the required infrastructure to train local designers. However, designers are encouraging consumers to buy local products. They are also launching mass collections to offer affordably priced garments.

Many mid-size brands have launched unique and affordable collections in the market. These collections are a reflection of Armenian culture as they incorporate local design elements such as Armenian alphabets, Christian symbols and classic Armenian ornaments.

Exploring popular Armenian culture

Armenian designers are also reinterpreting symbols from popular culture. For instance, brand Light Affect has built its identity around the image of ‘gyrats’, members of a subculture of powerful, semi-criminal street thugs from the 1990s and early 2000s. However, high-end brands have not been able to establish themselves as consumers’ spending on apparels has declined, says Vahan Khachatryan, Co-founder, Fashion and Design Chamber, which sells haute couture clothing worn by celebrities.

A few smaller designers have set up their in the country under the ‘Made in Armenia’ label. One such designer brand includes five concept that set up a store on the Sayat Nova Avenue t to sell affordable Armenian labels. The domestic market is likely to be flooded with local brands that are set to make their mark.

US spot cotton prices reached their highest weekly average since June 14, 2018 at 88.35 cents per pound for the week ended August 12, according to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).

As per a China Textiles report, the weekly average increased from 86.31 cents the prior week and from 57.62 cents a year earlier. Most benchmark cotton prices increased last month, with the value for the December NY/ICE futures contract holding between 88 cents and 90 cents per pound, according to the monthly update from Cotton Incorporated.

In early August, futures reached levels over 93 cents per pound, Cotton Inc noted. Also in the past month, the A Index, an average of global cotton prices, breached $ 1.00 per pound for the first time since June 2018, just before the first round of U.S.-China tariff increases went into effect. The Chinese Cotton Index also ticked up last month, resulting in prices increasing to USD 1.24 per pound this month from USD 1.16 in early July.

The International Cotton Advisory Committee’s (ICAC) current price forecast of the season-average A index for 2021-22 ranges from 73 cents to $1.25, with a midpoint at 95.43 cents per pound.

Following customers’ confidence for shopping after a disastrous 2020 in terms of both values and quantities, the US apparel imports grew by 26.92 percent to $35.38 billion in H1’21, compared to H1 ’20. In terms of volume, imports increased by 38.39 per cent Y-o-Y to 13,365.48 million SME.

As per Textile Focus, the value of clothing imports into the United States fell by 11.63 percent in the first half of 2021, to $ 40.04 billion. However, there was no significant drop in volume in the US, which decreased by only 0.23 percent compared to H1 ’19.

The two-year comparison shows, customers are still importing garments in large numbers from all over the world. The drop in values, on the other hand, indicates that unit prices are tightening – especially for basic commodities – which will intensify competition for manufacturing sites in the coming months!

During the first half of the year, the unit price of US apparel imports dropped significantly s. UVR (Unit Value Realization) per SME was $2.64 in H1 ’21, down from $2.88 in H1 ’20 and $2.99 in H1 ’19. These falling unit costs indicate the fierce competition being witnessed by clothing exporters post COVID-19.

Fashion retailer Truworths International reported a 26.8 per cent increase in annual profit as COVID-19 lockdown restrictions eased in South Africa. Its Headline earnings per share in South Africa, rose to 520.3 cents in the 52 weeks ended June 27 from 410.4 cents in the prior comparable period.

The group also reduced its expenses by 13.5 per cent and increased trading margin to 13.8 per cent from 7.8 per cent, which resulted in trading profit jumping up by 75.1 per cent to 2.3 billion rand ($158.9 million).

Retail sales increased by 0.5 per cent to 17 billion rand, with Africa business sales up 5.5 per cent while Office sales declined by 17.4 per cent in sterling terms and by 13.1 per cent in rand terms.

Truworths declared a final cash dividend of 118 cents, up from 31 cents in 2020.

In Britain, where the company owns shoe chain Office, had to close its stores for 18 weeks due to lockdown restrictions.

Office, which has been closing loss-making or marginal stores and cutting costs in a drive to return profitability, plans to decrease its trading space by a further 12 per cent after closing 31 stores.

Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week will commence from September 06, 2021 with a strikingly varied array of events both virtual and live, a hyper-hybrid season with Germany poised to enter a new political era this month.

As per a Fashion Network, the upcoming season of the fashion week will include panel talks; fashion film premieres; dynamic salons; and a series of live shows. Much of it centered at Kraftwerk, the renovated former power station located in the central Mitte district. The country’s iconic automaker will open the season with a parade to promote young talent, as part of its Fashion Talents program set up by Mercedes-Benz.

The second edition of the Fashion Open Studio will be held under the acronym FOS x MBFW. In cooperation with Fashion Revolution Germany, the initiative promotes innovative design talent and provides transparent insight into the design and manufacturing processes of brands.

Another key element is the Berliner Salon, curated and hosted by a grand dame of the local fashion scene, Christiane Arp. The noted former editor-in-chief of Vogue Germany, Arp will also host a 'Firesidechat' on the final evening in the legendary Borchardt brasserie, a preferred dining experience of both insider politicians and cool fashionistas.

Formalwear sales of London-based multinational retailer Marks & Spencer (M&S) in its brick-and-mortar stores slumped by 72 per cent in the year to April 2021 while its online sales declined by 15 per cent. M&S also sold only 2 million men’s suits in the year to July, compared to 4.3 million suits sold in the same period back in 2017.

On the contrary, sales of causalwear, rose by an impressive 61 per cent during the period. The brand has therefore limited its sale of men’s suit to only 110 per cent of its large stores.

The brand is trying to help shoppers in buying men’s suits and has also launched digital video consultations for the benefit of customers. More on this, Wes Taylor, Director, M&S menswear, affirms, the brand aims to be go-to for a great suit whatever the occasion.

M&S was founded in 1884 and generated revenue of £10,181.9 million in 2020.

Indian eyewear retailer Lenskart plans to open a technology center in New York as it aims to be a top player in the global eyewear market.

As per a Fashion Network report, Lenskart recently closed a $220 million (Rs 1,463.6 crore) funding round at a valuation of $2.5 billion to fuel its global expansion plans and forayed into the Singapore and the Middle East market.

The company plans to build a highly specialized technical team across product, design, and consumer research in the US.

Peyush Bansal CEO and Co-founder, Lenskart says, the company plans to launch a wide catalogue of over 2000 product styles to the US market, especially for new-age consumption patterns. The tech center will enable the company’s growth in the country.”

In India, Lenskart plans to continue to expand its brick-and-mortar store network alongside its e-commerce business and open 300 new stores this year.

Founded in 2010 by Bansal, Khurana, Amit Chaudhary, and Sumeet Kapahi, Lenskart is an omnichannel retailer and manufacturer of eyewear accessories.

Indonesia’s textile exports declined considerably during H1 FY2021 on an annual basis (Y-o-Y). Data from the Industry and Trade Office of the Province of Bali shows, during the first half of 2021, the value of Indonesia’s textile exports decreased by 47.93 percent Y-o-Y in meters.

Ni Wayan Lestari, Head-Foreign Trade, Bali Province Industry and Trade Office believes, this decline to be a result of the falling foreign demand. This decrease in demand was also followed by an increase in ship loading prices due to the scarcity of export containers, reports Indo Textiles

Meanwhile, nationally, the textile and textile product industry is still in a difficult condition. The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) recorded a 4.54 per cent Y-o-Y decline in textile and apparel exports during Q2 FY 2021 minus 4.54 percent yoy.

US-based retail technology company First Insight, Inc has released a highly detailed COVID-19 timeline infographic which depicts how consumer sentiment and the retail sector were affected by the spread of the pandemic.

As per Apparel Resources, the infographic was released as a part of First Insight’s ongoing series of consumer studies – “The Impact of Coronavirus on Consumer Purchase Decisions and Behaviors.”

This infographic shows in detail how various external events directly affected the American public’s overall likelihood and interest in returning to normal day-to-day activities, as well as the impact of the pandemic on retail.

According to First Insight, the infographic studies more than 11,000 respondents. The study was launched in February 2020 and the data collected through August 2021, as COVID-19 cases continue to rise due to the delta variant.

The findings are based on the results of US consumer studies of targeted samples of more than 500 or 1,000 respondents per survey, balanced by gender, geography and generation.

Swedish textile innovation brand Coloreel has bagged the prestigious Encouragement for Action award in the category for Fashion Innovation for its ground-breaking instant thread coloring technology for creative and sustainable embroideries.

Established by the Stockholm Fashion District, the award honors companies for their groundbreaking innovations and contribution to a more sustainable fashion industry. Coloreel uses the technology to both preserve the craftsmanship of embroidery and take embroidery to the next level. The unique solution makes previously complicated designs accessible, including gradients, textures and other stunning effects. Using only a single thread and needle means that it also significantly improves quality and efficiency, enabling immediate start up and faster delivery. In short, Coloreel empowers creativity and enhances quality and efficiency, making the ordinary extraordinary. In the future, the technology can also be used for sewing, knitting, weaving , etc.

Coloreel is also part of the movement to reduce waste and move the textile industry towards more sustainable production. By coloring the thread directly, there is no wastewater, hence no water pollution. And, using a single reel of thread and needle also means minimized thread waste and minimized microfiber pollution.