Rajesh Masand, President, CMAI has urged the association’s members to participate in the Phase III Strategy of the National COVID-19 Vaccination drive and get themselves and their staff members vaccinated. He said, India has so far vaccinated around 14 crore people and aims to launch vaccination for citizens above 18 years of age from May 1, 2021.

This gigantic task will need a massive government effort and tremendous support from all the citizens, and especially businessmen.

He further added current shortage of vaccines is unlikely to last too long as the government has ramped up vaccine production besides importing them on a large scale.

Industrial establishments would be able to procure vaccine doses from manufacturers, provided they follow all protocols such as being captured on CoWIN Platform, linked to AEFI (Adverse Event Following Immunization) reporting and all other prescribed Norms, added Masand.

He said India’s Health Secretary has informed all states that it will allow Industrial Enterprises to vaccinate their employees by procuring vaccines from notified hospitals with cold chain facilities For this, the employees will have to register themselves as ‘Industrial CVCs’ (COVID Vaccine Centres).

The government has announced that any money spent towards this drive, can be set off against the CSR spend requirements of that particular company, added Masand.

Online fashion brand The Souled Store has launched sustainable replica jerseys in partnership with the Indian Premier League (IPL) team Chennai Super Kings. The jerseys created using approximately 15 plastic bottles uses 90 per cent less water than regular jerseys. The brand has always been conscious of its larger social responsibility and its need to implement better sustainable practices.

Launched in 2013, the Souled Store retails a range of licensed products including clothing, underwear, socks, shoes, and bags. The brand holds the India license for a range of international franchises such as WWE, Disney, Warner Bros, etc. It creates and curates stunning designs and prints them on all sorts of equally stunning products- from t-shirts to phone covers to backpacks to boxers to mugs to socks to badges to pins to hoodies, etc. A recent study by its internal fashion forward team showed that the brand’s products increase its customer’s lifespan by 7.5 per cent.

Premium home-grown footwear brand Envie Escaso has launched its e-commerce website. The brand aims to offer products of international quality online. The products boast of impeccable quality and sensitive pricing. With its clean designs, exotic hues, thoughtful detailing, and thorough production process, the brand offers a unique shopping experience to its customers while contributing to the environment.

The brand’s shoes are crafted in prime leather with versatile textures and fine finishing. It only uses sustainably produced leathers from certified tanneries in Italy and France. The brand chooses renewable raw materials for its products and packaging such as meat Industry waste leather produced with high standards of sustainability, natural rubber for our soles, pulp paper for wrapping, and recycled cardboard for handmade shoe boxes.

Envie Escaso also sells products through its partnership with fashion e-commerce platforms like Myntra. In future, it plans to partner with offline retailers like Shoppers Stop, Lifestyle, Central, etc.

India’s leading institute for Design, Fashion, Creative Business and Contemporary Media, Pearl Academy has appointed Aditi Srivastava as its new President.

As per reports, Shrivasta has over 25 years of diverse experience in education, training & development, fashion & retail, lifestyle, health & wellness sectors. Prior to joining Pearl Academy, she was the Global President of Inter National Institute of Fashion Design (INIFD) and was spearheading its academic operations in London, New York, Jakarta, and India. She was instrumental in the rapid expansion of INIFD from 5 to 80 centers of operation in national and international locations.

In her new role as the President of Pearl Academy, Shrivasta will drive the overall pedagogy, academic excellence, faculty development and engagement across its multiple campuses in Delhi-West, Delhi-South, Jaipur, Mumbai and Bengaluru.

An academic with an entrepreneurial spirit, Shrivasta has a deep understanding of and experience in consumer brand building, marketing, business operations management and complete business set-up from the start-up stage.

Hybrid e-commerce platform, 35bazaar plans to open new experience centers in India with the seed funding it received from the US-based venture fund Village Global. As per Fashion Network, 335bazaar already has two experience centres in New Delhi. It plans to open 100 stores in the next six months across all neighbourhood markets in Delhi. The business has two main pillars: 335bazaar experience centres that offer a mall-like experience to Indian consumers at affordable pricing and Social commerce via live streams that use technology to offer live deals, group shopping and entertainment.

Founded in 2020, 35bazaar plans to launch a new e-commerce model to convert unorganized lifestyle stores into 335bazaar experience centres. Taponeel Mukherjee, Co-founder, 335bazaar says, its vision is to offer Indians a great shopping experience through the seamless interaction of the online and offline worlds.

The Retailers Association of India (RAI) has urged the Delhi Government to include all non-food items in its list of essential goods.

Kumar Rajgopalan, CEO, RAI, requested the government to maintain a balance between lives and livelihood to ensure that while lives are saves livelihoods are not lost. As per Fashion Network, RAI suggested that non-essential goods currently forced to close during the new six-day lockdown, should be allowed to open at limited capacity to enable them to fulfil home delivery orders made online or over the phone. The RAI is lobbying for retailers of all sizes to be permitted to continue their business in this limited capacity.

The RAI is attempting to spare businesses from the hardships caused by last year’s lockdown. With coronavirus cases in Delhi currently rising by around 25,000 a day, the local government is attempting to prevent overwhelm in hospitals.

Luxury retailer Bquest Group aims to launch specially customized products and brands for its Indian customers. As per Gaganmeet Singh, CEO and Co-Founder, these products will cater to the tastes of the retailer’s Indian clients.

Besides targeting ultra HNIs and its profile of returning customers, Bquest Group also targets HENRYs (High Earners Not Rich Yet) who are the new middle-class mass-affluent in India.

The retailer has handpicked all brands in its portfolio to ensure they complement rather than compete with each other. Its brands Berluti and Brunello Cucinelli cater to the suave, ultra-high net worth individual who can pay big ticket prices. Saint Laurent and Tod’s are accessible to a larger number of customers who are looking for big, bold brands. The group has also curated its retail strategy to ensure that its brands don’t clash with each other. It is currently planning to partner with other fashion, watches, fragrances and accessory brands.

Luxury handbag brand Aranyan plans to expand its distribution network in the US and UK. It aims to be in the top 50 MBOs in the US.

As per Fashion Network, the brand also plans to launch wedding bags line. The brand recently released a collection named ‘Fluidity’ which features three sub-collections: ‘Stone Drop’, ‘Kesuda’, and ‘Fragrant Trails.’ Structured leather bags are embellished with semi-precious stones and intricate hand-embroidery for a refined take on traditional opulence.

Aranyani, which means ‘Goddess of the Forest’ in Sanskrit, works closely with its team of artisans to create its handbags and each bag is made by one craftsperson from start to finish.

The name and details of the artisan who made each bag are available by scanning the bag’s unique QR code. The brand also donates 1 per cent of its revenue to educating underprivileged children and plants a tree for each bag purchased.

Footwear brand Birkenstock has entered the Chandigarh market with a mono-brand store in Elante Mall.

As per Fashion Network, the new store measures 1,000 square feet and launched with Birkenstock’s spring/ summer 2021 collection. Its latest footwear offerings for adults and children include earthy hued sandals and reinterpretations of its classic models Arizona, Gizeh, and Madrid.

Birkenstock styles have been a cult favorite of celebrities, fashion designers, style icons and consumers across the globe for decades, and the launch of the Chandigarh store is another stepping stone to strengthen our presence across India. Its other India stores are located in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Chennai. The brand’s history dates back to 1774 and it plans to continue to expand its brick-and-mortar presence in India across the country’s key cities, according to Hattab.