Designer Rajesh Pratap Singh will open the first-ever phygital Lotus Make-up India Fashion Week spring-summer 2021 (LMIFW S/S’21) on October 14.

The five-day fashion week will see participation by over 40 leading designers from India. like Varun Bahl, Tarun Tahiliani, Suneet Varma, Shivan & Narresh, Shantanu & Nikhil, Rohit Gandhi + Rahul Khanna, Rina Dhaka, Rajesh Pratap Singh, Payal Jain, Nitin Bal Chauhan, Namrata Joshipura, Geisha Designs, Dhi, Ashish Soni, Abhishek Gupta, among many others. Designer duo Rohit Gandhi and Rahul Khanna will bring the curtains down on the fashion event with the closing show on October 18.

LMIFW S/S’21 is organized by the Fashion Design Council of India with DLF Emporio/The Chanakya as the luxury partner.

The Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) appreciated Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das for discontinuing the automatic caution-listing of exporters saying it had become a threat since the outbreak of coronavirus.

The Data Processing and Monitoring System (EDPMS) was introduced by RBUI in 2014 for all banks to bring their transactions with the exporters online.

In 2016, RBI launched the system-based automatic caution-listing wherein exporters were put on the bank’s caution list if any shipping bill against them remained open for more than two years in EDPMS and there was no extension granted by the bank or RBI. Besides, the authorized dealer (AD) banks also recommended names of exporters to be put on caution list.

AEPC appreciated the bank’s intent to enhance liquidity support for financial markets so as to revive activity in targeted sectors of the economy with linkages to other sectors, provide boost to exports, regulatory support to improve the flow of credit to specific sectors within the ambit of the norms for credit discipline, and to deepen financial inclusion.

A few days before its Big Fashion Festival sales begins on October 16, Flipkart-owned fashion retailer Myntra has received a fresh capital infusion of $103 million from its Singapore-based parent entity – FK Myntra Holdings. During the Big Fashion Festival Sales, Myntra expects sales to double compared to the same period last year. The etailer is looking at this festival season to be biggest fashion event for the country. It will feature over 9 lakh product styles from across 5,000 brands.

Categories such as ethnic wear, men’s casuals, winter wear, kidswear, home furnishings and personal care are expected to perform strongly during the festive period, besides gifting in the apparel and accessories category. Myntra expects sales momentum from Tier-II and Tier-III cities — which has improved since Unlock 1.0 — to continue into the festive period and anticipates over 50 per cent of its sales to come from outside Metro and Tier-I cities. Overall, the company anticipates a fourfold increase in sales over its business as usual.

According to Ravi Capoor, Textile Secretary, the total area under cotton cultivation in fiscal 2020-21 is estimated to be 133 lakh and total production is expected to be 360 lakh bales. In fiscal 2019-20, the area under cotton cultivation was 133.74 lakh hectares and cotton production was 357 lakh bales.

In 2019-20, the Cotton Corporation of India witnessed an unprecedented procurement in its history—105.14 lakh bales in 12 states valued at ₹28,500 crore. From April 2020 to September 2020, CCI procured 20.71 lakh bales valued at ₹5615 crore. The corporation is fully geared up for for smooth conduct of minimum support price (MSP) operations. It has opened 430 procurement centers in 135 district of 12 cotton growing states. It will undertake MSP operations till last arrivals of all fair average quality (FAQ) grade kapas (raw cotton) from farmers without quantity restrictions.

Till October 6, 3.12 lakh bales of kapas had arrived in the market. Therefore, CCI could procure 2,311 bales in Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan as against nil procurement in the corresponding period of last year. The value of MSP procurement is expected to be ₹35,000 crore.

As the pandemic impact subsides with the economic activity picking up pace, Trent may find itself better placed compared to peers. Its flagship concept, Westside, which contributes a big share of revenues, is expected to continue to play a key role in boosting earnings.

According to Axis Securities, factors that could drive recovery post FY21 include Westside’s success in retail concept driven by exclusive/trendy offerings at competitive prices, significant growth opportunities in Zudio format driven by aggressive store additions beyond metros and rise in consumer preference towards value fashion owing to the pandemic led financial constraints.

Trent’s prospects appear better from a medium term perspective. The retailer expects a strong recovery, driving a 18 per cent standalone revenue compound annual growth rate over FY20-23, says Jefferies analysts. Though the retailer may have to bear a significant loss in FY21 but its three-year EBITDA, CAGR would be about 20 per cent.

While Trent’s revenues grew by around 30 per cent year-on-year in the first three quarters of FY20, results for the last two quarters have understandably been marred by the pandemic. Revenue growth dropped to 8 per cent in the March quarter. The June quarter saw revenues decline by a whopping 87 per cent. Hereon, a delay in revival in discretionary spending is a chief concern.

Muted near-term earnings outlook may well keep meaningful upsides at bay in the stock, which has recovered smartly from the lows in 2020. Even so, the shares are still nearly 15 per cent away from their pre-covid highs seen in February on NSE.

Myntra has partnered IPL’s teams Royal Challengers Bangalore, Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super King as their fashion partner. As per this partnership, Myntra will be the official fashion sponsor for RCB and its logo will be seen on the right chest patch of their jersey. To engage with these viewers on social media and on its platform, Myntra is offering daily prizes for participating in its interactive contests around the cricketing extravaganza.

The fashion firm is also targeting women by featuring female fan influencers on its platform. It will also launch Mumbai India’s merchandize and memorabilia on its platform. It will implement a multi-pronged holistic approach, to drive higher brand relevance not only in the key metro markets but also in T2/T3 and southern markets.

This festive season, Mynta’s marketing efforts will further focus on star-studded campaigns with celebrity brand ambassadors, who have a wide audience appeal reaching all corners of the country, including a strong influence in Tier II and Tier III markets. Positioning Myntra as a style expert, the latest campaigns will promote

Myntra as one of the leading fashion destinations in the country while showcasing its tech capabilities through key differentiators such as Myntra Studio, Size & Fit Recommendations, and Photo search.

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Textile firm Raymond has appointed Joe Kuruvilla as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Raymond Lifestyle.

Raymond Lifestyle is the flagship division of the company which includes branded textile and apparel business including brands like Park Avenue, Colour Plus, Parx, ethnix and Khadi.

Prior to joining Raymond, Kuruvilla was the Vice President - digital transformation, media and e-commerce for east Europe at Unilever. He will drive strategy, vision, and product portfolio enhancement for Raymond Lifestyle. Global market development will also be a key area of focus for him. Further, he will be responsible for digital adoption, and alignment to emerging consumer needs

Raymond’s Chief Operating Officer, Ganesh Kumar, will report to Kuruvilla and work with him to execute the transformation agenda for the business as it emerges from the nationwide lockdown due to the global pandemic. Kumar will continue to focus on internal organization, omni-channel distribution, driving operational efficiencies and enhanced process alignment. He will also lead the fabrics and garmenting businesses.

Jockey Industrial Group which was supposed to open its shop in Andhra Pradesh, has backed off despite signing an agreement with the government during the TDP rule. The group had approached the government seeking cancellation of the MoU it had signed with the APIIC. Already, 60 acre land was allotted to the apparel group. It was supposed to set up the shop way back in 2019 itself. It decided to abandon its project reportedly due to disillusionment caused by the demands and pressures for underhand payments by political leaders.

The innerwear garments factory was supposed to provide jobs to 6,000 rural youth and womenfolk. Raptadu constituency was selected for the setting up of the factory. The change in the government reportedly led to the international group to drop its project in the district fearing political pressures from the ruling dispensation. According to APIIC sources, the government is yet to take a decision on the issue.

For its upcoming Big Billion Days sale, Flipkart aims to introduce a bigger and more attractive range of special edition products. In partnership with over 100 brands, the retailer will launch exciting products across categories including fashion, electronics, mobile phones, large appliances, personal care, handicrafts and others. These products will be available only during the six Big Billion Days, which begins from midnight of October 16, with early access for Flipkart Plus consumers on October 15, until October 21, 2020.

Flipkart had first introduced the Big Billion Days Specials in 2019, with the aim to create curated special collections, that are thematic or have industry-first innovations, to make the consumer shopping experience a memorable one, while meeting their growing aspirations. The number of partnerships for this year’s Big Billion Days Specials has more than doubled, as Flipkart continues to strengthen the partnership ecosystem and bring brands closer to consumers across the country.

This year’s Big Billion Days Specials have been curated leveraging Flipkart’s strong consumer understanding, aiming to make available a wide range of products across price points, that will make the festive season special for people across the country.