AM Silk, a German fibre inventor, has raised €29 million ($35 million) in Series C funding to make the company’s silk polymers available in industrial quantities to an even broader variety of clients and industries.

AM Silk’s material, Bio steel fibre, is made from a biopolymer based on natural spider silk, a material known for its strength, flexibility and toughness. AMSilk produces Bio steel fibre – made from plant-based raw materials via a bacterial fermentation process – through a closed-loop biotechnological process that means the product is sustainable, with no petroleum inputs.

The company already produces Bios teel for industrial applications as well as within areas of the textiles industry where its high tensile strength is required.

In 2018, for example, the firm partnered with European aerospace corporation Airbus to develop composite materials for the sector.

Through the investment round, Novo Growth, the growth equity arm of Novo Holdings, provided considerable support for AM Silk’s activities.

The brand JADE by Monica & Karishma has launched a new store in Los Angeles. As per Telegraph India, the brand has been designing and creating ensembles for brides in the US for a while now. Its ensembles are handcrafted using the Ek Taar and kasab techniques and are very versatile. They can be adapted beautifully into modern styles.

Launched in October 2008 by designers Monica & Karishma, JADE is today synonymous with discreet luxury and dynamic harmony. Their passion to create timeless pieces representing the traditional Indian crafts in a distinct and refreshing new avatar sets their creations apart.

JADE by Monica & Karishma has, over the years; redefined the bridal couture in India with its avant-garde and ethereal designs. Its bridal collection — A Summer Memoir features masterfully hand-crafted gorgeous pieces that primarily pay attention to comfort, functionality and ease of movement, without compromising on style

Indian e-commerce giant Flipkart aims to raise at least $3 billion from investors including SoftBank Group Corp. and several sovereign wealth funds. The startup plans to launch an IPO next year to increase its current valuation to $40 billion. It is negotiating with Singapore’s GIC Pte, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority for the same. The potential funding could help Flipkart invest in its supply chain, technology and possible acquisitions as it battles rising competition.

The boom in India’s e-commerce market has fuelled investors’ interest in Flipkart, founded in 2007 by two former Amazon engineers and acquired by Walmart 11 years later. Walmart has since invested more than $1.5 billion in the retail platform, at the same time Amazon has pumped billions into its local business. Today, Flipkart includes the fashion retailer Myntra and Flipkart Wholesale, its digital marketplace targeted at small and medium businesses. Flipkart also owns a substantial stake in digital payments provider PhonePe.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, Flipkart and its peers have expanded further into smaller Indian cities. The online retailer is increasingly seeing first-time internet users shop on Indian language versions of its service -- it currently offers 11 languages -- and also voice-enabled shopping. Its annual revenues stand at about $15 billion driven mostly by sales of electronics and fashion but, increasingly, also home furnishings, health care and groceries.

Darlie Koshy, Director General & CEO, ATDC India has quit after serving for more than 12 years. Koshi was earlier the Director of National Institute of Design (NID) and also the founding Faculty & Chairperson of NIFT at New Delhi. He Has now moved as the chairman, NISTI (North-India Section of The Textile Institute, Manchester.

At ATDC, Koshy played a key role in a forming new skills scape ‘Skill Pyramid’ from ‘Smart’ at skill levels 1 to 4 and thereafter ATDC-AVI, for skill levels 5 to 7 and higher levels at the Institute of Apparel Management playing a proactive role in the success of ISDS of MOT, GOI. For this, he set up 200 ATDC-Smart centers pan-India to train over 250,000 candidates in five years emerging as the ‘largest skill provider’ for the apparel sector.

A PhD from IIT Delhi and a rank holder in MBA from CUSAT, Koshy is also trained in FIT, Network as a founding faculty member of NIFT. He has authored three books including the “Indian Design Edge” published by Roli Books. He recently also launched his autobiography by the name All By Design :My Tryst with Fashion, Design and Skills

Multi-brand e-commerce platform Nykaa Fashion has launched a new homewear segment on its platform known as ‘Home Fashion. The segment offers kitchen essentials, furnishings, décor accessories, bath products, among many other products.

Nykaa has already onboarded homegrown and international brands such as Portico, D’décor, Meyer, AA Living, Mason Home, Ellementry, Rosemoor, Décor Remedy, etc, Nykaa Fashion Home will also host specialized content, visual inspiration and videos to guide shoppers through the nuances of interior styling and handy hacksfor the house-proud.

Launched in 2018, Nykaa Fashion is the retail arm for fashion and accessories of beauty major Nykaa and sells through its website and app. It aims to replicate the success of its parent firm Nykaa currently has over 80 stores across India and stocks over 1,500 brands in the beauty space.

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DAILY NEWS:

1. Flipkart, an Indian e-commerce company, collaborates with PUMA on the ‘1DER' line, which features batsman KL Rahul
2. Consumers will determine growth of sustainable fashion e-comm in India
3. Myntra to offer 1 mn styles from about 7,000 brands at the 'Big Fashion Festival'
4. Maharashtra government honors VIP as 'Best Innerwear Brand' for 2021-22
5. Nike strengthens retail presences with new store at DLF Mall of India,Noida

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Ruling in favor of the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC), the Delhi High Court has restrained beauty pageants and other business activities from using the brand name ‘Khadi’ until the next hearing.KVIC had appealed to prevent Khadi Design Council of India’ and the ‘Miss India Khadi Foundation’ from illegally using the brand name ‘Khadi’ and deceiving people. The court ruled in an ex-parte order that the two names were ‘deceptively similar’to KVIC and thus were violations of the Khadi trademark.

The court has ordered the Khadi Design Council of India and Miss India Khadi Foundation to take down all of their social media accounts on platforms including Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube until next hearing. It also ordered these platforms to take down infringing content on their websites and e-commerce sites. KVIC had alleged that the defendants had wilfully misled people into believing that both entities were affiliated with KVIC when they are not.

According to KVIC, the Khadi Design Council of India was charging Rs 2,000 ($27.49) to people in exchange for a ‘Khadi Certification’. The Miss India Khadi Foundation claimed to be affiliated with the KVIC Prime Minister's Employment Generation Program on its website which is not the case, it said,

The third edition of India Spotlight Report reveals, suspension of manufacturing due to COVID-19 led to a 20 per cent decline in credit borrowings by Indian textile and apparel sector in December 2020. The report released jointly by SIDBI and CRIF High Mark says the textile and apparel sector in India burrowed loans worth Rs 1.62 lakh crore till December 2020. The number of active loans by the month-end stood at 4.26 lakh. The sector also clocked in 8 per cent increase in non-performing assets during the month while export credit dropped 25 per cent Y-o-Y.

MSMEs are India’s top borrowers

As of December 2020, the Indian apparel and textile sector has around 5 lakh burrowers. Almost 95 per cent are concentrated in micro, small and medium segment. Around 80 per cent of India’s burrowers are based in top 13 textile and apparel manufacturing states. Maharashtra has the highest percentage of burrowers with Mumbai having over Rs 10,000 crore credit portfolios as of December 2020.

Considering the sector’s credit requirement, in Budget 2021-22, the Central government introduced a scheme to set up zega Integrated Textile Regions and Apparel Parks (MITRAs) with plug n play facilities across the country. The government also announced a special economic package in May 2020 under the Atmanirbhar Bharat program for small-scale entities, including weavers and artisans, informs Sivasubramanian Ramann, Chairman and Managing Director, SIDBI. These policies alongwith abundant availability and fair access to raw materials and surplus labor will help boost future development in this sector, feels Navin Chandani, Managing Director & CEO, CRIF India

Public banks give out most loan

Public sector banks cater to most of the financial needs of the textile and apparel sector in India. By December 2020, these banks serviced around 62.61 per cent loans availed by the sector. On the other hand, private banks, NBFCs and foreign banks serviced 23.49 per cent, 8.66 per cent and 1.41 per cent loans respectively.

However, the value of loans serviced by private sector banks was larger at 40.54 per cent followed by public sector banks which serviced loans amounting to 36.59 per cent of the sector’s total borrowings during the year.

An 81 per cent fall in formal wear sales during the first quarter of FY21 has led to acceleration in options for casual wear. The rise of work-from-home (WFH) trends has encouraged formal wear brands including Raymond, Van Heusen and Peter England to launch new casual wear collections. These brands are also focusing on digitizing the customer experience by going D2C. They are also incorporating 3D technologies in their manufacturing besides innovating with spandex fabrics, says Prashant Agarwal, Co-Founder and Joint Managing Director, Wazir Advisors.

Raymond has launched a virtual shopping experience through WhatsApp and Zoom video calls, with a concierge service for tailored garments from the comfort of consumers’ homes. Its readymade segment is focusing on comfort and casualisation by incorporating cotton-based fabrics.

ABFRL’s Van Heusen recently launched a sub-brand, Denim Labs, to sell more T-shirts, denim shirts, jeans, casual jackets and casual shirts. Bombay Shirt Company too, has launched two brands: Cityof, a casual wear shirt brand; and Korra, a denim brand. Launched in the second half of 2020, the company’s online sales doubled this year, says Akshay Narvekar, founder and CEO, Bombay Shirt Company.

Brands see this trend of shifting from formalwear to casual/ semi-casual as ‘temporary’ because the pandemic may not change buying behavior overnight. According to Wazir Advisors, in FY19-20, the formalwear market was pegged at Rs 1,400 crore and next year onwards, the segment is likely to grow between 8-10 per cent over the next four years.

The pandemic has led to a strong revival of interest in Khadi garments. Data from the MSME dashboard reveals, Khadi sales reached their second highest levels in FY21 with 2,790 institutions selling garments worth Rs 3,079.13 crore during the year. The number of artisans employed in the Khadi sector and institutes also reached their highest levels in five years with 4.97 lakh artisans and 2,790 institutions, reports Moneycontrol.

Comfort drives demand during pandemic

The industry’s apex organization, Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) emerged a strong FMCG brand in both food and non-food categories. As per Ankur Bisen, Senior Vice President, Retail and Consumer Products, Technopak Advisors, the organization was able to clock in strong sales during the pandemic owing to its strong e-commerce presence on websites like Amazon, Flipkart, 1MG, BigBasket, etc. A reason for this is the comfort people associate with Khadi, adds Bisen.

Indians also prefer Khadi garments during summers due to their comfortable and breathable fabrics, opines Rajat Wahi, Partner, Deloitte India. The Indian government also promotes Khadi extensively through its Make in India campaign.

Going online with new schemes

In 2019, the Khadi sector ventured into the e- commerce with giants Flipkart and Amazon launching the Amazon Karigar and Flipkart Samarth schemes on their platforms. On January 1, 2021, Khadi and Village Industries Commission launched its e-commerce portal, eKhadiIndia.com, featuring 50,000 products ranging from home decor, apparels to food products. Through this initiative, the organization aims to promote small scale industries in rural areas to generate new employment opportunities.

The disruptions caused by continuous lockdowns in India’s retailer sector have been a wakeup call for all brick and mortar stores to adapt themselves to the digital ecosystem. This is especially the case for fashion retailers, the worst affected by the pandemic. Indeed, digital services enable retailers to acquire new customers, improve services to existing customers, and reduce cost of operations even during challenging times like the current pandemic. To explore the full potential of these services, retailers need to constantly innovate on their offerings and take the omnichannel route to enable shoppers to shop anywhere and at any point of time, wrote Sunil Nair, CEO Firework India in Outlook.

Emergence of digitally-competent retailers also benefits customers by providing them a variety of product choices, Nair writes. Digital channels help them form deep connections with retailers. Traditional retailers therefore, need to adopt new technologies for their digital -focused customers.

Social media platforms, livestream help make informed choices

Retailers also need to replace the collection section in their stores with data intelligence. They need to adapt to e-commerce mode of shopping to ensure a more interactive, personalized brand experience. Their stores need to be digitally-equipped to help brands drive sales and optimize costs.

Today’s shoppers are more informed. The availability of multiple sources of information enables them to choose their products more wisely than traditional shoppers. Technologies like e-commerce laced short videos provide them with easy access to product data ensuring a better shopping experience. They also benefit from a combination of shhopable video stories and live stream on retailers’ websites

Such services are increasingly influencing shopping choices of consumers, opines a Deloitte report on Digital Disruption in the Retail of 2020. The report states, over 56 per cent of in-store retail services are now influenced by digital. A 2016 Deloitte Holiday Survey adds, customers research products and their prices before buying. They also discuss product reviews and ratings on social media platforms, which largely influence their purchase decisions.

Positive shopping experience enhances brand loyalty

A customer with a positive shopping experience is likely to spend 140 per cent more on a product than one with poor experience, says the Deloitte Report. They are also likely to remain loyal to the brand for a longer period. Customer satisfaction has had a direct impact on sales growth, product sizes and customization services of 40 per cent of companies

Indeed, the Indian government’s focus on digital adoption and internet and penetration has helped retailers convert 150 million Indian customers into tech-savvy shoppers. They can further strengthen bottom-lines through efficient digital transformation strategies

Designer duo Shivan and Narresh have launched a new swimwear and resort collection made from 90 per cent recycled ocean-waste polyester and hand-made looms. Called ‘CampHeart,’ the collection is inspired by the increasing need to protect the world’s oceans and an increased demand for sustainable fashion. It features an original, digital style print.

Swimwear in the collection has been made through sustainable methods while other garments are made on hand-made knitted looms as opposed to the standard industrial looms. This helped the designers cut down waste and time required for sourcing fabrics.

It also helped the designers support and revive the dying hand-knitting art form of India. The brand can now create its own product directly from the primary stage of the yarn and eliminate additional processes of first sourcing the fabric and then manufacturing the product, which leads to a lot of industrial wastage.

India’s consumer index fell to a record low of 48.5 in May from 53.1 in March, shows a consumer confidence survey by the Reserve Bank of India. Survey respondents reported bleak future prospects, with the future expectations index dropping to 96.4 from 108.8 in the period under review. Household expenditures also dropped owing to consumers’ concerns about future economic and job prospects, the survey indicates.

The survey also points out, expectations of rising inflation are adding to current challenges of fiscal policy makers who halted interest rate curbs more than a year ago due to price-rise. Sticky underlying price pressures since then have kept the rate-setters from resuming the easing, including at their latest meeting that concluded Friday.

Households’ median inflation perception for the current period jumped by 150 basis points to 10.2 per cent while the inflation expectation for three months rose by 70 basis points to 10.8 per cent, compared to the March 2021 survey, the RBI said. Median inflation expectations for one-year ahead also remained at an elevated level at 10.9 per cent.