16th September 2021, Mumbai:

Inditex, the parent company of Zara, reported a 1.27 billion euro ($1.50 billion) first-half profit on Wednesday, citing increasing worldwide demand for designer goods as a reason for the increase.

Inditex reported a net profit of 195 million between February and July, compared to a loss of 195 million in the same time in 2020, although it was still 17.5 percent lower than the first-half profit in 2019.

As most businesses reopened and consumers yearned to refresh their wardrobes following the pandemic's shutdown, the Spanish retailer's sales were near to pre-pandemic levels.

Inditex's real sales increased by 49% year over year and decreased by 7% year over year in the first quarter of 2019.

According to the firm, sales revenues increased by 7% between May and July compared to the same period last year, as customers resumed purchasing clothing for summer social gatherings following immunization programs that increased mobility.

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11th September 2021, Mumbai:

Reliance Retail plans to open a new premium department store chain. Ranging from 25,000-35,000 sqft, the new premium department stores will house products from all global labels that are sold by Reliance Brands and Reliance Retail.

The company’s private labels and brands will be excluded.

Largest retailer in the country in terms of sales and number of outlets, Reliance Retail is aggressively expanding its network of stores from pharmacies to convenience stores and electronic chains, malls and real estate agents. It currently operates over 12,000 outlets in over 7,000 cities and towns across the country.

Out of these, over 2,000 stores are in the fashion, lifestyle and jewelery segments.

Reliance Brands, a unit of Reliance Retail, sells upmarket brands. Reliance Brands sells products from several brands including Hamleys Toys, Mothercare, Muji, Vomo Cosmetics. Reliance Brands also sells luxury brands such as Armani, Burberry, Diesel, Salvatore Ferragamo and Jimmy Choo, as well as other swish global and Indian labels through its multi-brand concept format called White Crow.

Till date, Reliance has opened four White Crow outlets in Chandigarh, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad and Surat.

TOP 5:

• ASICS plans to open 18 new locations in India by 2022, with a 25 percent increase in revenue
• Adidas has opened a digital flagship store in India
• Vedant Fashions, the proprietor of 'Manyavar,' has filed IPO documents with the Sebi
• In FY21-22, the Indian government will provide Rs. 56,027 crore and will pay off all outstanding export incentives
• Apparel and textile companies in India are celebrating; the PLI program has made the sector very happy

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03 September 2021, Mumbai:

Womenswear brand Go Colors’ operator Go Fashion India plans to use the proceeds from its latest IPO to fund the opening of 120 exclusive brand outlets.

As per Fashion Network, the brand will also use the funds to meet its working capital requirements and fund general corporate projects.

Go Colors retails a range of women’s ethnic wear, fusion wear, and casual wear. The brand’s USP is that it offers its styles in over 120 colours and focuses on leggings, palazzos, and jeggings among other bottoms. Shoppers can match the brand’s bottoms to their clothing of choice thanks to its wide colour selection.

The IPO includes a fresh issue of shares for Rs 125 crore ($18.8 million) as well as an offer for sale by various promoters and investors. The business is backed by Sequoia and ICICI Venture and filed its draft red herring prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Board of India.

TOP 5:

• Mustang’s new socks range blends sensibility with sophistication
• Luxu brand, Ekaya to revive heirloom sector with ‘The Revival Project’
• Sneaker brand 'Thaely' to launch new apparel line
• Jashn Events to organize new events with 'India Luxury Foundation'
• Soch Group launches 'Not So Pink' women’s workwear label

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14th September 2021, Mumbai:

Global apparel retailer Levi’s opened a new store at DLF Mall of India, Noida The store design features cutting-edge digital upgrades, brings to life omnichannel capabilities, and enables consumers to immerse themselves in brand experience across customization, fit and style. Spread across about 3400 sq ft, the store will house the brand’s premium collections, collaborations and will be the home of India’s largest Tailor shop experience.

The store will help consumers customize their Levi’s® pieces truly their own with patches, embroidery, paneling, and distressing. The state-of-the-art Printshop allows for customized t-shirts with a range of seasonal, brand, and collaboration-based personalization’s available.

Levi Strauss & Co is one of the world’s largest brand-name apparel companies and a global leader in jeanswear. The company design and markets jeans, casual wear and relates accessories for men, women and children under the Levi’s®, Dockers®, Signature by Levi Strauss & Co.™, and Denizen® brands. Its products are sold in more than 110 countries and worldwide through a combination of chain retailers, department stores, online sites, and a global footprint of approximately 3,000 retail stores and shop-in-shops. Levi Straus & Co.’s reported fiscal 2019 net revenues were $5.8 billion.

The American clothing company started its operations back in India by forming a wholly-owned subsidiary known as Levi’s Strauss India Ltd in 1994 and has grown invariably since then. The brand aims to strengthen its physical footprint in the country and abroad with better store and consumer experience in 2021.

TOP 5:

• Retailers look for respite in festive season as sales grow in double digits
• Suumaya Industries acquires stake in 'Nysaa Retail'
• Akaaro to present first bridal wear collection at 'IOTA21'
• 'Coutloot' to expand B2B supply chain; accelerate hiring across verticals
• Flipkart to grow 60 per cent this year

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6th September 2021, Mumbai:

Reliance Retail plans to a new chain of stores under the brand name of Avantra to take on Tata Group’s Tanishq and Aditya Birla Fashion Retail (ABFRL) in the ethnic wear and saree space.

The company will set up brick-and-mortar chain position mid-size stores in the economy range. Apart from selling private labels in sarees and ethnic wear, Avantra will partner with regional weaver clusters and several third-party brands, including Nalli Silks and Pothys. The first store is set to come up in Bengaluru, followed by others in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

The company’s move comes against the backdrop of Tanishq which is foraying into the ethnic wear space. Aditya Birla’s ABFRL, too, has snapped up significant stakes in domestic designer wear labels such as Sabyasachi and Tarun Tahiliani.

Ethnic wear continues to be the dominant segment in India despite a proliferation of global apparel brands. This is leading to several domestic and foreign brands specializing in western wear to launch desi clothing collections.

TOP 5:

• Reliance Retail poised to foray into saree, ethnic wear stores
• Hari Krishna Agarwal has been appointed as the new MD of Grasim Industries
• A Delhi court has ordered the company to stop using Gucci's mark on their products and to pay damages
• MP (India) has a lot of room to expand in the Textile industry: Shivraj Singh,CM (M.P.)
• Telangana (India) has requested a one-billion-dollar grant from Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the Warangal Textile Park

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02 September 2021, Mumbai:

Launched by entrepreneur Ashey Bhave, with a dedicated e-commerce store and stores abroad, sustainable sneaker brand Thaely plans to expand into apparel. Thaely is currently available at Level Shoes in Dubai Mall, Dubai. It also ships worldwide through its dedicated e-commerce store.

Besides a garment range, the brand also plans to expand its classic sneakers collections in new colors and its range of high top sneakers. Thaely uses discarded plastic to create its vegan sneakers. The brand uses ThaelyTex for the upper part of a boot or shoe above the sole and rPET made from plastic bottles for the upper and shoelaces, recycled rubber for the sole, and vegan glue. The shoe box is plantable- it’s made from recycled paper, dyed with waste coffee grounds and has basil seeds embedded in it.

Since its production began at the start of 2021, Thaely has recycled around 36,000 plastic bags and 25,000 plastic bottles. The brand turns the waste plastic into its own material ‘ThaelyRex’, which is similar in appearance to leather, and uses this to create its sneakers.

TOP 5: 

• Vasaas, a multi-brand fashion e-commerce platform, has over 400 Indian labels on board and expects to reach 1,000 by the end of the year
• Pastels & Pop, a shoe brand, has opened a store in Bengaluru
• Libas, an ethnic clothing business, has opened outlets in New Delhi
• Bhumi Pednekar is the first Indian brand ambassador for MAC Cosmetics
• Shanaya Kapoor, Vir Das, Divyendu Sharmaa, and Rohit Saraf have joined Misfit as brand ambassadors

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13th September 2021, Mumbai:

Ethnic apparel manufacturer Suumaya Industries has acquired a 1 per cent stake in Nysaa Retail, the owner of 1-India Family Mart, Nysaa Retail. Worth Rs 500 crore, the deal values Suumaya Industries at around Rs 500 crore.

As per a Fashion Network report, the deal will increase the importance of Suumaya Industries’ garments in the 1-India Family Mart’s product selection besides boosting the retailer’s private label brand offerings in the ethnic wear segment.

Many of 1-India Family Mart’s stores are located in Tier II and IV towns. They cater to the needs of the rural market and sell a wide range of ethnic and western wear, accessories, homeware, footwear, and lifestyle products, etc.

1-India Family Mart is supported by private equity firm Carpediem Capital and has a strong presence in India’s rural value-shopping market. Meanwhile, a Bombay Stock Exchange listed Company, Suumaya Industries manufactures women’s ethnic wear for general trade as well as for its own branded outlets.

TOP 5:

• Vedant Fashions (Manyavar), an Indian ethnic wear company, has filed draught documents for an initial public offering (IPO)
• Aditya Birla Fashions aims for a revenue of Rs 25,000 crore by 2026
• States will compete for a place in the MITRA textiles initiative
• Coutloot receives $8 million in investment from Ameba Capital and other investors
• Akaaro, founded by Gaurav Jai Gupta, has launched a wedding collection

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6th September 2021, Mumbai:

Men's innerwear brand Amul Macho has sought a stay on Lux Cozi’s recently released advertisement campaign featuring actor Varun Dhawan.

The brand has filed a complaint with the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) to seek the stay, Amul Macho is about to launch a new campaign which is an extension of its old campaign that was hugely controversial for being sexually suggestive. In its complaint, the company states that the ‘The Lux Cozi Ad’ takes undue advantage of Amul Macho’s brand equity, reputation and goodwill.

The TV commercial for Amul Macho Underwear which was released in 2007 showed a young woman suggestively washing her husband’s underwear on a riverbank as other women eye her curiously. After a heated public debate, the commercial was banned by the information & broadcasting ministry for being indecent.

The company then came out with a campaign which was an extension of the prohibited commercial which featured orangutans. It later changed the tagline from ‘ye to bada toing hai’ to ‘bade aram se’ which featured actor Saif Ali Khan.

TOP 5:

• Reliance Retail poised to foray into saree, ethnic wear stores
• Hari Krishna Agarwal has been appointed as the new MD of Grasim Industries
• A Delhi court has ordered the company to stop using Gucci's mark on their products and to pay damages
• MP (India) has a lot of room to expand in the Textile industry: Shivraj Singh,CM (M.P.)
• Telangana (India) has requested a one-billion-dollar grant from Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the Warangal Textile Park

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02 September 2021, Mumbai:

Startup management business Soch Group has launched women’s workwear label Not So Pink with an investment of Rs 4 crore ($601,000).

As per Fashion Network, the brand retails garments tailored to fit Indian body types and sizes. It was aunched with a dedicated e-commerce store and maiden collection of western wear in sizes ranging from XS to XXXL Items are priced from Rs 1,499 and products include tailored trousers and bold-hued blouses. The brand also plans to launch on a number of multi-brand e-commerce stores to expand its distribution network.

Rohit Mohan Pugalia and Purvit Rohit Pugalia, Co-founders of the brand run a number of business though their company Soch Group. Their other businesses are premium granola brand Munchilicious, multi-brand start-up platform This Or That, and pre-workout meal brand The Rooted Co.

11th September 2021, Mumbai:

Premium fabrics manufacturer GBTL –owned brand Grado launched myriad new product offerings duringa conference at ITC Dwarka, New Delhi. The conference witnessed all channel partners from across India, assembling over the days.

The four-day conference showcased a brilliant new range of products which included a fantastic array of Ethnic Wear presented in different colors, designs and patterns of reds, blues, creams, emerald, maroon and much more. The various fabrics have been segregated into various occasions leading up to the wedding too including haldi and mehendi. An Ethnic Wear catalogue & a show-stopping video was also launched at the conference.

Bestsellers like Alsace – 20 percent wool tweed for jacketing and suiting, Picasso– fiber dyed TR fabrics in unique colors, and Streeza - India’s #1 four-way stretch fabric in many unique designs and colors, were also showcased.

Apart from these best sellers, there was a range of products in different colors and designs that were well appreciated with over 400 new designs in the latest collection.

TOP 5:

• ASICS plans to open 18 new locations in India by 2022, with a 25 percent increase in revenue
• Adidas has opened a digital flagship store in India
• Vedant Fashions, the proprietor of 'Manyavar,' has filed IPO documents with the Sebi
• In FY21-22, the Indian government will provide Rs. 56,027 crore and will pay off all outstanding export incentives
• Apparel and textile companies in India are celebrating; the PLI program has made the sector very happy

 Watch YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnQ6v9wBHyOlRPSDgJMsJaA

4th September 2021, Mumbai:

Apparel brand Jockey has launched a campaign to advertise its Jockey Woman range. The campaign includes nine ad videos, and will be deployed across TV and digital. In addition to this, the brand will use hyperlocal touchpoints through print, and out of home advertising.

Jockey Woman is a sub-brand under the Jockey stable that focuses on the women’s intimate wear portfolio. It was launched in 2018, and is one of the youngest players, taking on Indian and international brands already established in the segment. The new campaign marries this brand philosophy with the insight that women do not like being boxed into one category. The campaign tagline reads “Bras as versatile as I am,” alluding to the variety of products Jockey Woman has to offer.

For this campaign, the brand will focus on Hindi movies, music and youth, and infotainment genres, Unlike most brands, Jockey Woman will not go after the Hindi general entertainment channels, or sports channels, despite the high visibility and female viewership among the former, and tentpole properties like the Indian Premier League, and the ICC T20 World Cup coming up in the latter. This is to avoid being a part of a cluttered ad environment.

TOP 5:

• Investors from various Indian states are flocking to Gorakhpur (UP)
• Snapdeal has seen a surge in sales of children's clothing
• Meesho announces new staff wellness programs
• Arvind Fashions now does 25% of its business online and intends to maintain this trend
• NIFT’s size survey to position India on a global apparel platform

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01 September 2021, Mumbai:

Women’s ethnic wear and lifestyle brand Biba has launched its latest occasion wear collection titled ‘Ghewar’ in collaboration with famed traditional wear designer RohitBal.

As per Fashion Network, the Biba x RohitBal ‘Ghewar Collection’ for autumn/ winter 2021 will bring RohitBal’s luxury traditional wear to a wider audience. Bal runs numerous labels from his eponymous brand’s e-commerce site for couture, menswear, womenswear, jeans, and ‘Balance by RohitBal’, a more affordable line of occasion wear. Bal, originally from Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir, set up his first brand in 1990 and has become known for his flamboyant, opulent style. The designer has previously collaborated with brands including Rolls Royce, Reid & Taylor, Omega, Tag Heuer, Mitsubishi for Outlander, Ege Carpets of Denmark, Oriflame and Aditya Birla Group, etc

Biba retails its range of womenswear, children’s wear, accessories, and lifestyle items from its dedicated e-commerce store and brick-and-mortar outlets across India and internationally. The brand also has a collaborative line with Indian couturier AnjuModi.

TOP 5:

• For an occasionwear collection, Biba collaborated with Rohit Bal
• Sutraa This September, the Indian Fashion Exhibition will return to Patna and six other locations
• Kanpur will host the first edition of the Fashionista shopping fair in September
• In the first half of this year, Bangladesh emerges as the favored destination for Indian garment consumers
• Donear Group, an Indian textile company, has acquired Mayur Fabrics and the PV Suiting distribution network