LONDON - Brands and retailers have been accused of evading their responsibilities over the COVID-19 pandemic by failing to disclose key details of their purchasing practices.The Fashion Revolution 2020 Fashion Transparency Index reveals that only six per cent of brands disclosed whether they had a policy to pay suppliers within a maximum of 60 days, and just two cent revealed how often they paid suppliers on time.The non-profit's policy director and report author Sarah Ditty said many of the

GLOBAL – A new cross industry initiative to develop a co-ordinated response to the Covid-19 pandemic by providing urgently needed financial relief to vulnerable garment factories and workers hopes to take advantage of billions of dollars of worth of available finance.However, many of the multiple stakeholders involved in fraught discussions have so far found it difficult to agree on the final text of a statement so that they can move forward.The plans are being fronted by the International Labou

US-based Alo Yoga, manufacturer of Yogawear, has converted its manufacturing unit for the production of millions of masks so as to help the needy in this hour of crisis.Marco DeGeorge, Co-founder, Alo Yoga, said that the initiative is to support the low income families, organisations and Government globally.The company, equipped with high-tech machines and production practices, manufactures around 1 million garments a week. The manufactured masks, in huge quantity, have been donated to many hosp

Skills are the common building blocks of economic growth and social development. In this current complex global economy, countries need to equip with industry demand-driven technical, vocational, managerial and professional skills for better utilization and leverage of human capital.Figure:With the emergence of diversified industrial and service activities, Bangladesh needs a huge pool of managerial and professional skills.Managerial and professional skill development has emerged as a key compet

The Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) will soon start cotton procurement as states work out norms for controlling crowds of farmers in the wholesale markets (mandis). Around 25 per cent of the produce still remains with the farmers. CCI chairman-cum-managing director P Alli Rani had written letters to states to direct cotton mandis to start procurement.Pic: ShutterstockFollowing that, states like Maharashtra, Punjab and Telangana had issued guidelines to allow cotton procurement operations. A fe

Performance Days presented two major awards at its online edition this year – the Digital Fair. The winner of the Performance Award is BenQ with the article OD677 and the Eco Performance Award winner for summer 2022 is Stotz with the article Ventile Eco 205. Both fabrics were shown and described in the Forum Highlights of the Digital Fair.Pic: Performance DaysBenQ – OD677 is a 3-layer laminate that combines performance and sustainability in the best of both worlds. The outer and inner fabric are

UK online clothing sales were down 23.1 per cent year on year (YoY) during March as thewas implemented, according to the. Menswear was down by 42.9 per cent and footwear by 32.8 per cent. Multi-channel retailers, meanwhile, outperformed their online-only counterparts for the first time since April 2019.Pic: Shutterstockshifted more of their operations into the digital sphere.As many Brits stockpiled, March started off with poor online sales for the first fortnight, but seemed to recover in weeks

Many Chinese factories are now running at a capacity of 75 per cent, with majority of them making masks, PPE suits as well as the regular stuff. The industry believes, as per ongoing discussions, that factories will be very busy after June.This and many other facts emerged from a webinar “Get Set Go – Life After Lockdown (Lessons from China) organised by Association of NIFT Alumni (NIFTA).The webinar panellists included the likes of Basant Bhansali, CEO, COMTEX, China; Nidhi Sikka, Senior Manage

Amid the COVID-19 outbreak worldwide, resulted in major disruptions in our lives as well as businesses and the global apparel supply chain.Against this mighty tide, some of the competing countries of Bangladesh (for example Cambodia and Sri Lanka) have decided to open their garments factories.Figure: Cambodia and Sri Lankan government instruct RMG factories to resume operation. Courtesy: Manori Wijesekera, GPJ Sri LankaCambodia government instructs RMG factories to resume operation through a cir

SAN FRANCISCO – Amid the Covid-19 outbreak, where many of its members are embroiled in disputes with their suppliers about the non-payment of orders, the Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC) says it’s ‘hopeful that out of this immense challenge’ the textile industry, consumers and society in general ‘will demand even greater action on sustainability.’In a bid to find a way through for everyone, the SAC is now engaging with individual members regarding their actions on Covid-19 and it's alread