Opportunities abound for Africa to engage in and benefit from e-commerce and the digital economy as the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) comes into force, as discussed at the UNCTAD Africa E-commerce Week in Nairobi. UNCTAD secretary-general said that global e-commerce has grown phenomenally, but even so, it remained constrained. The high-level dialogue on trade and the digital economy in Africa addressed challenges such as the persisting infrastructure gap and the digital di

The November retail sales of US were up 0.7 per cent seasonally adjusted and 5.6 per cent unadjusted year-over-year, with spending on track in the first half of the holiday shopping season as per National Retail Federation (NRF). Sales at clothing and clothing accessory stores were up 4.1 per cent y-o-y but down 0.2 per cent month-over-month. NRF’s numbers are based on data from the US Census Bureau, which said that overall November sales including automobiles, gasoline and restaurants – were

L-R: Anam Husain from NIFT Delhi, Nishant Raj from NID Ahmedabad, and Franziska Knitsch from Pearl Academy Rajouri. Courtesy: Woolmark The third edition of Wool Runway—a fashion design competition celebrating the best emerging talent from design campuses across India—an initiative by The Woolmark Company, a subsidiary of Australian Wool Innovation, was held in Mumbai last week. The winner, Nishant Raj from National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad was awarded prize money of ₹1,20,000.

Courtesy: PVHFashion designer Raf Simons is leaving his position as chief creative officer at Calvin Klein, Inc. Simons has been leading the creative strategy of the Calvin Klein brand globally across the designer, contemporary, bridge, jeans, underwear and home categories. He was also overseeing marketing and communications, visual creative services and store design. “Both parties have amicably decided to part ways after Calvin Klein, Inc decided on a new brand direction which differs from S

Courtesy: Performance DaysPerformance Days fair, held on November 28 and 29, 2018, recorded the highest number of visitors. Around 3201 visitors from 63 countries attended the functional fabric fair. The first and only event created especially for functional fabrics for sports and work clothing was relocated in its tenth year to the Messe München from the Munich M.T.C, Germany. The move was the right decision at the right time according to the fair organisers and the exhibitors and visitors

Courtesy: Vince HoldingVince Holding Corp, a leading global luxury apparel and accessories brand, has reported net sales increase of 5.6 per cent from $79.1 million in Q3 FY2017 to $83.5 million for Q3 FY2018 ending November 3, 2018. The direct-to-consumer sales increased 17.1 per cent. The net income grew to $6.8 million in Q3 2018 from $3.5 million in Q3 2017. The wholesale segment sales were flat at $53.0 million, as shipment declines related to the exit of certain wholesale partners were

Courtesy: Polygiene Polygiene, a provider of odour control technology and Stays Fresh solutions for clothing, sports equipment, lifestyle, textiles and other materials, has partner with Japan’s Bonmax to enter into corporate uniform market. Bonmax is one of the major players in the workwear and corporate uniform industry in Japan with focus mainly on service companies. “The uniform market in Japan represents significant potential as uniforms are mandatory in many service businesses. We hope

Courtesy: Cotton Egypt AssociationThe Egyptian government has appointed an official steering committee to safeguard the future of the Egyptian cotton brand. Egyptian cotton fibres are considered by many to be the best because of their length, strength, and softness. The new steering committee of Government and trade representatives has been appointed by the minister of trade & industry. The committee will be responsible for the licensing and promotion of Egyptian cotton globally, as well

Courtesy: StyliticsStylitics’s innovative, streamlined, and affordable solution for retailers to deliver visually inspiring content while personalising the digital shopping experience has led to industry-wide adoption of look-based content and experiences. On average, brands using outfit recommendations from Stylitics experience a 21 per cent increase in average order value. Stylitics’ AI-powered visual merchandising platform reaches more than 35 million consumers per month with intelligent

Courtesy: NRFDetego, a provider of innovative software solutions for retail sector, will be presenting latest digital in-store solutions from January 13-15, 2019 at NRF expo, in US. As a co-exhibitor on the SAP booth (#3426), Detego will display their RFID-based inventory management software and latest AI applications for retailers at the leading retail conference. Detego has been complementing the SAP offering in fashion retail by utilising IoT technology and providing SAP systems with real