Apparels

Luxury brands like Gucci and Louis Vuitton are witnessing increased sales in India’s non-metro cities due to e-commerce and travel retail expansion. High-end consumption patterns are emerging in tier 2 and 3 locations like Ajmer, Surat, and Kochi, demonstrating rising affluence and spending capacity among consumers.

Automation in Bangladesh’s RMG sector has led to a 30.58-per cent reduction in workforce across production processes, with helpers being the most hit, a study revealed.
Automation has particularly hit women, older workers, those with lower literacy and unskilled labourers.
Sweater factories saw a 37.03-per cent drop per production line.
Woven factories followed, with a 27.23-per cent decline.

Return on 6-year-old investment is over 50%higher than 2nd-most profitable deal in India, little short of Tiger Global’s blockbuster Flipkart bet

Reliance Retail is testing sales of Shein’s casual women’s westernwear on its Ajio platform. Despite Shein’s ban in 2020, a partnership allows sales to resume domestically, abiding by government regulations. Shein will rival brands like Zudio and Myntra in the lucrative, growing Indian fast fashion market.

In November 2024, South Korea’s apparel imports rose to $907.518 million, marking a 5.22 per cent increase year-on-year, despite a sharp 32.16 per cent decline from October.
Over the year, total imports amounted to $11.430 billion, with significant contributions from both knitted and non-knitted apparel.
The country also maintained robust exports of textile materials.

A group of US trade bodies have urged President-elect Donald Trump to convene an inter-agency working group to fight illicit trade, protect intellectual property (IP) and eradicate counterfeits soon after assuming office.
It called for supporting passage of the SHOP SAFE Act to incentivise e-commerce platforms to improve their systems to detect and prevent the sale of counterfeits.

​The brand, which offers crystals, Swarovski created diamonds and zirconia, jewelry, and accessories, as well as home décor and crystals for automotive, is planning to open 7-10 stores across channels next year.

Political instability in Bangladesh has negatively impacted its position in US apparel market.
Despite remaining the third-largest supplier, the turmoil has led to a noticeable decline in market share compared to previous years, culminating in a decrease in imports to $5.464 billion in Jan-Sept 2024.
This trend highlights the broader implications of domestic issues on international trade dynamics.

India’s leather and footwear exports are expected to grow by over 12% to USD 5.3 billion this fiscal, driven by strong demand from the US and UK, says CLE Chairman Rajendra Kumar Jalan. He highlighted the sector’s growth potential, urging government support through the PLI scheme to achieve USD 47 billion turnover by 2030.

In fiscal 2025, Japan experienced a decrease in imports of clothing and accessories by 1.7 per cent, with similar declines in textile yarn and fabric.
However, exports in these sectors showed growth, particularly in textile yarn and fabric, which increased by 7.9 per cent, contrasting with a decline in textile machinery exports by 18.0 per cent.