Denimandjeans | Global Trends, News and Reports | Worldwide

Tag: weekly news

  • Denim News Snippets – Week 32

    Denim News Snippets – Week 32

    Continuing our weekly news snippets, here are some interesting ones for Week 32.

    Abercrombie & Fitch Debuts Footwear, Exclusive Partnership with Zappos

    Abercrombie & Fitch is capitalizing on its booming women’s apparel category with a new partnership with the online shoe and clothing platform Zappos. On Thursday, the specialty retailer announced that Zappos will be its exclusive U.S. e-commerce partner, making its popular pieces more accessible than ever and introducing its first-ever collection of women’s footwear only available on Zappos. Customers can now shop Zappos for Abercrombie & Fitch favorites, including Abercrombie’s high-quality, size-inclusive denim and essential tops for adults and kids. Through this partnership, which is the first of its kind in the U.S. for Abercrombie & Fitch, the two brands also teamed up to create an exclusive footwear capsule available only on Zappos.com and Abercrombie.com, featuring a wide range of sizes and designed to perfectly style with Abercrombie & Fitch denim fits. The denim fits featured on Zappos range from size 23-37 (including Abercrombie’s signature Curve Love collection with built-in stretch that works for curves – not the other way around), and feature three lengths per style: regular, long, and short.

    Kontoor Brands’ Online and U.S. Wholesale Businesses Spurs Revenues


    Kontoor Brands forges ahead to capture an audience that is shopping online for denim casuals during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The North Carolina-based denim company and the parent to the Wrangler and Lee brands, has devised a recovery strategy during the pandemic that has continued to boost revenues, according to its Q2 2021 earnings release Thursday morning.

    The company reported revenues of $491 million for the quarter that ended July 3, a 41% increase from last year. Its Wrangler and Lee brands both saw significant revenue growth from this time last year as  Wrangler’s global revenues of $311 million were a 24% increase, while Lee’s $176 million global revenues were a 105% rise, the company said. The company’s performance, which is attributed to continuing improvements in its online and U.S. wholesale businesses, has led to another revision of fiscal 2021 guidance. The company now expects adjusted EPS to be between $3.90 and $4.00, higher than the $3.70 to $3.80 range it had previously projected after the first quarter. Its board also approved a $200 million share repurchase program, according to the company.

    Cone Denim to render Verified Fabric Details Via Higg MSI

    Cone Denim just took a major step in its journey to total transparency by announcing a new offering that makes it easier for its customers to determine the environmental impact of its products. Using the Higg Materials Sustainability Index (MSI), customers can now access Life Cycle Assessment and comparison data for details on specific materials used in Cone Denim fabrics. The mill developed custom materials in the MSI tool for its full Spring/Summer 2022 fabric collection and is among the first to offer this type of accessible, verified transparency to its customers. The Higg MSI is a resource used by sustainability analysts, designers, and product developers to determine the sustainability of materials used in garment and footwear design, and is considered one of the most comprehensive tools for making informed materials choices. Cone Denim is a longtime champion of the Higg MSI as well as other tools in the Higg Index product suite. The new functionality is one part of the denim mill’s ongoing commitment to using more sustainable materials.

    Denim brand Noisy May offers new jeans with a lifetime guarantee

    Noisy May presents its first pair of jeans with a lifetime guarantee. The Danish label commits that should its R.A.R.E. jeans ever become faulty it assures to repair, replace or refund them. As the name suggests, R.A.R.E. jeans (an acronym for Remarkably Advanced Responsible Essentials) are unique and produced by Noisy May in a limited edition only. Each pair of the 300 exclusive pieces is individually numbered and certified by the brand. The jeans combine low-impact production methods with more sustainable materials and recycled tags. They are based on the popular relaxed Isabel fit with tapered legs and a flattering, normal waist. Using a timeless ‘mom’ fit will work season after season, thus expanding the life of the product further.“In every design process, Noisy May strives to be more sustainable, step by carefully planned step. The R.A.R.E. jeans are no exception. Using advanced manufacturing technologies, the R.A.R.E. jeans combine a heavy 100% organic cotton with sustainable thread and reusable metal rivets and trims,” says Noisy May in a press release.

  • Denim News Snippets – Week 31

    Denim News Snippets – Week 31

    Levi Strauss Steps Down Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) Board

    Levi Strauss & Co stood down from the leadership of the cotton trade body Better Cotton Initiative (BCI).  After Chinese internet users raised concern about alleged forced labor in Xinjiang, several brands including H&M, Nike, and other BCI member brands were targeted. BCI is a group that promotes sustainable cotton production. Its members include Nike, Adidas, H&M, and Japan’s Fast Retailing. The China branch of BCI however said in March there were no signs of forced labor in Xinjiang. No further comments were made by BCI since then. Member brands now remain indecisive and stricken as to how and when to respond to the Chinese user’s claims made around them.

    American Eagle Rolls Out Its Augmented Reality Campaign On Snapchat

    American Eagle launches its new fall‘21 back-to-school campaign, â€œFuture Together, Jeans Forever,” by deploying an innovative virtual shopping experience powered by Snapchat’s “Dress Yourself” tool, and in partnership with cartoon avatar creator Bitmoji. The campaign accentuates a variety of new denim offerings to further the brand’s momentum as a leader in jeans and aims at getting young people excited about showing off new styles as they head back into the world together for a new school year.

    The campaign’s innovative augmented reality experience allows Snapchat users and American Eagle fans worldwide to create an outfit from the Bitmoji avatars of American Eagle brand ambassadors Addison, Chase, Madison, Caleb, and Jenna in clothing from the retailer’s “Future Together, Jeans Forever” line, as well as use their phone’s self-facing camera to try on and shop select looks themselves. Combining appealing influencer personalities, both real-life and virtual-avatar-based, and the latest technological trends, like augmented reality, provides a potent way for brands to speak to and with their Gen Z, millennial, and younger customers. 

    Kontoor Aims For Product Diversification To Escalate Q2 Wins

     Kontoor Brands’ Wrangler and Lee businesses exceeded financial expectations in Q2. In an earnings call on Thursday, the company reported that Wrangler brought in $311 million in revenue for a 24% increase since last year, while Lee brought in $176 million for a 105% increase. Revenue across all brands totalled $491 million for a 41 percent increase, fueling executives’ confidence for the future. To sustain this momentum, the company is diversifying its offerings through strategic product extensions, focusing on increasingly popular categories like outdoor, workwear, and T-shirts. CEO Scott Baxter said the new categories present nearly $150 billion in total addressable markets, and are a natural addition to the brands’ current offerings. Baxter further said that the shift to casualization is “not cyclical” but will continue to fuel the brands’ relevance over time stating that the industry is seeing a “denim resurgence” in post-pandemic consumerism.

    Levi Strauss & Co. To Acquire Beyond Yoga

    Levi Strauss is set to buy Beyond Yoga and make its entry into the booming activewear segment after a pandemic year that saw job cuts and weakened sales. Levi Strauss expects the all-cash transaction to add more than $100 million to its net revenue by the end of next year. It plans to expand the mostly digital, size-inclusive Beyond Yoga to a wider, more global audience.  Beyond Yoga co-founder, Michelle Wahler will continue as chief executive of Beyond Yoga, a standalone division within the company, and report to Levi Strauss president and chief executive Chip Bergh. Wahler said that the brand was glad to become a part of the Levi Strauss & Co. family and the initiative will aid to accelerate their growth by leveraging the experience and resources of their team and their global infrastructure.

    Indian Textile Firm Arvind Ltd Triumphs Triple-Digit Growth In Apr-June

     Arvind Limited, one of the largest textile companies in India, reported Q1 revenue skyrocketing to 140 percent, reaching ₹1,439 crores compared to revenue of ₹599 crores in Q1 FY21. For the period ended on June 30, 2021, textiles business which includes denim, wovens and garments reported a 170 percent jump in revenues to ₹1,176 crores (₹436 crores). The company’s EBITDA for the quarter escalated 460 percent to ₹104 crores with a loss of ₹29 crores. While net loss shrank to ₹8 crores. 

    Robust export demand for the denim category whose volume grew 2.8 times in Q1 FY22 neutralized the reduction in domestic orders, while the woven category recorded volume growth to 3.3 times. Moreover, garments volume improved 1.8 times year over year. On the contrary, Advanced Material segment sales expanded to ₹193 crores. For Q2 FY22, Arvind Limited predicts exports demand to remain strong along with domestic revival to gain traction from August. The company expects to reduce its debt to near Q4 FY20 levels in the upcoming quarter.

  • Denim News Snippets – Week 27

    Denim News Snippets – Week 27

    Continuing our weekly news snippets, here are some interesting ones for Week 27.

    Levi’s profits Rise 198% in 6 months of 2021

    Levi’s reported net revenues of $1.3 billion which were up 156% versus the Q2 of fiscal 2020 and net revenues in the U.S. and China exceeded Q2 of fiscal 2019. Importantly, Direct To Consumer (DTC) stores and e-commerce comprised 29% and 8%, respectively, of total company net revenues in the Q2.E-commerce grew at a blistering pace – up 42% versus Q2 of fiscal 2020 and net revenues through all digital channels grew 75%. Digital penetration as a percentage of total sales was approximately 23%.

    Dutch Govt Initiative on Sustainability Attracts PVH

    Called the Dutch denim deal, public-private collaboration and initiative for sustainable denim were launched by Dutch Govt following the EU Green Deal and Circular Action Plan. Including partners like Scotch & Soda, Kings of Indigo, Kuyichi, 247 Jeans, Garcia, Mud Jeans, Recyclers and others from the supply chain, A public-private initiative, the Deal was launched by the Dutch government, following the EU Green Deal and Circular Action Plan, The target is to produce collectively a total of 3 million pieces containing (min 20 per cent) post-consumer recycled cotton (POCR) by end of 2023, and individually, each brand to have a minimum of 5 per cent POCR content in weight across the denim collections.

    H&M, Timberland, and OVS top Fashion transparency index

    Italian retailer OVS topped the Fashion Transparency index created by Fashion Revolution by scoring 78% of a possible 250 points. With an increase of 44% compared over 2020 OVS disclosed some of its raw materials suppliers for the first time and published data on the number of workers in the supply chain that had been paid a living wage.H&M Group came in second scoring 68%, then Timberland and The North Face which both scored 69%. German fast-fashion retailers C&A and Vans both achieved 65%.

    ISKO invests in HKKRITA’s Green Machine

    ISKO, the prominent Turkish mill, has invested in Green Machine – a revolutionary and innovative method by HKRITA. This technology allows for the separation of cotton and polyester by decomposing cotton into cellulose powders. The polyester is hence separated and the process is closed-loop and uses only water, heat, and less than 5% biodegradable green chemicals. It’s an industry first and expected to play a big role in circularity.

    Post Bankruptcy Rebounding Aeropostale Focuses on Gen Z

    Aeropostale’s back-to-school product assortment, which launched recently is heavy on denim, with a variety of new fits and washes in men’s and women’s. According to Natalie Levy, president and chief merchandise officer at Aeropostale’s parent company SPARC’s sales ratio for tops-to-bottoms were three-to-one. Now, denim is the brand’s No. 1 category, with current sales 50% higher than in 2019. The company is focusing on social media channels like TikTok to create virality. Baggy and boyfriend jeans are among the high sellers!

    Week 26 news can be found here.

  • Denim News Snippets Week 26

    Denim News Snippets Week 26

    In our new initiative, we shall be bringing denim news snippets from around the world at the end of the week. These news relate to various aspects of the industry including technology, sustainability, production processes, people, and more. The idea is to give our readers a quick go of news of interest for a major part of the industry. And here we go with the first one today!

    Outland Denim makes cotton tracing breakthrough

    Outland Denim is an Australian jeanswear brand founded in 2008 by James Bartle. This week, James Bartle announced that Outland Denim has made a breakthrough. He announced that they now know the complete journey of their denim, the whole supply chain from Tier 1 (production) to Tier 5 (the cottonseed). This level of transparency is very hard to achieve and is the goal of most brands. Outland Denim could make this possible as they’ve been working with their key supplier Bossa Denim for 7years to achieve this. Outland Denim is not only a sustainable brand but also has claims to be an ethical one as it employs victims of trafficking or sexual exploitation in its factory in rural Cambodia.

    WOX Brings AI to Ozone Bleaching and Denim Finishing

    Wiser tech is a wash tech company in Turkey. This exceptional Research and Development center has been working on making an AI-based Denim Finishing technology. WOX is based on Wiser Wash, a patented and award-winning ozone bleaching process that was introduced to the denim industry in 2017. This technology removes the standard pumice stone and toxic chemicals and bleaches with only 200 ml of water and ozone. Wiser TEch introduces WOX to take this technology one step further (this step was definitely a long jump though) WOX helps to transmit real-time data to AI-based algorithms which help the machine to self monitor its own consumptions, track component health, and improve itself over a period of time with more data.

    Calik Denim Promotes Transparency with QR Code Integrated System

    The Turkish denim factory, Calik Denim has launched an integrated QR code system that allows customers to scan the code on the hangtag. This decision was made so that they could be more transparent to their customers and focus on sustainability. The system displays information about the source of fabric fibers, life cycle assessment (LCA) scores, and eight different dimensions of environmental impact. When scanned, the QR Code reveals the composition details, vendor information, and certification details, and the data can be audited and measured with globally accepted values as per the company. This is another strong step by the company towards sustainability.

    Saitex opens a denim mill in Vietnam

    Saitex, the famous denim factory in Vietnam, which recently opened a Denim factory in Los Angeles opens up a Denim mill in Vietnam. Saitex Denim is revolutionizing sustainability with every step they take. The new denim mill by Saitex is a 100,100 square-meter complex located in the Nen Chak Industrial Zone in Dong Nai, Vietnam, 40 minutes away from the factory in Ho Chi Minh City, and will officially open its doors to customers in August. The mill was to be launched earlier but it got delayed due to Covid. It’s expected to be a State of the Art mill that will have many high-tech installations for its effort towards sustainability and transparency.

    PVH Europe joins Dutch Denim Deal initiative

    Amsterdam-PVH Europe-the headquarters of Tommy Hilfiger Global and Calvin Klein Europe-has joined the Dutch Denim Trade Sustainability Initiative. The company announced that it will serve on the steering committee of this private-public organization and work with its 38 signatories to improve the sustainability of the denim industry and make recycling the new normal. It said it would share its knowledge and experience in recycled cotton, and use its brand to expand its influence and increase the supply of recycled cotton from the Netherlands through a strategic partnership.

    India ranks #1 among countries as organic cotton production reaches new highs

    Organic cotton production reaches new highs. Altogether, 229,280 farmers grew 249,153 tons of natural cotton fibre on 588,425 hectares of guaranteed natural land in 21 nations, as per Textile Exchange’s ‘2021 Organic Cotton Market Report’. The figure addresses a 4% development in fibre volume and is the fourth year straight that natural cotton creation has expanded The seven natural cotton-delivering nations together recorded for 95% of worldwide production, these were India (50%), China (12%), Kyrgyzstan (12%), Turkey (10%), Tanzania (5%), Tajikistan (4%), and the US (3%). Two new nations – Uzbekistan and Myanmar – joined the line-up of natural cotton makers in 2019/20, and essentially another three nations are required to participate in the following not many years. The report found India once again had the most land in conversion to organic, followed most closely by Turkey, Tajikistan, and Tanzania.

    Soorty and Isko Announce Collaboration

    Isko Turkey and Soorty from Pakistan announced the signing of a technology licensing agreement for the production of fabrics and garments. The first collaboration has come in the form of Isko Future Face by Sooty collection for the US market. The agreement is likely to bring more and more productions to Soorty Pakistan using the expertise and R&D strength of Isko.