COTTON PRODUCTION LIKELY TO GROW OVER 350 LAKH BALES, AS PER INDIAN COTTON FEDERATION

The Indian Cotton Federation (ICF) predicts that India’s cotton production would exceed 350 lakh bales during the cotton season 2021-22 (October to September). According to J.Thulasidharan, President, ICF , the rise in the minimum support price (MSP) has encouraged farmers and helped preserve the area under cotton. It has also encouraged farmers to implement improved crop management methods. Simultaneously, demand for exports was strong as well. At the Federation’s annual meeting, the office-bearers elected new officers, including  J. Thulasidharan (President), P. Natraj and Adhitya Krishna Pathy (Vice-Presidents), and Nishant Asher (Secretary).

J. Thulasidharan also emphasised the need of addressing concerns such as fibre quality, correct grading, improved seed, and measures to achieve higher output. He went on to say that the next revolution will only come through increased yield. With the appropriate measures, Indian farmers may achieve a 1,000 kg output, which should be a priority for all stakeholders.

LEE JEANS LAUNCHES THEIR NEW VIRTUAL STORE

Lee Jeans has unveiled its first virtual store, allowing buyers to visit its Europe flagship in Antwerp and learn more about the brand’s ‘For A World That Works’ (FWTW) sustainability initiative. Consumers may browse an interactive three-dimensional retail area, exploring things in a store setting before effortlessly adding purchases to their purchasing basket, in the virtual store. The goal of digital shopping is to offer a real-world experience without the stress that often comes with in-person purchasing. The immersive experience also allows Lee to highlight its FWTW sustainability platform through a series of interactive buttons and movies that highlight innovations and activities geared to lessen the effect on people and the environment.

The virtual store’s navigation has been developed to allow consumers to come in from the street, enter the store, and browse products such as men’s and women’s clothing, as well as the exclusive Lee 101 collection. The virtual store is accessible via the Lee Jeans’ website and social media platforms.

PVH AND ECOVATIVE COLLABORATE ON A SUSTAINABLE FASHION COOPERATIVE

Ecovative has formed an international sustainable fashion cooperative with Bestseller and PVH Corp.  Both Bestseller and PVH Corp. will get first access to Ecovative’s mycelium technologies and will collaborate with the company on the development of mycelium materials for goods and consumer applications. Ecovative has been generating mycelium for a variety of partners across the world, and will offer ForagerT Hides, an alternative leather material, in 2021.

Ecovative’s mycelium produces a ready-to-finish product that is free of plastic scrims and petroleum-based coatings. It is totally comprised of bio-based materials. Designers from Bestseller and PVH Corp., as well as Ecovative’s engineers, will collaborate with Fashion for Good Cooperative members to create, build, and test a research and development plan. Together, the cooperative will develop mycelium materials for the consumer market. “Working directly with fashion brands and tanneries, we make beautiful, high-performing and sustainable materials without harming animals or the planet,” said Gavin McIntyre, Ecovative co-founder and chief business officer.

PATAGONIA TO DONATE PROCEEDS FROM BLACK FRIDAY SALES FOR THE PLANET

US-based clothing brand, Patagonia, received an amazing $10 million in Black Friday sales, five above its own expectations, and will donate every penny to help save the environment as pledged. The high-end outdoor apparel and gear retailer revealed the record-breaking haul, stating that its customers’ “enormous passion” for the environment will benefit hundreds of grassroots environmental organizations worldwide. According to corporate spokeswoman Corley Kenna, the idea for the “fundraiser for the world” originated during an internal brainstorming gathering following the U.S. presidential election. Patagonia was looking for a means to raise awareness about the importance of the environment and climate change.

According to a press release, the funds earned via Patagonia’s Black Friday campaign will benefit grassroots environmental groups, many of which are small, underfunded, and off the radar, who are “working on the front lines to safeguard our air, water, and land for future generations.”

FOREVER 21 ENTERS METAVERSE WITH ROBLOX TO CREATE VIRTUAL FASHION STORES

Forever 21 collaborated with Roblox to create a digital experience. Users will be able to develop, own, and operate their own own business within the game, dubbed the Forever 21 Shop City. Clothing and accessories from Forever 21 will be available for purchase. As players strive to become the top store in the experience, they may hire non-player characters as employees. The experience is a community-focused game that will be accompanied by a number of partnerships. Roblox users @Builder Boy, @Beeism, @OceanOrbsRBX, and @JazzyX3 have collaborated to design an unique apparel collection for Forever 21 Shop City.

The shop will also have stores developed specifically by influencers such as KrystinPlays, Shaylo, and the Sopo Squad. Builders can choose and swap their locations anywhere in the game, perform tasks like stocking inventory and assisting customers, customise the interior, obtain merchandise that Forever 21 has released in its physical stores, and use architectural themes like cottage core and cyber punk for their stores. Obstacle courses, entertainment, a food court, and a yellow carpet will be available in Forever 21 Shop City’s four themed districts.

MARKS & SPENCER APPOINTS DIGITAL PRODUCT CHIEF TO BOOST ITS OMNICHANNEL OPERATIONS

Krista Nordlund, Marks & Spencer’s first chief digital product officer, has been appointed to strengthen the company’s digital capabilities. Nordlund is presently the chief product officer of RentPath, a digital rental marketplace in the United States that she joined in 2016. Her CV also includes posts at consumer-facing companies such as USA Today, Expedia, and US Airways. She will join M&S in January and will be responsible for developing improvements to the company’s app and website in order to improve the consumer experience across all digital touchpoints.

M&S has been undergoing a digital transition in recent years, with the goal of putting digital first rather than just seeing it as an extension of its physical operations. According to the company, this concentration has resulted in tremendous digital growth, as indicated by a 50% rise in app users by 2021. It currently has 14 million members in its redesigned Sparks loyalty programme.

“It’s a great time to be joining M&S as increasing numbers turn to online shopping and the business builds its omnichannel offering. I see a huge opportunity to support the next phase of our transformation by taking the digital experiences we offer customers to the next level.” said Nordlund on her appointment.

Nicolas Prophte, Vice President Of Sourcing, Production, and Innovation of Tommy Hilfiger(PVH) spoke to Sandeep Agarwal- Founder of Denimsandjeans on the Sustainability Targets In Tommy Hilfiger. The talk was streamed at the Sustainable Interplay Denimsandjeans Virtual Show on November 23.

PVH is one of the leading clothing retailers and a company that has been very active on the sustainability front. They are not only signatories to Fashion Pact but also have supported the Paris climate agreement, besides there are many sustainability targets that they have already achieved and are on course to achieve many more.

Here are some important points which were made by Nicolas Prophte during this conversation .

The progress on some of the key targets especially related to MATERIALS in 2020

We have some very clear goals for 2025 and this is part of the the strategic roadmap, we call it MAKE IT POSSIBLE. In terms of sustainability globally, we have two main metrics . One metric is regarding fabrics because we believe there is a huge work to be done on fabrics so we are focused on one very simple KPI. We call it the fiber post consumer recycle cotton. I think we are going to develop a little bit more circularity but we believe the best sustainable fiber is not virgin cotton, it’s recycled cotton, so yes, we are having a clear roadmap.

We try to make it simple a very complex environment with two metrics, one metric is focused really on mills and fibers because we believe there is a lot to be done there and this is so, this is a blend of post-consumer recycled cotton fiber, we believe that the best sustainable cotton is the one that you don’t grow, it’s the one where you reuse from the waste. We have a metric specific on the denim mill with 20 percent minimum post-consumer recycled cotton fiber in our blends, in our fabrics . So for that, we have two-time windows; we have 2020 and 2021 with 1 million pieces of jeans made with this blend and for 2025 so a little bit further it would be 3 million pieces . So we really believe this is a scale innovation and this is something we can scale it and to be very honest we are already a little bit ahead of the game because in terms of the percentage , we are accelerating .

The second KPI for us as a metrics for the sustainability vision, it’s the laundry side. After the fabric, we are implementing and we have already since years now we call it a LOW IMPACT washes This is how we could put the pressure on the laundry to minimize water consumption , energy, time , carbon footprint , chemicals etc.

We have some clear goals we want to have for Tommy Europe, 50% of all our jeans are LOW IMPACT wash for 2021, and for 2023 it will be global, so when I say global it will not be including North America but also Asia. So here again we are a little bit ahead, I think for Europe we are already at 60- 65%, so the laundry is reacting also very quick and it’s all about creating a clear goal and target with your supply chain and also to have a tool to measure the progress.

Recycled Cotton For Tommy Stands For ?

It’s post-consumer recycled cotton. To be honest, before we played a little bit with pre-consumer because I think in terms of waste and there is also a hierarchy, pre-consumer is easier and I think we should not forget the pre-consumer because we learned from pre-consumer to scale the post-consumer, of course, post consumer is a little bit more challenging because there is this all this value chain of getting waste sorted out engaging recyclers . There is all dynamic also to engage there, it’s not easy what we try or what I try to engage with the mills, it’s a step by step to become vertical.

I think for a mill today if you really want to nail it down that you have a high quality of post-consumer recycled fiber you need to control the waste, you need to control from the origin of your sources and I think this is what we try to engage with our partners.

Other steps are being/ to be taken to achieve Circularity and About Tommy For Life? 

I think we need to have a clear definition of what Circularity is for us? What are the principles? I think we have two-three principles for circularity in PVH: it’s designing out of waste so, in a way post-consumer recycled cotton is part of these buckets, I think there is another dimension – designing for longevity and durability, how we could extend the product life, I think it’s important also for environmental impact, I think it’s also crucial and of course also designing, thinking the end of life of the product and how we can upcycling it or downcycling or whatever we can do with it.

I think these three main principles that we can work with and we can never forget that’s something important, that’s more personal thought, we cannot sacrifice sustainability because of Circularity we have to do at the same time we don’t have to engage non-sustainable process for Circularity economy that’s why we need to be careful but this is important and we also we engaged recently also a new initiative with Tommy for life it’s more how we can reuse old garments how we could redesign , re-manufacture and re-inject in our collection . I think resell , reuse , re-manufacture and re-put in the market, it’s also a very important topic and this Tommy For Life platform is going to be for us a kind of learning process . How we can do it, how we can scale it, also I think scale also is going to be very important here.

We’re experimenting but I think it’s another way to engage with the consumer with these re-remanufacture or redesign or reuse so I mean already this good progress on this Tommy for life and we launched it very recently because we launched officially internally on October 1, so it’s only a few weeks. We have a full team dedicated to that with the strategy and now we are pioneers and we are checking how it goes but I could tell you more results in a few months to give you some insights.

Alternative Sustainable Fibers

We are experimenting with Hemp – its more sustainable than cotton. But we need to know where you buy the hemp and you need to go closer to the farmer . We are experimenting on how to create more cottonized hemp in our products and try to scale it up. But its not easy. So, Hemp is one good and some recently cellulosic fibers that are coming up . But we need to study and see how it comes out but for us scale is important.

Impact of COVID 19 On Sustainability Goals

COVID had been challenging for many of us and had disrupted the whole business. Covid could have been a kind of distraction meaning that we could skip the sustainability goals and go back but I think it had the contrary and I think it had been an accelerator and we realized probably we need more than the business metrics . I think they are important we need to sort it out we need to solve problems but I think we realize also a kind of introspection work as a brand or as a person that we need more meaningful collection, a product with purpose or purpose towards the environment purpose for the people how we impact, also the planet, the environment, the people working in this industry I think we realize this is getting more and more important so I think for us it has been an accelerator, not a break.

It’s now the momentum to push the pedal and to go for the next step so there will be and there is full awareness and a full commitment from top management into Hilfiger, we know this is something that is going to drive and inspire consumers but also associates in our company supply chain partners. There are pre covid situations and post covid situations and after COVID, it’s a complete change of the fashion industry and we have there is no other way . We have to make it happen. it’s going to take time but I think our role is to build the right steps, the right roadmap to transform this industry for a better one and step by step also to communicate to the consumer our little achievements I think it’s good to engage the consumer that if they buy a product that’s been made in the best practice they contribute to the journey and I think contribution from associate partners, supply chain and consumer is the best game that you can play.

Check out the complete interview at this page .

In Q3, total revenue decreased by 18% to $2.118 billion compared to the prior-year period. The company believes it as a sequential improvement compared to the percentage of revenue decreased in the prior two quarters. The Company’s revenue through digital channels grew 36%, with sales through its directly operated digital commerce businesses up 70% compared to the prior-year period.

Before we go into deep dive of the Q2 results, here is the snapshot of Q3 earnings.

Revenue Distribution – Brands

Looking at the brand-wise revenue distribution, Tommy Hilfiger is leading the revenue chart with USD 1089.8 million accounting for 51.45% of the total revenue share. Calvin Klein with USD 790 million is the second in the revenue chart accounting for 37.29% of total revenue.
Comparing the same period from the previous year, both brands Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein have registered a massive fall of 12% and 18 % respectively. Overall, the total revenue contracted by 12% which amounted to a total revenue loss of $469 million.

Revenue Distribution – Regions

Calvin Klein

Analysis of the regional distribution of revenue of Calvin Klein shows that revenue from the North America region saw a decline of up to 40% during Q3 2020, revenue fell from $455 million to $275. million. Internationally, CK revenue came back to pre covid level and has shown a positive growth of $1 million.

Tommy Hilfiger

The highest-grossing brand of PVH- Tommy Hilfiger has a similar story, its North American operation has reported a fall of 37% % in its revenue during Q3,2020 however international revenue witnessed a slight growth of $1.1 million.

Revenue Distribution – Channels

Whole Sale Channel is beating the retail channel in terms of revenue distribution of Heritage Brands by big margins. Where Retail Channel contributed USD 41.7 Million, the wholesale channel of Heritage Brand contributed USD 196.6 million during Q3,2020 however both channels were hugely affected and fell up to 37% during this quarter ended on Nov 2, 2020.

The Company anticipates its fourth-quarter revenue and earnings will continue to be negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic; although there is uncertainty due to resurgences throughout Europe and North America, the Company currently expects revenue in the fourth quarter to decline approximately 20% compared to the prior year.

We are regularly publishing reports on various aspects of the denim business globally including :

1. Exports and Imports
2. Market Intelligence 
3. In-depth market analysis on important importers and exporters
4. Updated information on different markets. 

We have published over 215 reports till now and we expect to publish over 40-50 reports in 2021 as well. You can check all our reports at- https://www.denimsandjeans.com/subscriber-only-reports-3 .

The annual subscription to our SPECIAL REPORTS enables access to all 215 previous reports and also to all new reports that we shall be publishing in 2021. Please do contact us for a subscription in case you find these reports useful for your business purposes.
Email- mktg1@denimsandjeans.com

We spoke to Nicolas Prophte – VP Sourcing, Production and Innovation Denim at Tommy Hilfiger – if there are any design changes that he feels have come and whether they will affect the production processes.

As a beginning note, Nicolas shared a great positive news that the demand for denim is good for his company and he saw a good appetite for denim bottoms. This kind of dispels so many doubts that had started emerging in the minds of the industry post covid.

He mentioned about the SS’21 Collection which was entirely designed digitally. He also mentioned that the company invested in a design development centre in Amsterdam a few years ago – where they have assets like a huge physical and digital library along with lots of data and this library helped them a lot. They also have an amazing wash library and have strong relationships with vendors and all this helped them to create a great collection entirely digitally. He felt that the designers are learning new ways to design using digital ways. He also spoke about creating 3D designs for selling and felt there is no need to create salesman samples. He also felt that it is important to create more and more digital content to engage the buyers and this is going to be important for the future as well.

Coming to mills and vendors, he felt that investing in relations with the supply chain over the years has helped them during this ‘storm’. Strong relationships ensured that they received full support from their vendors and helped them to be more agile and flexible.

Speaking on sustainability, he mentioned about various initiatives, he mentioned about a target of having 20% post-consumer recycled cotton in all their fabrics in the next 5 years and there will be a great focus on reducing the use of virgin cotton. Tommy wants to produce 1 million jeans with this composition in 2021 and by 2023 – about 3 million jeans. They are also pushing the laundries to be more responsible and with their KPI – LOW IMPACT DENIM. This denim uses eco-friendly washing systems including lasers, ozone, etc and their target for 2021 is to create over 50% LOW IMPACT DENIM.

Lead times will be also massively impacted and closer to the market would be important in the future. Nicolas spoke about various other aspects of the current market , sustainability, digitalization, etc and the complete talk can be accessed can be listened to from this link

Before we go into deep dive of the Q2 results, here is the snapshot of Q2 earnings.

Revenue Distribution – Brands

Looking at the brand-wise revenue distribution, Tommy Hilfiger is leading the revenue chart with USD 803.7 million accounting for 50.4% of total revenue share. Calvin Klein with USD 590.5 million is the second in the revenue chart accounting for 37% of total revenue.
Comparing the same period from the previous year, both brands Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein have registered a massive fall of 28% and 32 % respectively. Overall, the total revenue contracted by 33% which amounted to a total revenue loss of $783 million.

Revenue Distribution – Regions

Calvin Klein

Analysis of the regional distribution of revenue of Calvin Klein shows that revenue from the North America region saw a decline of more than 50% during Q2 2020, revenue fell from $408 million to a mere $199.7 million. Internationally, CK revenue witnessed a fall of 16%. Whereas in 2019 , the revenue from North American and International business was quite close , this time the international revenue is about double that of North American showing clearly that CK suffered more in US.

Tommy Hilfiger

The highest-grossing brand of PVH- Tommy Hilfiger has a similar story, its North American operation has also reported a fall of 51% in its revenue during Q2,2020 however internationally a decline of 14% was reported.

Revenue Distribution – Channels

Whole Sale Channel is beating the retail channel in terms of revenue distribution of Heritage Brands by big margins. Where Retail Channel contributed USD 34.4 Million, the wholesale channel of Heritage Brand contributed USD 152 million during Q2,2020 however both channels were hugely affected and down by 51% during this quarter ended on August 2, 2020.

The Company anticipates its second-half revenue and earnings will continue to be negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic; while the Company expects revenue in the second half to decline approximately 25% compared to the prior-year period, it cannot provide more detailed guidance at this time due to the uncertainty related to the duration and severity of the pandemic.

Calvin Klein

Calvin Klein International revenue increased 20% to $394 million compared to the corresponding period in last year. Outstanding performance in the wholesale business in Europe and China, as well as solid growth in the retail business due to a 6% increase in international comparable store sales and square footage expansion in Company-operated stores, drove the revenue increase. Calvin Klein North America revenue decreased 1% to $392 million compared to the prior year period primarily as a result of the Mexico deconsolidation and a 2% decline in North America comparable store sales.

Tommy Hilfiger

Revenue in the Tommy Hilfiger business for the quarter increased 4% to $892 million . Tommy Hilfiger International revenue increased 9% to $492 million , driven by continued strong performance in Europe and Asia. Tommy Hilfiger International comparable store sales increased 6%. Tommy Hilfiger North America revenue decreased 2% to $400 million . But on the whole it was a good growth both for US and International biz.

Heritage Brands

Revenue in the Heritage Brands business for the quarter increased 13% to $392 million compared to last year , principally due to a shift in the timing of shipments from both the first and third quarters into the second quarter . Comparable store sales increased 1%.

Below is the detailed revenue analysis of PVH for the half year ended on July 30 , 2017

1. Revenue Distribution – Brands

Looking at the brand wise revenue distribution , Tommy Hilfiger is leading the revenue chart with USD 1733.60 accounting 43% of total revenue share . Calvin Kelin with USD 1542.30 is the second in the revenue chart accounting 38% of total revenue . Comparing the same period from the previous year , both brands Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Kelin have registered an increase in the revenue of 4.94% and 6.34% respectively. Overall , the total revenue has shown an increase of 5.40% from the last year .

2. Revenue Distribution – Regions

Calvin Kelin

Analysis of regional distribution of revenue of Calvin Kelin shows that the there is a decline of 1% in the revenue share in the North America Region while a 16% increase in the revenue of Calvin Kelin International Regions .

Tommy Hilfiger

Not only Kelvin Kelin , even Tommy Hilfiger is also getting weaker in North America region as a decline of 3.19% has been reported from the last year for the same period however TH International has shown a growth of 11.57% for the same period . Again international business takes the cake !

3.Revenue Distribution – Channels

Whole Sale Channel is beating the retail channel in terms of revenue distribution of Heritage Brands by big margins . Where Retail Channel is contributing USD 128 Million , the whole sale channel of Heritage Brand is contributing USD 655 million at the end of July 2017 .

The company does not disclose their sales of jeanswear separately, but it does give an indication that jeanswear is not one of their strongest segment and they need to provide much higher focus and attention to it.

We are giving below excerpts from the annual report from PVH which give some details on the financials, market distribution and growth directions for their global growth and heritage brands.

If we look at the pie charts below we will find that Calvin Klein & Tommy Hilfiger currently account for ~75% of PVH’s revenues and ~85% of PVH’s EBIT, where as heritage brands constitute the balance. We will then look at individual figures for Tommy, CK and Heritage brands.

Tommy, Calvin Klein, Heritage Brands

Tommy Hilfiger — Brand Overview

Tommy has over 1,450 Stores and over 10,000 Doors Globally in over 90 countries as of February, 2014
~out of these 625 are Company Operated Stores.Following is the breakup of number of stores worldwide for Tommy.

Tommy Hilfiger — Business Overview & Financials

Tommy Hilfiger Europe – Overview

Europe accounts for ~50% of Tommy Hilfiger global reported revenues
Since 2000, revenues have grown at a 23% CAGR.

Tommy Hilfiger North America – Overview

North America accounts for ~45% of Tommy Hilfiger global reported revenues
• Strong retail presence of ~230 stores, which are primarily company stores.

Tommy Hilfiger Asia – Overview

Geographic expansion continues in Asia.Most regions experiencing double-digit growth.The sales in different regions in Asia is given below :

Calvin Klein

Calvin Klein — has a strong global presence with significant growth opportunities. Europe has most stores followed by Asia.

Nearly 3,000 retail locations and over 20,000 wholesale doors globally as of February, 2014
Approximately 1,700 Company Operated Stores

Calvin Klein — Business Overview And Financials

Calvin Klein — North America Overview

Calvin Klein North America revenues accounted for about 50% of Calvin Klein global reported revenues in 2013

The Company is not very happy about its Jeanswear business and says

“Jeanswear performance is challenging, but we are working to strengthen and rebuild the brand
through strategic investments in our product, people, infrastructure and in-store presentations”

Calvin Klein — Asia Overview

Asia accounted for about 20% of Calvin Klein global reported revenues in 2013
• Primarily retail-oriented model (concession shops and free-standing stores)
• High-teens operating margins for the region
− China: ~40% of Asia revenues; Experiencing solid sales growth
− Korea: ~30% of Asia revenues; Although still down vs. LY, the region is showing
improving trends over prior quarters

Calvin Klein — Latin America Overview

Latin America accounted for about 6%* of Calvin Klein global reported revenues in
2013, primarily driven by Brazil

Calvin Klein — Europe Overview

Europe accounted for about 20% of Calvin Klein global reported revenues in 2013
• Categories: Jeanswear and related products, underwear, accessories, bridge
apparel
• Business model: 50% retail / 50% wholesale

Heritage Brands — Overview & Financials

PVH has the following Heritage Brands – IZOD, ARROW, VANHEUSEN, SPEEDO and WARNER’S OLGA.

Review Of 1Q14 And FY2014 Guidance

The Group achieved a turnover of about $2 billion in the first quarter of 2014 (a 2% growth over 2013) and aims to achieve a turnover of about $8.5 Billion in 2014 with an estimated growth of 3%.