2021 OCTOBER
iApparel Journal Quarterly Issue
FROM THE DESK OF
THE PUBLISHER
Andrew Sia
We are coming to the fourth quarter of 2021, the year that we will remember in history as the full year the world has been suffering through this pandemic known as coronavirus.
Someone has compared the seriousness of this pandemic to the Second World War as this global crisis comes on top of escalating global climate threats, extreme inequality, geopolitical where we see the up rise of populism. This is tearing our societies apart and it is very unfortunate.
We realized that we have to bring in reforms and changes to our social system, but with this pandemic we come to realize that the changes are more pressing and they are inevitable. I have repeatedly saying that when we talked about changes, they can take as long as five years, but at this time they just need months.
If we know how to grasp this opportunity, we can change first our political preferences and use this to lead us to realign policies to create more inclusive and sustainable societies within countries and internationally. We are not talking about the change of powers, but the deep-seated reforms that can address the fundamental weaknesses in our societies.
We are going to walk you through the highlights of our October issue and please enjoy your reading.
– Andrew Sia
Founder & Publisher
Preview all articles of this
Quarterly Issue !
Special Report
Posted Before the Interfilière September 3-5, 2021
By Andrew Sia
This report has to do with the entries of those samples of the fabrics and trims for the use in the Interfilière Paris Forum in reflections to the five themes—New Retro; Color Expressions; Planet Friendly; Seductive Drama and Dynamic Multi-Wear.
But unfortunately by the time we received it, This had passed the deadline for their selections, which was August 9, 2021. We learned that the physical show was held on September 3-5, 2021 after the absence since July 2020.
Global Fashion and Exhibition Calendar October 2021 to March 2022
By Andrew Sia
We have always consider exhibitions and tradeshows are important for our industry. It is painstaking during this time as the exhibitors are struggling to bring the shows into physical shows. But the traveling is still not opened for business travelers, or at least not as before.
The cities that we focused on those international exhibitions are Paris, London and New York. These cities are located in countries that are still suffering from the Delta variant. We would suspect that the visitors would be national and not those international travelers.
We purposely brought out the exhibitions in the UK, knowing many of the people from Hong Kong involved in the fashion and textiles business have chosen the UK to be their country to live now. We hope that they can find the opportunities at the shows.
Introducing Interfilière Shanghai Show 2021
By Andrew Sia
After being missed from the scene in 2020 during the pandemic, the show is back now. Aside of all the exhibitors along the supply chain from design to production execution, the highlights are the fashion shows, the fashion design award and the most glamorous is the young label award.
Earlier on it was planned for August 26 to 27 but due to the Covid-19 in Shanghai region, this was pushed into October 7 to 8. But to our latest knowledge that it is being postponed until the organizer’s further notice.
Coronavirus Regional Report
JULY | August | September
2021
By Andrew Sia
Coronavirus Regional Report, July 2021
This time we talked about the inequality of the global economy and the pandemic has widen the gap unfortunately.
At the G7 in Glasgow, the Group of 7 pledged to donate 870 million doses of vaccines to the developing countries but unfortunately only half of these doses will arrive end of the year.
Coronavirus Regional Report, August 2021
The Council of the EU was considering the need to reinstate restrictions on transatlantic travelers. The US rate of infection rose to more than 300 coronavirus cases per 100,000 people, while the EU deems a safe rate of infection to be not more than 75.
After a rapid rollout of vaccines in the early part of the year, the US vaccination slowdown in large parts of the US that resulted the infection rates to climb steadily. Its death rate is more than 1,250 per day—double of the UK and four times that of the EU.
The US has fully vaccinated 52% of its population, compared with 57% in the EU and 64% in the UK.
Coronavirus Regional Report, September 2021
Total number of deaths on September 25 was 4,755,989 cases. But according to Economists report, the best estimates for the deaths of Covid-19 would probably be 15.3 million, being the true figure between 9.4 million and 18.2 million.
Special Book Report: Retail Recovery
By Terri Fisher
With this issue we are introducing our Special Book Report which is also the additional to our Book Report and it is done by our retail specialist, Terri Fisher. We also added into the title as “A Peek Into the Must-Read-Book” and we hope that it will be helpful and inspiring to our readers.
This will be featured once or twice during the year and Terri promised to look out for books that can benefit to our fashion industry.
This time she picked up the new book by Mark Pilkington, an author that we know and we introduced his last book, Retail Therapy, which was about the retail apocalypse.
Also at this time we have been caught in a situation that none of us have ever experienced, the Covid-19 which developed into a global pandemic. Not only it has disrupted our industry, but it has brought everything around us down with the pandemic.
We would recommend you to buy this book which is becoming one of the best sellers.
With this special book report, Terri is giving a very clear introduction of the book which can use already as a reference point for your further reading.
Market Intelligence
Market Intelligence Short Read - Part 1
By Andrew Sia
There are 17 news clips here and the most impressive one is the opening of La Samaritaine, which Bernard Arnaut called the “fairyland of luxury” and who is more qualified than him, the major shareholder of LVMH?
We have other news clips reporting the luxury business and it is worth to read.
Market Intelligence Short Read - Part 2
By Andrew Sia
In this report we wrote a lot about the resale fashion. It is an international trend, and it is also growing into China while we are talking. We are surprised to find even for the everyday brands like Lululemon Athletica and Levi Strauss are expanding into this secondhand market. For retailers like Macy’s Inc., who is also doing it and it is something that is going to create an important marketplace.
In these three months we have found a lot of things happening in China, the world’s second largest economy. New policies that will be used by the Chinese Communist Party to redistribute the wealth from some key entrepreneurs and calling for common prosperity. The luxury brands are winding down their designs and marketing campaign to avoid any problem with the country’s policy.
On the other hand, we have read about a new shopping area opened in the heart of the Shanghai Pudong New Area publicizing the wellness theme. And already 250 premium shops for all the big names in the luxury market are there.
Without question, China is still a very lucrative market, but the latest changes are yet to be seen as far as its policy is concerned.
Dynamism of China’s Multi-Brand Stores in New Luxury Fashion Format
By Angie Lee
China market has been evolving, and the writer, Angie Lee, brought out the five main areas that have changed.
Customer Behavior is Changing
Retail Landscape is Changing
On-line Shopping Needs Shop Ambiance Support
Localization and Space Curation
KOCs and Local Credibility
All these have brought out multi-brand stores and if the department stores are not putting their acts together and ready for the challenge, their dominance in the retail scene in China will be weaken.
Fashion & Design
Product Intelligence - 2023 Spring/Summer Color Trends & Direction
Starting with a list of 30 seasonal colors and 10 core colors for underwear:
01 Playful Boho
02 Desert Sand
03 Tropical Bright
04 Technological Neutral Color
05 Pink Wax in Regency
06 Virtual Storm
It can capture the readers’ attention, especially those designers and merchandising managers.
All the pictures captured are interacting with the color themes which are spectacular. I can’t made up my mind, instead I took the “coolest” picture from Hajime Sorayama.
Post-pandemic era we will expect more dynamism from brands that will have to find their ways to the hearts of the consumers. And color is the communication bridge.
Product Intelligence: 2023 Spring/Summer Sportswear Fabrics
By InDigest
The article brought out the Tokyo Olympics 2020 and the garments provided by Ante.
It quoted WGSN’s predicting the sports fabrics for 2023 spring and summer mentioning the three dimensions of the sports fabrics—practical performance, health and skin friendly and renewable environmental protection.
The INDigest team reported their findings surrounding these points and it has gained the ground under the “product intelligence” which we will continue to report in our future issues.
Brand Intelligence - Blender
By InDigest
The three founders have cleverly used the film “Pulp Fiction” and the narratives couples of others—The Dreamers and The Shape of Waters, and blended them into their collections. It is focusing on comfort without the cup wires
The brand, THE BLENDER, won the 2019 Shanghai International Intimate Fashion awards after defected twelve other potential competition brands and became the new favorite in the underwear industry.
We can find their collections to be very refreshing and we are sure that there is the market for this kind of soft lingerie.
Brand Intelligence: Introducing Bordelle
By InDigest
The Brand Intelligence Bureau of the IN-Digest team did a very good job here. Bordelle was founded in 2009 by its founder Alexandra Popa and if you run through the styles that she has created, you will understand why she is becoming so successful. And due to the fact that she was never trained as a lingerie designer, she was able to start anew and didn’t have to carry any baggage with her. She was able to devote herself to what her target customers want. She was also able to venture into areas that are unfettered, unconstrained and without any restrain.
When I read about the part of her observation of sustainable development and in order to ensure the transparency of the production process, she took up the painstaking decision to open her Atelier Bordelle Production in Romania in 2019.
I’ll let you find out what else she is doing and please use her story to inspire you. And I want to wish her for all the success that she deserves.
Fashion Quote: Hubert de Givenchy
Written by : Andrew Sia | Illustrated by : Elita Lam
Hubert de Givenchy is an aristocrat and born from important families. It can be traced back to the historic tapestry factories in Paris and Beauvais.
After he entered into the fashion business, he opened his House of Givenchy and began to dress the most notable clients, and today people are still talking about Audrey Hepburn and Jacqueline Kennedy.
The House of Givenchy was sold to LVMH but before then a lot of renowned designers went through his company and have all made their names.
Market Report
Market Report Short Read - Part 1
In this October issue for the first market report we have included twenty news clips. There are five of them relating to the Covid-19 and the others are relating to pieces relating to the climate change. The collapse of the South Tower of Florida Surfside condo claimed more than 100 lives.
The flooding in Germany and across Europe caused 205 deaths and still there are 150 missing.
The flooding in Henan province in China where they only claimed 33 deaths and eight missing. But I am afraid that the true figures will never be known.
We reported on the Panama Canal and its threat about the shortage of freshwater. All this is again related to the climate change.
Market Report Short Read - Part 2
By Andrew Sia
In this report we talked about the Taliban taking over the Afghanistan and lately we saw that those figure heads in the news are hardliners and terrorist suspects. Some are wanted by the by FBI. For the country to go forward it would be hard for the Western world to accept its new regime, except Russia and China whose intention is still unclear.
But the Taliban is trying to get cozy with China and offered themselves as the passage for the China’s Belt & Road Initiative. Picture here showing Taliban took over the office inside the US Embassy in Kabul.
Market Report Short Read - Part 3
By Andrew Sia
In the Part 3, we wrote about the fewer shipping options, the rise of the shipping cost, and container ships are still stuck outside the ports. We reported the latest about the power stoppage in China can be as bad as from two to four days during the week. All these are going to add pressure on the supply chain and the retailers would find it hard to stock up the inventory for the holiday season.
China the Giant Juggernaut - Part 8
By Andrew Sia
Like what we said at the closing of the article that during this third quarter of the pandemic year, it is never a dull moment as it comes to the reporting of China. We have covered in many areas that have all put China in the world’s center stage.
I believed that the Wall Street is most shock to find Beijing reining in their tech companies and also those companies who are offering school tutoring of its younger students.
I believe that there will be more to report in the coming 6 weeks and we are asking you to stay tune.
Everything to Know at This Stage About Electric Vehicles
By Andrew Sia
This is a hot topic as we know more car owners will be moving into EVs from the cars using gasoline. One of the reasons is to reduce the carbon footprint. The concerns are the range of driving and also the charging stations. These are being overcome in the process.
It is cheaper to own an EV which is already the fact. With the combination of the two industries—automotive and electronics, we will see that the revolution is coming.
This is all for the benefits of the consumers and we haven’t even spoke about the artificial intelligence that the EVs will bring us.
Sustainable Fashion Report - France
When you think about sustainable fashion, you discovered that the secondhand clothing can actually reduce our consumption, and all of a sudden this opens up an opportunity.
The original report from Statista, “Second Hand Apparel and Textiles in France” which was a report of 101 pages. We tried to cover it with the selected headlines of:
French Marke
Purchase & Sales Channel
Factors Influencing Secondhand Consumption
Collection & Pickup Points
Bitcoin comes with cryptocurrencies and blockchain and the value can be so fluctuating by the hour is something that for a normal person it is hard to fathom let alone to understand. The bitcoin miners are mystified as they hole up in remote locations for their operation that adds another layer of mystery.
The worse comes when it is inseparable with ransomware and the blackmailers are having a lot to do with the Russians. Unless it can be regulated and make the whole thing more transparent, it will continue with the seedy surrounding that it has created.
ENVIRONMENTAL & SUSTAINABILITY
Progress Report on the Paris Climate Agreement - Part 13
By Andrew Sia
This article is again calling for the awareness of the global warming that leads to the climate changes which are getting more severe from the recent incidents of flooding, wildfires, droughts and the rising of the ocean levels. These are all threatening us as the situation is getting more desperate and obvious.
There are many alternative solutions for energy and we continue to give you the latest studies that we have made.
Lastly, we point out the upcoming COP26 which will be held in Glasgow from November 1-12.
Things You Can Do To Be Sustainable
By Caroline Kopas
Caroline wisely pointed the readers to the directions of the food we eat; plastic we use; the digital world where paperless will help us to deforestation; transportation in different forms; invest in sustainable, like the EV and solar power; used merchandise to circulate; take care of our litter; and finally promote awareness by putting the words to the mouth.
SUPPLY CHAIN
Globalization Needs Reinvigorate - Part 2
Globalization under the challenge of the pandemic exposed its weakness. The transcontinental shipments have been disrupted with the Covid-19 cases found in the Port of Shenzhen, or known also as the Yantian, and the Ningbo-Zhoushan Port, and even when the number of persons being transmitted were very little, China ordered the total lockdown for the whole region.
I came across the ship with the three massive cranes and at this time I would think that it can be very effective because of its mobility when the docks could have closed and the loading and unloading of the containers can be stopped.
Meanwhile, we have to wait when the pandemic can be over in order that we can try to find the way to revisit this very important topic.
Entrepreneurship & Business
Case Study: How Zara Wades Through the Pandemic
Report by Andrew Sia
Every time I wrote about Zara, it brought back fond memories of my teaching in Hong Kong knowing that it won’t happen again after so many years and also so many changes in Hong Kong have taken place.
I am never a fan of fast fashion as I have seen very poor quality and execution with the other brands, for instance H&M, and I have no experience with Zara so to speak. But I must say that I admire their supply chain that have taken place at their arm’s length. I am surprised to see that they have maximized the challenge of this pandemic and turned it into opportunity. I have to say that I am impressed.
BOOK REPORT
Why French Women Wear Vintage
Report by Andrew Sia
From this French author, Aloïs Guinut, she told us how the French women can teach us how to manage our wardrobe and cherish our planet without sacrificing our styles.
I used a lot of extracts, instead of using my words to write this book report. It is the most rewarding and I hope that you will find the same.