2024 APRIL ISSUEJULY
MARKET INTELLIGENCE
SHORT READ
| PART 2
Contents:
Lands’ End is Moving Ahead with Its New Plan
Macy’s Board Appointments to Avoid Proxy Fight
Inditex is Going From Strength to Strength
Kering is Overgrowing Itself
Temu is Becoming Ubiquitous
Gucci is Looking for Turnaround
First Quarterly Luxury Goods Report
The Fall of Renewcell AB
Department Store Shares Are Struggling
Puig Brands’ Listing in Europe
Ermenegildo Zegna Group Outperforms
Rent the Runway is Using AT to Help Its Business
Uniqlo is Pushing to Come Back in the US Market
LVMH and Other Luxury Brands Are Playing Important French Exports
Written by Andrew Sia
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From the Desk of the Publisher
In this article, we noticed that the brands are all experiencing differently from the market. It is the post-Covid time and the customers are still not in their usual mode of life. It is no surprise some of the brands and retailers are receiving different reactions from the market.
Something worth mentioning in our industry is to adopt the practice of sustainability. From what we read that we haven’t done enough. It is true that many of these conferences are meant for promotions and create awareness and commitments, but there is the lack of follow through every time after a lot of songs and bells. With the key fast fashion players, one was proclaiming the use of 30% recycled materials by 2025, and the other was saying that the next-generation materials have not reached the industrial scale yet and it is hard to make any sensible commitments.
Brands can create their own initiatives and eventually campaigns as their total commitment. The accomplishment of those measurable results are very important. I don’t mean that it is easy, but it is frustrating to know that less than 1% of all the fibers are coming from recycle textiles.
It was sad to see that Renewcell was waiting for investors to bail them out at their most crucial moment during last December. Unfortunately the white knight didn’t show up in time.
I found that these talks are quite discouraging, but if we look back we have to know if the recyclable and sustainable fibers are available on commercial basis. The development of any new fiber would involve a lot of capital investment, years of research and development before they can be available for the market. The experience tells us that the price won’t be less at their initial stage. In fact, this is a subject that is worth exploring and we can use the example of Renewcell, a Swedish company who was founded in 2012. It was producing textile-to-textile fiber made from recycled pulp which came from rayon fibers from cellulose found in the waste and production scraps.
We read that its competitor, Infinited Fiber from Finland has collected the funding of total €40 million for the bailout. New investors in the fashion industry and tech startup, Inditex, and existing investors including H&M and Adidas. Collectively they claimed to make the “circular fashion and textiles an everyday reality.” Hereby, I wish them success.
