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Gucci sales decrease by 22%, but Bottega Veneta increase 3% due to momentum in the Asia-Pacific region, as well as by ecommerce.

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Pattern Cutting by Dennic Chunman Lo

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Pattern Cutting and Making Up by Martin Shoben

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Pattern Cutting for Menswear by Gareth Kershaw

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Metric Pattern Cutting for Menswear by Winifred Aldrich

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Shop the Silk Crêpe Shirt With Self Tie In Beige at GUCCI.COM. Enjoy Free Shipping and Complimentary Gift Wrapping.

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Adopting tech to improve sustainability of their production processes

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Profit margins among clothing retailers don't vary that much - at the outside, between 5% and 25%. The vast majority are 10%-20%.

I mention this because I'm constantly surprised by consumers' ideas of how brands are 'ripping them off'. The fact is, the first 20% of the price you or I pay goes to government (in the UK - VAT), the next 10%-20% goes to the brand as profit, and the remainder is costs.

There seems to be a strange idea among consumers that brands just charge 'whatever they can get away with'. That luxury brands in particular charge exorbitant prices and reap huge profits as a result.

Luxury brands certainly have higher margins. One of the reasons the industry is so attractive is that margins of 18%-25% are both achievable and sustainable (the latter being by far the most important, as many new launches have discovered in recent years).

But 20% isn't that high. Last week, commenting on a comparison between some £200 boots and a £1000 pair on this site, a friend commented that 'the latter is probably mostly profit anyway'. No one has 80% profit margins. In fact, given that production costs (including the manufacturer's profit) are usually in the range of 25%-30%, the £1000 boots could cost £300 just to be made.

The sensible thing to focus on is costs - the bit between the profit and the production. Luxury brands may spend a large chunk of that on advertising and marketing; a chunk more on store design and branding; and another slice on catwalk shows. Paying for that is the only way in which you are being 'ripped off'.

As we saw in our analysis of Savile Row costs, a lot more is spent on making a bespoke suit than in most clothing production (at least twice as much). But the difference between a tailor and a luxury brand is far more marked in these marketing and advertising costs. A tailor's may be zero; a brand's may be more than anything else.

So if you're shopping in the sales over the next few days, be assured that once you have a 30% discount, the brand is making no money off your purchase (margin plus the reduction in VAT). It's the catwalk models and full-page ads you're paying for now.

-

P.S.

- The brands are of course recovering costs, which is why they have the sales. If they don't sell the stock (more of a pressure in a seasonal business), they make a bigger loss.

- The profit is more complicated if a brand is not selling through its own retail, but it's hardly worth getting into that.

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Profit margins among clothing retailers don't vary that much - at the outside, between 5% and 25%. The vast majority are 10%-20%. I mention this because I'm constantly surprised by consumers' ideas of how brands are 'ripping them off'.

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How to fold a shirt for packaging

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If you've been reading the blog for a while you may have heard me mention 'fit sessions' and how they are one of the main things to get right, if you want to have a successful range. You might have also read my articles on tech packs ( here and here, if you've not seen them and are wondering what I'm talking about), where I outline how to complete the form following a fit session. This post is to clarify what a fit session is and how to run one correctly, to ensure that your fashion garments fit well and look amazing.

What is a fit session?

A fit session is a meeting involving the fit model, a garment technician and the designer or buyer. A fit model is an employee or freelancer who will maintain the same body measurements and who has the measurements of your average customer. The fit model will try on any fit samples from the factory, so you can assess the fit and decide if it is suitable for your customer. During the meeting, fit samples (samples sent from the factory at various stages of development, to check the fit) will be tried on by the fit model. The buyer/designer will comment on the overall styling, fit and quality of any trims or fabrics sent for approval. It is the garment technician's job to make a note of what has been approved and what needs to be changed. This information is recorded on the tech pack and will be sent to the factory so they can work on any amendments, or make the final order if the sample has been approved.

How do I prepare for a fit session?

You will need to know, or organise the following in advance of the meeting;

Before the meeting, I would measure the garment, so you can check how it compares to what you have asked for. This will make it easier for you when you come to do comments on the tech pack.

You will need to book time with your fit model and make sure you have space for them to change, wherever you are holding the meeting

You will need to bring the sample that needs fitting, as well as any previous samples as they may need to be referred to

Tech packs for each of the styles you are fitting. This could either be a printed document or on your computer, whichever you will find it easiest to refer to and make notes on

Personally, before going into a fit meeting I like to familiarise myself with the situation; things like, which sample we're on, any problems we've been having and how long we have until the item ships, are all useful to know

If the sample is made from sub fabric (i.e. not the actual fabric you will be using for bulk) you will need to bring a sample of the actual fabric and any trims, if you have approved them. Note; wherever possible samples should always be in the correct fabric.

You should bring a tape measure and a camera. A tape measure for obvious reasons and it's always good to have a camera as it's often helpful to have an accompanying photo with comments that you make to the factory.

I hate spam too - if you sign up to this email list, your details won't be sold or leased to anyone else. I will email you from time to time with helpful content and occasional offers, which you can unsubscribe from at any time.

What should I look out for in the fit session?

The purpose of the fit meeting, or 'fits' is to make the garment as close to perfect as possible. Unfortunately, it's not always possible to correct every issue, but the idea is to make sure the garment is suitable for your customer. You're not only looking at the styling to see if it appeals to them, but also at things like the fit and how it feels when it's worn. If it's supposed to be for work can you sit down in it comfortably? If it's meant to be for sports is it stretchy, can you move easily? Is the fabric pulling and creating drag lines? Over time you will develop an eye for detail, but here's some initial things to look out for to start you off;

Look at it from a customer perspective. If your customer saw this in a shop, would they like it? Would they want to try it on? Does it give the impression it's well made?

Look at the stitching, is it straight and neat, or is it wobbly and inconsistent?

Ask the fit model how it feels. Ask him/her to move around, look out for common problems such as restrictions on moving your arms forward, or things (especially trousers/pants) being uncomfortable when you sit down.

If the garment is meant to be fitted, is it saggy anywhere, are there any drag lines (where fabric 'bunches' together)

Is this the right size for your fit model? If not, change the measurements so it is a good fit.

How about the length? Is it working for the look of the garment and also in terms of practicality?

Are all of the components working together, such as styling details, buttons, pockets? Does anything look over the top or out of place? Or do you feel something is missing?

Can the model get in and out of the garment ok? Is the zip long enough, is it good quality or is it getting stuck? If the garment uses buttons, are there enough, or are there gaps where you can see the model's skin?

Essentially, you are looking for anything that will either affect the performance of the garment (such as zips that get stuck, or seams that are coming apart), or things that will stop your customer from buying it (like it restricts movement, or is uncomfortable to wear).

How often do I have a fit session?

Here, I would love to write 'as many times as you need to', but unfortunately it's not always that simple. When time planning, I always allow for 4 samples and fit sessions, but aim to only need 3. A first fit, pre-production (sent for final approval before the stock is made) and a shipping sample (sent after the stock is made but before it is shipped so we can check for any issues before it leaves the factory). You may need extra fit samples, on a really frustrating style I've had as many as 6 samples (4 x fits, 1 PP and 1 shipping), but this is rare and usually this only happens if the factory hasn't followed instructions. Giving clear instructions to the factory is essential, as they are often unwilling to use common sense or imagination (sounds awful to say but sadly that is often true), so make sure you're very specific about what you want. Next week I'll be going into more detail on how to communicate your fit comments to the factory and make sure they understand what you're saying. The other things to consider are how much time do you have and are you paying for samples? If you're a startup or small business, the factory will often charge you for the samples, so you need to decide how important the changes that you'd like to make are vs the cost of an extra sample. In terms of timeframe, if you're asking for extra samples (i.e. more than 3), this may cause a delay to the delivery, so again you will have to assess how critical the changes are vs the delivery date into store is.

I hope this has given you a few ideas for things to look out for. As always, if you're not sure of any of the terminology used here, you're welcome to leave a comment below + I'll get back to you. If you're finding the process a bit overwhelming or you don't have a garment technologist to make the changes to the tech pack, you might be interested in my fashion startup online course, which has a whole module to cover the sample process + another dedicated to working with factories + the process for production. You can learn more about the course + book a free enquiry call to see if it's right for you, by clicking here.

As promised, there is a free PDF download to accompany this post and help you when you have a fit session. It has a checklist of things to bring, as well as an easy to print and refer to recap of the things to look out for. This is available in the resource library now. Not already a member? Get FREE access to this download and many more to help your fashion business, by signing up to the mailing list below....

I hate spam too - if you sign up to this email list, your details won't be sold or leased to anyone else. I will email you from time to time with helpful content and occasional offers, which you can unsubscribe from at any time.

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Ultimate guide to fit sessions for your fashion business, with free checklist - The Fashion Business Coach

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If you've been reading the blog for a while you may have heard me mention 'fit sessions' and how they are one of the main things to get right, if you want to have a successful range.

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The UK's leading fashion rental platform. Rent and buy womenswear designer clothes and accessories for 10% of their RRP. Next day delivery throughout the UK.

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‘We went way too far’, says Gucci as pandemic forces fashion industry

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The inventory crisis that now faces the garment trade adds to a litany of well-known sustainability issues. Some brands are leading calls for a radical new approach. Angeli Mehta reports

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We don't think so, and we'll show you why...

[Updated January 2021]

You can't compare apples to apples - buying clothing made overseas is not as cheap as you may think...

There is a myth that making clothing in the UK is much more expensive than manufacturing overseas. We'd like to dispel that myth and show you why that's not the case, even on simple products such as T-shirts.
Let's first start by looking at all of the different costs associated with making a good quality, branded T-shirt that retails for £25.
The average manufacturing cost for that T-shirt in the Far East, making a small quantity of a few hundred pieces, is around £4.24*. That price includes the fabric, cutting and stitching of the garment, labelling, pressing and packing, and the factory overhead and margin.

The same T-shirt made in the UK is around £8.85. It's seems like it's more than double, but hear us out!

When clothing is made overseas there are several other costs that need to be taken into account before that product is ready to hit the shop floor.

Shipping, import duties and agent fees need to be added on top

Shipping and duty can be as much as £1.75 on a simple T-shirt, depending on the size of the order and where it is coming from. And if the brand is buying through an agent they will take their cut too.

So now you get to a more likely cost of £7 for the Far Eastern-made T-shirt, compared to the £8.85 for the British one.

Retailers traditionally work on a profit margin of around 60% on a branded item when they sell it in their stores. A simple way to work that out is roughly double the wholesale cost plus VAT.

You need to take into account that if you're buying large quantities in advance not all of it will sell at full price.

The average sell-through (the amount sold at full price) on a fashion product is around 60%. High-fashion, seasonal colours and styles can have an even lower sell-through, especially when the buyer has had to predict the trends months in advance in order to place an order with a Chinese factory. And therein lies the problem.

With average order times from the Far East being around 12 weeks from when a buyer places an order, often the product sitting on the shelves is not what the customer wants to buy. So traditional retailers have to factor this into their pricing, with around 40% of clothing making no profit for them at all.

Having product available when a customer actually wants it means you will sell more stock.

It's why some of the fastest-growing online fashion retailers are moving their production to the UK.
Because every item of stock that's not sold at full price is eating into profitability.

Making clothing in the UK means product can be made closer to when the customer wants it

Let's assume that the average sell-through rate of a T-shirt which is bought within 4 weeks of going on sale is 80%. The wholesale price of the T-shirt may be higher, but if only 20% of the product goes in the sale then the retailer actually makes more profit.

It is not unheard of for UK-made brands to have a sell-through rate of 100%.

When they are selling online and able to gauge a reaction on the product via a channel such as Instagram they can literally make to order within a week. So every piece that they make sells at full price, because they have exactly what the customer wants...when they want it.

Clothing made overseas incurs many additional costs such as shipping and duty

This illustration doesn't even include some of the other hidden costs of buying overseas, such as flights to the Far East to meet with the factory or courier bills for sending fit samples backwards and forwards until the product is correct

One of the advantages to brands of making in the UK is that they can have close contact with the manufacturer, and hence can avoid costly sampling and production mistakes.

Simon Cook, Managing Director of Discovery Knitting, who has been knitting quality fabrics for T-shirts in Leicestershire for over 30 years, told us:

" I've heard of one brand who had to fit a T-shirt 17 times with a Chinese factory in order to get it right. At £54 a time for DHL to courier the sample over from the Far East that amounted to hundreds of pounds in sampling costs for just one T-shirt ".
Simon Cook - Managing Director, Discovery Knitting

Of course the price for making the T-shirt in the UK can vary massively according to so many different factors.

Simon Cook, who helped us to compile the figures for the cost price of the UK-made T-shirt, says that "£8.95 is the average price to make a small order of 150 T-Shirts in the UK, but this is based on an existing style. If there is a new pattern to be made and development work to be done then the brand will pay more".

So how is the £8.95 cost of making a T-shirt in the UK broken down?

After speaking to different T-shirt manufacturers in the four main areas for jerseywear production in the UK (London, Manchester, Nottingham and Leicester) to whom he supplies his fabric, Simon came up with the following breakdown of production costs for 150 short sleeve T-shirts:

Fabric - £3.15
100% Organic Combed Cotton Single Jersey 170/175gsm knitted in the UK using a metre of fabric per T-shirt and buying 90 metres of fabric from stock

Cutting - 60p
Based on cutting 150 T-shirts over 4 sizes - S/M/L/XL

Stitching - £4.00
Price per garment if it is a straightfoward style. Includes labour costs and factory overheads

Press, Trim and Kimble - 65p
The cost for the final finishing and inspection of the T-shirt and the application of a swing tag.

Individual bag and barcode - 45p
Packing the garment and getting it ready to go to stores

When you see it broken down like that, you can begin to understand how little profit UK manufacturers make compared to the retailers. Does that sound fair?

One way of getting the best value product for your money is to buy British-made directly from the brands and not from the retailers.

Brands are often squeezed by retailers for the lowest possible price and have to cut their own profit in order to get in with the big stores. Traditionally retailers would double or triple the cost price that they receive from the brand, meaning less money goes to the people that make the product.

If you buy directly from the brand you are getting much better value for money as you aren't paying the retailer mark-up.

Next time you complain about clothing being made in the UK being too expensive, stop and think about WHY that might be, and how by buying smarter you can change that perception.

Want to get T-Shirts made in the UK? We can connect you to manufacturers that can help. Complete this form and we'll be in touch.

*We have based this example on a good quality, mid-market T-Shirt retailing at £25 and made in China. Cost of production of a T-shirt made overseas can vary according to various factors including quantity made, country of origin and quality of fabric used,

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Is making clothing in the UK really more expensive? - Make it British

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Updated January 2021] There is a myth that making clothing in the UK is much more expensive than manufacturing overseas. We'd like to dispel that myth and show you why that's not the case, even on simple products such as T-shirts.

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When I first started out Vanjo I was a little bit bewildered about the costing side. I only had costed for big companies, where I either knew what each operation of sewing costed therefore could reduce costs with buyers if needs be or companies had their own formula whereby you would enter what the bra and brief cost and the calculations would happen then you could adjust accordingly and get them signed off.

But there I was about to launch my own label and I didn't know where to pitch my prices, it all seemed different for your own brand, of course there was the actual costs to add in, but what about everything else. I contacted my friend who at the time had her lingerie label stocked in Liberty and she told me that not only are you proving lingerie but you're providing a fit, and to pitch yourself at your customer, again we go back to your customer base.

If you're designing a high end lingerie label, your fabrics are going to reflect that and your prices, don't just pitch high in hope that you are that high end brand, you have to execute it all.

I wasn't aiming for the high end lingerie brands, my label was to help women find a good fitting bra with small backs and big brands. I didn't use the most expensive lace, but I used french lace, so not the cheapest either.

I wanted my brand to be able to expand, so from the start I added in manufacturing prices, I know that going wholesale I would wouldn't make much profit, but by going wholesale I could then meet minimums on my lingerie, and be able to offer my lingerie to stores and not worry about making them. Although truth be told, I only did one factory run and the rest I handmade, but my having the manufacturing price already in meant that I didn't have to raise prices for the lingerie at a later date.

Below is an example of a basic costing sheet with the direct costs (not the indirect costs), and example of the bra costing sheet, and blank costing sheets and instructions how to work it all out can be found on the designs sheets in the shop section.

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How to cost a bra and brief - Van Jonsson Design

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When I first started out Vanjo I was a little bit bewildered about the costing side.

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Swing Tags start at £9.95 (inc VAT)
As standard our Swing-Tags come with the following features:

Choose from 400gsm or Recycled or Kraft board.

Have either a 3mm or 6mm hole size

Perfect for string and ribbon or plastic kimbles.

Print & dispatch within 24hrs of placing an order.

Choose from 100's of designs & edit to make it your own.

Free uploads of your own artwork, photos or logos.

Next day delivery to mainland UK

All website prices include VAT (where applicable).

Standard UK size - 85 x 55mm

Packed in rigid plastic boxes for protection.

In addition to the features above we have the following upgrades available:

Double sided printing.

Luggage Tag Corner finish.

Same day print & dispatch with next working day delivery (Express option & ordered before 2pm Mon-Fri).

Same day print & dispatch with next working day Delivery before 12 (Express Plus option & ordered before 2pm Mon-Fri).

Matt, Gloss or Velvet Lamination.

Various quantities ranging from 50 - 5,000.

Our cheap Swing Tag info

Buy Swing Tags For Products

Nothing says "Buy Me" more than a great looking swing tag (or hang tag) and our luxury personalised tags are printed on various stocks which include a smooth silky finish, a slightly textured recycled and an all out brown Kraft Board. They are printed in full colour to one or both sides and the card can be written on with minimal smudging. Choose from either a 3mm or 6mm hole punched at the top in the center of the hang tag. The 6mm hole is if you want to add a string or ribbon you can do so with easy theading or select the 3mm hole when using certain tagging guns which use the plastic barbs. The card we use is a high quality so the string will not pull off easily. Now although these tags are mainly used for attaching to products more recently they have become popular with weddings for either place names or attaching to gifts for the attendees. Need design help, you can find some exrta design inspiration here: unique swing tag designs

So far nothing in the way of big news as Swing Tags are commonly known already for being that valuable tag that is attached to your product to tell the consumer how much the product costs. It's also the important tag that allows you to return the carousel-item of clothing you bought 2 sizes too small. Swing tags have become a necessity for anyone who sells anything. You need your customers to know how much something costs when they are looking at it on the shelf. If they are unsure of the price of your product, they will be more unsure about purchasing your product.

You could have the swing tags attached to your products match the business stationery you hand out to potential customers that are considering your products. This means that if you met a prospect at a trade show and invited them to your shop, they will instantly get a sense of familiarity when they enter your shop. Your customer will then feel more comfortable and will be more inclined to purchase something from your store. The resulting purchase will mean a job card card-body done and the swing tags will be deemed a worthy purchase.

Now, we don't want you to think that our swing tags are only aimed at businesses that offer products instead of services. If you provide a service you could reach the goal of ultimate brand consistency.

Buy Swing Tags For Services

So, what if your business is selling a service instead of a product? Surely you can rest assured that you don't need to worry about swing tags because the physical product you sell is stored away in your brain. If you want to deem yourself as the creative type, how about you used swing tags but instead of attaching them to products, you handed the out to potential customers, so they know who you are and how to contact you. It sounds like a business card yes, but it will be so unique it will make you stand out from anyone else in your field.

Delivery Information

When Will I Receive My Order?

You will receive your order the next working day after dispatch. So if you ordered before midnight on Monday your order would be printed and dispatched on Tuesday and delivered on Wednesday.

How much is delivery?

So that we can keep our individual printing prices low but our delivery quality high, we charge £4.95 for each complete order to be delivered, we use a fully tracked 24hr delivery for this service. Some companies inflate the price of their products and then advertise "free delivery" where in reality, they include delivery in the price which means, you are paying delivery per item instead of per order.

Swing Tag Printing Feedback

Great product with great prices. Next time I'm ordering double the amount.

Katrina W - Peterborough

Used Banana Print for over 5 years and have never been disappointed with the quality or the cost.

Simon S - London

My products look even better now on the stand and I've already recommended you to others. Thank you for the great printing.

Roger P - Nottingham

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Swing Tags £9.95 - Banana Print - 24hr Delivery

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As standard our Swing-Tags come with the following features: Choose from 400gsm or Recycled or Kraft board. Have either a 3mm or 6mm hole size Perfect for string and ribbon or plastic kimbles. Print & dispatch within 24hrs of placing an order. Choose from 100's of designs & edit to make it your own.

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Label costs

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Plain Price From : £103.50 ex vat

The plain price shown is only an indication for comparison purposes. It is based on you buying a full carton in the same colour and size. Some cartons are 72 pcs while others are 120. We work in multiple price breaks where the more you order the cheaper the unit price and we are not able to show the unit price for all breaks. When you click the green 'quote me' button, the system will calculate the price of your order based on quantities and required decoration. Decoration charges are added on top of the garment price.

Shirtworks Product Code : LAB001

Woven label that is approximately 30mm by 40mm in size. The minimum number is 500 of each design, so if you are having size labels incorporated into the label you need a separate label for each size. This label is folded at the bottom and the edges are heat sealed to stop fraying. There is a minimum delvery time of 3 weeks for the production of these labels. When ordering these use units of 1 per 500, 2 would be 1000 etc

Colours shown are for guidance purposes only

Garment sizes are approximate and for guidance only

- I asked for white, was given and off white blue.

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Plain Price From : £103.50 ex vat The plain price shown is only an indication for comparison purposes. It is based on you buying a full carton in the same colour and size. Some cartons are 72 pcs while others are 120.

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Complete Guide to Size Specification & Technical Design by Myers-McDevitt

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Complete Guide to Size Specification & Technical Design by Myers-McDevitt

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Circular cashmere business

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What if...exporting waste were banned?

Illustration by Andy Carter

The protesters in the Philippines were emphatic. 'Take back!' read their placards. Their anger was directed at 69 container loads of waste, shipped from Canada, mislabelled as 'plastic recyclables' but actually just garbage, including dirty diapers, stuck and stinking in customs since 2013 and 2014.

Last year, after a long battle, Canada finally took back the trash. But what this story illustrates is far from over. Indeed, it may be about to get worse.

Waste is a dirty business - in every sense of the word. The scope for malpractice is immense. With brokers trading trash, contracts can change hands several times between the source and the destination, without accountability. The result is dumping on a massive scale, generally by the richer onto the poorer.

Around 80-90 per cent of the world's mismanaged waste ends up in low-income countries.

Up until 2018, China was taking in 45 per cent of the world's garbage, including most of its post-consumer plastic, ostensibly for recycling and re-use in manufacturing. In fact most of it was getting incinerated or finding its way into landfills, river systems or the sea. But then China restricted imports to 'uncontaminated plastics', a tiny proportion of the total. It was effectively a ban.

So, did exporting countries take charge of their own waste? Dream on. As their rubbish piled up, they found other destinations: the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, Turkey, Senegal, Vietnam, among others. In 2019 the US, the world's biggest trash exporter, was shipping 225 containers per day to countries with poor waste management, generating 120 million kilos of carbon emissions.

Importing waste provides 'employment' it is said - and respiratory and other diseases - for rubbish pickers, many of them children, earning under $2 a day. Often the waste is not managed at all, but accumulates close to where poor people are living. Illegality prevails.

In 2019 Greenpeace found that of 65 shipments of waste from Italy, 43 were destined for plants in Malaysia that did not have permits to import and recycle foreign waste; 200 illegal 'recycling' factories have since been identified and closed.

In Indonesia, civil-society groups have called on the US, Britain, Australia, Canada and New Zealand to collect their exported trash illegally dumped along the Brantas River.

In late 2019, Indonesia announced the return of 547 shipping containers to European countries. India has officially closed its doors to plastic waste imports and Thailand plans to do so from 2021.

Lack of traceability makes returning rubbish difficult. But there has been some international action. Last year, 184 countries adopted the Plastic Waste Amendment to the UN's Basel Convention, to 'specifically include plastic waste in a legally-binding framework which will make global trade in plastic waste more transparent and better regulated'. The US opposed the amendment.

Import bans and better regulation will only go so far. The big waste-exporting countries can exert pressure on poorer countries to accept their expanding plastics manufacturing and 'recycling' agenda - as we are currently seeing in the bilateral trade negotiations between the US and Kenya.

What's needed are export bans. Australia has made moves in this direction, phasing in its own ban on the export of waste glass, plastic, paper and tyres, due to be complete by 30 June 2022. Canada is discussing prohibiting the export of non-recyclable plastic waste.

But what about an outright international ban?

The idea does not sound at all far-fetched to engineer Ziad Abi-Shaker of Cedar Environment in Beirut, which turns plastic waste into building materials. 'We have to come to an agreement that waste is always a local issue. No-one should be bearing the brunt of another's waste', he told Al-Jazeera.

Each country needs to create its own infrastructure for dealing with the waste it produces. Corporations, responsible for so much excess packaging and use of plastics in manufacturing, would have to play their part, bearing the true cost of properly managed material reduction, recycling and re-use. There would be stronger incentive to use less, and develop more eco-friendly alternatives. We might also stop deluding ourselves about how much is really recyclable (less than 10 per cent of post-consumer plastics, for example).

Reducing waste would become a national and local priority. We know from 'zero wasters' how much can be done on a personal level. But responsibility needs to go beyond the personal.

The logistics of managing the massive amount of waste our consumer societies create may be complex and problematic - but the ethics are quite simple. Don't dump your shit on others.

This article is from the November-December 2020 issue of New Internationalist.
You can access the entire archive of over 500 issues with a digital subscription. Subscribe today "

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What if...exporting waste were banned? The protesters in the Philippines were emphatic. 'Take back!' read their placards. Their anger was directed at 69 container loads of waste, shipped from Canada, mislabelled as 'plastic recyclables' but actually just garbage, including dirty diapers, stuck and stinking in customs since 2013 and 2014.

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Kenya's plastic problem: US accused of waste dumping

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The American Chemistry Council says it is not seeking to override Kenya's existing regulation of plastics.

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How the way fabrics are processed and how long garments are used affect the sustainability rating of fibres

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When PETA released its footage of what they deemed alpaca abuse at a large farm in Peru, the advocacy organization included in its statement that alpaca is rated as "the second most environmentally damaging material after silk."

PETA is always an extreme example. (Apparently, they've never tried taking their nervous cat or dog to the vet. "In shocking footage, cat vomits in carrier on the way to the vet! Authorities call for investigation!") But in this particular case, when it comes to alpaca's sustainability rating, they're not wrong. Technically.

The issue here is the Higg Index, the technology platform that shares environmental fashion data from the Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC). It visually ranks the environmental impact of various materials used in fashion. And it has become the go-to data platform for brands of all sizes - from Allbirds to Eileen Fisher to H&M - who are trying to measure and reduce their environmental impact.

Higg and the SAC seem to have it out for natural materials. Seven of the ten "worst" textiles with the biggest impact are natural, including silk, alpaca, cotton, hemp, flax (linen), wool, and jute, in that order. Acetate and modal, which are semi-synthetic plant-based fibers, come in at sixth and ninth worst, respectively. Meanwhile, most of the ten "best" fabrics, or the ones with the lowest impact, are synthetic, including aramid, elastane, polylactic acid fibers, polyester, polyurethane, nylon, and acrylic.

So, according to Higg, silk (total impact of 1086) has almost 14 times the impact of its semi-synthetic and cheaper replacement, acetate (79.6). Apparently, you could cut the negative impact of an alpaca sweater (320) by 85% by replacing it with acrylic, at 48.7. It might not feel great to know your dollars are going to a factory owner instead of an indigenous herder, but at least you're saving the environment?

Similarly, if you wanted to reduce the impact of that artisan-made goat leather knapsack from Ethiopia (148), you could instead import polyurethane (37.2) from China, and give that to the leather workers. Of course, then that goat hide, a byproduct of the local cuisine, would be thrown in the landfill. But now your environmental impact is lower, and also PETA will leave you alone. It's a win-win for brands, if a very bizarre move for the artisans.

Or, you could make that cotton (101) sundress for cheaper with polyester (36.2) and call the dress sustainable.

I'm not the only one who has remarked upon this unintuitive ranking. Experts fear that Higg's data and labels could drive brands and consumers even further away from natural fibers and the farmers that make a living on them, and toward man-made fibers like rayon, polyester, and acrylic.

So what is going on here? Are natural fibers really worse for the environment? Let's find out.

Higg Defines Sustainability Narrowly

"We have to agree on how we calculate," says Sandra Roos, a textiles researcher and expert on life cycle analyses who recently joined the team of the Swedish brand KappAhl. "Otherwise everyone could calculate differently. But sometimes the rules don't really fit the question."

The Higg Index was created to answer a seemingly simple question: what materials have the smallest negative impact on the environment? But answering can be complicated. You're comparing apples to oranges. So Higg uses life cycle assessments (LCAs) and tries to come up with a measurement for the average impact associated with a kilogram of material, whether it's wool or lyocell, organic cotton or cashmere.

Higg looks at the cradle-to-gate impacts of material manufacturing across five different impact areas: greenhouse gases, water efficiency, eutrophication, fossil abiotic depletion, and chemistry. Simply put, it only considers how materials are made. It does not currently consider how long they last, how they are taken care of, whether they're linked to plastic pollution, or what happens to them when consumers are done with them. For example, it does give a lower impact score to materials that have been recycled, but doesn't consider how recyclable a material is - an important distinction. It also doesn't consider the social impacts of a material like alpaca or silk, both of which are traditional industries that financially support low-income rural farmers.

But Fibershed founder Rebecca Burgess says Higg is encouraging us to expand our use of fossil fuels, by pushing people to use plastic faux leather instead of real leather that is a byproduct of food production. "The problem is, it's a measurement framework that doesn't look at the consequences of itself," she says. "It's set us up for a continual reliance on fossil carbon." She mentioned to me the Formosa Plastics plant in Texas, which was releasing millions of plastic bits into the Texas gulf coast waterways up until it was ordered to stop by a court last year. Because oil spills and plastic pollution aren't measured by Higg, polyester made from those nurdles ends up looking better for the environment than natural materials. Burgess admittedly may be a wee bit biased, since she runs a nonprofit dedicated to promoting local and natural textile production. But she is nothing if not fiercely grounded in science. "Their idea of cradle is not my idea of cradle. They're starting at the nurdle plant. I want to start at the point where we extract the fossil fuels."

And then there's the garment itself. It doesn't matter if the cotton is organic if the t-shirt is worn once and thrown away. "How many times a garment is used, it's actually the most important factor," says Roos, who points out that polyester can actually make a garment last longer.

This isn't due to a nefarious plan to make fast fashion companies look good, as I've seen it suggested. It's just that there's no agreed-upon way to measure these impacts yet. "The Higg MSI only leverages methodologies that are more broadly accepted as inputs," it says on its FAQ page about microfibers. "Once a peer-reviewed, published, consensus methodology is available, SAC plans to incorporate it into the MSI ranking, and weigh microfiber impacts amongst the other critical issues." It says the same of biodegradability of materials. Which, fair.

OK, so we should be aware that Higg only applies to a certain set of sustainability factors. But even how it measures these is problematic.

There's Not Enough Good Data for Natural Fibers

One of the biggest shortcomings of the Higg MSI is that it's a global average. And this tends to favor standardized fibers made in a factory. "Polyester fiber spinning, if you collected data from one large spinning mill, then you could actually get rather representative data for polyester fiber in general," Roos says. But not for cotton farms. Plus, it's widely known in the consumer product and packaging world that corporations can and have commissioned LCAs that make their cheap, disposable products look better than reusables. That isn't something smallholder farmers can do.

"The models are only good as the data used to generate them," said Paige Stanley, researcher and PhD candidate at UC Berkeley Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, in a webinar hosted by the nonprofit Fibershed this past summer. "Greenhouse gas emissions can vary widely, due to differences in precipitation in different areas, or the types of production systems. Those global and national estimates don't do a good job of picking up on those differences."

The SAC confirmed to me during their webinar introducing the new and improved MSI this summer that the cotton data represents a global average, except in the case of branded Cotton made in Africa (CmiA). "We are currently looking into options for adding more specific geographic locations in a future data update," they said.

We Shouldn't Be Focusing on the Fiber Type, But How It's Made

Fiber choice tends to get all the attention, especially from conscious consumers. But that can be misleading. "One of my main frustrations is that the entire climate impacts from fabric - and it has nothing really to do with the raw material, the fiber type - it's mainly driven by the fuel use in all the processing," Roos says. "Cotton fiber is not fossil-free. There's a lot of truck driving, and the ginning operation, which is often or mostly driven by fossil fuel."

"Regardless of the fiber you choose, you should choose the right supplier to see that your cotton doesn't cause water scarcity, your polyester doesn't cause local pollution," Roos adds.

It Doesn't Measure Regenerative Practices

Typical life cycle analyses don't include data on regenerative practices either, the healing and carbon sequestration that certain methods of farming and ranching can achieve. (If this is your first time encountering this concept, we've written about regenerative fashion and you should check that out before going further on this deep dive.) This isn't unique to Higg.

Ecosystem services that regenerative farming and ranching provides, such as biodiversity, water filtration and more, aren't included in LCAs. "[Higg data] tends to come out not in favor of systems that we know are improving ecosystems and the landscape," Stanley said.

Let's talk about cow leather for a moment, because it is a lightning rod in this debate and also a great example of all these concepts.

"Before we started with fossil oil consumption and producing a lot of anthropogenic carbon, we had a lot of animals, Roos points out. "We had even more animals before the buffaloes and elephants were shot, and we were still in balance and harmony. Livestock that gives us meat, wool, leather, candles, glycerine - so many products - stands for 15% of climate emissions, in total. In my world, I think focusing on the other 85% is better. Methane, a major output from livestock, also only stands at 10% of greenhouse gas emissions. But somehow when we talk about methane, we always end up at, 'eat less meat.'"

Plus, while methane is more powerful than carbon when it comes to warming the planet it "doesn't last as long in the atmosphere, which isn't captured," Stanley pointed out. It's bad now, but in ten years, it's pretty much dissipated.

If we raise cows in a way that mimics the way, say, buffalo interact with grassland, we could potentially sequester around 1.3 metric tons per hectare. A cattle ranch and its leather would thus have a positive impact on the environment. But, that isn't captured in the data that Higg uses. And if that isn't captured, then brands won't be incentivized to switch to regeneratively raised cow leather, which is a huge missed opportunity to mitigate climate change.

Maybe cows shouldn't be raised in Brazil at all, given that it's dominated by rainforest and hard to track where leather comes from. But Higg's data says Brazilian leather has a lower impact. "Fertilizer use in pasture in Brazil is very low (as cattle farming is based on grazing) leading to lower impacts in these impact categories compared to the US," they said as explanation during the webinar. So in a weird twist, Higg is encouraging brands to switch to Brazilian leather, even as brands vow to stop sourcing leather from there because the Amazon was on fire. Go figure.

And then there is the "eutrophication" measurement. This means the potential for polluting local waterways with too much nitrogen and causing toxic algae blooms. That can come from synthetic fertilizers for crops or an overabundance of manure. "The rapidly changing nature of raising livestock over the last century has also contributed to a sharp increase in nutrient levels," The World Resources Institute says. But that's not due to the cows themselves, but the way they're currently raised: intensively, in feedlots that produce too much manure that is either stored in leaky lagoons or spread overenthusiastically on farms. If you have cows rotated quickly over a well-managed ranch, depositing cow pies where they do, that's perfectly fine.

"Eutrophication is just a consequence of having too much of a good thing in one place, like when you have too much manure running into a river system," Burgess points out. "But nitrogen is essential for growing plants. Eutrophication to me is just a mismanagement problem."

For all these reasons, the alpaca data also does a terrible job of capturing alpaca fiber's actual impact of the environment. The study cited in Higg's metadata is based on alpacas in a Swiss zoo that were fed alfalfa, but according to FAO data listed within Higg's MSI tool, 85% of the alpacas in Peru are raised by smallholder farmers. And Alpacas are native to Peru's ecosystem. According to Higg's FAQ, alpaca fiber scores so high because of high eutrophication, again, related to their manure. If there were too many of them at a factory farm that dumps into a river, that would be a problem. But there's been no evidence of that. Instead, they wander their ancestral home of grassy mountain hillsides.

Weirdly enough, however, Higg gives kangaroo hide a low impact score. "Kangaroos are commercially harvested from the wild, therefore no impacts are assigned from the on-farm/animal husbandry phase. Only processing and transportation impacts are included," it says in its FAQ. Higg makes it look like there is a vast gulf of difference between kangaroos' and alpacas' impact on their native habitat. In reality, there's probably not.

You're Not Actually Supposed to Compare Materials to Each Other

When I attended the webinar put on by the SAC and Higg this summer, I asked them some rather blunt questions about this. "I've received several communications from PETA and other activists who are using the Higg store to advocate for not using animal fibers, including silk, alpaca, and leather," I asked in the Q&A. "Do you think that interpretation is correct? "

"In many cases, comparing between material categories doesn't make sense," a rep answered. "If customers are looking for cotton t-shirts, I can't just switch to polyester since the functionality of the material is different. I should focus on what I can do to lower the impacts of my cotton t-shirt (such as by using recycled content). There are going to be instances where comparing across categories does make sense, when materials perform similar functions, but understanding any differences in performance and functionality is always important to consider."

"Switching from one fiber to another solves one problem, but it might create a new one," Roos affirms. "It doesn't make sense just comparing straight climate impact or water scarcity when the fibers are both used in different products and create different problems."

Instead, Higg encourages brands to choose the material that works the best for their products, then find the best version of that material. And Higg does allow you to do that. You can choose the base material, then tinker with its chemistry certification, how it's dyed, knit, transported, and more to find a more accurate assessment of its impact.

I'm sure the experts at large brands are using Higg the way it was intended. But it seems that the SACs message has a tendency to get lost (or in the case of animal rights activists, deliberately hidden).

"Small designers will go in to select their materials, and not consider performance," says Marzia Lanfranchi, a sustainable cotton consultant who used to work at Burberry and FatFace. "The Higg Index is a good tool, but you still have to use your brain."

Higg Makes Changes

In November, Higg announced it would be retiring the single, aggregated material score, after coming under heavy criticism from industry groups representing silk, leather, and alpaca. While the individual scores for eutrophication, chemical usage, water scarcity, greenhouse gases and fossil resource depletion will still on balance favor synthetic materials, the lack of one score should make it more difficult for PETA and small brands to misuse the data. (Though I'm sure PETA will try.)

Plus, next spring, Higg will launch the next version of its product module, which will include the use phase, and end-of-life considerations.

But it's not just Higg that needs to improve its processes. When responding to allegations that its data is skewed, it always invites the submission of new and better data so it can update its assessments. So far, associations representing industries like alpaca and silk have been slow to conduct LCAs on their textiles, but these misconceptions about natural fibers might be the push they need to do it. And having more and better data will be a win for the fashion industry.

What Should Consumers Do With the Data?

Higg has been testing out product modules on some e-commerce sites that tell consumers about the sustainability of the items they're looking at. Sometime in the next year or so, Higg will be making all its data public for anyone, including consumers, to use. So when that happens, how should you use it to make better choices?

My advice would be to do the same as designers and brands. Look for the item that you need and want, something that is high quality from a trustworthy brand that does take-back and repairs. If you find two similar items, all else being equal, then you can use the sustainable rating of the product to make your final decision.

Hopefully, by then, the Higg Index will have better data and you can be confident you made the right decision.

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Higg Says Natural Fibers Are Worse for the Environment than Synthetics. Is That True?

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When PETA released its footage of what they deemed alpaca abuse at a large farm in Peru, the advocacy organization included in its statement that alpaca is rated as "the second most environmentally damaging material after silk." PETA is always an extreme example. (Apparently, they've never tried taking their nervous cat or dog to the vet.

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The benefits of using a new PIM system for Mint Velvet.

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Each year, the Pantone Color Institute selects its Pantone Color of the Year, and for only the second time in its history, Pantone has chosen not one, but two colors to represent the mood and trend direction of 2021. The chosen colors are a mid-tone gray and a bright, sunny yellow, PANTONE 17-5104 a.k.a. "Ultimate Gray" and PANTONE 13-0647 a.k.a. "Illuminating," respectively.

There always tends to be some controversy and differing opinions surrounding the Color of the Year, and this year is no different. Having been released approximately a week ago there have already been a number of think pieces written about the colors, with opinions split between those strongly in favor and those who find the combo uninspired. While in all honesty I do personally find the yellow and grey combination to be a bit overdone in the design world, I do appreciate the symbolism in the colors for the time we are living in. I imagine the yellow as the sun emerging from behind gray clouds, or the promise of emerging from this incredibly trying year of 2020 with some hope for a better year ahead. Yellow is such a positive, happy color, and I for one recently bought a bright yellow parka to get me through the upcoming winter months. Gray provides a subdued contrast that some might find dull or even depressing, but it also carries other meanings.

Inspiration for Pantone Colors of the Year 2021

As Pantone describes it, these "two independent colors that highlight how different elements come together to support one another, best express the mood for Pantone Color of the Year 2021. Practical and rock solid but at the same time warming and optimistic, the union of PANTONE 17-5104 Ultimate Gray + PANTONE 13-0647 Illuminating is one of strength and positivity. It is a story of color that encapsulates deeper feelings of thoughtfulness with the promise of something sunny and friendly.
A message of happiness supported by fortitude, the combination of PANTONE 17-5104 Ultimate Gray + PANTONE 13-0647 Illuminating is aspirational and gives us hope. We need to feel that everything is going to get brighter - this is essential to the human spirit. As people look for ways to fortify themselves with energy, clarity, and hope to overcome the continuing uncertainty, spirited and emboldening shades satisfy our quest for vitality. PANTONE 13-0647 Illuminating is a bright and cheerful yellow sparkling with vivacity, a warming yellow shade imbued with solar power. PANTONE 17-5104 Ultimate Gray is emblematic of solid and dependable elements which are everlasting and provide a firm foundation. The colors of pebbles on the beach and natural elements whose weathered appearance highlights an ability to stand the test of time, Ultimate Gray quietly assures, encouraging feelings of composure, steadiness and resilience."

Yellow has been a notoriously difficult color to sell in the surface pattern design world, but according to WGSN's catwalk data it is one of the top three brights being seen on the runways for S/S 21. So now's the time to go for it if you've been shy of this color in the past! You may find it easier to work with yellow as an accent color rather than as the main color in a print, and the great thing about having gray as its companion color is that it provides a nice neutral base that can temper the brightness and loudness of the yellow. For those who find grey unexciting to work with, note that according to WGSN "Grey has shown season-on-season growth since A/W 19/20, shifting from 5.1% to 7.2% to reach 8.3% of the colour mix in S/S 21." So pattern buyers are going to be on the lookout for designs that feature grey in the year ahead-try to include it in your palettes for 2021!

Building Color Palettes

Speaking of palettes, Pantone has offered up some lovely ideas for other colors to incorporate with Ultimate Gray and Illuminating. These inspiring palettes can be found at here and include:
Intrigue

"A captivating potpourri of colors, Intrigue embraces a fusion of influences. Quirky and vigorously individualistic, yet at the same time displaying a universal appeal, the seasonless endurance of Intrigue is heightened by the addition of the solid and dependable PANTONE 17-5104 Ultimate Gray and the bright yellow PANTONE 13-0647 Illuminating, a yellow tone symbolic of sunlight."

Sun and Shadow

"Resilient PANTONE 17-5104 Ultimate Gray and hopeful PANTONE 13-0647 Illuminating inject strength and positivity to a palette of earthbound shades. Ageless and genderless, the color story in Sun and Shadow conveys a narrative of the primitive beauty that surrounds us."

...and others. I love the difference between these two palettes, both of which feature Ultimate Gray and Illuminating, but have such different feels to them. The Intrigue palette showcases three other brights so that the yellow is not such a stand-out color, while Sun and Shadow takes a more neutral approach with calm, earthy shades and a rich navy to balance out the brightness of the yellow. To dive deeper and start making the Colors of the Year your own, you can create your own palettes, explore trending palettes and play with various other color-related tools at https://connect.pantone.com/#/color-of-the-year.

We can't wait to see how you use these colors in your pattern designs! Tag us #patternobserver on social media so we can see what you come up with! -Chelsea

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Pantone Colors of the Year 2021 - Pattern Observer

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Each year, the Pantone Color Institute selects its Pantone Color of the Year, and for only the second time in its history, Pantone has chosen not one, but two colors to represent the mood and trend direction of 2021. The chosen colors are a mid-tone gray and a bright, sunny yellow, PANTONE 17-5104 a.k.a.

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Add a technical appeal to tailoring looks, using zips, buckles and hybrid fabrics with a luxurious sheen

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Rooted in perennial sartorial styles, one of our emerging Brazilian #brandstowatch Anacê leans on comfort-driven silhouettes. Designers Cecília Gromann and Ana Clara Watanabe use feelgood colours with looser fits that challenge traditional notions of body and gender. To launch their latest collection, they mailed pieces to friends, then staged a virtual photoshoot with stylist and creative director Morgana Ludwig. Anacê’s handcrafted looks exude a #joyfulexpression that will be in high demand in a post-Covid-19 world

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80% of Gen Z strongly believing that gender does not define a person as much as it used to

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Cotton sourced from China found to involve forced labour

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Based on newly discovered online documents, it provides the first clear picture of the potential scale of forced labour in the picking of a crop that accounts for a fifth of the world's cotton supply and is used widely throughout the global fashion industry.

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Based on newly discovered online documents, it provides the first clear picture of the potential scale of forced labour in the picking of a crop that accounts for a fifth of the world's cotton supply and is used widely throughout the global fashion industry.

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WGSN Report

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Pay for standard shipping and we will upgrade you to express! Our stores are open. Come say hello, click Click here for details here for hours.

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Balmain designer Sales for Men: clothes, shoes and bags

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Balmain designer Sales for Men: clothes, shoes and bags

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View all the on sale items for men from Balmain's clothing, footwear and accessories collections. Shop now at the official website Balmain.com.

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By entering your email address below, you consent to receiving our newsletter with access to our latest collections, events and initiatives. More details on this are provided in our

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Men's Clothing | Men's Ready-to-Wear | GUCCI® UK

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By entering your email address below, you consent to receiving our newsletter with access to our latest collections, events and initiatives. More details on this are provided in our

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Virtual reality runway by Balenciaga viewed through an Occulus headseat and accompanied by a video game created by the brand.

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5 Things To Know About Balenciaga's Virtual Reality AW21 Show

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Balenciaga staged its dystopian autumn/winter 2021 collection as a virtual reality runway show presented through Oculus glasses, and released the video game, 'Afterworld: The Age of Tomorrow'.

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Myers-McDevitt, P. (2009) Complete Guide To Size Specification And Technical Design. 2nd ed. New York: Fairchild Books.

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Myers-McDevitt, P. (2009) Complete Guide To Size Specification And Technical Design. 2nd ed. New York: Fairchild Books.

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Dario Carnera, the head cutter at Huntsman, with Mr. Hammick, a wheeled robot that can be sent abroad to help measure clients during the pandemic. Credit... Tom Jamieson for The New York Times

The Great Read

With formal events and travel canceled, the tradition-bound tailors are gently embracing technology - and finding leverage on their landlords.

Dario Carnera, the head cutter at Huntsman, with Mr. Hammick, a wheeled robot that can be sent abroad to help measure clients during the pandemic. Credit... Tom Jamieson for The New York Times

LONDON - One morning in early November, a tailor on Savile Row took the measurements of a client 5,500 miles away with the help of a robot. The tailor, Dario Carnera, sat on the second floor of Huntsman, one of the street's most venerable houses, and used the trackpad on his laptop to guide the robot around a client who stood before mirrors in a clothing store in Seoul. Mr. Carnera was visible and audible to the client through an iPad-like panel that doubled as the robot's face.

"I'm just going to come a little bit forward," said Mr. Carnera, moving the robot a few feet to the left.

He was collecting the roughly 20 measurements that are standard in a first Savile Row fitting, the initial step in the fabrication of a made-from-scratch suit that starts at about $8,000 and can reach as high as $40,000 for the priciest material.

"Twenty seven and a quarter," said an assistant in Seoul, through a translator, holding a measuring tape.

This system, up and running since September, wouldn't work without a pair of living, trained hands on the client. As robots go, Huntsman's is primitive - essentially a camera and intercom on wheels. It doesn't have arms, let alone the fingertips to find an inseam. The point of the gizmo isn't to eliminate the need for the human touch. It's to eliminate the need for Mr. Carnera to travel, which, because of the pandemic, he can't.

This grounding is a fiasco for Savile Row tailors. They typically spend nearly as much time flying around the world, fitting clients, as they do cutting and sewing. For many houses, 70 percent of revenue comes from these overseas trunk shows. With tailors stuck in their shops, and London tourism in free-fall, the most famous men's clothing street in the world is gasping for life.

"Our company lived through the Boer War, World War I, the Depression, World War II, recessions," said Simon Cundey, the managing director of Henry Poole & Co., which traces its roots to 1819. "But through all of these crises, we could visit our customers and they could visit us. This is a tragedy on a different scale."

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The struggles started before the pandemic. The decades-long drift from formal wear has wounded a retail strip known for elegant, hand-sewn garments that take up to 90 hours to produce. Plus, the cultural cachet of the suit has waned. All Savile Row shops are associated with a Hollywood star who was a regular: Fred Astaire at Anderson & Sheppard, Charlie Chaplin at Gieves & Hawkes. Most died decades ago.

Covid has turned the Row's challenges into a brush with the abyss. Even dandies are now trundling around their homes in Lululemon. The four months of business between the first and second lockdowns helped, but not a lot. Profit-sapping quarantines meant that tailors still could not fly to other European countries, Asia and the United States, as they typically do three or four times a year.

American Anglophiles are the street's not-so-secret sugar daddies. New York, Los Angeles, and a few other U.S. cities account for roughly one third of all revenue on the Row, managing directors here say.

Fortunately, the biggest landlord on the street has pockets deep enough to afford some rent forbearance. Most of the Row is owned by one of the richest entities on earth: Norway's $1.1 trillion sovereign wealth fund. It owns a majority of the Pollen Estate, a holder of prime acres of central London real estate for nearly 400 years.

The overseers of the fund know that if the celebrated houses of Savile Row close or scatter for cheaper premises, the street's cachet will disappear, along with much of its value. This gives tailors here a rare kind of leverage. Which may be one reason there's a lot of we're-in-this-together talk from Julian Stocks, a Pollen Estate property director.

"The fund family are actually very long-term thinkers," he said. "It's not about that slightly American approach of 'make a quick buck and move on.' It's all about sustainable growth and value over the long term."

How long this generosity will last is a major preoccupation for owners and employees here. So is the broader question of whether the street can shake off its image as a fusty redoubt of old-school haberdashery. Many of the nearly 30 shops are attempting an update. Some are opening or expanding online shops that offer ready-to-wear lines. Others are selling bespoke doctor's scrubs and pandemic masks. A few are experimenting with Zoom. So far, only Huntsman has built a robot.

"I was skeptical when I first heard the idea," Mr. Carnera said. "I'm very traditional. I work with a pair of shears that are about a hundred years old. But the bottom line is that we had to do something."

The "golden mile of men's tailoring" is actually just over 150 yards long. Starting in the early 19th century, it was the unofficial couturier of the British Empire, the place where England's military leaders, equestrians, barristers and aristocrats bought ceremonial finery for parades, hunts, dinners and coronations. Both the tuxedo and the bowler hat were invented here, and when the suit emerged as the uniform of capitalism, the street set the gold standard for craft and durability. Its history and reputation are stellar enough that the name has found its way into at least one language. The Japanese word for "business suit" is sebiro. (Say it out loud.)

Suits made here don't simply fit in ways that feel uncanny. They are intended to perform the sartorial version of plastic surgery, fixing imperfections like pigeon chests, splayed feet, uneven arms, humpbacks and more. It's a goal that can't be achieved through math alone. A fitting on Savile Row is a handsy tango that lasts anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour, and there are three fittings in all. As tailors measure, they take notes, mental or otherwise, on physical quirks that no tape could capture.

The ability to meld numbers and observations is what is known in the trade as "Rock of Eye." For years, Rock of Eye was assumed to be possible only when tailor and client were in the same room. Now, in the age of the coronavirus, Mr. Carnera thinks otherwise.

"He's got a dropped left shoulder and a slight bow to his legs - quite erect posture," he said of the customer in Seoul when the fitting ended. "I can see all I need to see."

Other tailors are dipping a tentative toe into the online world. Kathryn Sargent, the first woman to rise to the title of master tailor, was recently cajoled into her first Zoom fitting by a husband and wife in Manhattan who were tired of waiting for their clothing.

"I was reluctant because a fitting is quite intimate, and I didn't know if I could create that feeling on Zoom," she said from her new shop on nearby Brook Street. "But they told me, 'Kathryn, you need to lower your standards.'"

Phoebe Gormley, who co-owns the first bespoke, women-only shop on the Row, Gormley & Gamble, won't be conferring with her clients over the internet. The degree of difficulty is too high.

"Men are more straight up and down, with or without beer bellies," she said. Instead, she has sold tens of thousands of dollars worth of pandemic masks, some from leftover shirt fabric, and, more ambitiously, is prepping a new, socially distanced venture - an online store called Form Tailoring by Gormley & Gamble.

"Completely Covid-proof," she said.

Richard Anderson, owner of a shop that bears his name, stuck to an in-person approach to sales in the months between lockdowns. He had designed a trio of casual blazers, and one afternoon, before he had to close his doors again, he modeled them in a mirror. They were identical in cut - one button, peak lapels, slightly padded shoulders - and sold in wool, suede and leather. The leather version was a shade of shiny, riotous red rarely seen on anything but fire trucks or Michael Jackson.

"We'll put it in the window and it brings them in," he said, eyeing himself in the leather. "We've done something similar before. A peacoat in an orange billiard cloth. No one bought it in the orange, but we put in the window and people bought it in blue and green."

Set in the upscale Mayfair neighborhood in Central London, Savile Row is a three-minute walk from Regent Street, one of the busiest shopping boulevards in Europe. Somehow it still feels separate and secluded, like a private club you might miss unless someone pointed out the entrance. It's a by-appointment destination that doesn't get a lot of foot traffic. Customers range from royals to mobsters, plus plenty of financiers.

"I had this one customer, young guy, whose father brought him in," Mr. Carnera said. "He insisted I make an inside pocket for his joints."

Raised in southeast London, Mr. Carnera skipped college to start an apprenticeship at Anderson & Sheppard that lasted for three and a half years. During that time, he worked solely on jackets, though his duties also included sweeping the floor, making tea and enduring practical jokes, like being sent on errands to buy button holes.

He later learned the art of cutting patterns, which are made from pieces of brown paper that provide the blueprint of every garment. Unlike made-to-measure clothing, which starts with a jacket that a customer tries on and is then tweaked, bespoke begins with the customer's own contours. Every house on Savile Row keeps its paper patterns, thousands of them, usually strung on a line. At a glance they look like animal pelts.

"This one is Gregory Peck's," said Mr. Carnera, after rummaging through a closet at the rear of Huntsman where patterns are kept in chronological order.

Savile Row is known for producing one-button jackets with roped shoulders that give men a slightly squared off look, a vestige of the street's military roots. Every house, though, has its own aesthetic. Dege & Skinner cuts its trouser narrowly and makes wider-than-usual lapels. Owners of a suit made by Huntsman - jacket cut long and close to the chest, an equestrian silhouette - are said to nod in recognition when they encounter each other.

Most of the august, old houses are clustered on the "sunny side of the street," namely the east. Many of the buildings opposite were constructed after World War II. Members of the Third Reich were once a source of income, but when the hostilities began, the street wasn't spared. A few of the many bombs dropped on London during the Blitz landed on Savile Row.

Since then, successive generations of tailors have trickled in, each offering a jolt of the new. Like Edward Sexton, who showed up with his business partner, Tommy Nutter, in 1969. At the time, most houses kept their storefronts partially covered with drab fabric and speaking to the media was not cricket. If you had to ask what was behind those decorous scrims, you were encouraged to just move along. Mr. Sexton shocked the street by putting dazzling jackets in the window and attracted rock star clients. Three of the Beatles on the cover of Abbey Road are wearing suits he designed.

"Paul was the most conservative," Mr. Sexton said. "John was more quirky."

He sat one morning in late October in his newly opened store at 36 Savile Row, wearing an aqua blue, three-piece suit that was about 20 decibels louder than his voice, which registered just above a whisper. He'd worked for the last few decades out of a studio in Knightsbridge, and sounded somewhat ambivalent about returning to the street that launched him.

"It's asleep now, and not because of Covid," he said. "When I was here earlier with Tommy, it was really buzzing. There was an intelligence - the tailors spoke to each other, and they spoke tailoring. Today, there's no sense of the needle in these places. They're just showcases for brands."

It doesn't help that five storefronts are now vacant, just enough to make the place seem like it's in distress. Pre-pandemic rents were high, demand for suits declined and Brexit hurt, too.

"Things were already starting to unravel before Brexit," said Ozwald Boateng, one of a handful of "new bespoke movement" tailors who opened shops in the 1990s and early 2000s. "All of that international traffic that was coming through London, well, it's going somewhere else now."

Tailors with a "sense of the needle" aren't necessarily in a hurry to open on Savile Row. Ms. Sargent knows the street is her natural milieu, but she gets along well with her current landlord on Brook Street and isn't expecting a bargain if she moves back to the place where she learned the craft.

"It's evolution, not revolution, on Savile Row," she said. "It's just been really expensive, and I can't take on the added costs now."

Some combination of high overhead and poor strategic choices have defeated some boldfaced names in fashion here. Lanvin and Alexander McQueen opened stores on the Row that have since closed. Pillars of the community have folded, too. Kilgour, French & Stanbury, which made the suit Cary Grant wore in "North by Northwest," was acquired years ago by a Chinese investment company and closed in March, citing "challenging trading conditions." (A pop-up shop on the Row is planned for December.)Hardy Amies, which opened in 1945 and designed costumes for Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey" as well as frocks for Queen Elizabeth, closed last year.

The space is now occupied by the flagship of Hackett, a company that is a relative whippersnapper at 37 years old. It started elsewhere in London and has dozens of stores around the United Kingdom and Europe.

In other words, it has some trappings of a brand showcase.

Huntsman seems an improbable site for high-tech innovation. The second floor has a bar, a dart board and huge ancient ledgers with handwritten notes in elegant script. They look like props for a film adaptation of a Dickens novel. Actually, they are the in-house accounting books. There are entries for dukes, earls and many pages devoted to Queen Victoria, whose purchases included "2 Striped waistcoats with sleeves" and "5 pairs Western Angolan trousers."

The robot idea sprang from the ever-churning mind of Pierre Lagrange, a long-haired 58-year-old Belgian hedge fund manager who acquired the company in 2013. Part nerd, part swashbuckling capitalist, Mr. Lagrange rides a Harley and exults during an interview about the pink, wide-wale corduroy jacket he owns. ("Everybody says it's amazing.") He's been pushing Huntsman to expand its audience and offerings, bolstering its website and opening a Huntsman satellite in a Manhattan apartment that once belonged to Tony Bennett.

When Covid shut down retail in March, he brainstormed with a manager and started thinking about physicians who perform remote-controlled surgery. If a robot can work on a kidney, he figured, why not a suit?

"I've always been a proponent of using tech in ways that let people focus on what they're really good at," he said, "whether that's a hedge fund or in tailoring."

The company had six robots built and christened all of them "Mr. Hammick," a tribute to Colin Hammick, Huntsman's much-revered and now-deceased head tailor. Five Mr. Hammicks are now in the United States and Asia. They are assembled in places convenient to customers, like their homes, by employees who live in the same country.

To date, the Hammick brigade has yet to produce a finished suit. But even before that proof-of-concept moment arrives, Mr. Lagrange is optimistic. Suits made on the Row for overseas customers take about a year from start to finish, largely because all three fittings require a visit, and those are spaced a few months apart. By relying on Mr. Hammick instead of planes, the whole process will take five months.

"I don't know how fast we would have gotten here without Covid," said Mr. Lagrange, of the machines. "Sometimes you need a crisis."

Some traditionalists here will be put off by what the mother of invention has wrought at Huntsman. Then there's Mr. Stocks, the agent of the Pollen Estate, who is a fan of any innovation that adds vitality to the Row and keeps its character intact.

"Let's face it, 10 years ago we'd be sitting here in suits," he said, after settling into a chair in the spacious tearoom in the rear of J.P. Hackett, where we met for a pre-lockdown interview. "But the world's moved on and we need to make sure that Savile Row moves with it. Because if you don't, you're dead."

A few years ago, Pollen hired a PR firm for the Row. It has also pushed for improvements to the streetscape. The current priority is keeping tenants afloat. Many did not pay rent during the first lockdown and the estate is now speaking to all tailors about further support during lockdown number two. During the four months stores were open in the summer and fall, discounted rents were paid, and some paid no rent at all.

Plenty of managing directors here give the estate high marks for the way it has dealt with them during the pandemic and for the tenor of negotiations about rents in the near future. Others are less impressed. Life on the Row, they say, has been far too expensive for too long.

"My understanding is that they are now willing to talk and find solutions," said Mr. Boateng of the Pollen Estate. "That's good to hear, but given the number of empty stores here, the survival of the street is at stake. Some real, radical rethinking of approach is needed."

The estate has extra motivation to keep mainstay tenants in situ. With historic preservation in mind, the local government imposed a singular restriction on some properties on the Row: If a space has been zoned for in-store tailoring, it can be rented only to shops with in-store tailors. Pollen couldn't fill a vacancy with a Zara or a Topshop if it were so inclined.

Which it is not. Mr. Stocks acknowledges that this tailors-only policy hands tactical advantage to some tenants. But it also prevents the five other landlords that own properties on the Row from letting to chain stores that would make the place generic.

This is not merely a hypothetical. Eight years ago, Abercrombie & Fitch opened a kid's store in an unrestricted retail space. This was especially appalling to many because the building had once been home to Apple Corps, the Beatles' multimedia company. In 1969, when the band couldn't figure out where to play the show that became its last, instruments were hauled upstairs and the group played on the roof.

Before Abercrombie opened its doors, a group of dapper protesters, organized by a magazine called The Chap, gathered outside the space holding placards that read, in a nod to John Lennon, "Give Three Piece a Chance." The store opened anyway and has since closed.

Mr. Stocks is engineering more palatable additions. A bespoke shoemaker, Gaziano & Girling, moved in last year. A coffee shop called the Service opened in July, the first of its kind here. A made-to-measure shop for women, the Deck, debuted last moth.

"And we'd like to add the best leather goods, the best shirts, a watchmaker, male grooming," he went on. "Make it a sort of bastion of men's luxury - which it always has been, but in a broader, 21st-century sense."

All of the Pollen Estate's space on Savile Row is spoken for, so newcomers will move into the estate's holdings nearby, on Old Burlington Street and Clifford Street. As it happens, one of Mr. Stocks' newest tenants opened there in September, and he was eager to show it off.

Thom Sweeney, as the store is called, is a four-story townhouse with a spiffy new barbershop in the basement and two floors of clothing. The top floor has a full bar, leather sofas, a hearth filled with lit candles and a television playing a Sean Connery-era James Bond film.

To Mr. Stocks, this is the new model of hip, immersive retail - one he'd like shoppers to include in their image of Savile Row. The owners of Thom Sweeney, on the other hand, are happy to have a good 20 yards between them and the more famous street.

"We didn't look at it," said one of the owners, Thom Whiddett, about Savile Row. "We wouldn't fit in there. The street has amazing tailors, but we didn't want to pigeonhole ourselves."

The idea was to open near enough to the Row to benefit from its prestige without getting saddled with its drawbacks. A number of tailors, on and off the street, lament the intimidation factor that keeps customers away. James Sleater of the nervily named Cad and the Dandy on Savile Row likened shopping on the street to beckoning a sommelier at a Michelin-starred restaurant. It could end up costing you so much you might not be inclined to do it. In a break with tradition, Cad puts prices on its website.

"Even if you can afford an Aston Martin," Mr. Sleater said, "you want to know how much it's going to cost you."

Cad's fondness for reinvention extends to online fittings. They have gone well enough for Mr. Sleater to call them "another string to our bow."

Across the street, Ozwald Boateng sat in the office in his store and talked about lining up his first Zoom consultation. The prospect irked him. Last year, he unveiled his debut collection for women in a show at Harlem's Apollo Theater, which he titled A.I. The name was a feint. The initials stood for "authentic identity."

"I was really fed up with algorithms running our lives," he said. "So I flipped the meaning. I was trying to say, 'Keep your truth, keep your identity.'"

Eight months into the pandemic he's realized that, like it or not, technology is the only end run for Covid-19 - and perhaps the only way his company can survive.

"The algorithms got me!" he said, laughing, with a hint of resignation. "Even here, the digital world has won."

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To Survive the Pandemic, Savile Row Cuts a Bespoke Strategy

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The Great Read With formal events and travel canceled, the tradition-bound tailors are gently embracing technology - and finding leverage on their landlords. Dario Carnera, the head cutter at Huntsman, with Mr. Hammick, a wheeled robot that can be sent abroad to help measure clients during the pandemic. Credit...

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A Method to finding the source of quality issues in garments

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A Method to finding the source of quality issues in garments

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The root cause analysis (RCA) is a systematic problem-solving tool used to identify the root cause of any fault or problems. This is one of the seven basic Quality Control Tools which are graphical techniques used to troubleshoot issues related to quality. This method of finding root causes is also known as Fishbone Diagram and Cause-and-effect diagram. In this article, you will see the steps used for preparing a root cause analysis diagram and a few examples of applying this tool in quality control in the apparel manufacturing industry.

It is safe to say that a common challenge for any management team is to figure out the possible changes that can be done to improve any process or problem. Root cause analysis comes to an effective tool that can be used to solve such problems and perform any corrective and comprehensive system based review of any defects, irrespective of its criticality. It does so by focusing on pinpointing the root cause of the specific defects and its contributing causes. After that these factors are represented in a pictorial representation wherein all the factors are sorted according to their groups which lead to the effect. This makes visualization much easy for analysis of the problem.

Steps for doing root cause analysis

The following are the steps in which an effective Root Cause Analysis chart can be made

Step-1: The first step to creating the diagram is to write the Effect on the right side in a box. You can write a problem you faced in your production processes or identify a quality problem and write it in the box.

Step-2: Following this effect box, a horizontal line has to be drawn from the effect to its left.

Step-3: After this think of all the categories of factors that are leading to the effect. These categories should be such that the visualization of the diagram will be easy. One such set of effective categories consists of the 6M's which are Machinery, Manpower/People, Mother nature/Environment, Method, Materials, and measurement. The process of categorizing the potential causes can be very useful to breakdown the complex problems and focus on various perspectives.

Step-4: After looking at the categories the causes have to be identified and arranged. This can be done through the proper technical investigation of the process, asking people close to the process, etc. to reach a useful level of detail.

Fig-1: Root Cause Analysis Diagram

Root Cause Analysis for Quality Control in the Apparel Industry

The quality of any apparel is depended a lot on the absence of any defects. And this can be made possible and consistent only if the quality in the manufacturing is kept at a strict control. Defects in apparel can arise from cutting, sewing, finishing etc. only to name a few and the key job of any quality management team is to figure out the key source/cause of such defect to rectify it. And Root Cause Analysis comes a great way to identify those defects and work on them.

The following are some basic examples of defects of which the root causes have been found out through this method.

1. Finding the root cause of seam puckering

Seam puckering in one of the common problems found in the garment seam. The appearance of puckering in a garment is not desirable. So, to eliminate the generating puckering in a seam, you can do root cause analysis with your team and prepare this diagram. If the possible causes are listed down in the cause-and-effect diagram, we will find the following.

Puckering can be generated due to - incompatible sewing thread and fabric, fabric feeding in a sewing machine, unskilled sewing operator, components that are sewn together may not be equal in measurement. The cause might be machine set-up - the machine is not adjusted to fabric or thread tension is not set-up correctly.

Fig-2: Diagram for root cause analysis for defect -Puckering

2. Finding the root cause for the missing label in a garment

The possible causes for 'label missing' in a finished garment can be one of the following.

Fig-3: Diagram for root cause analysis for defect: missing label

3. Finding the root cause of stains in a garment

Fig-4: Diagram for root cause analysis for defect: Oil stains, dirt spot, a rust spot

4. Finding the root cause for broken stitch

Broken stitches are commonly found in a garment seam. You know any broken stitch in a garment is a critical defect. To reduce the frequency of such defect generation, you can do the root cause analysis. Here we have shared the possible reasons for broken stitches in garments shown in four categories. You need to narrow down the reasons after analyzing each possibility.

Fig-5: Diagram for root cause analysis for defect- Broken Stitch

The above are only a few examples of defects. After the causes are identified these need to be handed over to the responsible person for corrective action and execution. The beautiful feature of this chart is that once the format is set at destined places such as in-line, end-line inspection the causes and effect can be made dynamic and changed depending on defects and style change.

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Finding Root Causes of Quality Issues using Root Cause Analysis Method

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The root cause analysis (RCA) is a systematic problem-solving tool used to identify the root cause of any fault or problems. This is one of the seven basic Quality Control Tools which are graphical techniques used to troubleshoot issues related to quality. This method of finding root causes is also known as Fishbone Diagram and Cause-and-effect diagram.

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Includes examples of testing tables

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New sustainable technology that aids mixed fibre recycling by separating fibres types which can then be reused and made into new recycled garments.

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H&M-owned brand Monki has announced the launch of a new recycling machine, the 'Green Machine', and has said it is the first brand to use the new technology to recycle mixed fibres on a large scale.

The non-profit H&M Foundation and the Hong Kong Research Institute of Textile and Apparel (HKRITA) collaborated in creating the 'Green Machine'.

Through a hydrothermal process, the recycling machine separates cotton and polyester blends from one another in a closed cycle. It uses heat, water and less than five percent biodegradable chemicals to recycle large quantities of clothing.

The first collection using the new recycling technology comprises a grey hoodie and joggers which have "respect your mother (nature)" embroidered on the set.

While the current collection is designed for smaller quantities, Monki aims to use this type of production process on a larger scale by autumn 2021.

Jenny Fagerlin, sustainability director at Monki, said in a statement: "As part of the fashion industry, I want Monki to be part of the solution, not the problem. I know that we are able to drive progress and change the way we act. I am still watching up every morning and want to change the world."

The collection will be available online from the end of November.
Photo credit: Monki

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Monki presents the new 'Green Machine' recycling technology

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H&M-owned brand Monki has announced the launch of a new recycling machine, the 'Green Machine', and has said it is the first brand to use the new technology to recycle mixed fibres on a large scale. The non-profit H&M Foundation and the Hong K

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A review of research and innovation in garment sizing, prototyping and fitting

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A review of research and innovation in garment sizing, prototyping and fitting

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Achieving well fitting garments matters to consumers and, therefore, to product development teams, garment manufacturers and fashion retailers when creating clothing that fits and functions both for individuals and for a retailer's target populations. New tools and software for body scanning and product development enhance the ways that sizing and fitting can be addressed; they provide improved methods for classifying and analysing the human body and new ways of garment prototyping through virtual product development.

Recent technological developments place a growing demand on product development teams to reconsider their approach to prototyping, sizing and fitting. Significant, related changes are also being made in the fashion retail environment, including innovations in virtual fit to enable consumers to engage with fit online. For best effect in the short term, such advances need to relate well to existing manufacturing practices and to the methods that have, over many years, become embedded by practitioners into the processes involved in clothing product development and those used for establishing garment fit.

The high rate of technological advance, however, places an urgent need on practitioners to change; established principles of pattern theory need to be recognised explicitly and followed consistently, otherwise, new techniques for developing and assessing products will not be able to be fully exploited. Practitioners will be pressed to adopt more data-rational approaches to product development, including adopting engineering principles into the practice of clothing product development. For example, comparisons made between the traditional two-dimensional garment pattern and the three-dimensional environment accessible through 3-D body scanning technology, provide both the stimulus and the data required to support a re-examination of how the measurements required for clothing product development should be defined. This should be coupled with a more explicit recognition of ease as a factor requiring quantification within clothing engineering. New methods of categorising the body in terms of its form also allow recognition of the restrictions of proportional theories in pattern construction; they afford promising opportunities for advancing the practices of sizing and fitting in clothing product development.

Acknowledgements

I would like to acknowledge Dr Sophie Woodward, Dr Kathryn Brownbridge, Dr Ellen McKinney and Sophie Miell who have contributed to the development of this issue of Textile Progress with guidance, ideas and discussion about the issues raised. I am also grateful to all individuals or companies who provided details of their projects and products and for giving permission to use their images.

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A review of research and innovation in garment sizing, prototyping and fitting

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Achieving well fitting garments matters to consumers and, therefore, to product development teams, garment manufacturers and fashion retailers when creating clothing that fits and functions both for individuals and for a retailer's target populations.

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Fitting Evaluation of Pattern Making Systems According to Female Body Shapes 

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Fitting Evaluation of Pattern Making Systems According to Female Body Shapes 

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Research study into the effectiveness of fit across different body shapes using four of the most commonly used pattern making systems in commercial fashion.

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Drafting a basic pattern and adapting it to a specific design for a Filipino figure

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Drafting a basic pattern and adapting it to a specific design for a Filipino figure

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Research thesis detailing the fit problems of western commercial patterns among Filipino women and how to resolve them.

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Drafting a basic pattern and adapting it to a specific design for

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Roles that Interact with the Garment Technologist

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Legal battle over Nirvana’s iconic smiley face graphic being used by fashion label Marc Jacobs

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The battle over the iconic black and yellow smiley face, long associated with Nirvana merchandise, continued on Monday as Marc Jacobs International argued the logo was never actually copyrighted. The Marc Jacobs legal team has argued that errors in copyright registration made it fair game for the fashion brand to legally use, and its attorneys have pushed for a summary judgment, or a decision by the court before the case goes to trial, in Marc Jacobs' favor.

The back-and-forth has been going on since December 2018, when Nirvana first filed to sue Marc Jacobs for copyright infringement, claiming a Marc Jacobs T-shirt and sweatshirt riffing on the smiley face violated Nirvana's trademark. The brand countersued in November 2019, alleging the copyright claim was invalid since the creator of the logo could not be identified. Things got even more tangled this year in September, when graphic designer Robert Fisher claimed he was the rightful creator and copyright owner of the logo - which Nirvana's legal team deemed "factually and legally baseless."

This go-around, Marc Jacobs' argument rests on this recent revelation that Kurt Cobain did not design the logo as Nirvana Inc.'s copyright allegedly states; founding Nirvana members Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic have also allegedly testified that they had no knowledge of the logo's origin and, according to Novoselic, "it didn't seem like a new idea."

Moreover - and despite admitting to taking inspiration from Nirvana merch - Marc Jacobs has also argued that the amendments to the original design, namely swapping the "X" eyes for an "M" and a "J," make a significant enough change to the disputed smiley. "Even if the disputed smiley was protectable, there is no evidence of confusion, so there can be no finding of infringement," lawyers claimed.

Nirvana Inc.'s legal team has predictably fought back, promising to oppose Marc Jacobs' motion to rule in the brand's favor and invalidate Nirvana's current copyright.

In the world of tech-related legal struggles, Google has been hit with a lawsuit from the U.S. Department of Justice over what it claims are anti-competitive practices.

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Marc Jacobs Claims Nirvana Has No Legal Right to the Smiley Face Logo

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The battle over the iconic black and yellow smiley face, long associated with Nirvana merchandise, continued on Monday as Marc Jacobs International argued the logo was never actually copyrighted.

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Ethnicity, body shape differences and female consumers' apparel fit problems

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Ethnicity, body shape differences and female consumers' apparel fit problems

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Research study

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Ethnicity, body shape differences and female consumers' apparel fit problems

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This research compared body shapes, measurements, ratios and fit problems of 234 African (109) and Caucasian (125) women. A three‐dimensional (3D) full‐body scanner generated virtual body images from...

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A set of sustainable and environmentally friendly rules for businesses to follow.

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The 'Terra Carta' offers the basis of a recovery plan that puts Nature, People and Planet at the heart of global value creation - one that will harness the precious, irreplaceable power of Nature combined with the transformative innovation and resources of the private sector.

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Terra Carta - a charter that puts sustainability at the heart of the private sector.

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Fashion Retail News Article - 31st October 2020

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Fashion Retail News Article - 31st October 2020

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Innovative use of retail space to attract customers to shop in a physical store by allowing them to participate in the design and watch the making of their product.

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Swiss brand Freitag has created a shop in Zurich, which is a "micro-factory" where customers can help make their own bag out of recycled tarpaulins.

Named Sweat-Yourself-Shop, the interactive retail space on Grüngasse was designed by Freitag to take their existing customisation options one step further.

The 80-square-metre retail space was originally a standard shop for the brand but has been given a factory-style makeover.

"We were looking for a unique pilot retail experience to reduce used truck tarp leftovers from our factory," explained Freitag.

"With the new shop, customers can get further involved by assembling their bag to their own taste and getting involved in the final production steps," added the brand.

"From now on, Freitag is transferring the final stages of production and the entire responsibility for the bag's design to future owners, in our newly converted micro-factory."

Founded in 1993 by graphic designers Markus and Daniel Freitag, Freitag specialises in practical bags made out of recycled tarpaulins.

Used tarpaulin bought from trucking companies in Europe are cleaned, cut up and fashioned into bags. The material, polyester fabric coated with polyvinyl chloride (PVC), makes for durable and waterproof accessories.

At Sweat-Yourself-Shop, customers can make their own shopper-style bag.

The interiors of the micro-factory are designed to look "functional and industrial", with grey walls and floors. Freitag painted all the machinery in Colour Index industrial green, the brand's signature shade.

A rainbow of tarpaulin panels are clipped to hangers dangling from a looped conveyor belt that runs along the shop's ceiling.

Customers can press a button to power the conveyor belt, bringing more colour choices out from behind windows of frosted glass.

Workshop stations allow them to pick out colours for the main bag and the outer pocket and watch them be cut and stitched together.

Miniwiz creates pop-up store where rubbish is exchanged for recycled products

"The sheer amount of colour choices for tarp pieces that go into the F718 BUH shopper will probably have our part-time bag makers in the new Sweat-Yourself-Shop perspiring more heavily than the production work itself," joked the brand.

Large windows frame the shop so that passersby can also watch the process from the street.

Sweat-Yourself-Shop is shortlisted for Dezeen Awards 2020 in the small retail interior category, alongside projects including a tiny bakery in Japan and beauty brand Glossier's Seattle shop that's covered in moss.

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Freitag's Sweat-Yourself-Shop is a tiny factory for making recycled bags

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Swiss brand Freitag has created a shop in Zurich, which is a "micro-factory" where customers can help make their own bag out of recycled tarpaulins. Named Sweat-Yourself-Shop, the interactive retail space on Grüngasse was designed by Freitag to take their existing customisation options one step further.

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Gucci's next collection displayed as 'costume' in their set of films in lieu of a catwalk show during the pandemic. Possibly the new way of presenting collections in the future.

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When Alessandro Michele announced in May that Gucci would no longer be part of Milan's traditional fashion calendar, he admitted he didn't yet have any clear idea what would take the place of the fashion shows which had, till February, been the brand's very effective public face. What he did promise, however, was that it would be "a new story."

Michele made good on that vow last week when Gucci launched its latest collection with a seven-day virtual film festival. Guccifest was announced with the delivery of a box - like just about everything else fashion-related in this locked-down era - which contained a full festival kit: tote bag, press release, press pass, poster, notebook, badges, stickers. Very clever. Each day's film was accompanied by shorts highlighting the work of young designers, 15 in all, selected by Michele. (It's surprising how many of their presentations play out as Alessandro's "children," though that notion is a challenge too far for his own humility.) And after each "screening," a couple of special guests would analyse what they'd just seen. I especially liked the conversation between Alexa Chung and Kenny Schachter, the indefatigable burr under the art world's saddle. All of that sideshow contributed to the film-fest flavour.

The seven films themselves were co-directed by Michele and Gus Van Sant, himself no stranger to the festival circuit with award-winners like "My Own Private Idaho," "Elephant" and "Last Days" to his name. The pair had been planning to work together for a while, but the pandemic kicked the collab into high gear. Michele conceived the whole thing, Van Sant scripted it, and they filmed through October in Rome, fine-tuning the finished product till the very last minute. Van Sant brought in the legend Christopher Doyle as DP so the footage - and the fashion - looks fantastic. Is there a moment when you miss seeing the collection on a catwalk? No, not one. You're left with the sensation that this is the way Michele's work is best appreciated, in the focused alternate reality that movies offer, where his clothes can come to complete characterful life. His credit does, after all, read "Costumes by Alessandro Michele." There are some faces we recognize in his cast of characters: Harry Styles, Billie Eilish, Florence Welch, Jeremy O. Harris. The others are the polymorphous family he has so convincingly corralled as Gucci's own.

Their queen for a day is Italian multi-hyphenate Silvia Calderoni, a pale androgyne whose passage through Rome shapes seven distinct scenarios. In the first, "At Home", she wakes, feeds her fish, does yoga, uses the loo, washes her hands. The banality (beautifully shot by Doyle) is curiously mesmerising. It's a knack that Van Sant mastered a long time ago in his own films. And you can go further back, to Andy Warhol's unblinking voyeurism. That's actually what Michele had in mind. "I love to spy," he admitted. "At the beginning, I was thinking to spy on Silvia 24 hours a day even when she was sleeping."

Instead, we follow her to a café in the second film, the post office in the third, a rehearsal in the fourth, back home for the fifth, out again to a vintage shop in the sixth, and, finally, "A Nightly Walk," when Silvia undertakes a nocturnal excursion to visit her friend Archie. Warhol's dachshund was named Archie, so you might think Michele and Van Sant were tying everything up in a big pink Andy bow, except that Warhol isn't the only cinematic thread that weaves through their films. The spirit of Fellini, celluloid poet of Rome, godfather of Italian cinema, hovers over everything, right up to the final frame of "A Nightly Walk," where Silvia pauses in the street and the camera pulls back to reveal she is actually standing on a stage, with a huge artificial moon hanging in the sky behind her. A Fellini moon.

But there is also Hitchcock on hand for trainspotting film buffs, who may remember that, in 1998, Van Sant was responsible for a frame-by-frame reconstruction of "Psycho." In Guccifest's fifth film, when Silvia goes home, she watches her neighbours go about their business in a set-up that is reminiscent of the Hitch classic "Rear Window." And in the series finale, as Silvia reaches Archie's place, Van Sant is exiting with his dog. It was Hitchcock's famous quirk to make a cameo appearance in his own films.

More than before, we need another reality to survive. It's something very human.

I'm sure there's a whole lot more texture I missed, but my point is that my filmic experience of Michele's new collection was a lot more layered and enthralling than ten minutes in a fashion frow, and that was a gratifying insight, speaking as someone who thrilled to Gucci's last live performance in February. So long ago now, but remember the entire backstage transformed into a carousel which slowly revolved while the models were made up and dressed.

But Guccifest achieves something equally memorable on behalf of fashion. Time is suspended. I haven't mentioned that the umbrella title for Silvia's morning-to-midnight seven-parter is "Ouverture of Something That Never Ended." I interpret that as a hymn to the eternal present. Michele didn't attach a seasonal label to his collection. He also mixed his new clothes with looks from his first collection as creative director, five years ago. You'll definitely recognise the red pussy bow blouse on one of Silvia's musician neighbours. The footwear in the queue at the post office features the fur-lined mules that helped launch Michele on an unsuspecting world. The silk plissé confection that Silvia grandly throws off her balcony is also from that first collection. They're all being re-issued as Michele's riposte to seasonality, temporality... "Time is not relevant," he told me. "It doesn't exist when I go back to the flower print red dress or the pussy bow. It's still beautiful. What I did then is still powerful."

I return to the idea of the alternate reality, which is filtered through every stage of Michele's Ouverture. "What am I doing in this dimension?" wonders a wistful young client in the café. "Fashion is always another reality," Michele said. "Art and creativity are another reality. More than before, we need another reality to survive. It's something very human." His movie-buff mum gave him his celluloid education. "When she was watching movies, she needed another reality. My mother loved women going to bed in full makeup, like Lana Turner." He admitted she would have hated Silvia on the loo. "But I don't want to be like my mum, I want to pee."

That droll reality is the curious crux of Michele's Gucci. "Haute couture was never the origin for me," he insisted. "The origin is street, it's vintage, it's pop stars. That's where I learned everything about fashion. Joy Division didn't care about haute couture. And I was thinking about that in this lockdown, nobody can steal fashion from me. I was at home but I was still a fashion designer. So let's go back to T-shirts, let's go back to the skirts of my granny, let's go back to the socks I loved when I was a basketball player. Simple pieces, simple shapes. But then I put something beautiful inside that, like Silvia, when she is wearing the dress embroidered with pearls. I was always trying to make that conversation, turning fashion upside down."

I've always marvelled at the defiance in Michele's work. He knows there are people who'll never get it. "I think it's the moment to leave fashion alone," he said. "Let it run free like a kid everywhere, don't put boundaries to it." It's also a moment where people have been creating under an extraordinarily dark shadow. I always seem to end up talking about death with Alessandro. Covid came knocking in Italy this year. When everyone was told they couldn't leave their houses, he was scared. All those things he's always fixed on - the basketball shirt, the white socks, the vintage dresses - became like memento mori. But it was a sign. "We were running like superheroes but we weren't living. Even now, when it's finished and we're outside, I don't want to be in the old world."

Signs, signals, codes... there may be a new Gucci brewing. The ten-cent word of this season is Eschatology (on Harry Styles' basketball shirt). It's the science of "end times," last things. But Michele is pragmatically optimistic. "If we're born alone and we die alone, now I want to be with other people. The way we are together is very powerful." Put simply, he's in the mood for a proper revolution. Quite how that will play out is scarcely clear, but, with the help of Gus Van Sant, Michele has at least set a new bar for his industry with his Guccifest. And, as he points out, even if Silvia stands all alone in her surreal world at the end of "Ouverture," under that huge luminous, artificial moon, she faces the future unafraid.

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When Alessandro Michele announced in May that Gucci would no longer be part of Milan's traditional fashion calendar, he admitted he didn't yet have any clear idea what would take the place of the fashion shows which had, till February, been the brand's very effective public face.

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Sustainability targets set by fashion business have only been reached by two-thirds

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Bale of used denim at textile recycler Renewcell's plant in Kristinehamn, Sweden. Alexander Donka.

Circularity is one of fashion's favourite sustainability buzzwords, but the sector is struggling to live up to its commitments, according to a new report by the Global Fashion Agenda.

Three years ago, the industry advocacy group convened a host of fashion companies to set 2020 goals focused on establishing business models and products designed for zero waste, durability, recyclability and reuse. A little over 10 percent of the industry signed up to set their own internal targets as part of the Circular Fashion System Commitment. Signatories include large groups like Kering, Inditex and PVH, as well as smaller players like Ganni and Reformation, but progress has been mixed.

According to an update published Monday, only 64 percent of the commitments companies set for themselves have been achieved.

Goals focused on design had the highest success rate at nearly 70 percent, largely reflecting increased training on circular design principles that require products are made to last and enable reuse and recycling. But companies struggled to make progress on more concrete changes, like establishing take-back schemes for old clothes or scaling the use of materials recycled from old clothes.

Inditex, Kering and PVH were among the brands who made good on their commitments, but others struggled. The mixed results reflect the scale of the challenges facing the fashion industry in its bid to operate in a more sustainable manner. While a growing number of companies are setting ambitious targets, achieving them requires substantial investment and systemic changes to the way the industry operates.

"Is it enough to remain on almost two-thirds of all targets being reached?" asked Jonas Eder Hansen, public affairs director at Global Fashion Agenda at the report's launch on Monday. "It's at least a signal to us that we set very ambitious targets, however, I think we need a lot more players to be part of this journey."

The GFA identified a number of roadblocks that hampered progress over the last three years. For instance, efforts to tackle garment recycling and establish new business models like resale are challenging and resource-intensive to scale, particularly for smaller players, due to the complexity of reverse logistics, garment handling and sorting. Textile-to-textile recycling, which has only recently matured as a sophisticated, scalable solution, still requires heavy investment to get off the ground.

The pandemic also threw companies off course, changing priorities and making many of the initiatives companies had planned more challenging, according to the GFA. For instance, the widespread shift to remote working under lockdowns put training for designers on hold, while closed stores, plummeting sales and cancelled orders also resulted in a shift in focus to mounting volumes of inventory and deadstock, instead of post-consumer waste. Similarly, the temporary closure of physical stores - a crucial touchpoint for customer take-back schemes - has had a knock-on effect for signatories looking to scale their in-house resale, repair and recycling programmes.

Notwithstanding the challenges, meaningful progress is becoming increasingly urgent if the industry is to meet global goals to tackle the climate crisis. The fashion industry is a major polluter and is facing mounting scrutiny for its environmental impact. Establishing circular business models that minimise textile waste, keep clothes in circulation for longer through resale and embed new recycling technologies is vital to future-proof the industry.

And while progress for some has been slower than anticipated, there have also been promising developments this year, with new recycling technologies beginning to scale and mounting engagement with policymakers, as brands seek to tackle some of the challenges they have run into so far.

"The problem is way too big for a single organisation to tackle themselves," said François Souchet, who heads up circular fashion initiatives at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. One substantial challenge that remains is fashion's growth-focused business model. "There's a need to make sure that we can start to tackle the problem a lot of different ways ... [and] change the way we measure success [from growth of volume and sales] to how much use consumers get out of a product."
Related Articles: Chasing The Holy Grail of Circular Fashion Why Big Brands Are Investing in Sustainability Start-Ups Can Recycling Fix Fashion's Landfill Problem?

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Fashion Makes Mixed Progress on Circularity

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Bale of used denim at textile recycler Renewcell's plant in Kristinehamn, Sweden. Alexander Donka. Circularity is one of fashion's favourite sustainability buzzwords, but the sector is struggling to live up to its commitments, according to a new report by the Global Fashion Agenda.