The final days of 2023 have arrived, so it’s time to reflect on the past six months. You can get the (fashion) news from the first year of help here read up. Today we present Part 2, from July to December.
July
The month of July in Europe is characterized by extreme weather conditions and fluctuations: a lot of rain alternates with extremely high temperatures, media reports of forest fires or hailstorms.
July was particularly eventful in France. Major unrest broke out in France after the death of 17-year-old Nahel Merzouk, who was shot by a police officer during a traffic stop in the Paris suburbs. The Unrest affected French retail massive and were accompanied by significant damage from looting. Several retail associations therefore called on the French government to support retailers. The unrest not only led to a loss of sales for retailers, it is also not yet clear whether insurance companies will accept all claims for damages from retailers. The associations and retailers called for their staff to be temporarily furloughed while the shops remain closed.
But there is also positive news from France in July: the country is introducing a bonus for repairing clothing and shoes. The aim is to encourage the population to care for and repair textiles. As part of these environmental protection measures France has stopped automatically printing receipts.
An unusual message also comes from Great Britain this month. On the popular shopping street Oxford Street, small businesses can move into the retail stores for free. By eliminating retail rents for small businesses, the country hopes to revitalize the high street. It is specifically looking for “innovative and emerging brands that offer something new and exciting” to breathe new life into the high street.
August
In the international fashion world, August was a particularly eventful month in terms of takeovers and mergers. The two German online retailers Fashionette AG and The Platform Group GmbH & Co.KG are appealing concrete merger model before. The two British fashion fairs Pure London and Just Around The Corner (JATC) join forcesand US private equity investor Advent International takes over the Australian luxury label Zimmermann. The biggest news in August, however, was this billion-dollar takeover of Capri Holdings Limited by its competitor Tapestry Inc. The US company is taking over its competitor with the brands Versace, Michael Kors and Jimmy Choo for 7.7 billion euros. Together, the two companies will be a major player in the US luxury market.
In the fight against textile waste Uganda stops importing old clothes from Europe and the USA. With this step, President Yoweri Museveni wants to promote the East African country’s own textile industry. People who offer new clothes in Uganda are not able to do so because of the volume of second-hand clothing, Museveni told the Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant at the opening of a Ugandan-Chinese business park in Mbale.
In August it ensures strategic partnership between Shein and Forever 21 for a stir with which the US company Sparc Group LLC wants to promote the growth of its fast fashion brand. For Gerry Weber, August means restructuring, because the creditors of the insolvent clothing supplier have to do so Restructuring plan approved.
The Belgian luxury brand Maison Ullens has gone bankruptafter the brand’s founder, Myriam Ullens de Schooten Whettnall, was killed in late March.
September
September not only brings autumn, but also the big fashion month. Fashion weeks are taking place all over the world, which means a turbulent time for fashion houses and brands as well as for journalists and the public. At the French fashion house Balmain, another stress factor is added to the already hectic time: a few days before the planned show in Paris More than 50 Balmain pieces stolen. Despite the theft, thanks to days of work, the fashion house is able to present a full collection at Fashion Week.
A surprising announcement comes from the Dutch brand G-Star Raw. The denim specialist sells one Majority stake in the New York brand management company WHP Global.
Fashion brands and clothing manufacturers have long been under scrutiny for respecting human rights in their supply chains. With the upcoming Duty of care for the supply chain, grievances should be eliminated and the focus should be on the working conditions of employees. A new report, released in September by textile workers’ solidarity group Labor Behind the Label in collaboration with the International Law Firm for Human Rights and the Global Rights Compliance Foundation, links major fashion companies to human rights abuses at garment factories in Pakistan. These include excessive working hours, disregard for health and safety measures, and routine minimum wage violations.
October
October is dominated by political news and will go down in history as the month when the war between Israel and Hamas began. On October 7th, the Palestinian Hamas movement launched an attack on Israel that lasted several hours. Large cities such as Tel Aviv and Jerusalem are also hit. In the course of the violent confrontation numerous fashion companies closed their stores in Israel.
Given the political conflict in the Gaza Strip, it seems almost inappropriate to talk about fashion news, but a lot happened in the industry in October. Chinese online giant Shein and its “sister company” Temu are ceasing their disputes and having theirs Lawsuits withdrawn. The two ultra-fast fashion retailers were in a legal dispute over, among other things, copying product images and misleading information. Just a few days later, British retail group Frasers Group Plc announced that it was shutting down its fast fashion label Missguided will sell to Shein.. Financial details of the planned takeover were not disclosed.
The Dutch fashion department store De Bijenkorf also remains in the news restructures its branch management. 37 management positions will be eliminated.
In 2023, six sustainability claims made by Irish textile discounter Primark in the Netherlands were investigated by the Dutch Advertising Council’s Advertising Code of Conduct and deemed “misleading” in October. Primark wants to combat this Appeal judgment.
Galeria wants to concentrate on itself – that’s why the German department store chain is preparing in October Sale of its Belgian subsidiary Inno before.
November
Protests in Bangladesh dominate the news in November. Textile workers protest for an increase in the minimum wage, with demonstrations coming two garment workers killed. Many textile factories in Bangladesh have to close due to the protests.
The Minimum wage requirement is 23,000 taka (around 195 euros). The government of Bangladesh decides on November 8th Increase in minimum wage to 12,500 taka. From December, clothing and textile workers will receive around 106 euros instead of the previous 68 euros (8,000 taka). The new minimum wage is around 50 percent higher than the previous wage, but still far below what workers are demanding. The protests therefore continue even after the government decision.
restlessness sums up November well. Due to the ongoing difficulties of the ailing Signa Group, the future of Selfridges and De Bijenkorf on the brink. Together with the Thai Central Group, Signa is the owner of the British luxury department store operator. However, Signa sold its shares in mid-November Joint venture to the Central Group, making the Thai trading group the sole owner of the Selfridges Group. A few weeks later, Signa Holding insolvency register.
At Gucci there was an unprecedented picture: for the first time since 102 they were laying Artisans from the Italian fashion house do their work. With the strike, the workers want to prevent the planned move of a large part of the team from Rome to Milan.
British clothing retailer Asos Plc reports this High losses in the 2022/23 financial yearthe Berlin fashion fair Premium is discontinued and Adidas falls victim to the artist collective Yes Men for the second time. The sports retailer was pilloried in a public campaign at the beginning of the year – the second round followed in November at the Web Summit in Lisbon.
Sad news comes from Moschino: the recently appointed creative director David Renne dies a few days after taking office. The news of the designer’s sudden death shocked the entire industry.
But November also has some positive news in store. That’s how it became International Accord extended by six years. The British government is also abolishing the tax on period underwear. With the start of the new year, underwear will be taxed in the same way as other menstrual products, which are exempt from VAT in the UK.
December
The new Zara campaign backfires. The Spanish fashion group was heavily criticized on social media for its latest campaign. The images showed mannequins wrapped in linen cloths. The photos were reminiscent of the image of lifeless bodies in the Gaza war. The criticism culminated in a boycott of the Spanish fashion chain. The campaign was then taken offline.
“The campaign, conceived in July and photographed in September, features a series of images of unfinished sculptures in a sculptor’s studio and was created with the sole aim of showcasing artistic clothing in an artistic context,” it said in a statement Zara’s official Instagram page.
At the end of the year, the European Parliament reached a provisional agreement to revise the Ecodesign Regulation for sustainable products. It has been known for a long time that the regulation will be revised, and the draft is now taking concrete form. It also focused on one Prohibition of destruction for unsold clothing in the EU.
The fears about the future of the Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof department store group continue in December. After several companies from the Signa trading and real estate group filed for bankruptcy in the past few weeks, The group’s two most important real estate companies announced bankruptcy proceedings on Thursday, Signa Prime Selection AG and Signa Development Selection AG. Signa Prime Selection is the owner of 18 Galeria department store properties.
After more than eight months of collective bargaining disputes in retail, the year is coming to an end without an agreement. The Verdi union and the North Trade Association were able to join the The last negotiations of the year once again failed to agree on a regional collective bargaining agreement for the state district.
This article originally appeared on FashionUnited.nl. Translated and edited by Regina Henkel and Pia Schulz.