Fashion
The fast-fashion industry is facing a massive challenge if analysts at major bank UBS are to be believed. In the following five to ten years, the consumers' increased focus on sustainability could cause large corporations such as Zara, H&M and Primark to lose up to 30 per cent of their profits.
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H&M is launching a remarkable initiative: under the name "One/Second/Suit", the fashion giant will rent out suits for men. According to the Swedes, this is aimed primarily at men who are applying for new jobs.
Several fashion companies, including Inditex and Uniqlo, have been taken to court in Paris for covering up forced labour and crimes against humanity.
After the recent difficulties in China, the Swedish fashion chain H&M is now also in trouble in Spain and Vietnam. In the southern European country, the Swedes want to close 30 stores, while in Vietnam, a boycott is taking place.
H&M sold 21 per cent less in the past quarter and dropped into the red. The fashion group also has to cope with Chinese pressure, following concerns regarding forced labour by the Uighur Muslim minority for multiple clothing brands.
The Chinese government has reacted strongly to the concerns expressed by H&M and Nike regarding cotton from the Chinese province of Xinjiang. The production of this cotton allegedly involved forced labour by the Uyghur minority. The repercussions are severe: H&M has fully disappeared from Chinese e-commerce platforms.
Due to the many store closures, H&M has once again had a tough quarter. Nevertheless, the Swedish clothing giant saw signs of recovery in the first half of March.
As of today, Sellpy, the second-hand platform of fashion giant H&M, is also operating in Austria and the Netherlands. The demand for second-hand clothes has been growing steadily in recent years.
H&M Group has also been hit hard by the second lockdown wave: in 2020 profits plummeted 88 per cent, while sales were down 18 per cent. Crisis management in times of the coronavirus is costing the fashion giant dearly.
H&Mbeyond, the Swedish fashion giant's innovation lab, and NeXR Technologies are working together to develop a virtual fitting room that will allow customers to try on perfectly fitted outfits quickly and easily.
Fashion brand Object, part of Bestseller, collaborates with Swedish innovator Renewcell to produce clothing made (partially) from recycled textiles.
General
Between Christmas and New Year we traditionally look back: which articles on RetailDetail.eu were read the most last year? This overview gives a nice picture of the events in the insane retail year 2020. And no, not every article was about corona...
At constant exchange rates, H&M saw sales decline by ten per cent in the fourth quarter. Especially in the last weeks of the quarter, during the peak of the second wave of the coronavirus, revenue fell sharply.
In an H&M branch in Stockholm, customers can have their old clothing transformed into a new item. The recycling machine 'Looop' takes care of the whole process in just a few hours. The project fits in with the retailer's broader sustainability objectives.
H&M plans to close hundreds of stores. The fast-fashion group wants to have 250 fewer stores by the end of next year, even though the retailer believes that the worst of the corona crisis is behind us.
H&M continued to lose revenue this summer: in the quarter to the end of August, the fast-fashion group sold 16% less than last year. On the positive side, the fashion giant returns to profitability.
