🇷🇺 Moscow Fashion Week turns to Russia’s far-flung regions. The biannual showcase founded in 2022 by local firm Fashion Foundation took place this season from March 13 to 18 in the Russian capital. The runway featured a diverse group of designers hailing not only from Moscow (Rogov, Lurvin, Vereja) but also brands based in regional cities across the vast country such as Volgograd (Alena Musaeva), Yekaterinburg (Capparel), Ivanovo (Novikova Dsgn), Omsk (AP Design), and Ulan-Ude (Abzaeva). A wholesale and retail market showcased brands from Siberian locations like Tyumen and Primorsky Krai, as well as from ethnic minority republics including Dagestan, Buryatia, Komi, Sakha-Yakutia and Tatarstan. Largely isolated from their counterparts in Western Europe and North America since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Moscow industry events have found inventive ways to create new business opportunities for local designers despite major constraints including western sanctions. Last year, MFW organisers formed the BRICS International Fashion Federation after securing bilateral relationships with industry platforms in non-aligned countries across Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and Eurasian Economic Union countries. [BoF Inbox]
🇮🇳 Indian designers’ fashion show during Ramadan sparks court case. A Srinagar court in the Kashmir region has issued a notice to the designers behind Shivan & Narresh and other parties linked to a show that caused outrage in some quarters, alleging that the defendants are guilty of obscenity, public alcohol consumption and disrespecting cultural and religious sentiment. The show at Gulmarg Ski Resort in Muslim-majority Kashmir, a contested region claimed by India and Pakistan (and in small part by China) but only partially controlled by each country, presented skiwear collections that included some revealing swimwear items during the Islamic holy month. Designers Shivan Bhatiya and Narresh Kukreja, who are Hindu, issued a public apology. A court hearing on April 8 will determine the next legal steps in the case. [BBC, Times of India]
🇨🇳 Puma forecasts slow year of growth amid US-China trade tensions. The German sportswear brand expects currency-adjusted sales to grow in the low- to mid-single-digit range, it said in a statement last Tuesday. Revenue is expected to grow about 8 percent this year, according to the average estimate compiled by Bloomberg. “Puma’s weak 1Q and 2025 trails consensus and suggests spending and cost uncertainty due to economic and trade tensions in the US and China,” Bloomberg Intelligence analysts Poonam Goyal and Sydney Goodman wrote in a research note. [BoF]
🇰🇷 Prada drops South Korean actor Kim Soo-hyun amid dating scandal. A representative from the local office of the Italian luxury brand confirmed that the decision to terminate its advertising contract with the star was made at headquarters level due to the gravity of the issue. The actor who gained popularity in his home country and China over his role in hit Korean drama series like “My Love from the Star” has been accused of dating Kim Sae-ron (who was found dead in February at her home in an apparent suicide) when she was underage, according to a video expose, citing testimonies from the actress’ relatives. French performance wear brand Eider and Korean cosmetic brand Dinto have also reportedly severed ties with the actor. [Korea Times, Reuters]
🇨🇳 Chinese textile trade group appeals to US retailers for fair treatment. The China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Textiles (CCCT) has urged US retailers to address trade issues in what state news agency Xinhua calls a “fair and reasonable” manner. “We hope companies from both countries can resolve shared concerns through friendly consultations and mutually beneficial solutions…while avoiding using market dominance unilaterally to disrupt supply chain stability,” said the chamber. The move follows reports that US retailers were pressing Chinese suppliers to cut prices following Trump’s tariff hike on China. [Xinhua]
🇮🇳 Indian fashion e-tailer Pernia’s Pop-Up Shop parent raises $40 million. Mumbai-based Purple Style Labs has secured the funding in a Series E round led by SageOne Flagship Growth OE Fund, Alchemy Long Term Ventures Fund, Bajaj Holdings & Investment and Minerva Ventures Fund, with participation from S Four Capital, Sopariwala Exports and several family offices. “Post acquiring Pernia’s Pop-Up Shop in 2018, we have scaled it over a hundred times in less than seven years…This capital infusion will [further] fuel our aggressive expansion plans both domestically and internationally,” said Purple Style Labs founder Abhishek ‘Monty’ Agarwal. [Economic Times]
🇨🇳 Mango is adapting to US tariffs on Chinese imports, CEO says. The Spanish fashion retailer does not plan to raise prices to offset the impact of tariffs, even though that could dent its margins, said company CEO Toni Ruiz, adding that Mango could also rethink the types of products it sells in the US, which is its fifth-largest market, by pivoting to higher-priced items with a greater profit margin to absorb extra costs. Around 30 percent of Mango’s products sold in the US are made in China, its biggest manufacturing hub globally (followed by Turkey and India in second and third place). [BoF]
🇧🇷 Management clash at Brazilian group Azzas 2154 following merger. Less than a year after finalising the merger between Arezzo and Grupo Soma, the executives behind the companies that formed the new conglomerate, Alexandre Birman and Roberto Jatahy, are reportedly negotiating a separation of operations due to protracted tensions between the two men, according to sources at Valor. Both parties are said to have engaged financial and legal advisors to explore possible solutions to the impasse. [Valor International]
🇨🇳 Walmart faces heat from Beijing after demand for price cuts. Chinese authorities summoned executives of the American retail giant last Tuesday over reports Walmart asked suppliers to bear rising costs incurred by increased US tariffs. China’s ministry of commerce has met with the US retailer, according to a post by Yuyuantantian, a Weibo account affiliated with state-run China Central Television. The post said such demands risk fracturing global supply chains and hurting the interests of both US and Chinese companies and of American consumers. [BoF]
🇨🇳 Shein CEO says US tariffs won’t prevent it from importing from China. “We are not focusing on customs policy,” executive chairman Donald Tang said about the latest US import duties on China which amount to at least 20 percent on most goods, during a recent visit to France. “We will find a way to deliver the goods,” he added. However, US president Donald Trump’s plans to remove the de minimis exemption could still hit the China-founded Singapore-based ultra-fast-fashion e-tailer. [Business Times]
🇲🇿 Mozambique’s cotton exports fall 61% due to varied factors. The African nation’s exports of the fibre declined to $11.9 million in the Jan-Sep 2024 period, despite a rise in national production volume, according to data from the Bank of Mozambique. Local media cite falling prices for the fibre in international markets, a lack of rain in some regions and the abandonment of production in a key province, as causes for the decline. [Fibre2Fashion]
🇻🇳 Vietnam’s textile and garment exports are up 9%. The Southeast Asian nation’s textile and garment exports in the category (which excludes yarn and fibre) increased 9.3 percent year-on-year to $5.6 billion during the in Jan-Feb 2025 period. Yarn exports decreased 2.8 percent in value but grew 2.3 percent in volume. [Fibre2Fashion]
🇰🇭 Cambodia’s apparel exports increase 26%. The Southeast Asian nation saw knitted and non-knitted apparel export categories grow by 23.3 percent and 31.0 percent respectively in the Jan-Feb 2025 period. [Fibre2Fashion]
