India’s Tata group firm Trent’s joint venture (JV) with Spain's Inditex for Zara brand is not a ‘long term strategic investment’ integral to its retail operations but is merely a financial investment, the company said in its 2017-18 annual report. This was due to the nature of brand ownership, which is with Inditex, and merchandise supply arrangements, it said. Inditex Trent Retail India Pvt Ltd is a 51:49 JV with 51 per cent held by the Spanish partner. Trent, whose flagship brand is Westsid

Gordon Brothers, the global advisory, restructuring, and investment firm, has taken over the Bench brand and all its related intellectual property assets. Launched in Manchester, UK in 1989, Bench is one of the first streetwear fashion retailers and until very recently its products could be found in over 20 countries in Europe and North America. In focusing on lifestyle products associated with the skate and BMX culture of the late 1980's / early 1990's, Bench was far ahead of its time in

Fashion Tech zone explored the latest technological application on the 1st day of the ongoing Hong Kong (HK) Fashion Week. Going forward, the corporate fashion and uniforms zone also debuted at the four-day fashion event. As many as 1,100 exhibitors from 14 countries are participating in the international exhibition that will run till July 12. Exhibits at the Fashion Tech zone include luminous fabrics made with an innovative trademarked technology from first-time exhibitor Lumisonata; an appl

Reliance Brands Limited, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), has purchased 12.5 per cent equity stake in luxury apparel firm Future101 Design Private Limited (Future101) for 9.5 crore. Future101 belongs to a similar industry as Reliance Brands Limited, and RIL expects growth in the sector and value creation from its investment. "The acquisition of minority stake is in the nature of strategic investment,” RIL said in its disclosure under Regulation 30 of SEBI (Listing Obligation

Authentic Brands Group LLC (ABG), owner of a global portfolio of celebrity and entertainment and lifestyle brands, has completed the acquisition of Nine West and Bandolino brands from Nine West Holdings, Inc. Last month, ABG won the bid in the auction conducted by Nine West Holdings under the US Bankruptcy Code to acquires the two brands. Post purchase, ABG’s footwear and accessories business will increase to over $2 billion in global retail sales, further establishing its position as a leade

Future Lifestyle Fashions Limited (FLFL), a part of Future Group - India's largest retail group, is all set to subscribe for up to 29.9 per cent stake in Koovs, a leading e-commerce fashion business. It owns more than 60 brands, operates close to 2,000 retail stores spanning over 22 million square feet and attracts footfalls of over 500 million annually. Under existing shareholder authority, Koovs will issue FLFL with 57,876,600 new ordinary shares at a price of 10p per share, representing 24

Leading Swedish payments provider Klarna recently announced expansion of its partnership with the country’s women’s fashion e-commerce brand NA-KD from Sweden, Norway, Germany and Finland to the United Kingdom. The partnership will allow British NA-KD customers to benefit from Klarna’s optimised checkout technology and Pay Later solution. The optimised checkout technology allows shoppers to make a purchase by simply entering their email and postcode, rather than providing complicated login in

Birla Cellulose has partnered with Ankur Textiles, women’s wear division of Arvind Limited, to launch a wide range of Liva fabrics with 100 per cent modal and 100 per cent viscose blends for womenswear. This multi-fibre fabric is an alternate to the traditional fabric for new age Indian women who deserve high position as well as comfort in her apparel needs. Liva range of fabrics is introduced under Ankur Textile fabric brands - Zoya, Blossom and Glam & Glory. This range has been carefull

Sweden based apparel retailer H&M in association with Amsterdam based lingerie label Love Stories has announced to launch a new comfortable collection of lingerie. As the importance of lingerie in fashion is huge so the retailer decided to go for a partnership with Love Stories brand since it is known for its eclectic prints, mix-and-match approach, and comfortable designs. H&M collaborates with ‘Love Stories’ Figure 1: H&M collaborates with ‘Love Stories’ to launch a n

Brick-and-mortar stores and indoor shopping malls are struggling, with over half of respondents reporting they do most of their shopping online, according to a recent survey. However, even amid the discussion of the ‘death of malls’, brick-and-mortar stores can influence those seeking a one-stop shopping destination with strategic updates and incentives. Valassis, a leader in activating consumers through intelligent media delivery, has released new research highlighting consumers’ pain poi