🇨🇳 China’s JD.com presents Asian brands at London Fashion Week. As the British Fashion Council’s official Asian online retail partner, the e-commerce major showcased brands Ellasay, Marisfrolg, Pure Tea and Hazzys at London Fashion Week. Caroline Rush, CEO of the BFC said the partnership will facilitate “smoother collaborations across borders [and] amplify [London designers’] exposure in the crucial Chinese market.” JD.com’s president of fashion Sherrin Kong said: “by leveraging our robust supply chain capabilities, we are excited to… continue our role as a gateway connecting the global fashion community with Chinese consumers.” [BoF Inbox]

🇺🇿 Uzbekistan crosses key threshold, moving up the cotton value chain. The Central Asian nation, which is one the world’s top 10 cotton producing countries, has started importing raw cotton to make finished products after it reached the point where it processed all the fibre it produces domestically. “Our reforms in this area have won the recognition of prestigious international organisations and the boycott on Uzbek cotton was lifted. We are continuing cooperation in this direction with the international coalition Cotton Campaign,” said Uzbekistan’s president Shavkat Mirziyoyev. [Fibre2Fashion]

🇨🇳 Typhoon Bebinca disrupts operations at Shanghai, Ningbo ports. Shanghai and has been hit by its strongest typhoon in 75 years, making landfall on China’s east coast early Monday, as reported by state media. This forced container vessels to avoid the two major ports. Before Typhoon Bebinca’s arrival, the Port of Shanghai experienced a 56 percent reduction in container vessel port calls from Friday to Saturday. This was followed by a more significant 95 percent decrease on Sunday. As of Monday, both Shanghai and Ningbo ports were operational but facing “heavily disrupted operations,” according to Seaexplorer. [Sourcing Journal]

🇮🇳 Jaimin Gupta acquires majority stake in Aarvee Denims and Exports. Jaimin Gupta, the founder of the men’s fashion brand Barcelona, along with other investors, has acquired a majority stake in Gujarat-based Aarvee Denims and Exports. Last week, Aarvee announced the approval of a share purchase agreement to sell 1.42 crore shares to Jaimin Gupta, Tarachand Agrawal, and Qmin Industries. [Economic Times]

🇮🇳 Beauty retailer Purplle clocks 43% rise in FY24 revenue to 680 crore rupees. The company’s consolidated net loss reduced by 46 percent, dropping to 124 crore from 230 crore rupees in the previous year. Total expenses climbed to 850 crore rupees in FY24, up from 738 crore a year earlier. [Economic Times]

🇧🇷 Brazilian cotton prices oscillate amid market challenges in September. Cotton prices in Brazil experienced fluctuations in the early part of the month due to ongoing challenges in reaching agreements on prices and batch quality in the domestic spot market, according to the Centre for Advanced Studies on Applied Economics (CEPEA). [Fibre2Fashion]

🇮🇳 PN Gadgil Jewellers raises 330 crore rupees from investors ahead of IPO. The company has secured the funds from anchor investors, including HDFC MF, Tata MF, Edelweiss MF, LIC MF, Invesco India, and Citigroup, by allotting 68.74 lakh shares to 25 investors ahead of the public issue opening on Tuesday. [Economic Times]

🇮🇳 Jewellery brand Trisu completes pre-seed funding led by All In Capital. The brand with headquarters in Gurgaon and a manufacturing facility in Jaipur has completed its first pre-seed funding round, led by early-stage venture capital firm All In Capital with participation from JK Tyres, Amaanta Group, and angel investors Himanshu Aggarwal and Sumer Sethi. [Economic Times]

🇨🇳 Germany considers introducing regulations to restrict Chinese e-tailers. German regulators are reportedly drafting regulations that could affect international e-tailers including China-founded ultra-fast fashion players like Shein, Temu and AliExpress to ensure a more level playing field between them and European companies. [Sourcing Journal]

🇹🇭 Prada names Thai actress Toey Jarinporn Joonkiat as brand ambassador. The Italian luxury brand has tapped the film and television star with more than 7 million followers to endorse its products. [BoF Inbox]

🇨🇳 PDD takes $55 billion share hit after warning of ‘inevitable’ profit decline. The owner of e-commerce apps Pinduoduo and Temu has warned of a decline, leading shares to fall 29 percent in New York. The warning arose as PDD’s e-commerce apps face rising competition in China and around the world, and as the tech sector has to tread a careful line in Beijing, where authorities are prioritising high-end manufacturing. On Monday, PDD’s executives said they were “committed to high-quality development”, parroting Beijing’s current policy priority. [Financial Times]

🇨🇳 Shein reveals child labour cases as it steps up supplier audits. Shein said in the report on Thursday it had suspended orders from the suppliers that had employed children under 16, sourcing from them again only after they had strengthened their processes, including checking workers’ identity documents. The company said both cases had been “resolved swiftly,” with remediation steps including ending underage employees’ contracts, arranging medical checkups, and facilitating repatriation to parents or guardians as necessary. [Reuters]

🇮🇳 Asos debuts in India via Reliance’s Ajio. India’s leading fashion e-tailer, Ajio, has launched Asos exclusively in India, offering over 3,000 curated options, including Asos Design, Asos Edition, Asos Luxe and Miss Selfridge. Ajio plans to expand the range to 20,000 options over the next year. Vineeth Nair, CEO of Ajio, and José Antonio Ramos, CEO of Asos, highlighted the partnership’s potential to meet the demand for international fashion in India. [Fibre2Fashion]

🇨🇳 Walmart sells $3.74 billion JD.com stake to focus on its own China operations. The US retail giant plans to double down on its warehouse business Sam’s Club in China after the stake sale that underscores the country’s e-commerce sector, once an investor darling, is losing its appeal as it grapples with poor margins due to brutal price competition and weak consumer demand. [Reuters]

🇧🇩 Flooding upends Bangladesh supply chain across rail, road and ports. Heavy flooding along sections of the Dhaka-Chattogram highway have caused congestion along the primary cargo route. Local authorities also suspended rail services due to the flooding. This has caused yet another hurdle to the Bangladesh garment sector after weeks of anti-government protests. [Sourcing Journal]

🇨🇳 Lanvin Group posts 20% drop in sales amid luxury slowdown. The luxury group’s revenue decreased 20 percent year over year to €171 million ($191 million) in the first half of 2024. The company attributed its slowdown to lagging demand in China and Europe and disappointing sales with retail partners. The group also generated a €42 million loss during the period as a result of the dip in sales. Lanvin’s revenue dropped 15 percent to €48 million, and Sergio Rossi’s revenue fell 38 percent percent to €20 million. It expects the slowdown to continue this year. [BoF]

🇵🇪 Peru ratifies protocol for UK’s accession to CPTPP. Peru has ratified the accession protocol of the UK to the CPTPP trade partnership, the former’s ministry of foreign affairs announced. The protocol will allow the UK to become the first economy to join the 11 CPTPP members. With the United Kingdom as a member, CPTPP will have a combined GDP of €12 trillion, or $15.7 trillion, and will account for 15 per cent of global gross domestic product. Once implemented, the UK will immediately eliminate tariffs on 94 percent of products exported from Peru. [Fibre2Fashion]

🇵🇰 Cotton arrivals in Pakistan fall by 49% amid slow start to new season. Pakistan received 1.075 million bales of cotton up to August 15 in the 2024-25 marketing season. This was a 49.17 percent decrease compared to the same period last year. The slow initial arrivals in July contrast with the early influx in previous years due to favourable weather. Overall, the 2023-24 season saw a significant increase from the previous year. [Fibre2Fashion]

🇮🇳 Amazon India set to tweak seller fees ahead of festive season. The e-commerce giant has adjusted its sellers fees by reducing commissions in the range of 3 to 12 percent for 59 categories across the site. The reduction is focused on products with low average selling prices. [Economic Times]

🇮🇳 KL Rahul invests in Drip Project’s perfume brand Metaman. The Indian cricketer has invested in Drip Projects premium perfume brand, ‘Metaman.’ The amount invested has not been disclosed. Rahul will also be the brand’s new ambassador for the Metaman line. The men’s jewellery brand Metaman was founded by Harsh Maskara and Anil Shetty in 2022 and later acquired in 2023 by Drip Project. [Economic Times]

🇮🇳 Lakme Fashion Week features foreign brand collaborations amidst growing interest in Indian market. US footwear and apparel brand Skechers debuted a streetwear capsule collection designed by Indian designer Kanika Goyal at the latest edition of the biannual Lakme Fashion week, held between March 13-17 at the Jio World Convention Centre in Mumbai. The collection will be available at Skechers stores in India. Meanwhile, Argentinian fashion brand La Martina presented a polo-inspired capsule collection in collaboration with Indian designer Rajesh Pratap Singh at Mumbai’s iconic Mahalaxmi Racecourse as part of the event. The biannual event, organised by Hindustan Unilever-owned cosmetics brand and title sponsor Lakme, Reliance Brands, a unit of Mukesh Ambani’s telecoms-to-energy conglomerate Reliance Industries, and the Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI), featured leading Indian designers, including Anamika Khanna, Shantanu and Nikhil, Gauri & Nainika, and Rahul Mishra. Multiple Bollywood stars, including Kriti Sanon, Ananya Pandey, Taapsee Pannu, Madhuri Dixit, and Aditi Rao Hydari marked their presence at the five-day event too. [Arnika Thakur for BoF]

🇨🇳 Supreme to open long-awaited Shanghai flagship. Supreme will launch its first standalone store in China, as well as a WeChat Mini Program, on March 23. The news marks a key milestone in the streetwear juggernaut’s global expansion plan following an early foray into the country via a shop-in-shop at Dover Street Market’s Beijing outpost in 2022. [BoF]

🇨🇳 Anta Sports launches in US with Kyrie Irving Kai 1s. The Chinese sports conglomerate and American basketball player Kyrie Irvin launched their first pair of sneakers, which retail for around RMB 899 ($125) across Chinese e-commerce sites. At the start of 2024, Anta announced its plans to officially enter the US market on the same day as the Kai 1 launch. [Jing Daily]

🇨🇳 Li Ning considers taking company private, sources say. Li is considering leading a consortium to buy out Li Ning Co Ltd, which had a market capitalisation of HK$52.85 billion ($6.8 billion) as of Monday, people have knowledge of the matter told Reuters. The discussions to take Li Ning Co private are in the early stages and details have not been finalised, said the sources, who declined to be identified as the information was confidential. Li Ning made its Hong Kong debut in 2004. [BoF]

🇹🇷 A fight for union choice at Turkish supplier puts Levi’s in hot seat. For 80 days, around 500 employees from Özak Tekstil, a major clothing manufacturer in Turkey, protested in Urfa, Şanlıurfa Province, initially demanding the right to choose their union, and subsequently, their employment rights. Protestors reported facing verbal and physical threats, assaults from law enforcement and arrests. A preliminary report by the Worker Rights Consortium accuses Özak Tekstil of infringing upon the legal rights of its workers in Urfa, thereby breaching Levi’s supplier code of conduct. [Sourcing Journal]

🇨🇳 Diamonds lose sparkle in China amid property woes and marriage drought. Diamond sales recovery has stalled in China after a property sector crisis sapped consumer confidence and Covid-19 restrictions led to a drought of engagements in the world’s second-largest consumer market for the gemstones. Sales of diamond jewellery dropped 3 percent last year to $12.8 billion in the Greater China region, which also includes Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan but is dominated by mainland Chinese demand, according to data from Paul Zimnisky, an independent diamond analyst. [Financial Times]

🇮🇳 India imposes MIP on undervalued imports of synthetic knitted fabric. The Indian government has set a minimum import price (MIP) of $3.50 per kilogram for five specific HS codes related to synthetic knitted fabric, effective immediately. This move comes in response to the domestic industry’s persistent calls for the implementation of an MIP to curb the entry of lower-priced synthetic fabric. [Fibre2Fashion]

🇨🇳 Tiffany expands in Zhengzhou. Tiffany & Co. opened a boutique in Zhengzhou’s David Mall. Maxence Kinget, president of Tiffany Greater China, Bao Tao, general manager of Denis Department Store Division, along with actress Ma Yili and actor Feng Shaofeng, attended the opening ceremony. [Jing Daily]

🇨🇳 Moschino opens Shanghai flagship. Moschino opened a new flagship store in Shanghai’s Jing’an Kerry Center selling womenswear, menswear, childrenswear and accessory collections, all displayed within architect Andrea Tognon’s new interior design concept. [Jing Daily]

🇱🇰 Striking Sri Lankan workers continue to protest as negotiations break down. One month after protests began at the Sumithra Group factory at Hasalaka, support has been amplified by over 200 workers from different factories joining the protest. The Sumithra Group, which has a total of four factories in the country, manufacturers for brands including Superdry. [Sourcing Journal]

🇯🇵 Gentle Monster opens new store in Tokyo at Aoyama. The luxury eyewear brand has opened a new store in Tokyo at Aoyama. Sitting across two-level space on the premises of The Jewels of Aoyama, which is right next to Prada’s futuristic glass tower, the Gentle Monster flagship store is infused with the brand’s signature retail aesthetic. [CPP Luxury]