Worldview | Colombia’s Record-Breaking Fashion Event

🇨🇴 Colombiamoda breaks attendance record with 60,000 visitors in Medellin. The annual fashion week and trade show drew 11,000 buyers, of whom 2,000 were international, hailing from Venezuela, Ecuador, Mexico, Costa Rica, Peru and the US, to Colombia’s second-largest city between July 28 and 31. A key B2B hub for the Latin American fashion industry, this year’s edition featured over 650 brands and 34 runway shows, including Agua Bendita, Pink Filosofy, Alma + Orozco, Stevan Valencia, Leal Deccarett, Sol y Neptuno, La Petite Morte and a closing show by Y/Out. Held across Medellin, a major textile manufacturing centre, the event reinforced the city’s role as a creative and industrial capital for the region. “In its 36th edition, Colombiamoda is proof that Colombian fashion not only boosts the economy but defines trends and strategic value and leads the cultural transformation of the industry on the international stage,” said Sebastián Díez, CEO of Inexmoda. [Graciela Martin for BoF]

🇮🇳 India’s 25% US tariff will hurt apparel and textile exporters, says expert. Responding to the news that negotiations between the two countries resulted in a 25 percent import tax on Indian goods to the US, just 1 percent lower than the Trump administration’s initial proposal of a 26 percent ‘reciprocal tariff’, the Confederation of Indian Textile Industry chairman Rakesh Mehra said the government should support exporters. Raja Shanmugan, the past president of Tiruppur Exporters’ Association, made a similar recommendation. “Government should now sit down and work out incentives for the companies who are exporting to the US based on tariffs imposed on Bangladesh, Cambodia and Vietnam who are all India’s competitors in the US market,” said Shanmugan. [Economic Times]

🇧🇩 Bangladesh garment exporters relieved after reduction of US tariff. The government of the South Asian nation has negotiated a 20 percent tariff on Bangladeshi imports into the US, down from the 37 percent ‘reciprocal tariff’ initially proposed by president Donald Trump. The announcement brings relief to exporters in the world’s second-largest garment supplier. “While the 20 percent tariff will cause some short-term pain, Bangladesh remains better positioned than many of its competitors,” said Mohiuddin Rubel, additional managing director at Denim Expert Ltd, which makes jeans and other items for H&M and other brands. [Reuters]

🇨🇳 Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com offers $2.5 billion for Ceconomy. The Beijing-based retailer selling everything from luxury fashion to electronics, has made a takeover bid of €2.2 billion ($2.5 billion) for German electronics retailer Ceconomy, based on a cash offer of €4.60 per share.JD.com CEO Sandy Xu (Xu Ran), said the ambition was to “build Europe’s leading next-generation consumer electronics platform”, combining the Chinese group’s e-commerce strength with Ceconomy’s physical store presence of more than 1,000 stores across Europe and the recognition of its MediaMarkt and Saturn brands. If the deal is completed, it would rank as the largest Chinese transaction in Europe’s retail sector in recent years. [Financial Times]

🇰🇭 Cambodia secures 19% US tariff, averting garment sector ‘collapse’. The new tariff rate is less than half the initial 49 percent reciprocal rate proposed by the Trump administration. “If the US maintained 49 percent or 36 percent, that industry would collapse in my opinion,” said Sun Chanthol, Cambodia’s top trade negotiator, of the garment and footwear manufacturing sector, the country’s biggest economic driver. “People would go to Indonesia, Vietnam ... a 16 percent difference would have been huge. We can live with 5 percent, anything around that. We are very grateful, for protecting our industry and its employees.” [Reuters]

🇱🇰 US reduces Sri Lanka tariff to 20% down from initial 44%. The latest move by US president Donald Trump has provided some relief to the South Asian nation’s vibrant garment export sector. “We are happy that our competitiveness in exports to the US has been retained,” said Sri Lanka’s finance ministry official Harshana Suriyapperuma. Shortly after the announcement, Sri Lanka’s ambassador to the United States, Mahinda Samarasinghe, told reporters that diplomatic discussions are ongoing to try to further reduce tariffs. [Al Jazeera, Daily Mirror Sri Lanka]

🌏 Thailand follows other Asian countries in negotiating US tariff. The government of the Southeast Asian nation has negotiated a 19 percent tariff on Thai goods imported into the US, down from the 36 percent ‘reciprocal tariff’ initially proposed by president Donald Trump. The news follows the conclusion of recent negotiations by Indonesia, which resulted in the same rate (19 percent) down from 32 percent, by Malaysia (reduced to 19percent from 24 percent) and by Vietnam (reduced to 20 percent from 46 percent). US tariffs on Myanmar and Laos were only reduced to 40 percent, down from 44 percent and 48 percent respectively. Pakistan saw a reduction from 29 percent to 19 percent The Philippines, however, saw its rate increase from 17 percent to 19 percent. [CNN, BBC]

🇮🇳 India’s Good Glamm Group faces asset breakup as lenders step in. The troubled Mumbai-based company, which started in 2017 as DTC makeup brand MyGlamm before acquiring a portfolio of beauty, personal care and media brands, will have its assets sold off, according to founder Darpan Sanghvi’s recent LinkedIn post. “The brands will be sold one by one and will operate individually instead of under one umbrella and there will be new individual owners for each of the different brands,” he wrote, making a personal financial pledge to cover outstanding pay to employees and a restitution fund to settle dues owed to vendors and compensate shareholders for losses. [Economic Times]

🇨🇳 Shein revenue neared $10 billion in quarter before US tariffs. The China-founded, Singapore-based ultra-fast-fashion company saw net income rise to over $400 million and revenue was almost $10 billion in the first quarter as consumers snapped up its products ahead of US tariffs. The performance helped lift the company’s profit margin to about 5 percent. The US government’s decision to remove a de minimis rule has been a blow to Shein, as the policy had exempted low-value goods — such as the ones the company ships — from tax. But since the rule change on imports from China only took effect in May, Shein likely benefited for a while as consumers stocked up on products beforehand. [BoF]

🇮🇳 Joyalukkas secures $136 million loan from Emirates NBD to go global. The Kerala-founded jewellery giant which operates around 160 stores in a dozen countries, has obtained a 500 million dirham working capital provision through the Emirati bank. The funds will help the jeweller, based between Dubai, UAE and Thrissur, India, extend its international footprint which is currently concentrated mostly in India, the Middle East and Southeast Asia. “This facility marks a significant milestone in our journey to [further] expand Joyalukkas into key international markets including the UK, US, Canada and Australia,” said Joy Alukkas, chairman of Joyalukkas Group. [Reuters]

🇮🇳 Indian personal care major Emami Limited posts 9% profit rise. The Kolkata-based FMCG firm has reported consolidated profit after tax of 164 crore rupees ($18.7 million) for the first quarter ended Jun. 2024. Parent Emami Group is a multinational conglomerate founded in 1974 as a cosmetics brand whose diversified holdings now range from retail and real estate to paper and food. The firm’s personal care, beauty and wellness division includes brands BoroPlus, Navratna, Crème 21 and Kesh King among others. “We delivered a 9 percent PAT growth despite a flattish topline, demonstrating our focus on profitability and cost agility,” said vice chairman Mohan Goenka. [Economic Times]

🇮🇳 India’s Lenskart buys Spain’s Meller for $46.3 million ahead of IPO. The Gurugram-based eyewear giant is expanding internationally by acquiring the Barcelona eyewear brand for 406 crore rupees ($46.3 million) through its Singapore subsidiary, aiming to strengthen its global footprint and direct-to-consumer reach as it prepares for a stock market listing. Founded in 2010 by Peyush Bansal, Amit Chaudhary and Sumeet Kapahi, Lenskart has over 2500 stores across India, Southeast Asia and the Middle East, according to Reuters. [Economic Times, Reuters]

🇲🇽 Mexico raises import taxes on online purchases from Temu, Shein. The move to raise import taxes on small online purchases from companies such as the China-founded retailers came last week as negotiations to avoid US tariffs went down to the wire. The new 33.5 percent levy, raised from a prior 19 percent, will apply to goods imported from China and other countries with which Mexico has no trade agreement. [BoF]

🇮🇳 India’s Arvind Fashions Ltd reports $2.6 million loss for June quarter. The listed Bengaluru-based retailer, which sells international brands including Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger nationwide, posted a standalone net loss of 22.9 crore rupees ($2.6 million) against a 13.5 percent annual decline in revenue from operations at 118.2 crore rupees ($13.4 million). Arvind Fashions Ltd. was demerged from Arvind Ltd. (formerly Arvind Mills) in 2018. [Economic Times]

🇮🇳 Textile giant Arvind Ltd. profits climb on global shift away from China. The listed Ahmedabad-based textile conglomerate, which reportedly counts H&M and Gap among its clients and operates in other sector like engineering and real estate, reported a 35 percent rise in first-quarter profit to 532.4 million rupees ($6.13 million) off the back of international fashion brands diversifying sourcing to its home country India. Arvind Ltd, formerly Arvind Mills, demerged Arvind Fashions Ltd. in 2018. [Economic Times]

🇨🇳 Chinese textile companies pledge $65.5 million for new Egypt factories. Hangzhou-based Shandong Sunshell Garment Group and Zhejiang Charming for Dyeing and Finishing, and a third unnamed company have entered agreements with Egypt’s Suez Canal Economic Zone to build garment and textile projects in Egypt’s Qantara West Industrial Zone. The agreements follow a flood of similar moves by Chinese companies in recent years. [Sourcing Journal]

🇮🇳 Hindustan Unilever posts 7.6% profit rise in Q1. The listed Mumbai-based beauty, personal care and household goods group whose holdings include brands like Lakmé, Glow & Lovely, Dove and Pond’s, has reported standalone net profit of 2,732 crore rupees in the quarter ended June. “Encouraged by favourable macro-economic indicators, we strategically stepped up our investments to effectively advance our portfolio transformation agenda in the quarter,” said CEO Rohit Jawa. [Economic Times]

🇦🇪 Armani partners with Emirati developer for villas in Ras Al Khaimah. The Italian luxury brand has entered a deal with RAK Properties and SIE Group to build Armani Beach Residences on Raha Island in Ras Al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates, marking an expansion of the brand’s hospitality portfolio. [BoF Inbox]

🇮🇳 Indian personal care group Dabur sees 2.8% profit rise in Q1. The Ghaziabad-based company founded in 1884 in Kolkata by Dr. S. K. Burman has reported consolidated net profit of 508 crore rupees ($58 million) for the quarter ended June, up from 494 crore in the same quarter last year. The FMCG firm, which sells products in the haircare, skincare, wellness and food categories including its namesake brand and Vatika among others, specialises in ayurvedic, herbal and natural formulations. [Economic Times]

🇹🇷 Turkey’s apparel exports fall nearly 7% to $7.9 billion in H1 2025. The value of the country’s knitted and non-knitted apparel exports declined 4.5 percent and 10 percent, respectively in the Jan–Jun 2025 period. Full-year 2024 apparel exports declined 4.47 percent, in a continuation of the downtrend from 2023 and 2022. [Fibre2Fashion]