Latest news with #Bestseller
Yahoo
27-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
European Commission Yanks Proposed Anti-Greenwashing Rules on Eve of Final Negotiations
'We are now in a situation where we have to admit that Europe has failed,' Claus Teilmann Petersen, sustainability/stakeholder engagement and human rights manager at Bestseller, said of the European Union's omnibus package, somewhat deflatedly, ahead of the Global Fashion Summit in Copenhagen earlier this month. 'We cannot deliver what we set out to do. I'm pretty sure that we will get into a situation where the simplification will be deregulation.' Petersen words took on a prophetic air Friday after the European Commission revealed that it would withdraw a proposed law targeting nebulous or unfounded corporate environmental claims—a practice better known as 'greenwashing'—saying that legislative proposal, as it stands, goes against the executive arm's 'simplification agenda,' particularly regarding microenterprises. More from Sourcing Journal EU's Textile Recycling Excellence Project Creates New Blueprint Is Europe Ready for a Textile-to-Textile Recycling 'Tipping Point'? EU Watchdog Says Shein Violated Bloc's Consumer Laws 'Around 30 million micro-enterprises–96 percent of all companies— could be covered by the proposal if microenterprises were to be included,' Maciej Beresteck, a spokesperson for the European Commission, wrote in an email. 'This would distort the Commission proposal in a manner which prevents the achievement of the objectives pursued by the proposal, i.e., supporting the development of green markets, while preventing undue burden on the smallest enterprises.' The decision, which arrived ahead of the final negotiating round with member state representatives to solidify the deal on Monday, is yet another sign of Europe's so-called 'sustainability retreat' as the world's largest single market continues on a rightward swing that mirrors a similar about-face on progressive ideals that have been branded 'woke' and 'radical' in the United States. It also appeared to be a sudden and highly unusual one, considering how late in the rulemaking process this is happening. The move followed a letter on Wednesday from the center-right European People's Party seeking the proposal's retraction from the European Commissioner for the environment, Jessika Roswall, who is affiliated with the political bloc, and confirming that it would not support 'any trilogue outcome.' It was only recently, on the Global Fashion Summit's main stage, that Roswall talked about 'moving barriers to bridges to shape a more sustainable future where textiles, fashion and environmental care go hand in hand.' It's not 'just about rules,' she said, but about 'working together' to place 'better products' on the market. Roswall's office did not respond to a request for a comment. While the EPP said it supports protecting consumers from falling prey to environmental marketing spin, the green claims directive 'risks unduly hindering sustainability communication through procedures that are overly complex, administratively burdensome and costly,' including a 'fundamentally flawed' preapproval requirement that deviates from established internal market practices and is not being applied across sectors. 'There is, quite simply, no dedicated cost-benefit analysis or supporting data underpinning the ambitious system proposed by the GCD,' the letter said. 'Nor does the proposal convincingly demonstrate that the expected benefits of the regime would outweigh the significant costs and regulatory uncertainty it entails.' But Elisabeth von Reitzenstein, senior director of public affairs at Cascale, the multi-stakeholder organization formerly known as the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, said she was 'extremely' concerned about the European Commission's 'abandonment' of the green claims directive. It pointed to more 'soft-pedalling' on environmental requirements from the EU, she said, further degrading a Green Deal that sought to zero out the continent's carbon emissions by 2050 and marking a 'troubling' about-face for markets that 'once set the pace' on climate action. 'While not perfect, the green claims directive would have marked an important leap forward in enhancing transparency, ensuring a level playing field for businesses investing in progress, and providing clarity for consumers on the products they are choosing to buy,' von Reitzenstein said. 'Now we risk letting unchecked green claims proliferate and greenwashing go unchallenged. We may also see a continued risk of 'greenhushing' where companies are not able to communicate the great work they are doing in times of legal uncertainty.' Beresteck said that the European Commission remains committed to fighting greenwashing, adding that it will continue to work on making sure consumers are 'correctly informed' through policies such as the directive on empowering consumers for the green transition, which the EPP endorsed during a plenary vote in 2024 and is poised to go into force in 2026. While both sets of legislation aim to stave off greenwashing with fines up to 4 percent of an offending company's annual turnover, the green claims directive was supposed to clarify the other's rules and enforcement mechanisms, said Nusa Urbancic, CEO of the Changing Markets Foundation, a watchdog group that campaigns against greenwashing. Pulling it at this point would be a 'disaster,' she said, pointing to research that shows that nearly 60 percent of claims by fashion brands can be considered misleading or unsubstantiated according to guidelines from the United Kingdom's Competition and Markets Authority. 'Since the Commission and several other consumer agencies announced a clampdown on greenwashing, the market has slowly been moving in a better direction with dishonest claims being scrapped by companies,' Urbancic said. 'Reversing these efforts will not only undermine consumer trust but will also be a setback for companies that are really investing in environmentally friendly products and services at a time when the climate and biodiversity crises are accelerating.' Last month, EU ombudsman Teresa Anjinho said she had opened an investigation into the process behind the omnibus bill, following complaints by civil society organizations, including Anti-Slavery International, the Clean Clothes Campaign and the European Coalition for Corporate Justice, alleging that the European Commission had circumvented the necessary procedural requirements in its haste to table the amendments without conducting out a public consultation, a detailed impact assessment and a a 'climate consistency' assessment. 'Strong sustainability laws like the CSDDD and CSRD are key to the EU's competitive advantage in a global market where consumers and investors increasingly demand responsible corporate action,' the coalition said. 'We have seen time and time again that vague corporate promises aren't driving the change we need. Weakening environmental and human rights requirements is a step in the wrong direction.' Whether any recourse remains for the green claims directive—other then proceeding with negotiations—is less clear. It was this proposal that suggested using the Product Environmental Footprint, or PEF, as a harmonized tool to evaluate products across 16 environmental indicators, including freshwater, resource and land use. Nixing the legislation would also prevent the PEF from being incorporated into EU law through this particular route, though it continues to be referenced in the CSRD and the ecodesign for sustainable products regulation and could still be rolled into future legislation. For now, withdrawing the proposal risks damaging European credibility and leadership on climate action globally, said Thorfinn Stainforth, senior policy manager of EU climate policy at Environmental Defense Fund Europe, a nonprofit. 'This directive would have provided businesses with the certainty they've asked for and empowered consumers to make sustainable choices,' he said. 'Instead, we're left with continued ambiguity at a time when Europe could be providing the clear framework businesses need to accelerate the shift toward sustainable investments and environmental integrity.'
Fashion Network
11-06-2025
- Business
- Fashion Network
Indian textile giant Arvind and Fashion for Good unveil low-carbon textile factory project
Indian textile giant Arvind and Fashion for Good, a platform that brings together brands and manufacturers to promote sustainable innovation, plan to build a low-impact textile facility for woven and knitted cotton fabrics in Gujarat, western India. The project will establish an industrial unit that reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 93% compared to a conventional factory. Arvind and Fashion for Good also project that the facility will save 60 liters of water for every kilogram of fabric produced. The partners aim to create the industry's first near-zero carbon textile production facility. They view the initiative as the starting point for Future Forward Factories India, a program that accelerates the deployment of innovative textile manufacturing sites. 'By developing a master plan and partnering with Arvind to build a factory that addresses tier 2 manufacturing challenges, we can implement tangible solutions that drive systemic change,' said Katrin Ley, managing director of Fashion for Good. The partners announced the project at the Global Fashion Summit, a key event focused on sustainable innovation in the textile industry, held June 3–5 in Copenhagen. Fashion for Good, launched in 2017, counts major industry players among its participants, including Bestseller, C&A, Chanel, Inditex (Zara), Kering, Levi Strauss & Co., Norrøna, On, Otto Group (Bonprix), Patagonia, PVH Corp., Zalando, as well as Arvind, Birla Cellulose and PDS Limited.
Business of Fashion
06-06-2025
- Business
- Business of Fashion
Under Pressure: Can Fashion's Sustainability Efforts Survive?
Every year, fashion's climate campaigners descend on Copenhagen for the Global Fashion Summit, the industry's highest-profile sustainability gathering. The event, which is typically dominated by large brands offering up a relentlessly optimistic prognosis on the industry's climate efforts, was unusually downbeat this year. Many of fashion's biggest companies were noticeably absent — a function of squeezed travel budgets and fear (few executives appeared willing to weigh in on an increasingly politically charged topic where there is little positive to say). To be sure, advocates for a greener, kinder fashion industry have quietly acknowledged that the movement was struggling for a while. But they held out hope that moves to toughen up regulation would keep forcing things forward. This year, that has all but evaporated. A rightward swing in Europe has prompted a regulatory rollback in the name of competitiveness. Brussels is pushing to cut red tape and simplify pioneering environmental reporting and due diligence requirements in a move critics argue undermines the legislation. 'Europe has failed,' Danish brand Bestseller's stakeholder engagement and human rights manager, Claus Teilmann Petersen, said during a panel discussion teeing up the summit. 'I see this battle as being… kind of lost.' Then there is the active threat posed by the Trump administration, which has pulled the US out of the Paris Climate agreement, slashed funding from programmes focused on labour rights and climate action and launched a chaotic trade war that has plunged much of the industry into survival mode. Instead of looking for progress, many in the space are just trying to figure out what can be saved. 'There's this sort of paralysis that's happening right now,' the American Apparel and Footwear Association's senior director for sustainability Chelsea Murtha told the summit. 'Everyone's trying to figure out what can we continue to hold onto.' What Next? On the sidelines, many insiders acknowledged the movement is running on fumes. Already some companies are making small sustainability sacrifices in the name of economising, opting to switch out pricier lower impact materials for cheaper, more conventional ones, I was told. Attendees said expected companies to largely stay the course with programmes already in place, but acknowledged the uncertainty was likely to slow future action. It's not clear where new momentum could come from. Until there's more clarity on tariffs, the industry is holding a collective breath. The EU is still pushing forward with regulations that would set more sustainable design and recycling requirements, but these have yet to be fully defined. Alongside the usual calls for more collective action and innovation, there was a greater focus on the importance of advocacy in favour of policies that could lend fresh support to fashion's climate efforts. 'We need to have courage,' said slow fashion pioneer Eileen Fisher. 'We have to do more and show up and collaborate more.' The real remaining wild card is climate change itself. This year is once again on track to be one of the warmest on record. Increasingly extreme weather is a threat to raw material supply chains, worker safety and retail traffic. So far, disruptions from floods, wildfires and searing heat have not led to significant disruptions for the industry. Still, with future costs of climate change expected to mount into the trillions of dollars in the future, fashion may come to regret complacency today. THE NEWS IN BRIEF FASHION, BUSINESS AND THE ECONOMY (Getty Images) Gucci owner Kering is in talks to sell its stake in a $1 billion Fifth Avenue property. The negotiations to sell the 115,00-square-foot property which Kering purchased last year to buyout group Ardian are part of the French luxury group's strategy to cut costs and sell stakes in prime real estate to shrink its debt, Reuters reported. Lululemon cut its annual profit forecast as demand slows amid looming tariffs. Despite new product offerings, the activewear company's sales momentum is lagging behind that of competitors like Alo Yoga and Vuori. Stock plummeted 12 percent in after-market trading on Thursday. Prada acquired a 10 percent stake in Italian leather group Rino Mastrotto. Under the deal, which comes as the Italian luxury group aims to shore up control over its production processes, Prada will give the Renaissance Partners-backed leather group a cash investment of undisclosed value and two tanneries. Cartier reported some customer data was stolen in a cyberattack. The Richemont-owned jeweller's client information, including email addresses, countries and names, was obtained by cybercriminals after its website was hacked. The incident is the latest in a wave of cyberattacks on retailers. Rent the Runway forecast double-digit subscriber growth in 2025. Shares rose 12 percent Thursday afternoon after the rental service announced it had ended its most recent quarter with a record number of active subscribers. Year-on-year revenue fell 7.2 percent to $70 million. De Beers drew interest from ex-CEOs as Anglo started its sale. Anglo American Plc plans to begin a formal sales process for De Beers, the final step in its restructuring plan. Former De Beers CEOs Gareth Penny and Bruce Cleaver, and Australian miner Michael O'Keeffe are reportedly each leading groups of potential buyers. A Skechers shareholder sued the company over details on the $9.4 billion 3G buyout. The shareholder alleged founder and controlling shareholder Robert Greenberg to have 'controlled the sales process to a single bidder and deprived the minority stockholders of any legitimate bidding process,' according to the legal complaint. Shein was hit with a complaint from an EU consumer group over 'dark patterns.' Pan-European consumer organisation BEUC filed a complaint with the European Commission on Thursday, citing 'aggressive commercial practices' like pop-ups, notifications and countdown timers that pressure people to make a purchase on Shein's app and website. Victoria's Secret said a cyber incident led to its temporary website shutdown. The intimates chain said it detected an information technology systems-related security incident, which caused it to shut down its website between May 26 and May 29. The incident did not impact its first-quarter financial results. Temu's daily US users have halved following the end of the 'de minimis' loophole. The site's daily US users plummeted 58 percent in May. Both Temu and Shein have suffered a severe drop in sales and customer growth rates since US President Trump announced sweeping trade tariffs and the end of low-value duty-free shipments from China. Sotheby's will auction an original Hermès bag that belonged to Jane Birkin. The black leather handbag, which was initially commissioned in 1984 for the late singer before being commercialised under her name, will be made available for sale in Paris on July 10. THE BUSINESS OF BEAUTY (Huda Beauty) Huda Kattan bought back Huda Beauty. Iraqi-American beauty influencer Kattan regained full ownership of her eponymous brand after buying back a minority stake that private equity firm TSG Consumer Partners had held since 2017. L'Oréal is reportedly poised to acquire Medik8. The Financial Times reported that the British skincare brand's current owner, private equity group Inflexion, and L'Oréal are close to finalising an agreement. Procter & Gamble will cut 7,000 jobs over two years. The manufacturing company announced it would cut about 6 percent of its global workforce, with plans to exit some categories and brands in individual markets. PEOPLE () Nike's CEO finished his C-suite makeover with a former McDonald's executive. McDonald's senior VP Michael Gonda will join the world's largest sportswear brand as chief communications officer in July, the latest leadership reshuffling under the turnaround strategy of CEO Elliott Hill, who rejoined Nike from retirement in October. Better Cotton appointed Nick Weatherill CEO. Weatherill, a former International Cocoa Initiative executive director, will succeed longtime CEO Alan McClay. The 20-year-old sustainable cotton initiative now certifies a fifth of the world's cotton production, but is amping up its oversight following criticism that its standards are too lenient. Kiko Milano named Drew Elliott its chief brand officer. Elliot, the former MAC Cosmetics global creative director, will assume the chief brand officer role on Sept. 1. The appointment comes as the Italian cosmetics company looks to expand its presence in the US market. Violet Grey named a former Bluemercury executive as group president. Tracy Kline will join the beauty retailer as group president on June 9, overseeing the company's team, supply chain, stores, merchandising and marketing. Longtime beauty editor Jane Larkworthy died at 62. Larkworthy, who served as the beauty director of W magazine and more recently as a columnist for New York Magazine's The Cut, is credited as the editor responsible for popularising Le Labo's Santal 33. She died on Wednesday after a battle with cancer. Compiled by Jessica Kwon.
Fashion Network
04-06-2025
- Business
- Fashion Network
Bestseller's childrenswear label Name It opens first monobrand stores in France
Name It, a childrenswear label belonging to Danish group Bestseller, has opened its first monobrand stores in France. Until now, Name It was distributed in the country only through the wholesale channel. Two stores have already opened, and a third will follow shortly. The stores are operating as inventory clearance outlets. The first Name It store opened in March within the McArthurGlen outlet village in Roubaix. A second opened in the Marques Avenue outlet village in Talange, and the third, set to open in June, will be located inside the Designer Outlet retail village in Paris-Giverny. Name It was created by the Bestseller group in 1986, one of 20 brands owned by the group. It is positioned in the mid-range segment, and its cheerful childrenswear is targeted to kids from 0 to 16 years old. Name It operates nearly 140 monobrand stores worldwide, and is present in 20 markets in total, being also distributed via multibrand retailers. Name It stores have recently opened in Germany (in Potsdam and Berlin) and in Sweden (in Marieberg). The Bestseller group is pushing to expand in France. It has been active in extending the retail footprint of womenswear chain Only, whose goal is to open 200 addresses on the French market in five years, but also in introducing new brands to France. Like Rouge Edit, a womenswear label created in 2024, which is trying to make inroads with fashion retailers through its premium positioning and directional style. The Bestseller group was founded 50 years ago. It currently operates 2,800 monobrand stores and its brands are present in 16,000 multibrand retailers worldwide. In fiscal 2023-24, the group's revenue fell by 4%, down to DKK5.6 billion (€4.77 billion). However, its EBIT improved by 8% in the same period, to DKK5.3 billion (€710 million).
Fashion Network
04-06-2025
- Business
- Fashion Network
Bestseller's childrenswear label Name It opens first monobrand stores in France
Name It, a childrenswear label belonging to Danish group Bestseller, has opened its first monobrand stores in France. Until now, Name It was distributed in the country only through the wholesale channel. Two stores have already opened, and a third will follow shortly. The stores are operating as inventory clearance outlets. The first Name It store opened in March within the McArthurGlen outlet village in Roubaix. A second opened in the Marques Avenue outlet village in Talange, and the third, set to open in June, will be located inside the Designer Outlet retail village in Paris-Giverny. Name It was created by the Bestseller group in 1986, one of 20 brands owned by the group. It is positioned in the mid-range segment, and its cheerful childrenswear is targeted to kids from 0 to 16 years old. Name It operates nearly 140 monobrand stores worldwide, and is present in 20 markets in total, being also distributed via multibrand retailers. Name It stores have recently opened in Germany (in Potsdam and Berlin) and in Sweden (in Marieberg). The Bestseller group is pushing to expand in France. It has been active in extending the retail footprint of womenswear chain Only, whose goal is to open 200 addresses on the French market in five years, but also in introducing new brands to France. Like Rouge Edit, a womenswear label created in 2024, which is trying to make inroads with fashion retailers through its premium positioning and directional style. The Bestseller group was founded 50 years ago. It currently operates 2,800 monobrand stores and its brands are present in 16,000 multibrand retailers worldwide. In fiscal 2023-24, the group's revenue fell by 4%, down to DKK5.6 billion (€4.77 billion). However, its EBIT improved by 8% in the same period, to DKK5.3 billion (€710 million).
