The Cannes Film Festival kicked off today, and if the celebrity red carpet gowns we've seen on day one are any indication we're in for a festival of fantastic, OMG-worthy gowns. Now this is how you do major glitz and glam, ladies. Carey Mulligan, star of that tiny little film you may have heard of (The Great Gastby, duh), chose a blush satin Dior couture gown for the film's premiere. It's a little reminiscent of a gown Gwyneth Paltrow has worn in the past but beautiful none the less.

Auction prices rose fairly substantially in local currency terms this week. The Australian Wool Exchange’s (AWEX) Eastern Market Indicator (EMI) increased by 3.0%, to 1,022 Australian cents per kilo, clean. However, in US dollar terms, the Indicator actually declined by 0.5%, to 1,010 US cents per kilo.Concern over projections of a larger-than-expected deficit in the local economy and of the potential implications for trade with China of slower growth in that economy, along with strength in the

The value-added textile sector has drawn Mian Nawaz Sharif’s attention to the export of cotton yarn, the sorely needed raw material of the textile sector, at throwaway prices. In a letter to the incoming prime minister, Javed Bilwani, coordinator of the value-added textile sector, said Pakistan’s entire textile sector was itself in urgent need of cotton yarn. “Only value-added fine count cotton yarn should be allowed to be exported with monitoring of the price which should not be lowe

The necessary reforms in the labour law will soon see daylight. Although quite late, the chapter has finally been opened. It is a bitter truth that the unfortunate deaths of more than one thousand garments workers at the Savar have accelerated the reform process. Provision for group insurance and gratuity facilities will be provided for industrial workforce, particularly in the garment sector. One wonders why it took such a long time. Was there an unholy alliance between the factory owners and

Workers walk past a closed garment factory in Ashulia on Tuesday. Photo:STAR Production at around 100 garment factories in Ashulia remained on hold yesterday, for the second consecutive day, as owners and workers failed to reach a consensus. Leaders of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) will hold a meeting with Labour and Employment Minister Rajiuddin Ahmed Raju today to find a solution to reopen the factories soon. “We are holding meetings with the labou

By Prak Chan Thul PHNOM PENH | Thu May 16, 2013 5:10am EDT Three people were killed when the ceiling of a warehouse fell in at a shoe factory in Cambodia, a government minister said on Thursday, adding to concern about safety standards at Asian factories producing clothes cheaply for Western consumers. Cambodia has seen a rush of investment in recent years, especially into the shoe and garment sector, with Western and Asian firms attracted by its low-cost labor. The International Monetary

The Vietnam textile and apparel association (VITAS) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Center for the Promotion of Imports from developing countries (CBI), an agency of the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs which supports the clothing manufacturers and producers of developing countries to expand their exports in the EU, for expansion of their garment exports. Speaking to fibre2fashion, vice chairwoman of VITAS, Ms. Dung Dang said, “We have signed a MoU with CBI for co

Garments companies are being urged not to pin all their hopes on the Save Our Industries Act which would grant preferential access to exports to the United States. An official of the Board of Investments (BOI) said there are quite a number of new projects in garments manufacturing coming in, indicative that they still find the sector attractive. But the official said BOI is pushing these firms to tap markets other than the US, or supply the domestic market. The official added that while

In April 2013, H&M Group total sales including VAT in local currencies increased by 11 percent compared to the same month the previous year. Sales in comparable units increased by 1 percent. Comparable units comprise the stores and the internet and catalogue sales countries that have been in operation for at least a financial year. Sales during the first weeks in April were negatively affected by the unseasonably cold weather mainly in Europe. The total number of stores amounted to 2,881 on

John Lewis is to open a new 100,000 square foot department store at Oxford’s Westgate Centre, which will create 500 new jobs. The new ‘flexible format department store’ is set to open in 2017 and will highlight fashion, home and consumer electronics concepts in a contemporary setting over three floors. The department store will also include a cafe, a dedicated customer collection entrance located in the car park, and will feature computer terminals in-store to allow shoppers to browse the wider