Global Vibes
US Top Shop
UNITED KINGDOM: The man behind high street retailer Top Shop has targeted sales of between £15 million ($A31.3 million) and £20 million ($A41.7 million) for the chain's first US branch. Sir Philip Green said the store, scheduled to open in New York in October, would not be Americanised for the market and denied claims product would be discounted despite the trend in the US for value prices. Green has also confirmed he is still looking for two more sites in the city.
Scottish acquisition
INDIA: Textile and apparel company S Kumar Nationwide (SKNL) is set to purchase Scottish fashion chain Internacionale. SKNL, promoted by Mumbai-based group Kasliwal, will buy out the firm for an undisclosed amount to shore up its international luxury brand portfolio, according to Indian newspaper reports. SKNL already boasts a host of luxury brands including Alfred Dunhill and Escada in India and owns the Reid and Taylor, Carmichael House and Belmonte brands. The Glasgow-based fashion store chain is SKNL's second acquisition in Scotland. It acquired Dumfriesshire-based cashmere maker Reid & Taylor in 1997.
No chemicals
PAKISTAN: A new European Union chemical regulations means neither textile nor footwear items will be allowed to enter European Union (EU) countries without having Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (Reach) certification after July 1, 2009. Reach certification has been made mandatory for all exports to EU from December 2008 with the hope of creating a single system governing all chemicals used in the European Community. A Reach spokesman advised business community to register themselves with 'Reach' so that their products should be tested and certified.
UNITED STATES: Around 20 per cent of all athletic merchandise is fake, according to a new report from online trade bible Just-style. The report found that despite heightened anti-counterfeiting measures, Canadian and US authorities expect counterfeiting to remain high for the next six years with counterfeiting grew 6.6 per cent, over the past two years - more than double the pace of total apparel market growth. According to the International Chamber of Commerce in Geneva (CICG) the total cost of goods counterfeiting worldwide is approximately $US650 billion ($A688 billion) a year.
Cavalli share
ITALY: Five international funds have been named on the short list to acquire the controlling stake in Italian fashion group Roberto Cavalli, according to press reports out of Milan. Interested funds - which include Doughty Hanson, Candover, Lion Capital, Carlyle, and Texas Pacific Group, had to have submitted binding offers by July 16. The finance company representing the group, Merrill Lynch, expect final offers to exceed 1.5 billion euros ($A2.46 billion) with the company posting a gross operating profit of 84 million euros ($A138 million) in 2007.