🇨🇳 China’s president meets with founders of Alibaba, Tencent, Meituan. President Xi Jinping invited leaders of 31 of the country’s largest tech companies to a high-profile summit last week, signalling warmer relations with the sector. China’s economic slowdown appears to have softened of the government’s stance on big tech following a regulatory crackdown on the sector starting in 2020. Jack Ma, the founder and former chairman of e-commerce giant Tmall’s parent company Alibaba Group, retreated from public life that year following the suspension of the IPO of his fintech firm Ant Group by the Chinese authorities. Also attending the carefully choreographed event, which saw Xi bring Ma back in from the cold, were WeChat owner Tencent’s boss Pony Ma and Meituan’s Wang Xing among others. Among those notably absent were Baidu’s Robin Li and JD.com’s Richard Liu, prompting the two companies’ shares to fall last week. [BBC, Financial Times]
🇸🇦 Saudi Fashion Commission initiates recycling of pilgrims’ clothing. The Saudi ministry of culture’s dedicated fashion industry body has launched the Sustainable Ihram Initiative which aims to recycle the special garments worn by people on either of the Islamic pilgrimages. The project is a collaboration between the Saudi Investment Recycling Company, Tadweem, Turkish fabric giant Sanko and textile-to-textile recycling technology company Re&Up. More than 18.5 million international pilgrims came to Saudi Arabia to perform the hajj and umrah in 2024, according to local media, to travel to Makkah, which Muslims consider to be the most holy city in the religion. [Kohan Textile Journal, BoF]
🇨🇳 Chinese jeweller Laopu Gold sees shares surge to record high. The Beijing-based, Hong Kong-listed traditionally crafted gold jewellery brand saw shares rise as much as 10 percent on Friday, making it one of the best performers on the Hong Kong bourse, following a positive net profit alert posted by the company of 1.4-1.5 billion yuan (a median value of around $206.77 million) for 2024, marking a year-over-year rise of 236-260 percent. The company, which was founded by Xu Gaoming in 2009 as a goldware shop before being established as a brand in 2016 has expanded its mono-brand footprint to 38 stores nationwide. Its value on the stock market has increase over tenfold in less than a year since its IPO. [Reuters]
🇻🇳 US firms forecast Vietnam factory layoffs if Trump imposes tariffs. According to a survey of more than 100 American Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam manufacturer members, which include multinational giants such as Nike and Intel, nearly two-thirds foresee layoffs if US President Donald Trump introduces reciprocal tariffs on the Southeast Asian nation. Manufacturers in Vietnam had largely remained upbeat after Trump’s announcements of tariffs on China, Mexico and Canada but now the mood has changed with analysts suggesting Vietnam could become a target of new duties due to its trade surplus with the US. [Reuters]
🇨🇱 Fashion e-commerce major Dafiti ceases operations in Chile. The Global Fashion Group-owned e-tailer is withdrawing from Chile, leaving Dafiti to focus on the Brazil and Colombia markets following an earlier exit from Argentina. GFG, a Luxembourg-registered firm headquartered between Singapore and London, has recorded declining net merchandise value in recent quarters. GFG owns Latin America-focused Dafiti, Southeast Asia-focused Zalora and Australia and New Zealand region-focused platform The Iconic. [Modaes]
🇮🇳 Deep and Mohit Bajaj buy back Sirona from India’s Good Glamm Group. The founders of the Indian feminine hygiene brand spent an estimated 150 crore rupees ($17.2 million) on buying back the brand they founded in 2014 and sold to the content-to-commerce group in 2022 for 450 crore rupees ($53.5 million). The sale follows financial challenges, executive departures, salary delays and layoffs at the group founded and led by Darpan Sanghvi which started as DTC makeup brand MyGlamm before acquiring a stable of beauty, personal care and media brands. [Economic Times]
🇨🇳 Court lifts controls on Armani over Chinese factories’ labour practices. An Italian court has ended early special administration imposed on a unit of the Armani fashion group over labour practices of its Chinese-owned subcontractors because the company had taken all the necessary corrective action. Giorgio Armani Operations, the industrial arm of the Armani group, was placed under court administration for a year in April after an investigation found it had subcontracted work in Italy to Chinese-owned companies that exploited workers. [BoF]
🇮🇳 India’s jewellery and gem body GJEPC taps Kirit Bhansali as chairman. The country’s Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council has promoted Bhansali from vice chairman to the top spot, replacing Vipul Shah. Bhansali is a partner at Mumbai-based diamond firm Smital Gems and chairman of the India Jewellery Park Mumbai. “We will strive to achieve the ambitious export target of $100 billion by 2047, aligning with our honourable prime minister’s vision of a ‘Viksit Bharat’ (Narendra Modi’s plan for an “advanced India”). [Times of India]
🌏 Birkenstock sales jump on high-end clog boom, Asia expansion. The German shoe company’s sales rose 19 percent to €362 million ($378 million) in the three months through December from a year earlier, with momentum especially strong in Asia and for closed-toed footwear. That exceeded analysts’ average estimate of €356 million. [BoF]
🇪🇬 Investors pump $3 million into two new Egyptian textile factories. Walid Gamal El-Din, chairman of the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCEZ), has entered into agreements for two new textile manufacturing projects in the ready-made factories area of the country’s Sokhna Industrial Zone, developed by the Main Development Company. The projects create capacity for velvet and knitted fabrics. [Fibre2Fashion]
🇰🇷 L’Oréal’s VC arm invests in Korean perfume brand Borntostandout. The French beauty group’s venture capital arm BOLD (Business Opportunities for L’Oréal Development) has participated in a Series A fundraising round led by American venture firm Touch Capital in the Seoul-based luxury fragrance brand which was founded in 2022 by Jun Lim. [Cosmetics Design Europe]
🇰🇷 Roger Vivier taps South Korean singer Yeji as brand ambassador. The French luxury shoemaker has partnered with Hwang Ye-ji, the lead singer of K-pop girl group Itzy. Known mononymously as Yeji and commanding over 5 million Instagram followers, the musician is about to embark on a solo career. [BoF Inbox]
