Worldview: BRICS Fashion Summit Debuts in Moscow

🇷🇺 BRICS+ Fashion Summit debuts in Moscow. The inaugural version of the BRICS+ Vogue Summit happened in Moscow from Nov. 28 to Dec. 2, shining a light-weight on cross-border enterprise alternatives and cultural trade between tons of of trade leaders from the unique group of rising market nations which comprise the acronymed bloc (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) in addition to nations that had been lately invited to hitch it (Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates). Greater than 30 designer manufacturers from 21 nations — together with Chnnyu, David Tlale, Lucas Leao, Ritesh Kumar and Gapanovich — took half in an expansive programme of exhibits and occasions. The summit was organised by Vogue Basis, the corporate behind Moscow Vogue Week, a showcase based in 2022 that changed Mercedes-Benz Russian Vogue Week. The latter ceased operations shortly after US-led sanctions had been imposed on Russia by G7 and different western nations over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. With the Russian trend trade more and more remoted from its counterparts in Western Europe and North America, the summit offered Moscow professionals with a possibility to satisfy with friends from Asia, Africa, the Center East, Latin America and Eurasian Financial Union nations. [BoF Inbox]

🇨🇳 Wall Street downgrades Alibaba as rival PDD briefly steals its crown. Morgan Stanley minimize its ranking on Alibaba Group Holding’s American depositary receipts on the identical day that fellow Chinese language e-commerce large PDD Holdings closed buying and selling within the US with a market cap that surpassed Alibaba’s for the primary time. The latest successes of PDD, whose Pinduoduo and Temu marketplaces are standard within the China and US respectively, prompted Alibaba founder Jack Ma to put in writing a memo encouraging Alibaba staff to embrace change. [Bloomberg, South China Morning Post]

🇮🇳 India is creating a framework to expose fraud in its jewellery sector. The Gem & Jewelry Export Promotion Council is seeking to compel corporations to reveal the UBOs (‘final useful homeowners’) of their buying and selling companions in a bid to curb cash laundering and expose rogue corporations utilizing worldwide commerce in jewelry, gold and gems as subterfuge for irregular or unlawful fund transfers. Nonetheless, critics say that any initiative’s effectiveness could be restricted as related KYC (know your buyer) techniques usually are not universally obligatory abroad. [Economic Times]

🇰🇪 Kenyan designers are worried that a kaunda suit ban will be bad for business. Kenya’s parliament has banned MPs from carrying a swimsuit named after the late Zambian president Kenneth Kaunda who popularised it many many years in the past. Normally worn and not using a tie, the short-sleeved outfit is an Afro-centric design worn by males throughout the area, together with Kenya’s present president, however parliament has mentioned the swimsuit doesn’t adhere to its formal gown code. The transfer has Nairobi-based designers involved that the ban may negatively influence demand for different native designs in formal settings. [Semafor]

🇷🇺 Russian diamond export ban prompts Belgian traders to adopt blockchain. With the G7 group of nations (together with the EU bloc) planning to part in sanctions on Russian diamonds subsequent 12 months, the Antwerp diamond district (which handles round 86 % of the world’s tough diamonds) has turned to the know-how to hint and determine the origin of the dear stones. However even with a G7/EU ban, Russian diamonds (which accounted for round a 3rd of the worldwide market earlier than Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine) may discover their strategy to different hubs like Dubai and India. [France 24, AFR]

🇨🇳 French fashion magazine L’Officiel launches a Hong Kong edition. The publication’s new final mother or father firm, Hong Kong-based AMTD Group, has opened a digital version devoted to the Chinese language luxurious hub and particular administrative area, with a print model anticipated subsequent 12 months. The launch comes a 12 months after AMTD acquired L’Officiel Inc. from the founding Jalou household for an undisclosed quantity and follows AMTD’s acquisition of The Artwork Newspaper earlier this 12 months. [Khanh Linh for BoF]

🇰🇷 Korean retail giants Lotte, Shinsegae, Hyundai fined over dealings with tenants. The three division retailer teams had been amongst 4 corporations fined between 120 and 337 million gained ($93,000-261,000) by South Korea’s Truthful Commerce Fee (FTC), an antitrust watchdog, for unfairly shifting their advertising prices to tenants with out prior notification, whereas operating particular gross sales promotion occasions between 2019 and 2020. [The Korea Times]

🇯🇵 Tax-free department-store sales in Japan hit record high in October. The Japan Division Shops Affiliation mentioned spending by international vacationers pushed up gross sales of tax-free gadgets to 38.3 billion yen ($257 million {dollars}), the best quantity for a single month because the survey started in 2014, reflecting a 12 months over 12 months surge of 178.9 %. [NHK World]

🇦🇪 Dubai-based Times Square Group acquires Temperley London. The UAE firm based by Ritesh Punjab, which operates manufacturers together with Manolo Blahnik and Furla within the Center East, has taken a majority stake within the British model for an undisclosed quantity. The funding might be utilized by founder Alice Temperley, who reportedly restructured her firm in 2021 after submitting for enterprise administration, to open a flagship in London and add new classes. [Drapers]

🇮🇳 SMCP partners with Reliance Brands Limited (RBL) for the India market. The mother or father firm of Sandro, Maje and different manufacturers, tapped the corporate owned by oil-to-telecoms conglomerate Reliance Industries to enter the India market and distribute its two primary accessible luxurious manufacturers there. RBL has a portfolio of 90 manufacturers together with partnerships with manufacturers reminiscent of Burberry, Coach, Diesel and Valentino for the nation. [BoF Inbox]

🇵🇰 Pakistan apparel suppliers benefit from Walmart’s pivot away from China. Andrea Albright, the American retail large’s government vp of sourcing, mentioned that whereas India is without doubt one of the primary beneficiaries in classes like toys, electronics and prescription drugs, nations like Pakistan and Bangladesh are having fun with an uptick within the trend and residential product classes, as Walmart tries to chop prices and diversify its provide chains. [Reuters]

🇨🇱 Fitch downgrades Chile-based Latin American retail giant Falabella. The scores company has downgraded the corporate’s long-term international and native forex IDRs (issuer default scores), amid Q3 earnings displaying that the division retailer group with operations in Chile and different key Latin American markets reminiscent of Brazil, Peru, Argentina and Colombia had a internet lack of 17 billion Chilean pesos ($19 million). [Fitch, Reuters]

🇨🇳 Burberry taps Chinese actress Tang Wei as its latest brand ambassador. The British luxurious model has signed the award-winning actress identified for her roles in each worldwide and native movies reminiscent of “Late Autumn,” “The Golden Period” and “Determination to Depart”. [BoF Inbox]