🇪🇹 Trade talks at Ethiopia’s Hub of Africa Fashion Week. The 14th edition of the annual designer showcase took place from Jan. 22-26 in the capital Addis Ababa. Seralesti, Dagmawit and skateboarding streetwear brand Kushineta were among the 14 Ethiopian labels presenting their latest collections on the runway alongside designers from Kenya, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Russia. Industry leaders such as The Core Fashion Kenya founder Linda Murithi, Fashion Africa 254 founder Waridi Schrobsdorff and Sennait Ghebreab, an Italian Eritrean contributor to Vogue Italia, also took part in the event founded by Mahlet Teklemariam and Murithi in 2010. Teklemariam, Murithi and the brand founders of Mafi Mafi and Kabana met with representatives from Ethiopia’s Ministry of Industry to discuss the opportunities and challenges facing African fashion businesses looking to boost intra-regional and intercontinental trade. [BoF Inbox]
🇮🇳 Saks Fifth Avenue plans India expansion with Reliance Retail. Saks Global, the US division of Canadian parent Hudson’s Bay Company which owns the upmarket American department store chain, has reportedly signed a franchising agreement with the retail unit of India’s largest company by market value. The two firms are planning to launch Saks Fifth Avenue and Saks Off 5th stores across the South Asian country. Oil-to-telecoms conglomerate Reliance Industries is a leading player in India’s fashion industry through various holdings including Ajio, Tira, Vimal, Reliance Jewels, Reliance Trends, The White Crow, local joint ventures with brands like Versace and Burberry, investments in Indian designer brands like Manish Malhotra and luxury mall Jio World Plaza. [Inside Retail, Business Standard]
🇺🇿 Uzbekistan’s Global Textile Group set to invest $40 million in Kazakhstan. The Tashkent-based textile giant operating across the entire value chain spanning from cotton cultivation and yarn to fabrics and finished knitwear has said it will open five facilities in neighbouring Kazakhstan, comprising a logistics centre, a cotton processing plant, a textile factory, dyeing and spinning workshops and garment factories, to supply that market and Europe. Company co-founder and CEO Muzaffar Razakov recently met with Nuralkhan Kusherov, governor of the southern Kazakhstan region Turkistan, to plan for the facility’s 2027 opening. [KUN.uz, Fibre2Fashion]
🇨🇳 Luxury brands deploy subtler marketing campaigns for Chinese New Year. Global luxury brands like Loewe, Versace and Bulgari opted for less obvious references to the zodiac sign for this Chinese New Year, kicking off tomorrow as the Year of the Snake, whereas Miu Miu and Gucci-owner Kering focused more on other symbols and customs associated with traditional Chinese lunisolar calendar. Prada’s reference to the serpentine theme was more nebulous than most while Tiffany used straightforward snake motifs in special edition products released for the holiday. An important milestone in the retail calendar, the holiday marks the start of the week-long Spring Festival holiday and is bookended by the wider 40-day Chunyun travel period. [Campaign Asia]
🇮🇳 India’s Meesho closes $550 million round, aims for 2026 IPO. The Bengaluru-based e-tailer has secured $250-270 million from new investors Tiger Global, Think Investments and Mars Growth Capital, bringing the total raised to around $550 million, with the majority being secondary transactions, in a round valuing the firm at around $3.9-4.0 billion. Founded as social commerce app Fashnear Technologies Private Limited in 2015 by Vidit Aatrey and Sanjeev Barnwal, the online retailer offers fashion (much of it unbranded), homewares, electronics and other categories by facilitating sales between suppliers, resellers and customers often using platforms like Facebook and Instagram. [Economic Times]
🇨🇴 Latin American textile companies forge deals at Colombiatex. Over 500 exhibitors from across the region, including Colombia, Brazil, Peru, Costa Rica, Argentina, Ecuador, and Mexico, and dozens of countries further afield including India, Italy, Turkey, Spain and the USA, have presented the region’s latest textile offerings to over 12,000 international buyers from Jan. 28-30 in the Medellin. One of the region’s largest fashion industry events, the trade fair is led by Sebastián Díez, CEO of Inexmoda, the parent company of both Colombiatex and fashion week event Colombiamoda. [BoF Inbox]
🇮🇳 L’Oréal Groupe’s VC arm invests in Indian skincare brand Deconstruct. The Paris-based multinational’s venture capital arm BOLD (Business Opportunities for L’Oréal Development) has led a round reportedly worth 65 crore rupees ($7.5 million) alongside investors such as V3 Ventures and DSG Consumer. Existing investors Kalaari Capital and Beenext also participated in the round. “This funding helps us to focus on building highly effective yet gentle products,” said brand founder Malini Adapureddy. [Economic Times]
🇯🇵 Japan’s Honeys Holdings to drop lawsuit against Myanmar union leader. HGIL, a Myanmar-based subsidiary of the Japanese retailer, had accused Myo Myo Aye, leader of the Solidarity Trade Union of Myanmar, of “intervening and instigating illegal actions” after workers complained of “unrealistic quotas” in 2017, which allegedly violated an earlier collective bargaining agreement. Since “we have recognised that an end is not in sight, we have already decided to withdraw the lawsuit,” said the company, which denies any human or labour rights wrongdoing. [Sourcing Journal]
🇮🇳 Indian jeweller Torres’ parent company boss is arrested for fraud. Tausif Riyaz, CEO of Platinum Hern, the company behind Torres Jewellery, was arrested in connection with a 1,000 crore rupee ($116 million) investment fraud investigation. Riyaz is the fifth individual to be arrested in the case involving allegations of a ponzi and multi-level marketing scheme at the company, although others have reportedly fled the country. [Economic Times]
🇨🇳 Chinese brand Mithridate appoints Daniel Fletcher as creative director. The Guangzhou-based brand founded in 2018 by Demon Zhang and today led by CEO Tina Jiang has named the eponymous British designer as its new creative director. Fletcher, who most recently worked at Fiorucci, will unveil his first season for the Chinese brand at the next London Fashion Week. [Drapers]
🇮🇳 Handloom fashion brand Dressfolk raises funding from Eternal Capital. The Delhi-based brand founded by Nitin Mehrotra in 2017, has raised an undisclosed amount in a round led by the Indian venture capital firm and Ghazal Alagh, founder of beauty brand Mamaearth, among others, with participation from Nobody Ventures and Eagle Wings Ventures. [Economic Times]
🇰🇷 Bottega Veneta taps South Korean musician I.N as brand ambassador. The Italian luxury brand has signed the endorsement deal with the member of K-pop boyband Stray Kids. Yang Jeong-in, known professionally as I.N, has more than 9 million followers on Instagram. [Teen Vogue]
