From the Sector

adidas and IVY PARK unveil the final installment of their collaboration together, titled IVY PARK NOIR.
The new range represents a culmination of the two brands’ work together, combining adidas’ athletic and functional excellence, with IVY PARK’s signature emphasis on shape, and trend-defying creative vision. Using a singular, black color palette, IVY PARK NOIR intentionally draws focus to fabric, fit and texture, cultivating enduring elegance through sensual, material play.

Considering all chapters of an active way of life- from warm up, to cool down- the collection elevates one’s everyday pursuits through a mix of tight and loose fitting styles. Fabrications include luxurious embossed leather, exposed mesh and lacquered latex that combine to create a complex yet sophisticated capsule. Standout pieces include body-con cropped top and pant, relaxed 3-D molded knit sweatsuits, multifunctional jackets, and the IVY PARK signature jersey.

IVY PARK NOIR’s offering includes footwear that re-imagines a new era of style and function. Sleek molded and debossed elements add an architectural foundation to the collection’s sneakers, while a chunky, over the knee boot offers utilitarian fantasy.

Textil Santanderina, a manufacturer of quality fabrics with controlled traceability, launched its Advanced Black denim collection in collaboration with Archroma.

The Advanced Black collection by Textil Santanderina uses Archroma’s new DIRESUL® EVOLUTION BLACK LIQ dyestuff to produce on-trend authentic black denim apparel with sustainability and resource savings. In addition to allowing fashion and apparel brands to choose eco-friendlier alternatives that demonstrate their commitment to protecting people and planet, Textil Santanderina’s new Advanced Black denim range also offers unique shade and wash-down effects.

Based on synthesis technology developed by Archroma, DIRESUL EVOLUTION BLACK LIQ delivers an overall impact reduction to 57%*, measuring its effect on human health, ecosystems and resources compared to standard Sulfur Black 1 liquid. Unlike traditional synthesis processes, it does not produce any ammonia, sodium salts waste or liquid effluents, and water consumption in the synthesis process is reduced by 73% for massive savings. The new DIRESUL dyestuff, when adopted with the full Archroma coloration system, delivers a new black color with on-tone wash-down effect and cleaner effluent at the mill.

Textil Santanderina and Archroma previously collaborated to produce Textil Santanderina’s aniline-free** indigo denim collection with the use of DENISOL® PURE INDIGO.

*As determined by Ecoterrae, a leading Spain-based sustainability consulting firm, through a Life Cycle Analysis (UNE-EN ISO 14044:2006) at the synthesis stage, using the ReCiPe 2016 Impact calculation methodology.
**Below limits of detection according to industry standard test methods.

TRÜTZSCHLER Spinning presents an innovation for the textile machinery market: the high-performance comber TCO 21XL with 12 combing heads. For many decades, eight combing heads has been considered state-of-the-art in the spinning industry. Now, Trützschler’s advanced technology and engineering proves that it is possible to build a heavy-duty comber that maximizes productivity by 50 % and saves space without compromising on quality.

They say two heads are better than one, so just imagine what 12 heads can do! That’s the simple but effective idea behind the TCO 21XL. Increasing the number of combing heads by 50 % makes it possible to increase productivity by 50 %, enabling rates of up to 150 kg/h. As a result, two TCO 21XL combers offer the same production capacity as three conventional combers. And that means companies that buy and operate two machines instead of three can achieve significant benefits in terms of their price-performance-ratio (cost/kg). The costs of running the machines are broken down into 12 instead of eight heads, making the machine more cost-effective over its entire operating life.

50 % higher productivity is great – and it can be even greater if the machine is operated with JUMBO cans. The can changer needs to keep up with the extra performance, and JUMBO cans can easily collect the additional output of the TCO 21XL because they feature a 1200 mm diameter. This makes it possible to minimize non-productive time when changing cans. Anybody who is planning a new spinning mill knows that every square meter of space adds to the overall costs. The new TCO 21XL comber offers huge benefits in this regard because 25 % less floor space is required to operate same number of combing heads. This reduces the initial building costs, while also decreasing operating costs related to lighting, air conditioning and other overheads.

Baldwin Technology Co. Inc. has launched PrintEnomic$, a new online resource of specialized eBooks and resources for corrugated, narrow web and sheet-fed and web offset printers at PrintEnomics.com.

The collection of Baldwin videos, podcasts and instructional guides are available for free and without firewalls to help maximize printer profitability. The eBooks analyze trends, issues, and technology options specific to printers in all three categories.

More than 5,000 print industry professionals have already downloaded or viewed earlier, limited-release eBooks “Untangling the Web” for narrow web and “From Beast to Beauty” for corrugated. The addition of “Video Didn't Kill the Radio Star. And Digital Didn't Kill Print” for sheet-fed and web offset printers completes the comprehensive PrintEnomic$ portfolio.
 
Through interviews with customers, industry insiders, in-house engineers – and reviews of the latest reporting – the eBooks explore pressing topics including sustainability, labor challenges, counterfeiting, and brand protection.

• Currency-neutral revenues flat versus the prior-year level
• Top-line development reflects improved sell-out trends and conservative sell-in strategy
• Gross margin up 0.6pp to 50.9%; strong improvement compared to Q1 reflecting better sell-through and less discounting
• Operating profit of € 176 million includes extraordinary expenses of around € 160 million related to one-off costs, donations and accruals for future donations
• Inventory position improves substantially versus Q1 level to € 5.5 billion; now up only 1% year-over-year

In the second quarter of 2023, currency-neutral revenues were flat versus the prior-year level. The top-line development continued to be impacted by the company’s conservative sell-in approach in order to reduce high inventory levels, particularly in North America and Greater China. At the same time, adidas second quarter revenues benefited from the first sale of some of its Yeezy inventory. The initial product drop in June generated revenues of around € 400 million in Q2, which is largely in line with the Yeezy sales generated in the prior year’s quarter.

Footwear revenues grew 1% during the quarter, reflecting strong growth in football, basketball, tennis and US sports. Apparel sales declined 3% in the second quarter. As the apparel market continues to be particularly overstocked, the company continued its conservative sell-in strategy to improve sell-through and margins in the medium term. Accessories grew 8% during the quarter driven by growth in football.  

Lifestyle revenues were down during the quarter despite extraordinary demand for the company’s Samba, Gazelle and Campus franchises. While adidas slowly started to scale its offering for these product families during the second quarter, the total volume still only represents a small portion of the company’s overall business. Sales in the adidas Performance categories continued to show positive momentum. This reflects strong demand for new product introductions such as the latest iterations of its Predator, X and Copa football boots, as well as jerseys for both the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 and the company’s unique portfolio of football teams ahead of the start of the European club season. In addition, the Adizero product family in running continued to gain a lot of attention around marathon races across the world, translating into higher demand. At the same time, the brand’s Barricade tennis franchise grew strongly, leveraging the excitement around major tournaments.

In euro terms, the company’s revenues declined 5% to € 5.343 billion in the second quarter (2022: € 5.596 billion).

Stronger sell-out trends and conservative sell-in
As a result of the company’s initiatives to reduce high inventory levels, currency-neutral sales in wholesale declined 10% despite double-digit growth in Greater China and Latin America. At the same time, direct-to-consumer (DTC) revenues grew 16% versus the prior year. This development was driven by strong growth in both the company’s e-commerce business (+14%) as well as own retail stores (+19%), reflecting continued strong sell-out trends across most regions. The outperformance of the company’s DTC channel versus the wholesale business was also related to the first sale of the Yeezy inventory, which was done exclusively through adidas’ own e-commerce channel.

Double-digit growth in Greater China and Latin America
Currency-neutral sales in North America declined 16% during the quarter. The region is particularly affected by elevated inventory levels in the market and – in response to this – the company’s significantly reduced sell-in. Revenues in Greater China grew 16% in Q2, reflecting double-digit sell-out growth in both wholesale and own retail. Sales in EMEA were down slightly (-1%) despite double-digit DTC growth. While the company’s initiatives to reduce inventory levels and discounting weighed on the overall top-line development in the region, adidas recorded significantly improving full-price trends during the quarter. Revenues in Asia-Pacific increased 7% during the quarter, driven by strong double-digit growth in DTC. Latin America continued to increase at a double-digit rate (+30%), reflecting strong growth in both wholesale and DTC.

Gross margin improves to 50.9%
The company’s second quarter gross margin increased 0.6 percentage points to 50.9% (2022: 50.3%). This improvement was mainly driven by price increases the company has implemented as well as by an improved channel mix. At the same time, higher supply chain costs and unfavorable currency movements continued to strongly weigh on the gross margin development. While still adversely impacting the company’s gross margin in the quarter, discounting levels significantly improved compared to the first quarter of the year.  

Operating profit of € 176 million, resulting in an operating margin of 3.3%
Other operating expenses were up 3% to € 2.582 billion (2022: € 2.501 billion). As a percentage of sales, other operating expenses increased 3.6 percentage points to 48.3% (2022: 44.7%). Marketing and point-of-sale expenses decreased 7% to € 617 million (2022: € 663 million). As a percentage of sales, marketing and point-of-sale expenses slightly decreased by 0.3 percentage points to 11.5% (2022: 11.8%). Operating overhead expenses were up 7% to € 1.965 billion (2022: € 1.838 billion), reflecting higher logistics expenses. In addition, the company recorded one-off costs of around € 50 million related to the strategic review the company is currently conducting as well as donations and accruals for further donations in an amount of around € 110 million. As a percentage of sales, operating overhead expenses increased 3.9 percentage points to 36.8% (2022: 32.8%). The company’s operating profit amounted to € 176 million (2022: € 392 million) in the quarter. This amount includes the extraordinary expenses of in total around € 160 million reflecting the one-off costs related to the strategic review as well as the donations and accruals for further donations. The sale of the Yeezy product positively impacted adidas’ operating profit by an incremental amount of around € 150 million in Q2. The operating margin reached 3.3% in the quarter (2022: 7.0%).

Net income from continuing operations of € 96 million
After taxes, the company’s net income from continuing operations amounted to € 96 million (2022: € 360 million), while basic EPS from continuing operations decreased to € 0.48 (2022: € 1.88).

Outlook

adidas expects revenues to decline at a mid-single-digit rate
On July 24, adidas had adjusted its full year financial guidance to reflect the positive impact of the first sale of some of its Yeezy inventory and a slightly better-than-expected development of the adidas business in the first half of the year. At the same time, macroeconomic challenges and geopolitical tensions persist. Elevated recession risks in North America and Europe as well as uncertainty around the recovery in Greater China continue to exist. In addition, the company’s revenue development will continue to be impacted by the initiatives to significantly reduce high inventory levels. As a result, adidas now expects currency-neutral revenues to decline at a mid-single-digit rate in 2023 (previously: decline at a high-single-digit rate).

Underlying operating profit anticipated to be around the break-even level
The company’s underlying operating profit – excluding any one-offs related to Yeezy and the ongoing strategic review – is still anticipated to be around the break-even level. Including the positive impact from the first Yeezy drop of around € 150 million, the potential write-off of the remaining Yeezy inventory of now € 400 million (previously: € 500 million) and one-off costs related to the strategic review of up to € 200 million (unchanged), the company now expects to report an operating loss of € 450 million in 2023 (previously: loss of € 700 million).

On August 2, the company launched a second drop of Yeezy inventory. Throughout the month of August, adidas is making a range of existing products available through both its own e-commerce channel as well as the digital platforms of selected wholesale partners. If successful, this second drop would further improve the company’s results. However, as the results of this drop are yet unknown, it is not accounted for in the company’s current top- and bottom-line outlook for 2023.

Riri, which became part of Oerlikon Group on March 1, presents its FW 24-25 collection, which embraces plastic and metal trends.

Metal Trends: GALACTIC SHINE, TEXTURIZED BLACK and AMBER GLAZE
As a result of joining the Oerlikon Group, specializing in surface engineering, polymer processing, and additive manufacturing, Riri is accelerating its transition to new processes related to surface treatments, particularly the PVD (Physical Vapour Deposition) technology, a physical process that significantly reduces impacts on the environment. PVD processes can be appreciated particularly on sliders and buttons where gold and shiny black finishes stand out. Silver textures, science fiction-inspired surfaces and shapes, and glossy, brushed finishes in shades of gray and very light gold: GALACTIC SHINE brings to earth a sidereal experience, witness from a journey where the atmosphere becomes rarefied and elegance takes shape among metalized leather tapes, gold PVD pullers, organic cotton, and gleaming inox. Black also shines in the TEXTURIZED BLACK selection, in tone-on-tone contrasts that create plays of light and shadow, thanks to metallic effects, glossy black PVD treatments, tapes and galvanic in shades of black. The atmosphere becomes warmer by varying on amber tones, the absolute protagonists of the AMBER GLAZE mood, which offers a different interpretation of elegance through bright amber tones, rose gold, diamond prints and geometric patterns.

Plastic Trends: GHOSTLY ICE and SPRAY VANISHED
GHOSTLY ICE features accessories that refer to the skiing theme, offering an algid beauty made up of transparent surfaces and icy effects, a theme in which the sustainability of mono-materials coexists with the elegance of the end result. The color inspirations are totally different, but sustainability and elegance remain unchanged in the SPRAY VANISHED zipper selection, in which vibrant multicolored effects communicate joy and vitality through iridescent PVD effects and the use of recycled materials, such as the polyamide of the patented B.Lock button.

Baldwin Technology Co. Inc. has launched a new set of resources for sheet-fed and web offset printers at PrintEnomics.com with the release of the “Video Didn't Kill the Radio Star. And Digital Didn't Kill Print” eBook.

Its PrintEnomic$ website offers curated resources that analyze trends and issues impacting not only sheet-fed and web offset printers but also narrow web and corrugated printers. Separate eBooks, videos, podcasts and instructional guides are available to help maximize printer profitability in all three specialized areas.

Baldwin is a leading global manufacturer and supplier of innovative process-automation equipment, parts, service and consumables for the printing, packaging, textile, plastic film extrusion and corrugated industries.

More than 5,000 print industry professionals have already downloaded or viewed earlier-released eBooks centered on narrow web (“Untangling the Web”) and corrugated (“From Beast to Beauty”).

Through interviews with customers, industry insiders, in-house engineers – and reviews of the latest reporting – Baldwin explores four trends in the “Video Didn't Kill the Radio Star. And Digital Didn't Kill Print” eBook:

• The resurgence in book publishing
• Labor challenges
• Direct mail marketing as a cure for screen fatigue
• Sustainability

ITMA 2023 was a successful platform for the flat knitting machine manufacturer STOLL to present its latest new developments. The business unit of the KARL MAYER GROUP will be following up this fair on 3 July with the launch of a further innovation package. With the solutions contained in this package, STOLL will be offering its customers additional added value when using their flat knitting machines - in line with the concept of bundling innovations.

The new features include an optimised central lubrication system that reduces both maintenance effort and oil consumption, this as standard from July 2023 for all models of the CMS and ADF series produced in Reutlingen.
Compared to the previous optional variant, it ensures more efficient and comprehensive lubrication. All needle bed elements, from the holding-down jack to the coupling part and intermediate slider to the selection jack, are now supplied with oil. The machine itself recognises whether lubrication is required. Independently of this, the lubrication intensity and oil distribution can be adapted to the individual machine conditions by setting various parameters, if required. To ensure that the required amount of lubricant is reliably supplied, a message is sent if the level is too low.

In addition, a new oil drain container as standard equipment for all CMS and ADF models catches used oil from the needle bed under the machine. This prevents soiling of floors or knitted fabrics. The emptying of the container can be efficiently managed by an adjustable reminder function. The neat and at the same time sustainable solution does not require cleaning agents or hoovers and offers the possibility to reuse the oil after cleaning through special filters, if necessary.

Users of CMS and ADF belt take-down machines can benefit from optimisations around the belt take-down. Thanks to the new STOLL innovation package, this can be turned forwards and backwards by means of a switch as standard in order to easily eliminate fabric wraps and thus reduce maintenance times. In addition, a mirror, which is also fitted as standard, ensures a simple visual check of the belt take-down.

Another solution of the STOLL innovation package from July 2023 includes new cams that enable split-stitch implementation without cam box modification. This reduces manual effort and thus conversion times and costs. The feature is standard on all fine gauges ADF and CMS machines.

For the W machines from STOLL, there is now a further inlay yarn carrier, the Qt, in addition to the previous Qw yarn carrier. The extension means that the number of inlay yarn carriers used in a system can be increased from the previous one to three. No additional system is required for the weft yarn, and the process steps weft yarn insertion and knitting take place in the same system.

Amanda Rajkumar [51], Executive Board member and Labor Director of adidas AG, responsible for Global Human Resources, People and Culture, has informed adidas AG’s Supervisory Board that she will not extend her Executive Board mandate beyond December 31, 2023. The Supervisory Board has accepted her decision and agreed on the termination of her appointment as an Executive Board member effective July 15, 2023.

With 28 years of human resources experience in global organizations, Amanda Rajkumar joined the adidas board as Head of Global Human Resources, People and Culture at the beginning of 2021. At adidas, she devised and implemented a People strategy aimed at efficiently harmonizing and unifying employee experience across the company and establishing adidas as a global values-led organization.

Michelle Robertson, SVP Workplaces & Global Functions at adidas, will assume responsibility for Global Human Resources, People and Culture on an interim basis, reporting to adidas CEO Bjørn Gulden.

With total sales of EUR 1,543 million, generated by over 30 production and sales units in Europe, Asia, and America, Radici Group closed its 2022 financial year with slight growth over 2021. EBITDA reached EUR 157 million in 2022, and net income for the year was EUR 80 million.

“We are moderately pleased with the 2022 figures,” Angelo Radici, president of RadiciGroup, commented. “Despite an unpredictable and challenging year, we were able to achieve positive results. Although the rise in energy costs began to be felt in January, we managed to maintain our position in the first three months of the year due to a significant increase in demand. From the second quarter onwards, the European market experienced a significant slowdown due to the outbreak of war in Ukraine, which exacerbated the already soaring costs of energy and raw materials. The situation was completely out of hand and made worse by the fact that some raw materials were not available. This created significant challenges for us, especially in the chemical sector. We even had to stop operations at our Novara plant in the latter part of the year. Products similar to ours in the nylon supply chain from China and the US were being sold at a price lower than our variable cost.”

The president continues: “At Group level, our internationalisation strategy helped us mitigate geopolitical risks in various countries. As a result, we were able to offset the challenges in the European chemicals and textile markets by leveraging our global presence in High Performance Polymers, where our numbers have held strong. As we began 2023, we regained our footing. However, the global economic and industrial scenario for the rest of the year remains highly uncertain, and forecasts are notably cautious.”

Even in these difficult times, the Group has continued to invest. In 2022, the High Performance Polymers Business Area completed the acquisition in India of the engineering plastics branch of Ester Industries Ltd, a listed company. Additionally, it began installing two new production lines in Mexico and Brazil, and confirmed plans to install a new extrusion line at the Villa d’Ogna production site in the province of Bergamo. These choices align with the Group’s goal of enhancing its worldwide presence and boosting competitiveness in high-potential growth markets. In a year where energy and raw material costs were certainly problematic, operating in geographically diverse markets and with varied applications proved to be an important tool in addressing the challenges. In this vein, a new production site spanning over 36,000 square metres has recently been inaugurated in China. The move is aimed at doubling the production capacity in line with the market’s growth expectations.

Extending the time horizon to 2018-2022, the Group has invested over EUR 277 million to enhance the competitiveness of its companies, implement Best Available Techniques, improve energy efficiency, reduce emissions, and conduct research and development activities aimed at introducing sustainable processes and solutions. These efforts include the research and development activities of Radici InNova, which are heavily focused on the circular economy.