The Magazine for Canadian Fashion Retailers Runway Review Business or Entertainment? Accessories Taking S/S 2020 by Storm Retail Success Small Shops - Big Ideas Top Ten Trends 2020 Retail Vision January - July 2020 Canada Post Agreement #41957515 January - July 2020 Canada Post CONTENTS JANUARY 2020 trendsThe Magazine for Canadian Fashion Retailers SPECIAL FEATURES 38 Top 10 Trends Socially and ethically minded youth impact SS20 womenswear Volume 11 Issue 21 January 2020 trends and buying patterns. 58 Sustainability in Business A sustainability strategy to future-proof businesses in an age of informed and socially minded consumers. Publisher / Editor 8 Kait Walker [email protected] Editorial Contributors DEPARTMENTS 8 Kirsten Mogg 8 Lucy Lau 8 Naeme El-Zein 08 Industry News 8 Ani Nersessian Dawn of a New Decade - opportunities and inspiration amid environmental, political and business disruptions. Editor / Art Director 8 Kim Walker [email protected] 22 Retail Success National Sales Manager. Small retailers with new ideas make landlords and municipalities 8 [email protected] recognize that independents have an important role to play. 705-426-1712 Website Address 8 trendsmagazine.ca Email Address 8 [email protected] 32 Accessories Canadian designers take 2020 Spring/Summer runways by storm. Subscriptions 8 [email protected] Head Office 8 Beaverton ON L0K 1A0 42 Runway Review Have entertainment and activism overtaken business interests? Spring 2020 runways deploy new strategies as they try to adapt. Circulation 8 [email protected] Toll-Free: 8 1-877-547-2246 50 Visual Merchandising Avoid the Stockroom Syndrome - how to display merchandise All rights reserved. effectively to tell a story and give shoppers a break. Trends is published biannually. Contents may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the consent of the publisher. The publisher is not responsible for the contents of any advertisement. Any representations or warranties are those of the advertiser and not the publisher. 52 Vancouver Fashion Week The advertiser is responsible for obtaining permission to use any photographs or VFW presents the major trends of the season. images used in an advertisement. The publisher is not liable for misprints that are not the fault of the publisher and in such an event the limit of the publisher’s liability will not exceed the amount the publisher charged for the advertising. 60 Show Calendar Subscription Rates: Dates and venues for 2020 Canadian, US & International shows. Canada 1 year CDN $22.00 United States 1 year $33.00 All other countries 1 year $44.00 Single Copies: Canada $11.00 Canada Post Agreement Number 41957515 Cover Photo 6 TRENDS 4 January 2020 Industry News By Kirsten Mogg Dawn Of A New Decade The ten-year post recession expansion cycle is either imminently doomed or just getting started, depending on whom you ask. Global politics, climate change, and technology continue to disrupt. Consumer activism is on the rise. Trade policies are a question mark although the USMCA (NAFTA 2.0) agreement seems finally to have bi-partisan approval and can proceed to ratification. The Color of the Year 2020: Classic Blue 19-4052 WTO is in disarray and trade agreements will need to be rewritten when the Courtesy of Pantone Color Institute UK leaves the Canadian European Trade Agreement (CETA). Pantone Color of the Year Climate Change Pantone suggests that its Color of the Year 2020, Blue 19-4052, is both Perhaps the most impactful challenge to the fashion industry, labeled as a futuristic and classic. Darker than the optimistic and peaceful sky blue significant global polluter, is a demand for urgent action on climate change led Pantone selected a decade ago, this blue is closer to cobalt derived pigments by sixteen year old Greta Thunberg. Consumers are responding by calling for used for centuries to tint glass, ceramics and paint. Being neither masculine political and corporate action. nor feminine it suggests a genderless trend while at the same time reflecting a trend toward highly contrasting points of view - either a refreshing yet United Nations peaceful colour referencing an oasis of calm in troubled times or a Mark Carney, the former investment banker and Bank of Canada chief is disappointing, moody safe choice more suited to cars, political parties, leaving his post as the head of the Bank of England. He has accepted a new technology firms and conservative men’s suits. role as United Nations special envoy on climate action and climate finance This blue will be successful in fashion when presented in modern materials reporting to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Carney takes over from in a contemporary way or enlivened by its complimentary colours of Michael Bloomberg, former Mayor of New York, and US Democratic Presidential orange, black and white. Expect to see it in dark jeans, suiting, sportswear, candidate. Carney will build on the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial shimmery metallics, lace or velvet and in beauty products for nails, lips Disclosures (TCFD) initiated by G20 leaders in 2015. About 80 percent of and hair. top 1,100 global companies already disclose climate risks aligned with those guidelines. Convincing companies to take up this global financial reporting framework is of great interest to investors who need to assess the corporate risks associated with climate change. Although there is heated disagreement over the price of carbon emissions, Canadian companies already operate in an environment that puts a dollar value on climate risk. The Canadian Securities Administration and the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions issued new guidelines for accounting and reporting standards for public and regulated companies last year. Increasingly, taking climate related risks can reduce a company’s ability to raise capital. Preferred Fibre Production The Textile Exchange defines ‘preferred fibers’ as materials with an improved social and environmental impact, an important requirement for the UN SDGs. In their latest Preferred Fiber and Materials Market Report, La Rhea Pepper, managing director, outlined the scale of the challenge that could become even more daunting. “Global fiber production has doubled in the last 20 years, reaching an all-time high of 107 million metric tons in 2018. If business-as-usual continues, it is expected to grow to 145 million metric tons by 2030.” Polyester has the largest share, followed by cotton and man-made cellulosics, while linen, leather, silk and wool are a small and shrinking part of the global fibre pie. The share of recycled polyester grew from 8% to 13% in just ten years, although China’s ban on imported plastic waste caused a decline of 16% in 2017. More promising is the reported increased production of ‘preferred’ Juno Award winning artist Iskwe opened Canadian designer fibres. The share of other recycled synthetics and bio-synthetics remains very Lesley Hampton’s runway show in February 2019 small. Preferred cotton more than doubled over 2013/14 to reach 22% of global Hampton has Anishinaabe and Mohawk heritage cotton production in 2017/18. Photo : George Pimentel 8 TRENDS 4January 2020 4...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................4 INDUSTRY NEWS ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... Science Based Standards The gold standards for textile sustainability are based on scientific measurements Canadian companies including Arc’terx, Aritzia, Lululemon and MEC sent and broad-based industry collaboration. The non-profit Textile Exchange has representatives to the roundtables organized for specific fibres such as facilitated working groups in specific textile sectors for years. Representatives polyester, cotton, cellulosics, wool and cashmere. There is much more from fibre to finished product within each specialized area work towards to be done. The next Textile Exchange Global Conference will be held in consensus and establish voluntary global standards for the industry. Dublin, Ireland during the first week in November, 2020. The issues are many and complex, but there is progress and public corporate commitments have been made by global players such as Kering, Ikea and H&M Group. At the 2019 Textile Exchange conference held in Vancouver last October, over 900 international industry product developers, production and sourcing executives from fibre producers, mills, manufacturers, retailers, NGO’s and standards organizations came together to discuss solutions and push forward toward the 2030 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Scaling up is a priority and it’s clear that the leaders in the room were far ahead of the industry in general. Presentations emphasized how some fiber producers, textile and apparel companies and retailers are executing real, measurable changes to their individual and collective industries. Some, like Kering, are sharing open-source information and playing a leading role in convincing large players to sign up to the Global Fashion Pact launched at the G7 in Biarritz, France in August. The key take-away for a Canadian apparel brand or retailer is this: