July 1,  2003                                  Issue #100


15/25

                Mcpete -Sez, 
     The Lingerie Newsletter 
                        & 
       Women's Wear Journal
         
                 
Sleepwear-Daywear-Foundations-Loungewear-Hosiery-
       Swimwear-Dancewear-Clubwear-Funwear 
                              Ready to-wear.

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  OUR 100th Issue!
   Over 4 Years of bringing the news to you. 
    "Thank you for making this all possible."
   
     Retail Sales Climb 0.1% In May 
US retail sales edged up 0.1 per cent last month to $308.78 billion partly thanks to strong demand for clothing, government data revealed. 
Figures from the Commerce Department showed apparel sales rose one per cent in May. The new data came just a week after the majority of fashion and footwear retailers reported solid monthly same-store sales growth.
   
 Federated Sees Q2 Same-Store Sales Up 2-3% 
Federated Department Stores Inc, owner of the famous Macy's and Bloomingdale's chains, on Tuesday said it is optimistic its second quarter same-store sales could beat expectations.
The Cincinnati-based company said in a corporate filing May's same-store sales slip of 0.8 per cent was less than expected and if current trends continue same-store sales for the quarter should rise two to three per cent.

9/25


   US To Ban All Imports from Burma 
The US House International Relations Committee has unanimously passed a bill that will expand US sanctions against Burma's military regime. 
This vote came less than a day after the Senate passed almost identical legislation in a nearly undivided vote. 
The sanctions will be particularly noticeable in the apparel trade. Of the $356 million worth of goods imported by the US from Burma last year, the majority was apparel and textiles. Burma's regime completely controls the garment sector and derives considerable revenue through its exports, including a 10 per cent export tax.



3/7

  British retail sales show unexpected fall during May
LONDON - Hopes of a post Iraq-war consumer boom in Britain were dealt a blow as official figures showed that high-street spending fell unexpectedly during May. 
Overall retail sales dropped by 0.1 percent during the month on a seasonally-adjusted basis against those during April, the National Statistics office said. 
The fall was a surprise, with economists' consensus forecasts predicting a rise of 0.2 percent. The figure indicates a sharp spending slowdown following a revised monthly growth figure of 0.4 percent during April. 
Retails sales grew by 3.1 percent during May as against the same month in 2002, National Statistics said, also below economists' expectations of a 3.5-percent increase. 
Many retailers had pinned their hopes on a so-called "Baghdad bounce", which predicted that relieved consumers would flock to the shops after the end of the US- and British-waged war to unseat Saddam Hussein (news - web sites). 
In the three months to May, retail sales rose 0.5 percent against the previous three months, and were up 3.4 percent from the same period a year before.

         
A Chinese couple walks past an advertisement for women's underwear in Shanghai June 12,2003. Shanghai is rediscovering its uninhibited past after more than a decade of growth and liberalization. 'Shanghai is emerging from its shell after the Maoist straitjacket, artificially imposed on the city for some 30 years, begins loosening,' said Liu Dalin, sexologist and curator of Shanghai sex museum.
'It's all part and parcel of the market economy,' he added.

  VF Corp Slashes Q2 Profit, Sales Outlook 
The world's largest apparel company, VF Corp, slashed its second quarter earnings and sales outlook citing "difficult retail conditions" which have seen stores cut inventories on sluggish sales.
The North Carolina-based company, whose principal brands include Lee, Wrangler, Riders, Vanity Fair, Lily of France and Lee Sport, said it expects earnings in the quarter to July 5 to slump between 20 and 25 per cent year-on-year.


14/25  

  Liz Claiborne, Chelsea Design Agree Lingerie Pact 
Fashion giant Liz Claiborne Inc on Wednesday said it will license its intimate apparel line to Chelsea Design Group LLC when its current deal with Jockey International Inc runs out at the end of this month.
The New York-based company said the deal with Gelmart Licensing LLC and Chelsea Design Group will see the latter design and manufacture intimate apparel, including bras, panties and shapewear under the Liz Claiborne, Liz Claiborne Woman, and Villager labels.
The new lines will be launched during August market and available in stores in Spring 2004.
Chelsea is a venture between Gelmart Licensing, a unit of apparel maker Gelmart Industries Inc, and former VF Corp executives. Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed

  Hi-Tech Body Temperature Shirt Developed 
Scientists in Italy said they have created a hi-tech shirt which maintains the wearer's body temperature at a constant level.
Experts at the Institute of Chemistry and Technology of Polymers at Italy's National Research Council (CNR) in Naples developed the intelligent tissues from technology used in the aerospace industry.
Boffins say the shirt, whose capillaries expand and contract with changes in the ambient temperature, would be particularly useful for sportswear makers and haute couture designers.


4/13
 
         Textile Firms To Unveil Anti-Virus 
                  Protective Clothing  
Representatives from more than 20 Taiwan textile manufacturers are today taking part in a reception hosted by the Taiwan Textile Federation (TTF) to launch new anti-virus protective clothing and materials. 
The companies embarked on the joint programme at the end of April in response to rising demand for anti-virus protective clothing following the SARS outbreak.

Q: What do a woman, a tornado and a hurricane have in common? 
A: They all get the house!


4/6

  Striking Burmese Garment Workers Deported 
Hundreds of striking Burmese garment factory workers were deported on Monday after refusing to settle a wage dispute.
The 380 workers were sent packing from the King Body Concept Co factory by bosses after a week-long strike triggered by their claims for a 30 per cent pay rise to 80 baht a day.
Bosses said they could not afford to meet those demands and axed them on the grounds they had failed to turn up for work for three consecutive days. They were then deported.     ...........Lousy Union!!!.......


             
Models wear fashion by Hripsime Afsar during the Antwerp Show 2003 in Antwerp, Belgium, Thursday June 5, 2003. The annual show highlights designs by students from the Antwerp Fashion Academy, many of whom go on after graduation to become international designers with their own label

  Atsugi Develops Amino Acid Stockings Line 
Lingerie and hosiery company Atsugi Co Ltd was on Tuesday reported have developed a new line of stockings featuring amino acids which will help the wearer retain collagen and skin moisture.
Reports in the Japanese press said the Ebina-based firm has extracted the acids from egg shells to create a hosiery range that also keeps the skin soft.    The stockings will be available in a range of colours and retail for $4 a pair.

   
              Floating around the Net!




                



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