NEWS
Inside the Industry
Old Navy, a division of the San Francisco–headquartered Gap Inc., announced Sept. 1 that it would pay its store employees to serve as poll workers on Election Day, Nov. 3. Employees who accept an assignment for a poll-worker position will be compensated with eight hours of pay, said Nancy Green, Old Navy’s president. “Every voice in this country matters and deserves to be heard at the polls, and if we at Old Navy can be even a small part of making that process more accessible to the communities we call home, we are on board,” she said. Old Navy will be working with the nonprofits Civic Alliance and Power the Polls for this campaign. Buck Mason, a Los Angeles–headquartered brand, announced that it would give its employees a paid holiday on Election Day to encourage voting.
Runway of Dreams will produce a New York Fashion Week show Sept. 14 that will display styles in adaptive clothing trends, or fashion for differently abled people. Brands in the show will include Tommy Hilfiger Adaptive. Mindy Scheier, the founder and CEO of Runway of Dreams, said that the event would be a landmark show. “In fact, for the first time ever, Runway of Dreams has five leading brands participating together in support of the inclusion and acceptance in the fashion industry of people with disabilities!” she said. The event will be webcast through the webinar platform on24.
Fashionphile, a Carlsbad, Calif.–headquartered e-commerce company focused on preowned luxe handbags, watches and jewelry, announced Aug. 28 that it had raised $38.5 million in a Series B funding led by NewSpring Growth, a division of the private-equity firm NewSpring. Ben Hemminger, Fashionphile’s chief executive officer, said that the investment would fund expansion of the company’s omni-channel footprint and open regional fulfillment centers in the U.S. and overseas. The funding also will support Fashionphile’s suite of proprietary technologies such as enhanced automation and artificial intelligence, which includes patent-pending visual-recognition technology.
Dallas Market Center, a 5-million-square-foot campus for fashion wholesale companies, announced Aug. 31 that it would partner with the Dallas-headquartered technology company RepTime to develop a business-to-business platform. As part of the deal, RepTime will change its name to MarketTime. This partnership will introduce a cloud-based platform where manufacturers and sales representatives can manage sales orders, product orders and shipping information. In the fourth quarter, the platform will introduce a business-to-business e-marketplace, according to a statement.
Apparel Textile Sourcing recently announced that it would produce more virtual trade shows. The events are scheduled to run Oct. 26–30 and Nov. 16–20. ATS’s first virtual show ran in May. At these shows, international manufacturers and suppliers of apparel, fabric, home textiles, personal protective equipment and other goods will be available to virtually meet with attendees and buyers. The events also will host seminars on trade agreements, the United States presidential election, COVID-19 and how current events might affect the near-term future of sourcing in North America.
