California Apparel News

Elevate Textiles, which includes American & Efird, Burlington, Cone Denim, Gütermann and Safety Components, announced that it has joined the Sustainable Apparel Coalition. Through its membership, the global group is committing to supply-chain sustainability within the apparel, footwear and textile industries through providing data and resources to support the Higg Index. “Elevate and its brands share a longstanding commitment to being a leader in the development of sustainable products,” said Jimmy Summers, chief sustainability officer. “We work with many partners to continuously identify and lead various initiatives, and we are pleased to add the Sustainable Apparel Coalition to the industry initiatives in which we take part.”

Pakistan denim company Soorty revealed its achievement of one GOLD certification and a core certification status from the Alliance for Water Stewardship, the global organization that seeks to create greater water security around the world. Pakistan is one of 17 countries listed under high-water stress. Nations that appear on this list are susceptible to water scarcity, with more than 80 percent of a country’s water available for agricultural, domestic and industrial use withdrawn annually. The Alliance for Water Stewardship’s standards include good water governance, sustainable water balance, good water-quality status, healthy status of important water-related areas, and safe water, sanitation and hygiene for all.

The Taubman Company LLC announced the promotion of William S. Taubman to president. William S. Taubman will retain his chief operating officer position for the outlet-mall management company, which he has held since 2005, and continue to report to Robert S. Taubman, the firm’s chairman and chief executive officer. “Billy grew up in our business and is a creative, extremely well-respected thought leader within the retail-real-estate industry,” Robert S. Taubman said. “He has deep and productive relationships throughout retailing and particularly with our luxury tenants.”

Mastercard SpendingPulse, a research division of the Mastercard payments network, released U.S. retail numbers for sales spent on its network in February. It found that U.S. retail sales increased 4.6 percent in a year-over-year comparison, excluding automotive and gasoline sales. Apparel sales made on digital platforms increased 47.3 percent in a year-over-year comparison. However, overall apparel sales were down 5.3 percent. Valentine’s Day spurred jewelry sales to increase 5.9 percent during the month.

The DJM private-equity real-estate and development firm announced that it has hired Chief Financial Officer Charlie O’Connell and a promotion of the company’s creative director, Chad Cress, to the role of chief creative officer. O’Connell is responsible for overseeing DJM’s investor relations and capital transactions in addition to other financial activities. In the role of chief creative officer, Cress will lead the creative vision for DJM’s properties, as he has done since 2018, and is now responsible for the retail strategy of DJM’s experiential and mixed-use projects. DJM also announced the departure of its chief retail officer, Stenn Parton, who will consult with the company.