ATLANTA — September 12, 2018 — Descente, the Japanese premium athletic apparel brand, is establishing a wholly-owned North American subsidiary, Descente Athletic Americas Inc. (DAA), located in Atlanta, to tap growing worldwide demand for the Descente brand. Representing the intersection of luxury, athleisure and technical gear, DAA will offer the discerning consumer a singular take on performance apparel for all facets of the modern lifestyle when it launches in Fall 2018. The collections, which include the brand’s signature ALLTERRAIN line, will center on Descente’s commitment to “Design That Moves” through elevated styles that merge fashion and function with exceptional versatility, all rooted in an 83-year heritage of Japanese craftsmanship and innovation yet tailored to the Western market.

“The Descente mission is to inspire people to move through design, craftsmanship and quality,” says Fritz Taylor, president of Descente Athletic Americas Inc., a 30-year industry veteran by way of Under Armour, Nike, Brooks and Mizuno. “The sportswear market is at an interesting time where consumers are either gravitating toward disposable fashion, or fewer — but higher quality — garments. Our attitude is that less can be more if it’s beautifully made and well thought out. I really believe that with what’s going on in the market and with consumers, there’s a good opportunity for us to build this new business and strengthen market share.”

DAA will have a dedicated U.S. digital presence including a direct-to-consumer e-commerce site set to launch this fall, plus a limited branded brick-and-mortar rollout to follow in key cities in Fall 2019. DAA is also working to secure wholesale distribution through a highly selective group of boutiques and independent stores in target markets, and has partnered with Shine United and Linda Gaunt Communications on strategic positioning and brand building, with a “quality over quantity” approach that mirrors the brand’s core values.

“We want to launch in a way that differentiates us from what’s already out there, talks to why we’re bringing Descente in, why Descente is worthy of consideration right now,” says Taylor. “We’re not a chest-thumping kind of brand at all. We’re more of a ‘let’s do this right’ brand. We’ve got product that we believe in, so let’s get people interested. Once they have a chance to touch it, feel it and understand the thought and attention we’ve put into it, I believe they will become hooked.”

Descente Ltd. currently distributes product in North America via Descente Mountain Americas (DMA), a subsidiary headquartered in Layton, Utah, and Vancouver, British Columbia, that markets, sells and supports all Descente’s snow product. DMA will continue to operate as a separate entity, focusing on distribution to specialty snow shops; the newly formed DAA will offer an expanded lifestyle assortment targeted to an aspirational urban customer with diverse interests and a global outlook when it launches later this year.

Posted September 12, 2018

Source: Descente Athletic Americas Inc.

MIAMI — September 11, 2018 — Intradeco Apparel reached a pivotal milestone in its goal to support sustainable manufacturing practices by receiving REPREVE®’s Champions of Sustainability Award.  This award recognizes Intradeco’s sustainability strategy and efforts geared toward protecting the environment. By partnering with Unifi and incorporating Repreve, more than 6 million garments have been produced and sold in Walmart stores over the last decade. In alliance with Unifi and Walmart’s sustainability commitment, challenging manufacturers to produce sustainable apparel, Intradeco has diverted from landfills and oceans more than 50 million plastic bottles over the last 10 years, helping to mitigate the volume of plastic that threatens the future of our ecosystems.

Billions of plastic bottles go into landfills and oceans every year. Unifi, a global textile solutions provider, developed Repreve, an earth-friendly fiber solution to make customers’ favorite brands more environmentally responsible. Repreve is made from 100-percent recycled materials and is integrated into apparel, footwear and in many other products where virgin polyester is replaced. Since the launch of Repreve, Unifi has recycled more than 12 billion plastic bottles and aims to recycle 30 billion plastic bottles by 2022.

For Intradeco Apparel, sustainability has always been and will continue to be a priority. Repreve enabled Intradeco to offer a wide array of performance quality garments to major retailers across the U.S., like Walmart, and in multiple brands such as Athletic Works, Russell and Swisstech, to name a few. As part of their sustainable growth strategy, Intradeco has employed eco-friendly practices including maintaining energy-efficient manufacturing facilities, using renewable energy through the use of solar panels and utilizing sustainable packaging materials.

“We are honored to be presented with the Champions of Sustainability Award,” said Jaime Miguel, CEO of Intradeco Apparel. “Sustainability continues to be a core focus of our business in three key components: water preservation, renewable energy and sustainable production. Repreve has been a paramount component of our sustainable initiatives.”

Intradeco Apparel and Unifi encourage other leaders and companies to follow suit.

“By creating these awards,” said Unifi’s CEO Kevin Hall, “we hope to inspire designers, customers and consumers to continue to invest in sustainability.”

Posted September 12, 2018

Source: Unifi Inc.

PARIS — September 11, 2018 — Lectra has announced the release of its latest PLM solution, Lectra Fashion PLM 4.0. This enhanced version boasts several new features and tools that make it more readily connected and configurable, helping fashion companies work in a smarter and more agile manner in an IT-friendly environment.

Based on 45 years of experience meeting customer
needs, Lectra has identified connectivity and automation
as key to helping fashion companies achieve operational excellence in a new era marked by digitalization. For the latest version of Lectra Fashion PLM 4.0, the company has developed Lectra Easy Connect, a series of pre-configured connectors that allow the solution to interface with other IT systems such as ERP and CRM. These connectors ensure data integrity by facilitating a smooth and consistent flow of data between internal and external supply chain actors. Lectra has also enhanced connection to the design process by strengthening Adobe Illustrator integration via a new plug-in. Concretely, this means designers benefit from increased access to platform data like bitmap and PDF files and photographs, while continuing to work in their native environments. Access to consistent data stored on the platform and the freedom to work with familiar creative tools makes onboarding new designers much easier.

Lectra has enhanced the user experience by making its PLM solution highly configurable. A star feature is Lectra Easy Configure, a tool that allows users to manage and organize data according to their own profile, company organization and data structure to ensure easy and round-the-clock access. This enables companies to become more agile, as users can access and analyze their data whenever they need to, quickly and without technical hiccups. Lectra Fashion PLM 4.0 streamlines day-to-day activities via an updated interface with new search and notification functions, and a dynamic and configurable portfolio view that allows users to monitor and direct collections with the help of dynamic data display. Users can receive alerts and information about styles and materials, for example, and create to-do lists quickly and easily on a daily basis.

Finally, product developers benefit from enhanced Tech Pack management that allows them more control over how tech packs are edited, extracted and shared with other actors in the supply chain.

“We have already established Lectra Fashion PLM 4.0 as the go-to PLM solution for fashion companies in the digital era. We have entered a brave new world and ever since its launch, we have kept an open ear for our customers. By listening to their feedback and making this version more connectable and configurable, we are actually merging human and artificial intelligence to give them what they need. And they, in turn, will give their consumers the products they want,” says Céline Choussy Bedouet, chief marketing and communications officer, Lectra. “And that’s the beauty of technology.”

Posted September 11, 2018

Source: Lectra