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Hanung Toys promoter detained at airport following LOC issued by PNB

Hanung Toys and Textile Ltd owes Rs 2,300 crore from a consortium of 15 lenders led by state-owned PNB, which alone has exposure of Rs 599 crore.




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Reliance Brands picks Sumeet Yadav to head Hamleys global

It has hired Sumeet Yadav, former CEO of South African restaurant chain Nando’s in India, to head Hamleys, according to two people aware of the development.




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Karnataka Bank reports Rs 40.39cr fraud by Hanung Toys and Textiles

​​H​​anung Toys and Textiles Ltd (borrowing account) dealing with the bank since 2008 had availed various credit facilities under consortium arrangement wherein, Karnataka Bank was one of the member banks, it said in a regulatory filing.




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Toys association seeks rollback of customs duty hike

Imports account for almost 85 per cent of the total toys' demand in the country and only the remaining 15 per cent of the sale is met by the domestic manufacturers, according to the industry.




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Myntra & Jabong partner Hamleys, Funskool and others

Myntra has launched toys from the stables of Hot wheels, Funskool, Lego, Barbie and Simba on its platform.




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Luxury retailer The Collective plans expansion

It costs Rs 5-6 crore per store to set up and over the next three years, the company will spend Rs 50-60 crore on The Collective portfolio, its brand head, Amit Pande, said. “We want to double our footprint and our monobrand portfolio will also see growth. However, those (mono-brand) stores cost much less at about Rs 2-3 crore per store to set up.”




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Fendi unveils world's first fragrance-infused handbags

'Leathery and musky' is how the brand describes it and claims that the scent will stay for as long as four years. Each bag comes with a complimentary miniature bottle of FendiFrenesia, which can be used to refresh the bag's scent and can be worn as a traditional perfume.




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Small towns go online to quench thirst for luxury

Most consumers tend to go bargain hunting online. For a large part of 2019, luxury mall managers reported that sales were lacklustre. Luxury goods websites, however, managed to buck the trend because of 20-50% lower costs on their sites. But at the moment, watch companies do not seem to be finding too many takers in tier-2 and 3 towns.




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Bharti Realty talks to French chain Lafayette for 1st store

The company has also held discussions with Cupertino based tech giant Apple for what could be the iPhone maker’s second flagship store in the country to be located at Aerocity near IGI Airport, sources said.




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Louis Vuitton India net profit jumps over 24% in FY19

According to documents recently filed with the registrar of companies (RoC), accessed through business information platform Tofler, LVMH, known for its iconic monogrammed bags, clothing, perfumes and leather goods reported an increase in profit after tax by Rs 3.19 crore.




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Raf Simons joining Prada in full creative collaboration

Prada, who has been the creative force behind one of luxury's most successful brands for 30 years, said the new partnership did not signal an eventual succession.




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Hermes India sees a 55% jump in profit, Dior still deep in the red

Hermes India had recorded a net profit of Rs 12.1 crore the year before. Revenue from operations rose 11% from the previous year’s Rs 98.8 crore on a standalone basis, according to its filings with the Registrar of Companies (RoC).




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Prada picks Bengaluru-based BigThinx for its fashion tech accelerator programme

BigThinx’s neural networks create a personalised 3D virtual avatar from 2D images for fashion brands and their customers.




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JLo handbags will now be available online in India

Ace Turtle’s ecommerce platform, which facilitates crossborder payments, supply chain, returns and customer support will help Jennifer Lopez reach out to millions of internet shoppers in these markets.




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The stamp of luxury never really fades

Wise fashionistas merely store rather than discard, waiting for the tide to inevitably turn.




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Good Earth, Anita Lal-founded family-owned luxury home decor company, credits focus on Indianness for its success

Good Earth is now a prominent go-to destination for home decor enthusiasts and interior designers alike as it offers something for everyone.




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Orders sink for Italy's luxury suppliers as virus spreads - sources

The 280 billion euros ($320 billion) per year global luxury goods sector, already reeling from months of protests in the shopping hub of Hong Kong, was dealt a hammer blow earlier this year by the coronavirus outbreak in mainland China.




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Safilo sees negligible impact from coronavirus outbreak for now

China accounts for just around 1% of the group's total revenue and Italy for 5%, the CEO said. Safilo's factory in China reopened on Feb. 10 and it is now running at 85% of its capacity, and no big problems occurred at plants in Italy.




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LVMH to make sanitising gel instead of perfumes, make-up at 3 factories in France, distribute it for free to hospitals

Twelve tons of the gel will be produced as soon as this week.




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Armani to make single use medical overalls at all its Italian factories

Giorgio Armani has donated 2 million euros in recent weeks to hospitals around Italy.




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Gucci sales hit hard by start of virus outbreak in China

At its star Gucci label, which powers most of its profits, like-for-like sales were down 23.2% in the period, contrasting with a less pronounced 13.8% drop-off at Kering's Saint Laurent brand.




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Burberry to maintain employee pay through coronavirus crisis

While many UK companies have utilised the government's furlough scheme, which sees employees paid 80% of their salary, Burberry said it would not rely on government support for jobs in the UK where more than a third of its workers are based.




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Companies lure luxe buyers with ‘lockdown offers’

The offers are on luxury products such as watches, cars and shoes, just as many other players also join the ‘lockdown bandwagon’.




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Global luxury goods sales to slide up to 35% - study

The coronavirus crisis is expected to lead to a spate of mergers and acquisitions of weakened brands, the closure of single-brand stores and reshaping of already suffering U.S. department stores, D'Arpizio said. Customers are also likely to emerge from global lockdowns with a new set of priorities.




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Indian gold demand could hit 3-decade low as lockdown hits festivals, weddings

The drop in consumption by the world's second-biggest gold buyer could limit a rally in global prices.




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Covid-19 Impact: Titan reworks omnichannel directive for its jewellery wing to gain recovery in third quarter

We foresee a deferred demand. Most of the weddings in Q1 got pushed to Q3 or Q4 due to the lockdown. People may spend less money on destination weddings, clothes and other events around it. But we expect investment in jewellery for weddings, said Ajoy Chawla, CEO of Titan’s jewellery division.




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Akshaya Tritiya: Kalyan Jewellers takes online route

Customers can purchase the precious metal from two grams upwards following which a gold ownership certificate would be sent to them on the day of Akshaya Tritiya based on the customer recommended platforms.




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Four-flanked pressure for gold jewellery retailers

The revenue growth of organised gold jewellery retailers could halve to 5-6% (compound annual growth rate) in the current and next fiscals, compared with 12% in the preceding three fiscals, a CRISIL study of 44 such retailers it rates shows.




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Covid-19 outbreak ahead of Akshaya Tritiya is credit negative for gold jewellery retail industry: ICRA

The lockdown has resulted in closure of retail stores across the country. Apart from this, there have been supply chain disruptions with restriction on movement of non-essential goods. While jewellery buying is generally spread throughout the year, it peaks during periods of Akshaya Tritiya, wedding and festival seasons as buying gold is considered culturally auspicious.




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Jewellers may be staring at a 94% plunge in gold demand this Akshaya Tritiya

GJC chairman Anantha Padmanabhan said, “There may be some token booking for gold by individuals for amounts like Rs 5,000 or so. But there will be no big investments in gold as all the shops are closed. The drop in demand will be around 94%.”




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Jewellers offer online sweeteners for Akshay Tritiya

Senco Gold & Diamonds is offering a discount on the gold rate. Sankar Sen, CMD of the Kolkata-based company, said the special Akshay Tritiya offer entails giving a discount of Rs 400 per gram on the gold rate during the offer period that runs from April 22-27.




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Gold may zoom to Rs 82,000 per 10gm by end ’21: Analysts

On Thursday, gold futures for June on MCX closed at Rs 46,352/10gm. So, in about one and a half years, gold prices in India could gain about 75%. In the international market, gold is currently trading at about $1,750 level.




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Jewellers use digital platform, offer discount to sell gold this Akshaya Tritiya

"As we started getting a lot of enquires from our regular customers, we have started taking Akshay Tritiya bookings online from 21st April onwards on our e-commerce platforms. The same will be delivered to the customers post lockdown ends," Aditya Pethe, director, WHP Jewellers said.




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Jewellers witness encouraging response from customers on their digital platforms for Akshaya Tritiya

Mr. Ajoy Chawla, CEO, Jewellery Division at Titan Company Limited said, "All 328 Tanishq stores remain shut this year and hence it would be unfair to compare numbers with last year. But the overall customer response to tanishq.co.in from key metros and even with tier-2 and tier-3 towns has been extremely encouraging.




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Diamond polishing industry staring at a decade low revenue : Crisil

Assuming the pandemic starts subsiding by June and trade channels normalise over the next quarter, CRISIL expects a revival in demand to be pushed into the second half of the fiscal.




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Nirav Modi set for remote extradition trial from May 11 in UK court

The 49-year-old, who has been lodged at Wandsworth Prison in south-west London since his arrest last year, appeared before a UK court via videolink.




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Rough diamond import may be curtailed as pandemic stalls trade

India’s gross import of rough diamonds had declined by 13.43% to $12.39 billion between April 2019 and February 2020 from a year earlier.




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Global gold demand sees modest growth in Q1 on lockdown-led disruptions: WGC

World's gold demand during the first quarter of 2019 stood at 1070.8 tonne, according to WGC's Q1 Gold Demand Trends report.




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Gold demand falls 36% in January-March due to volatile prices, economic uncertainties: WGC

According to the World Gold Council's (WGC) Q1 Gold Demand Trends report, in terms of value India's the first quarter gold demand fell 20 per cent to Rs 37,580 crore, compared to Rs 47,000 crore in the same period of 2019.




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Virus, high gold prices dent India’s Q1 jewellery demand by 41%: WGC

Jewellery demand in the world’s second largest consumer slumped 41% to 73.9 tonnes , thanks to a 25% jump in quarterly average price to Rs 36,874 per 10 gm (ex import duty and GST) and the fallout from Covid 19, the WGC latest global demand trends report shows.




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Khazana Jewellery to contribute ₹10 crore towards fighting the COVID-19 pandemic

Brand Content Initiative




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Surat may lose cutting edge in diamond trade

Diamond trade at Surat has come to a halt because of the lockdown. Many workers have also left.




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Episode 58: OliSUn

Datassette presents a series of mixes intended for listening while programming to aid concentration and increase productivity (also compatible with other activities).




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Welspun India resumes partial ops at manufacturing facilities in Gujarat

On March 24, the company had decided to temporarily close its manufacturing operations at the two units with immediate effect till further notice following announcement of nationwide lockdown to curb spread of coronavirus pandemic.




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Garment exporters' body expresses inability to pay workers' pay for April, May

The body has appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and state chief ministers to facilitate payement of wages to workers for these two months. GEMA president Vijay Jindal also sought intervention of Textile Minister Smriti Irani and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the matter.




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Amid lockdown, fashion firms work overtime to keep customers engaged

Online retailers such as Myntra and Tjori have their consumer engagement teams working on to engage their customers till the time the lockdown eases. Others such as fashion brand Anita Dongre are brainstorming changes in consumer behaviour and how to keep them engaged online till the time stores become fully operational.




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Lockdown hit fashion retail should rely on survival instincts & gear-up for the new normal

Once markets are reopened, the industry would also be braving a changing consumer spending behavior and capacity. There could be a major lag before sales begin to pick up. Fashion as a commodity is also perishable. It may be very difficult to sell the loaded inventories in warehouses, and heavy discounts would not be an attractive option at a time of slim profit margins.




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Pepe Jeans, Tom Ford & Max Mara are least transparent fashion brands, likely to have poor working conditions in factories

The annual index by advocacy group Fashion Revolution - now in its fifth year - ranked 250 of the world's biggest brands according to how much information they disclose about their social and environmental policies, practices and outcomes.




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When no one wants the ‘summer collection’, fashion retailers design masks, WFH lines to survive Covid crisis

It is a tough time for apparel retailers who are looking at zero offline revenues and a steep drop in online sales. The latest dress or the pair of khakis may not be able to save them.




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Apparel exporters seek complete waiver of demurrage on shipments

In a letter to Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, he said the council members could not clear the shipments on time because of lack of documents, "therefore, demurrage waiver may please be granted starting from March 1 till the time lockdown continues".