Worldview | Japanese Retailers Hit by China Travel Warning

🇯🇵 Japanese retail stocks fall after China discourages travel to Japan. Japanese department store giants Isetan Mitsukoshi and Takashimaya fell by more than 11 percent and 5 percent respectively in Monday afternoon trading, following a Chinese government warning to citizens not to travel to Japan “in the near future.” The warning stems from escalating political tensions between Beijing and Tokyo over what the former sees as “provocative” comments made by the Japanese prime minister about Taiwan. China is Japan’s largest source of international tourists, accounting for nearly one-quarter of the 31.65 million arrivals in the first nine months of this year, according to the Japan National Tourism Organization. Upmarket retailers in Tokyo and other cities are popular destinations for Chinese tourists. Shares of Japanese fashion and beauty companies with a major presence in China also plunged amid fears that the travel warning might develop into a wider boycott of Japanese goods in the mainland itself. Uniqlo-owner Fast Retailing dipped by about 5 percent while cosmetics giant Shiseido fell by around 9.5 percent. [Japan Times, Al Jazeera]

🇳🇬 Nigeria-based pan-African e-tailer Jumia sees losses narrow. The online retailer selling everything from fashion and beauty to electronics and food has posted an adjusted EBITDA loss of $14 million in the third quarter ended Sep. 2025, compared to $17 million a year earlier, a 17 percent year-over-year improvement. Revenue reached $45.6 million in the quarter, up 25 percent. “We believe Jumia has reached an inflection point as our compelling value proposition and improved operational discipline position us for sustainable, profitable growth,” said CEO Francis Dufay, committing to “continue to strengthen our cost structure and sharpen operational discipline” in a bid to “breakeven on a loss-before-income tax basis in Q4 2026 and achieve full-year profitability in 2027.” Jumia now operates in Algeria, Egypt, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal and Uganda, after exiting South Africa and Tunisia last year. [BoF Inbox]

🇮🇳 Indian apparel manufacturer Gokaldas Exports Q2 profit plummets 71%. The Bengaluru-based giant posted consolidated net profit of 8 crore rupees ($900,000), down from 28 crore rupees ($3.1 million) a year earlier. Revenue from operations increased 7 percent year over year to 984 crore rupees ($110 million) during the quarter. India operations registered strong performance, but earnings were “impacted by low volume in our Africa business due to the AGOA rollover uncertainty [and] US tariff impact,” said managing director Sivaramakrishnan Ganapathi. Revenue from Africa operations declined by 23 percent, primarily due to recent lapse of the African Growth and Opportunity Act, the US duty-free programme for the region. [Business Standard, Fibre2Fashion]

🇨🇳 Burberry returns to growth in China as turnaround starts to bear fruit. The British luxury brand has reported a rise of 3 percent in like-for-like sales in the greater China region in the quarter ended September 27. Burberry said it was the first increase in more than a year and a sign that its new marketing campaigns are stimulating demand from Chinese luxury buyers, who have cut back on spending in recent years. “In China specifically, we’re really excited about what we’re seeing there,” said CEO Joshua Schulman, adding that the brand has recorded 10 percent growth in returning customers in the country. [BoF]

🇮🇳 India’s Vishal Fabrics Q2 revenue up 12.6% on greater product mix. The denim fabric manufacturer has recorded income of 433.31 crore rupees ($48.84 million) in the quarter ended Sep.,“helped by greater product mix and increased operational efficiency,” said Dharmesh Dattani, CFO of the Ahmedabad-based firm owned by Chiripal Group. Profit after tax increased 64.6 per cent year over year to 10.7 crore rupees. “Newer [export] regions are showing good traction, especially in Latin America, Europe, and Africa, as shoppers from around the world turn more and more to India for high-quality, sustainable denim products.” [Fibre2Fashion]

🇧🇷 Brazilian fashion group Azzas 2154 posts weaker-than-expected results. The Belo Horizonte-based group that formed last year from a merger between Arezzo and Grupo Soma has recorded a 20 percent decline in net profit against a 23 percent rise in recurring profit in the third quarter. The firm reported a 2.3 percent decline in recurring revenue, more than analysts expected, to 2.96 billion reais ($559 million). It has been a year of management clashes and major internal restructuring at the firm, including the replacement of some key brand leaders. The sprawling group encompasses major local apparel brands such as Farm Rio, Carol Bassi, Animale, Reserva and Hering and footwear brands including Arezzo, Schutz, Alexandre Birman, Anacapri and Brizza across a range of price points. [Valor International]

🇮🇳 India’s gems and jewellery exports decline 31% amid US tariff turmoil. In October, exports plunged to $2.168 billion, according to India’s Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council. GJEPC chairman Kirit Bhansali blamed the monthly year-over-year decline mainly on “demand being pushed forward before the US tariff was implemented [and] most of the stocking up for the festivals [taking] place before August 27,” although he expects November exports to pick up amid a recovery in China and Christmas demand in other markets. “The decline in gold and silver exports is triggered by volatile bullion prices,” he explained. [Economic Times]

🇷🇺 Russian owner of Fabergé to spend between $50-100 million in revamp. Sergei Mosunov, the new owner of the opulent jewellery and collectibles brand founded in 1842 in Saint Petersburg Russia, said he plans to invest the sum over the next five years. The rebrand would include a design overhaul and the acquisition of some of the most celebrated of the 50 imperial eggs made for Russian tsars over a century ago which are now owned by prominent collectors such as Middle Eastern royal family members. The Russian-born, London-based tech investor bought the luxury brand from UK mining company Gemfields in August. [Financial Times]

🇮🇳 Tata Group’s fashion firm Trent sees profit rise 11%. The Mumbai-based retailer reported a net profit of 373 crore rupees ($42 million) for the quarter ended Sep. 2025, up from 335 crore rupees a year earlier. Revenue from operations reached 4,818 crore rupees, up 15 percent year over year. Trent’s holdings include Westside department store chain, e-tailer Tata Neu, fashion brands Zudio, Samoh and Utsa, beauty brand Misbu and joint venture partnerships with international brands like Zara. [Economic Times]

🇨🇳 Alibaba plans to add agentic-AI features to support shopping on Taobao. As part of an overhaul of its main mobile AI app to help it more closely resemble OpenAI’s ChatGPT, the Chinese internet giant plans to start by updating the existing Tongyi apps on iOS and Android. They will be renamed Qwen, after the company’s well-known AI model, people familiar with the matter said. The end goal is to try and make Qwen a fully functioning AI agent. It’s unclear whether it would be deployed on Alibaba’s main fashion and luxury platform Tmall. [BoF]

🇨🇴 i-D Magazine appoints Colombian Marcelo Gutierrez as beauty editor. The British style title has named the Colombia-born, New York-based makeup artist as its global beauty editor at large. Gutierrez, who has worked with clients like Madonna and Charli XCX, will steer the publication’s beauty coverage across digital and print, leading an upcoming standalone beauty zine set for release in spring 2026. It is the latest in a series of appointments for i-D magazine since it was acquired by Karlie Kloss’s Bedford Media from Vice Media in 2023. [BoF]

🇿🇦 South African TV drama about fashion counterfeiting becomes global hit. “Bad Influencer,” which chronicles a struggling mother who sews counterfeit luxury handbags and an up-and-coming social media influencer in Johannesburg, became one of the most-watched series on Netflix this week. It reached number one in nine countries including South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya and several Caribbean nations and entered the top ten in 45 countries spanning from Latin America to the Middle East and Eastern Europe. [Our Culture Mag, Netflix]

🇮🇳 Indian department store V-Mart Retail narrows Q2 losses. The multi-category value retail chain with over 440 stores in around 270 cities nationwide posted a net loss of 8.9 crore rupees ($1 million) in the quarter ended Sep. 2025, compared to a loss of 56.5 crore rupees in the same period last year. Revenue from operations was up 22 percent to 806.9 crore rupees in the quarter. [Economic Times].

🇰🇭 Cambodian footwear factory worker receives “historic” settlement. Chea Chan, a mechanic at Asics supplier Wing Star Shoes, has received $50,000 in compensation for the six months he wrongly served in jail after attempting to form the manufacturer’s first independent union, as well as $3,000 in back wages. Wing Star Shoes was founded in Cambodia as a joint venture between Taiwanese firm New Star Shoes and an Asics subsidiary. [Sourcing Journal]

🇮🇳 Sharon Pais is named business unit head at Flipkart Fashion. The Indian multi-category retailer has appointed Pais to replace Kunal Gupta, who now leads the group’s q-commerce unit Minutes. Pais was previously chief business officer at fashion e-tailer Myntra, which is also part of the Flipkart Group. [Economic Times]

🇹🇭 Thailand’s apparel exports increase 6.28% in Jan–Aug period. Exports in the first eight months of the year reached $1.59 billion, supported by exporters’ increased diversification of products and improving global demand. The knitted garment category accounted for nearly 65 percent of the total. [Fibre2Fashion]

🇱🇰 Sri Lanka’s garment exports rise 6.7% in Jan–Sep period. Exports in the first nine months of the year reached $3.71 billion, driven in part by stronger demand from Western markets. Textile exports, however, eased slightly during the period. [Fibre2Fashion]