Fashion
Beyonce, Venus Williams, Nicole Kidman to co-chair 2026 Met Gala
By
AFP
Published
December 11, 2025
Music powerhouse Beyonce, tennis legend Venus Williams and Oscar-winning actress Nicole Kidman will co-chair the 2026 Met Gala on May 4 alongside Vogue‘s Anna Wintour, the Metropolitan Museum of Art announced Wednesday in New York.
The annual Met Gala, traditionally held on the first Monday in May, was first organized in 1948 and for decades was reserved for New York high society.
Wintour, the high priestess of US fashion, took over the show in the 1990s, transforming the party into a catwalk for the rich and famous.
The gala is a fundraiser for the Met’s Costume Institute, but it is also a social media extravaganza that sees stars don over-the-top looks, vying to create the greatest spectacle.
The dress code has not yet been revealed but it will dovetail with the “Costume Art” exhibition, which opens on May 10 at the venerable museum in Manhattan and will seek to explore the “dressed body” in artworks across the centuries.
The co-chairs are power players in their fields: music, sports and film.
The gala will mark the first time in a decade that Beyonce has attended, and fashionistas will be holding their breath waiting to see what look — or looks – she unveils. She was an honorary co-chair in 2013.
Williams, 45, is the winner of seven Grand Slam titles. She is still competing on the WTA Tour. Her sister Serena — who has retired from tennis — co-hosted the event in 2019.
Kidman, who co-chaired the event in 2003 and in 2005, has several projects in the works for 2026, including “Practical Magic 2,” a sequel to the popular 1998 film about a family of witches, and “Scarpetta,” a series based on Patricia Cornwell’s crime novel heroine.
The Met also announced a gala “host committee” led by Saint Laurent designer Anthony Vaccarello and actress Zoe Kravitz. Also on the committee are singers Sabrina Carpenter and Doja Cat, retired ballet superstar Misty Copeland, and WNBA champion A’ja Wilson.
Copyright © 2025 AFP. All rights reserved. All information displayed in this section (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the contents of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presses.
Fashion
US’ Torrid sees FY25 sales fall 9.4%, reports $7 mn loss
The company posted a net loss of $7 million, compared to a net income of $16.3 million in FY24. Adjusted EBITDA fell to $63.6 million, or 6.4 per cent of sales, from $109.1 million, or 9.9 per cent a year earlier.
Torrid Holdings has reported a weak FY25, with sales falling 9.4 per cent to $1 billion and a net loss of $7 million amid margin pressure.
The company closed 151 stores and saw EBITDA decline.
Q4 performance also weakened.
Despite this, Torrid expects modest recovery in FY26, supported by optimisation efforts, improved marketing and a stronger operational foundation.
The company closed a total of 151 stores during the year as part of its retail optimisation strategy, reducing its footprint from 634 to 483 stores, Torrid Holdings said in a press release.
Torrid ended the year with $20 million in cash and cash equivalents, while total liquidity stood at $84.9 million. Net cash used in operations was $13 million, compared to positive operating cash flow of $77.4 million in the previous year.
For the fourth quarter (Q4), net sales dropped 14.3 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to $236.2 million, while comparable sales fell 10 per cent. Gross margin contracted to 30.0 per cent from 33.6 per cent a year earlier. The company reported a net loss of $8.1 million, widening from a $3.0 million loss in the same period last year. Adjusted EBITDA declined sharply to $5.1 million, or 2.2 per cent of sales, compared to $16.7 million, or 6.1 per cent, previously.
During the quarter, Torrid closed 77 stores under its Store Footprint Optimisation Project, taking the total store count to 483 locations.
Commenting on performance, Lisa Harper, chief executive officer at Torrid Holdings, said, “2025 was a transformational year. We delivered $1 billion in net sales, in line with our guidance, and $63.6 million in Adjusted EBITDA, exceeding the high end of our outlook, while making deliberate strategic decisions required to put this business on a stronger footing. We closed 151 structurally unproductive locations, launched five sub-brands that generated approximately $70 million in sales, and fundamentally restructured our product assortment around core franchises and fabrications our customers value most. Trends in Q4 and early Q1 give us confidence that the foundation we’ve built is beginning to take hold.”
Looking ahead, the company expects first-quarter fiscal 2026 net sales in the range of $236 million to $244 million, with Adjusted EBITDA between $14 million and $18 million. For the full year, Torrid forecasts net sales between $940 million and $960 million and Adjusted EBITDA of $65 million to $75 million, alongside capital expenditure of $8 million to $10 million.
“We enter 2026 with a strong operational foundation—optimised channels, product and pricing. This positions us to accelerate customer file growth through renewed marketing efforts, helping us re-engage past shoppers, attract new customers and deepen loyalty across our existing base. I am confident we are on the right path and encouraged by early signs of progress we are seeing in the business,” added Harper.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (SG)
Fashion
China’s central bank to inject $72.5 bn via one-year MLF operation
The People’s Bank of China (PBoC) is set to conduct a one-year medium-term lending facility (MLF) operation worth 500 billion yuan (~$72.52 billion) on Wednesday. The move is aimed at ensuring sufficient liquidity within the banking system.
The People’s Bank of China will conduct a 500-billion-yuan (~$72.52 billion) one-year MLF operation to support banking liquidity.
Conducted via variable-rate tenders, the move will offset 450 billion yuan in maturing funds, resulting in a net injection of 50 billion yuan (~$6.9 billion).
This marks the 13th consecutive month of net liquidity infusion by the central bank.
The operation will be carried out via variable-rate tenders with a fixed volume, using a multiple-price auction mechanism, said Chinese media reports quoting the central bank.
With 450-billion-yuan worth of MLF funds due to mature this month, the latest operation will result in a net liquidity injection of. This marks the 13th consecutive month in which the PBoC has added net liquidity through the facility.
The operation will result in a net liquidity injection of 50 billion yuan (~$6.9 billion), after accounting for 450 billion yuan in MLF funds maturing this month, extending the PBoC’s streak of net injections to 13 consecutive months.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (SG)
Fashion
Japan’s apparel imports rise 22.9% to $2 bn in February 2026
During the second month of ****, apparel and accessories accounted for *.* per cent of Japan’s total imports, which stood at *,***,*** million yen. Imports of textile yarn and fabric rose **.* per cent to **,*** million yen (~$***.** million), representing * per cent of total imports.
On the export side, textile yarn and fabric shipments decreased *.* per cent to **,*** million yen (~$***.** million). Textile machinery exports rose *.* per cent to **,*** million yen (~$***.** million), contributing *.* per cent to Japan’s total exports of *,***,*** million yen.
-
Fashion7 days agoSales at US apparel, clothing accessories stores up 4% YoY in Jan 2026
-
Business1 week agoPeloton is launching bikes and treadmills for gyms, accelerating commercial strategy
-
Tech1 week agoJustice Department Says Anthropic Can’t Be Trusted With Warfighting Systems
-
Fashion1 week agoTrump signs order to combat fraudulent ‘Made in America’ labels
-
Business1 week agoStocks and pound rise as US rate call approaches
-
Fashion1 week agoLenzing launches TENCEL Lyocell-HV100 at Intertextile Shanghai
-
Sports7 days agoMarch Madness 2026 – How to watch in SA, start time, schedule, TV channel for NCAA championship basketball tournament
-
Entertainment7 days agoVal Kilmer revived 1 year after death through AI
