Fashion
Vietnam expands export reach to counter trade headwinds
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh stated that Hanoi is pursuing trade deals aimed at cushioning the economy from tariff pressures imposed by its largest export market. The announcement follows estimates by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), which warned that US duties could reduce Vietnam’s exports to the US by as much as 20 per cent, making it the most affected country in Southeast Asia.
Vietnam expanded its export footprint from 104 countries in 2024 to 132 in 2025, even as plans are underway to pursue FTAs with new partners to cushion the impact of tariffs.
According to UNDP estimates, US duties could slash Vietnam’s exports to the US by up to 20 per cent, making it the most heavily impacted country in Southeast Asia from US tariff measures.
The US has imposed tariffs of 20 per cent on most Vietnamese goods and up to 40 per cent on items transhipped via Vietnam.
In response, Hanoi is reportedly targeting the conclusion of free trade agreements with Latin America’s Mercosur bloc and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) by the end of 2025.
These moves are seen as a strategic attempt to both offset the immediate fallout from US trade actions and broaden Vietnam’s global footprint.
While FTAs are a key pillar of the response strategy, experts underline the importance of market diversification to hedge against rising geopolitical and policy risks and Vietnam’s textile and apparel sector—a core component of its export economy—has already taken steps in this direction.
According to the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS), the industry has expanded its export reach from 104 destinations in 2024 to 132 in 2025.
Vietnamese firms are now delivering high-quality garments to markets such as China, Russia, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), and across ASEAN.
In tandem with geographic diversification, to comply with increasingly stringent standards in key export markets, Vietnamese garment manufacturers are also accelerating shifts toward green production and sustainable development. Firms are investing in advanced machinery, upgrading workforce capabilities, and moving away from traditional cut-make-trim (CMT) models to higher-value production formats such as free-on-board (FOB), original design manufacturing (ODM), and original brand manufacturing (OBM).
So, despite headwinds on account of US tariffs and global trade volatility, industry stakeholders remain optimistic about the sector’s growth potential as companies actively expand into new markets to drive exports and hedge against geopolitical risks.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DR)
Published
January 16, 2026
Pierpaolo Piccioli seems intent on exploring how far the relationship between sport and tailoring can be pushed. On Thursday, the French fashion house unveiled and launched for sale, on its website and in its boutiques, a collaboration with the NBA, the U.S. basketball league. At the same time, ahead of the Milan and Paris Fashion Weeks, it presented its lookbook for Autumn 2026.
“I believe that sport is one of the most powerful ways of expressing values such as excellence, integrity and respect. On a pitch or court, people from different backgrounds, cultures and abilities come together under the same rules and with the same goals,” said the creative director of the Kering group house, in a press release.
“This shared space creates a heightened sense of connection and focus, reminding us of the discipline, commitment and intensity that define sport at its highest level.”
For the NBA line, that commitment is expressed through key sportswear pieces reinterpreted in materials such as leather, satin, cotton poplin and Japanese denim, and, in addition to black, in the NBA’s historic colours: red, blue and white. The brand adopts sporting codes by marking T-shirts and coach jackets with the number 10, a nod to the address of its headquarters on Avenue George V in Paris, or with a stylised “B” on the back or over the heart.
But sport permeates the Balenciaga universe well beyond this. The brand’s Autumn 2026 proposal, captured in the streets and métro of Paris by photographer Robin Galiegue, explores the potential of imposing tailored pieces, echoing the house’s past designs, such as cashmere capes and neo-gazar coats, which the creative director is working to revive.
Today, Piccioli goes further and pairs them with techwear pieces. Heavy wool coats and oversized leather jackets are worn over a shorts-and-leggings duo crafted from Probody fabric, which offers moisture-wicking, breathability and antibacterial properties. In the age of wellbeing, this trend runs through most of the looks in the Autumn 2026 collection.
The designer has not forgotten the importance of accessories, either. While these creations are designed for training or yoga, they are also accompanied by a new bag model, the 7, patinated crystal jewellery and exceptional shoes from a collaboration with Manolo Blahnik.
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Copyright © 2026 FashionNetwork.com All rights reserved.
By
Bloomberg
Published
January 15, 2026
Xreal Inc., a Chinese pioneer in smart glasses, is suing Viture Inc. for patent infringement in the US, arguing its rival has unfairly capitalized on Xreal’s extensive research and investment in the segment.
The lawsuit, filed Thursday in federal court in eastern Texas, accuses San Francisco-founded Viture of unlawfully incorporating Xreal’s patented inventions into smart glasses such as the Luma Pro, Luma Ultra, and a high-end pair called The Beast.
Both Xreal and Viture manufacture augmented reality, or AR, glasses that plug into devices like smartphones and laptops, offering viewers a large virtual display for watching movies or handling productivity tasks. Technical specifications like display resolution and field of view- the size of the augmented world you can see at any given time- are often very similar between the two brands.
Their US legal battle comes ahead of what is expected to be a pivotal moment for the segment, with Apple Inc. expected to make its category debut as soon as this year, Bloomberg has reported.
Xreal holds over 800 patent and patent applications worldwide, including dozens in the US and Europe, it said in a statement Thursday announcing the lawsuit. “By comparison, Viture owns approximately or fewer than 70 patent and patent applications globally, with none in the United States or Europe,” it added.
“The lawsuit is not merely about enforcing a single patent,” Xreal said in the statement. “It is about stopping a pattern of intellectual property infringement that undermines the integrity of innovation and endangers continued technological development in this industry.”
Xreal holds more global market share than Viture in the AR eyewear category, according to research firm IDC. But both companies lag far behind Meta Platforms Inc., which has come the closest to mainstream success with its Ray-Ban line of smart glasses.
At the CES technology trade show earlier this month, Xreal unveiled a new entry-level pair of glasses and a co-branded set of glasses developed with Taiwan’s Asustek Computer Inc. It also announced that it’s extending a partnership with Alphabet Inc.’s Google.
Xreal said in the statement that these and other collaborators are “owed confidence that their co-developed products will not also be threatened by infringers attempting to benefit from infringement or undermined by unauthorized usage of IP.”
Published
January 15, 2026
Designer Soshi Otsuki won himself a huge ovation at the key gala show of Pitti Uomo on Thursday after presenting a brilliant collection that celebrated classic western tailoring, even as it subverted its codes.
A tour de force of draping, cutting, and silhouette, this fall 2026 collection from his brand Soshiotsuki was definitely a major fashion statement.
In a moment of volume in menswear, Otsuki opened the action with a perfectly judged trio of to-die-for double-breasted suits with peak lapels in crepe and fine wool in various shades of grey- cement, mud, or dove.
He cut his jackets to end well below the hip and his trousers were something else. Made with a half-dozen front pleats, they were elephantine but never outrageous. Otsuki is such a great natural tailor, the exaggeration merely added to the elegance.
Soshi is no slouch when it comes to leather either. From his copper-hued leather rock god suit to his cocoon style leather bomber jacket. And, just when you thought he was playing a little too safe, he sent out some fab jeans, so degraded they almost looked moth-eaten. Tokyo street style meets sartorial Italian.
Playing on couture techniques, the designer also whipped up several bias-cut green corduroy blazers and suits marrying Japanese eccentricity and British aplomb.
The show was the latest Italian/Japanese marriage at this edition of Pitti that began with a Sebiro Sanpo tailoring association Japanese suit march inside the Fortezza da Basso, the giant fortress where the salon is staged. Remarkably, Otsuki has never actually studied suiting formally, but he somehow understands it instinctively.
The soundtrack, culled from composer Joe Hisaishi’s soundtrack to Takeshi Kitano’s 2000 gangster movie Brother, featured a beautifully yearning saxophone solo. It would have felt just right for one of Douglas Sirk’s 1950s melodramas starring Rock Hudson. One almost expected Rock to take the final passage.
Presented inside the beautiful Refetterio Santa Maria della Novella, a looming Gothic refectory at the back of the legendary Renaissance Basilica, this was a bravura display.
Altogether, a bases loaded, home run, smash hit collection. One could say it felt like a star is born moment in menswear, except that Soshi Otsuki was already acclaimed. He is the latest winner of the LVMH Prize.
Talk about backing up winning an award with a great fashion statement.
Copyright © 2026 FashionNetwork.com All rights reserved.
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