Welcome back, today is Friday, July twenty-fourth, and we begin in the European Union, where the ban on destroying unsold fashion stock is now in force. As of July nineteenth, large companies, LVMH, Prada, Chanel and Zara owner Inditex among them, can no longer incinerate or landfill unsold clothing, accessories or footwear in the European Union, according to the Financial Times and Retail Gazette. Customer returns are covered too. The rules sit under the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation, approved in two thousand twenty-four, and steer excess stock into discounts, secondary markets, donation or repair. That leaves brands choosing between higher carrying costs, wider controlled discount channels, or simply producing less. Destruction survives only in narrow cases, per the reporting: unsafe, counterfeit or irreparably damaged goods, with evidence and annual reporting required. The European Commission estimates four to nine percent of textile products placed on the European market are destroyed before use. Industry reaction leans toward planning and forecasting quality becoming the competitive edge, with destruction disclosures due from February two thousand twenty-seven. The Financial Times also reports a Hong Kong court case describing past destruction of unsold Chanel product. Chanel told the paper those figures do not reflect its current global practices. Also today, the Office of the United States Trade Representative is taking what it calls final action to impose new tariffs on sixty global economies over their failure to enact and enforce bans on imports made with forced labor, WWD reports. The duties run into double digits. The Business of Fashion frames the move as the White House's latest effort to restore a near-global tariff after the Supreme Court struck down the reciprocal duties in February. For sourcing teams, that puts landed cost and supplier vetting back at the center of the decision, with exposure now tracking a country's enforcement record rather than a single product line. Separately, Kering has named Romain Spitzer chief executive of Bottega Veneta, effective September first, per WWD. He joins the group's executive committee, based in Milan, reporting to Kering chief executive Luca de Meo, and arrives after a lengthy search, according to The Business of Fashion. Spitzer was most recently chief executive of the fragrance group at LVMH Beauty, with earlier roles at Guerlain, Yves Saint Laurent Parfums and Parfums Christian Dior. Kering points him at retail experience and client relationships. Some in the trade read the hire as a test of whether a house identity scales across categories without dilution. On the certification side, Bluesign has appointed Hanane Taidi, formerly director general of the TIC Council, as chief executive. Staying with ownership, a long stake-building exercise has become a formal offer process. Frasers Group has moved above thirty percent of Hugo Boss, and under German takeover law that obliges Mike Ashley's group to make a mandatory offer for all remaining shares, according to Drapers and The Business of Fashion. Drapers reports the threshold was crossed as the takeover bid progresses. That matters to the trade because it converts an accumulated position into a public process around the ownership structure of a listed premium brand. The reports do not set out Frasers' intentions beyond the offer it is now required to make. There is a counterweight to the gloomier read on demand. Ermenegildo Zegna Group posted a seventeen percent sales increase in the second quarter, with sales also accelerating at Thom Browne and Tom Ford, according to The Business of Fashion and WWD. The group's executive chairman, speaking to WWD, pointed to what he described as untapped opportunity ahead. Some observers read the acceleration as evidence the sector is sorting on fundamentals rather than staging a cyclical recovery, with coherent product architecture outpacing hype. Now, a few more headlines moving the trade today. Italian police last week raided offices including Bulgari and Chanel on suspicion of subcontractors being used to hire Chinese workers, per The Business of Fashion. The allegations are unproven, and company responses are not yet reported. Richemont opened its new fiscal year with growth across all regions, jewelry houses up twenty-four percent and watchmakers improving sequentially at eight percent, Luxury Daily reports. Burberry grew across every product range for the first time in three years, though shares fell as investors turned to its profitability plans, according to The Business of Fashion. And finally, Nike plans to cut the number of its online distributors in China, a marketplace clean-up the company frames against continued gains by domestic rivals, per The Business of Fashion.