Apparel

SanMar, Seattle, recently announced that it has opened a new warehouse in Phoenix. This brings SanMar's distribution network to eight full-scale warehouses throughout the country.

American Apparel, Los Angeles, recently announced financial results for its third quarter ended Sept. 30, 2014. The company reported a 2 percent increase in year-over-year wholesale sales.

Twenty-five million women currently train with Nike's two training apps, nike+running and nike+training. At any time of the day or night, says Trevor Edwards, the British-born president of Nike, you can log on to nike.com and observe a Babel of animated feeds (and, of course, purchase merchandise). "You'll find women discussing what they like and don't like about a product," says Edwards. "And also which forthcoming events they're taking part in."

This is a level of engagement that media organizations, fashion brands and governments—especially governments—would kill for.

Denim jeans marketer Levi Strauss & Co. will shed 500 jobs, primarily from signing a five-year strategic agreement with Wipro Limited to outsource certain global business services.

This decision comes in the new phase of its global productivity initiative earlier announced in March 2014 and is expected to generate net annualized cost savings of $175 million to $200 million, once fully implemented.

"In this next phase of the productivity initiative, approximately 500 positions will be eliminated, primarily due to the decision to partner with Wipro, a leading global information technology, consulting and business process services company," Levis Strauss said.

A group of customers is criticizing Old Navy for selling plus-size women's clothing at a markup, while men don't face higher prices on plus sizes at the chain.

More than 16,000 people have signed a Change.org petition calling for an end to what they deem "discriminatory pricing practices." The woman who made the petition said that on a recent visit to Old Navy's website, she noticed plus-sized women's jeans cost $12 to $15 more than smaller sizes, while men's plus-sized jeans did not.

SanMar, Seattle, announced that Mike Knapick has joined the company as chief information officer (CIO). In this role, Knapick will manage and oversee major technology initiatives throughout the SanMar network, as well as the day-to-day IT operations.

Heritage Sportswear + Virginia T's recently announced the addition of Next Level Apparel to its extensive line of ready-to-decorate apparel and accessories. Next Level is known for its diversity of styles, contemporary designs and innovative fabric blends.

Having expanded its Polo brand to include womenswear this summer, Ralph Lauren is now making moves to capitalize on the rapidly growing activewear market. Company execs said on its second quarter 2015 earnings call Wednesday morning that a new line of sport-ready clothing called Polo Sport will arrive in stores for fall 2015, with an initial emphasis on men's.

For a brand with such a sporty vibe—Polo Sport is already the name of one of its men's fragrances—it's hard to believe Ralph Lauren has waited this long to dive into activewear.

Not content with ruling just the music industry, Queen Bey is expanding her kingdom to the world of fashion.

The 17-time Grammy Award winner and Topshop announced today the creation of a 50-50 joint venture company, Parkwood Topshop Athletic Ltd., to produce a global athletic streetwear brand to launch in Fall 2015.

The brand will encompass clothing, footwear and accessories and will cover dance, fitness and sports categories. It will be available online and in Topshop stores when it launches. According to Women's Wear Daily, it will also be available at other retailers.

Slowdowns at U.S. west coast ports, as part of a long-running dispute between workers and employers, are severely delaying incoming apparel and footwear shipments as the holiday season nears its peak.

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) has staged slowdowns at major Pacific northwest ports Seattle and Tacoma, responsible for some 16 percent of containerized west coast cargoes.

Meanwhile, the American Apparel and Footwear Association (AAFA) has voiced concern over "rampant congestion" at Los Angeles and Long Beach, labeling the level of congestion as "untenable."