The Loom

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) introduced the Clothing Microplastic Transparency Act of 2026 on Nov. 5. It would require any company selling clothing to disclose the estimated mass of microplastic in each item on a stamp, tag or label. The Federal Trade Commission, consulting the EPA, would have one year after enactment to issue rules, including a standard test method companies must use to estimate the content. Violations would be treated as unfair or deceptive practices under the FTC Act.

"While current labels list fiber content, they do not disclose microplastics. Our bill puts the facts on the tag," Mace said.

Garment workers in Bangladesh have protested since Saturday, Oct. 31, demanding the monthly minimum wage rise from 12,500 taka to 30,000 taka (about $245), saying food, housing and transport costs have eroded their pay. Hundreds of factories have shut. On Wednesday, Nov. 4, police fired tear gas and used stun grenades in several industrial areas outside Dhaka; dozens were reported injured in Fatullah, and workers blocked a highway in Gazipur, NBC reports.

On Sunday, Nov. 1, the government formed a six-member wage board of government, worker and factory-owner representatives, Al Jazeera reports. Its chairman, Syed Azad Subhani, said workers would get their first pay under a new scale in January; Arab News reports the board agreed on Nov. 4 to start the revised structure from December but has not yet set the size of the increase. More than 100 factories in Ashulia suspended work again on Thursday, police said.

Bangladesh is the world's second-largest garment exporter after China. The sector employs about 4 million workers, mostly women, earns more than 80% of export income and supplies brands including H&M, Inditex (Zara's owner) and Walmart.

The Paris Economic Activities Court opened judicial reorganisation proceedings (redressement judiciaire) for SEGM BHV on Monday, Nov. 2, according to a document seen by AFP, Sortiraparis reports. Management had announced on Oct. 27 that it had filed for bankruptcy and asked for receivership; it says the BHV Marais store on the Rue de Rivoli stays open while it tries to keep operations and jobs.

Karl-Stéphane Cottendin, in charge since June, cites a cash shortfall and blames Brookfield, which has owned the building since January 2026, for not paying compensation owed for space the store handed back. Sortiraparis says the dispute adds to unpaid bills reported by several brands and the fallout from the store's controversial partnership with Shein, which led many retailers to leave. The store's summer recovery plan focuses on the return of several brands and on home goods.

Founded in 1856, the store is marking its 170th anniversary this year.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art announced on Thursday, Nov. 5, that its next Costume Institute exhibition, the theme that usually sets the Met Gala dress code, will be "extraORDINARY: Fashion and the Poetics of the Everyday." The museum says it will show how designers transform "jeans, T-shirts, and puffer coats" and materials like paper, plastic and metal. Per The New York Times, as cited by ARTnews, it will hold 200 to 230 objects, about a third from the museum's collection, including Brooke Shields' Calvin Klein jeans and Matthieu Blazy's trompe l'oeil jeans for Bottega Veneta.

The theme replaces a planned John Galliano exhibition that the Met cancelled about two months earlier after backlash over the designer's 2011 antisemitic and anti-Asian remarks, NBC reports. ARTnews notes donor discontent and that next year's gala falls on Yom HaShoah. Curator Andrew Bolton told the AP, "I had no Plan B, to be honest." The Times reported that Anna Wintour played no role in choosing the new theme, according to ARTnews.

British hairstylist John Frieda has died at 75, according to a statement posted to his Instagram on Tuesday, Nov. 3, NBC News reports. The statement said he "passed away peacefully ... surrounded by his family" and called him "a true icon of the hair industry." The cause of death was not immediately clear.

Born in London in 1951, where his father owned a west London salon, Frieda told The Standard in 2012 that his father wanted him to become a doctor. He worked his way up the London scene, styling models for Vogue shoots, and went on to open salons in London, Los Angeles and New York. His clients included Princess Diana, Madonna, Jackie Kennedy Onassis, the Beatles, Sarah Jessica Parker and Scarlett Johansson. In the 1990s he launched Frizz Ease, starting with a serum to tame frizzy hair; the line is now sold in drugstores and salons worldwide.

Kering said on Thursday, Nov. 5, that Balenciaga creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli is leaving after less than 16 months. Piccioli, who spent 25 years at Valentino, replaced Demna, who moved to Gucci. The exit follows the recent departures of Anthony Vaccarello from Saint Laurent, Kering's second-biggest brand, and Sean McGirr from Alexander McQueen, as the group tries to reverse years of falling sales.

Kering CEO Luca de Meo called Piccioli "an exceptional couturier and creative talent" and said the group wants to "build on Balenciaga's avant-garde spirit." Kering said the house's new creative direction will be announced shortly. U.S. outlet Puck has reported that British-Jamaican designer Martine Rose, who consulted on menswear at Balenciaga under Demna, will take over; Kering did not confirm that.

Lagos Fashion Week ran Oct. 28 to Nov. 1, its 15th year since fashion entrepreneur Omoyemi Akerele founded it in 2011. Organised by Style House Files, this edition's theme was "CRAFTED: Heritage. Innovation. Circular Futures," putting traditional techniques such as weaving, dyeing, embroidery and beadwork at the centre, alongside reuse and less textile waste, 88Lately reports.

More than 50 labels took part. The main runway shows ran Oct. 29 to 31 at the LagosFW Tents at the Federal Palace Hotel on Victoria Island. Opening presentations on Oct. 28 included Sisiano's Spring/Summer 2027 collection "Some Birds Fly South", Orange Culture's "The In-Between", and "Akwete Reimagined", a capsule by ALÁRA and Emmy Kasbit built around Akwete, a traditional Nigerian woven textile.