Millennials’ fondness for athleisure wear helped retailer JD Sports Fashion defy Britain’s retail gloom and beat full-year earnings expectations.

Shares in H&M surged after the ailing Swedish clothing retailer reported first-quarter profits that beat expectations on lower clearance sales.

The future of automation in the workplace was glimpsed at the recent UCD Innovation Week, where 200 students from 26 countries met Pepper, a humanoid robot and the first in the world to read emotions and develop empathy.

Shares in H&M have risen after the fashion retailer reassured investors that it would not need to cut costs further to shift unsold clothing despite a bigger-than- expected 20% fall in quarterly profit.

Sweden’s H&M cautioned that sales from its existing stores would continue to fall this year even as booming e-commerce should help lift earnings.

One of H&M’s largest shareholders has lost its patience.

Shares in H&M fell by nearly 6% after the boss of the world’s second-largest fashion retailer warned that the company is falling short of its sales targets, with hefty summer discounts reducing quarterly profit by 20%.

To the uninitiated, the phrase ‘fashion tech’ may conjure up images of futuristic headgear or outfits straight from a sci-fi movie. However, this new industry is turning mainstream.

Zalando — the German online fashion retailer, which recently expanded into Ireland— has raised its full year earnings forecast on the back of a strong first-half showing, which saw revenues rise by 31.5% on an annualised basis.

Europe’s busiest online fashion retailer is to create up to 200 jobs in Dublin in the coming years as it attempts to keep pace with its rapid expansion.

Swedish budget fashion retailer Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) said yesterday that sales in stores open at least a year rose more than three times market expectations in November as cold weather encouraged sales of winter clothing.

Online retailers are trying to cajole consumers into revealing their vital statistics with new sizing technology tailored to turn back a tide of returned garments that is hurting profits.