As another day passes, another Kanye West saga has unravelled. The rapper-turned-designer and his brand Yeezy have now been ordered to pay over $300,000 to New York-based creative Katelyn Mooney after failing to attend a court session.

A default judgement was filed in Mooney’s favour at Manhattan Supreme Court when no legal representative for West or his brand showed up or responded to the court papers.

In her lawsuit, Mooney initially claimed that West and Yeezy owed her over $300,000 in damages and unpaid invoices after failing to fully pay her for a photoshoot she was hired to produce in September.

The artist was appointed to create imagery for Yeezy’s new SHDZ sunglasses collection for 110,000 dollars, of which she claimed she had only received $15,000.

In her complaint, Mooney, who is a freelancer, said the snub forced her to take out “a significant loan and max out her credit cards” so she could cover her bills, calling West’s behaviour “exploitative conduct.”

The news comes days after it was revealed that Adidas was confronted with a lawsuit from its investors regarding its past dealings with the controversial figure.

The complaint alleged that executives for the sportswear giant knew about West’s troubling conduct long before an anonymous letter from employees revealed a series of “problematic behaviour” they encountered during his time as a collaborator for the brand.

It has also been reported by NBC News that West and Yeezy are facing further issues in regards to more than $600,000 of unpaid tax debts, dating back to 2021.

The media outlet added that it had uncovered 17 government-imposed liens in California against three of West’s businesses, including a charity in his name.

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation is beginning the roll out of the full version of its circular startup database, designed to help businesses explore startups and drive the acceleration of the circular economy.

On ‘The Circular Startup Index’, 500 brands that are a part of the foundation’s community are already featured across a range of sectors, industries and geographies, each one selected for incorporating one or more principles of the circular economy into their propositions, as stated in a release.

According to the organisation, the index was created to address the challenge behind financing and scaling circular business models, with the initiative hoping to help facilitate innovation through capital.

Commenting on the launch, Ella Hedley, project manager, startups, at the foundation, said: “Designing a circular future requires radical innovation to rethink how our economy works.

“Thousands of circular startups are already on the case. But they need more support and investment.

“So we created the Circular Startup Index to create visibility of the breadth of circular startups on the market and help businesses discover suitable circular solutions.”

Technology research and advisory company Technavio released a report on the growth of the global handbag market, pointing out its estimated increase in value by 14.11 billion US dollars from 2022 to 2027 and a CAGR of 4.3% and highlighting key findings on this development.

The handbag market 2023 to 2027 is split up into three segments by Technavio – type, distribution channel and geography. Types of handbags include leather, fabric and others, distribution takes place online and offline, and locations concern Asia Pacific (APAC), North America, Europe, South America and Middle East and Africa.

Vendors of the market include Burberry, Dolce and Gabbana and Chanel, to name a few, offering a wide range of bags in different sizes from tote bags, to cross body, and shoulder bags.

Over the past several years, there has been an upsurge in demand for leather handbags with various textures, qualities, and feels. This element will fuel the segment’s growth during the course of the forecast.

A key driver of this development is the personalisation and customisation of luxury handbags, which has heavily emerged as a new trend over the past five years, particularly in western Europe and North America.

The product’s aesthetics are improved through embroidery, straps and buckles, or the inclusion of a name tag, which at the same time increases its value in comparison to standard products.

The report revealed the customers’ increased preference to shop duty-free at airports for high end and luxury items, such as handbags, during the forecast period. Last-minute shopping or external factors such as delays and early check-ins further push the growth of the market. This uprising trend results in renovations of retail outlets within airports to enable this shopping experience.

The research company explains that strengthening the foothold in the fast-growing segments while maintaining the positions in the slow-growing ones is a key action for brands in this context.

However, Technavio also discloses how stringent government regulations will play a major role in terms of challenges for the growth of the market during the forecast period.

Due to a number of associations and government departments enforcing these rules, for example in Europe and particularly in Germany, parties operating within the tanning industry should adapt and consider ethical production, synthetic use and reuse.

This factor, alongside fluctuating operational costs and the measures needed to reduce waste and protect the environment which make up almost 5 percent of manufacturer’s total costs, might impede the growth of the handbag market.