After the 1980s clothing lines began increasing new products throughout seasons. Before, there was the standard seasons of clothing. But according to this report "Retailers started expanding their product ranges. The combination of more fashionable designs, the development of distinct brands and the move towards lower production costs overseas proved a profitable formula." In some cases there can be annually up to 20 collections per brand . I remember one year while watching the Academy Awards a reporter saying that the dresses the actresses were wearing will be knocked off and in stores within a month. That's how quickly an item can be made and sent out to stores around the world. I imagine sweatshop factory head seamstresses watching the Academy Awards in sweaty factories hovering over the television screen with a pen and paper and tracing out the designs.
The report further discusses that the economic crisis in 2008 "exacerbated some existing industry weakness, such as financial vulnerability of locally-owed small and medium-sized firms that had been the backbone of the TCLF industries." There were a lot of bankruptcies and workers left without pay.
Overall though this segment of the labor market has allowed for a meteoric increase in jobs especially for women. In 2010 China the world leader in clothing production employed a total of 11,201,100 people in the textiles and clothing markets. It's also helped many countries economic growth. For example, "Many national economies rely on the clothing industry: 88 per cent of total exports from Haiti, 79 per cent from Bangladesh." So, when I buy that t-shirt from Target I'm also supporting the Haiti export business.
However, the market is "characterized by high volatility, low predictability and generally low profit margins. Subcontracting is common, intermediaries bring down costs and production lead time plays an increasingly important role." Obviously this leads to unpredictable and long work hours.
It appears from reading this report that there is what I would call the "food chain" of fashion. The top tier with higher wages and skilled labor is the textile industry. Next would be footwear. At the bottom of the chain, clothing.
The textiles (fabric) top exporter by a huge margin was China at 33.1%. No other single country as of this 2012 came even close. The next top exporter was Germany at 5.1%. Next was U.S. at 4.7%. Textile exports as of 2012 was also China at 38%. The next two nations were Italy and Bangladesh both at 5%.
"Leather and footwear processing has moved away from Europe and the United States. In India it grew by over 100 per cent and in the Russian Federation by 45 per cent."
The top purchasers of clothing in the world is Western Europe 27% and between Eastern Europe and Turkey 10%. North America at 25% and Japan and Republic of Korea at 13%. I was a little surprised that North America wasn't the overwhelming purchaser of clothing.
Anything that expands that quickly is going to have some issues. I think back to our own Industrial Revolution. Things weren't so great for us over a hundred years ago. We even had our own garment factory fire - Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. Labor laws were pretty thin to non-existent back then. Safety measures were not even given a second thought. It's like that in developing countries now. But, why can't we as a nation who have experienced in these things work to help other countries from repeating history? After Bangladesh experienced their own versions of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fires and building collapses they have been working, through government regulations, to make the working conditions safer.
Next I'm on to a State of the LA Garment Industry report that at first glance doesn't look so positive. Looks like we just can't get this right...
Wages And Working Hours In The Textiles, Clothing, Leather And Footwear Industries. Geneva: International Labor Organization, 2014. Print. Issues Paper For Discussion At The Global Dialogue Forum On Wages And Working Hours In The Textiles, Clothing, Leather And Footwear Industries.
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