12th February 2016
Are apparel prices really rising?
Just about every apparel industry commentator on the planet is constantly going on about rising cost prices. But do any of them look at what buyers are paying? In the year to...
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24th February 2015
Forecasts: the most self-assured experts get it wrongest
Ngaire Woods, Dean of the Oxford University's Blavatnik School of Government and its Professor of Global Economic Governance, ought to know a bit about how governments work. But, at the...
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12th February 2015
UK increases textile fund subsidy after report makes optimistic job creation estimates
The UK government announced a 50% increase in its funding of a textiles industry development fund on February 12 after a two-year survey estimated a 23% increase in jobs by...
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9th February 2015
2014’s Next Big Things that weren’t.3, Part 4: China’s “new normal” and competitiveness
China's rulers are fond of talking about the "New Normal," and the idea does have some downsides. Some of those downsides might impede the garment industry's competitiveness. But they haven't...
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6th February 2015
2014’s Next Big Things that weren’t.3, Part 3: China’s mass relocation
The next set of misguided predictions in 2014 - usually presented as outright facts - were that the world was populated by Chinese garment and textile tycoons desperate to escape...
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30th January 2015
2014’s Next Big Things that weren’t.3, Part 2: China’s wage rises and garment competitiveness
The central misguided predictions in 2014 were that wage rises would make Chinese garments uncompetitive. Why didn’t they? 1. The Forecasts For years, every annual forecast was clear that rising...
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28th January 2015
2014’s Next Big Things that weren’t.3, Part 1: China’s supposedly falling competitiveness
2014's commonest missed prediction was that China’s rising wages, by making its garments pricier, meant its factories would lose share of the world garment market. Neither forecast materialised. Understanding why...
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15th January 2015
2014’s Next Big Things that weren’t.1. Internet dominance
We're now twenty years from the launch of internet retailing. But it's had nothing like the effect on apparel buying the big 20th century revolutions did. Accident, problem - or...
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15th November 2014
“Militant” Cambodian clothing unions accept 28% wage rise
Most Cambodian unions admitted by mid November that their members were not prepared to support calls for strikes or demonstrations against a 28% rise in minimum wage announced on November...
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26th October 2014
Are Japanese firms changing their apparel sourcing policy?
Did Japanese importers' decision to move sourcing away from China drive their prices up? And are they now changing their minds? In 2011, China accounted for 87% of Japan's apparel...
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24th June 2014
South Asian garment export data punctures some producer myths
South Asia’s garment exports to the main Western destinations in the first four months of the year were healthy – but do not reflect the account local trade associations offer....
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22nd June 2014
China apparel imports’ 20% growth in 2013 is worth less than a sixth the value of EU import growth.
The dollar value of China's apparel imports grew 21% in 2013 to $4.2 bn, or slightly more than Saudi Arabia and a lot less than Switzerland. The cash value of...
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