Opinions

9th November 2016

While American voters were confounding practically all observers on November 8, on the other side of the Atlantic Britain’s Marks & Spencer unveiled a strategy that may be designed for...

9th November 2016

Practically every observer thought Hillary Clinton would win the US Presidential election this morning. Most went on to predict her mild hostility to further trade liberalisation meant the short-term prospects...

24th October 2016

Between June and September 2016, something hit UK clothing stores that I don’t think’s ever happened in the history of selling clothes, anywhere, ever before. The internet’s share fell, consistently....

13th October 2016

The partial destruction by rioters last week of the Saygin Dima mill in Ethiopia perfectly illustrates the short-term superficiality of too many 'visionary' sourcing strategies. Since concern started to mount...

20th August 2016

I spent the first six months of 2016 campaigning in Britain against Brexit. Not once did I hear a Brexit supporter attack global integration. Scarcely anyone in Britain opposes global...

8th August 2016

Bangladesh's garment industry seems unaware of the real threat the June/July terrorism incidents pose to its long-term viability. Threat 1: Islamist terrorism Islamist militants stormed an upmarket restaurant in the...

26th July 2016

In the past two months, public-sector forecasters  have made spectacularly different forecasts of job prospects in Asia’s apparel textile and apparel industries. On April 28, the World Bank forecast millions of new...

22nd July 2016

As the UK government prepares the ground for new post-Brexit free trade deals, the first published ideas deal with Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Earlier this month, Liam Fox, the...

27th June 2016

Most British comment about Brexit right now comes from grieving Remainers or Leavers who can’t believe their luck. Our industry must start planning to minimise the damage. There are six things...

24th June 2016

At 5 am today, UK voters for Brexit gained a majority.    British apparel brands and retailers can benefit - but only if they sharpen up their acts. For the...

7th June 2016

In the first three months of this year, we saw a massive drop in Chinese apparel exports to the US. It doesn't mean the end of China's dominance. There's a...

19th May 2016

China's alleged "slump" is turning into opur industry's greatest excuse for misguided thinking. Burberry, The Sunday Times told us earlier this month, will announce a 7% fall in its 2015...