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Chapter 10
‘Fabric-ating Fashion’: The Clothing Industries
Review• Concepts to Review– GPNs, export processing zones,
WTO, regionalization, role of consumers, centre—periphery divide, branding and identity
• Key Words– Clothing industry; sweatshop labour;
buyer-driven industries, fashion, multi-fibre arrangement
The Clothing Industries: Definition and Structure
• Basis of the industry• Satisfies a fundamental human need• Subject to complex social and cultural forces• Fashion change: stimulate demand for clothes
• Nature of the industry• Capital intensity low, labour intensity high, technology
unsophisticated• Labour costs are the most significant production factor
in the industry• Geographical proximity to key markets is vital
• Globalization of the industry
Politics of the Industry
• Labour Issues• Labour force: 80 per cent female, mostly
unskilled or semi-skilled, and young• In developed countries tend to be immigrants
andethnic minorities
• Have no protection
• Consumer and state relations• Consumer resistance• Regulation is difficult, due to fragmented,
transitory nature of the industry• Governments intervene in the industry
Tariffs and Trade• multi-fibre arrangement: define and
give history since 1973 • Aim: to create trade which would
benefit developed and developing world• Became more restrictive as time went
on• 1995 regulation of trade incorporated
into WTO – MFA phased out over a 10-year
period• End of MFA in 2005: what now?
Current and Ongoing Trends
• Technological developments
• Changes in type of firm
• Role of retailers
• Regionalization