Manufacturing news and archive

Seidensticker invests in capacity planning

Producing clothes and getting quantities right is a tricky business that has been taking its toll on the environment for decades. Overproduction and full warehouses are common problems that the industry has to deal with, be it on manufacturer, brand or retailer side. Many of them thus downsize order quantities to avoid these issue but may then...

Dec 28, 2022

Business |ANALYSIS Featured

China's manufacturing industry declines for the second month in a row

The manufacturing industry closed October in the red, falling for the second consecutive month, according to data published by the Chinese National Statistics Office.. The purchasing manager index (PMI) stood at 49.2 points, 0.4 points less than in September and below the 49.7 points forecast by the market. Zhao Qinghe, a statistical expert at...

Nov 1, 2021

Fashion

Global Textile and Garment Manufacturers Initiative Publishes White Paper on Commercial Compliance

The white paper contains the core principles that manufacturers as part of the Sustainable Terms of Trade Initiative (STTI) do not want to see breached by the companies that buy from them. And it suggests how manufacturers will collaborate to apply commercial compliance in the apparel sourcing business The initiative, led by the STAR Network,...

Sep 23, 2021

BusinessFeatured

Global trade: Vietnam overtakes Bangladesh in apparel exports

Vietnam has overtaken Bangladesh as the world’s second largest exporter of ready-made garments (RMG). Bangladesh is now in third position, with China remaining the largest exporter, according to the latest figures from the World Trade Statistical Review 2021 released by World Trade Organization (WTO). Vietnam’s clothing exports grew 6.4 percent...

Aug 2, 2021

Business

Why garment producers are choosing Ethiopia

The fashion industry is setting its sights on Ethiopia as a new home of manufacturing. Martijn van der Erve, CEO of Erve Group, saw the opportunity to produce in Ethiopia as an alternative to popular manufacturing locations like Bangladesh. In 2014, the company established Beconnected Africa, a buying house for finished garments. Following its...

Apr 14, 2021

Report

AAFA applauds passage of National Defense Authorization Act supporting U.S. manufacturing; Urges President to approve swiftly

The American Apparel & Footwear Association applauds this week’s Congressional passage of the FY 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and urges President Trump to quickly sign the bill into law before the end of the year. AAFA President and CEO Steve Lamar commented on this week's action: "U.S. textile, apparel, and footwear...

Dec 12, 2020

BusinessFeatured

A new platform aims to bring European apparel sourcing online

As the fashion industry shifts to operating online, a new opportunity has arisen for a platform to connect suppliers and brands. The production of clothing and accessories is by far the most challenging and complicated process of the fashion cycle, and one that requires a unique set of skills. Sourcing is one of those skills, a necessity for...

Sep 14, 2020

Fashion |IN-DEPTH Featured

How demand-driven fashion could clean up the industry

Fashion companies face the constant challenge of having to guess which and how many garments they will sell months before they are available for consumers to buy. The speculative nature of the supply chain has led to rampant overproduction and waste, further compounded in recent years by the explosive growth of fast-fashion. But what’s the...

Jul 9, 2020

Fashion |LONGFORM Featured

Future of Fashion: Production - sustainable, high-tech and on-demand

The process of producing clothing in the fashion industry is for the most part hidden away from the public eye. While it is easy to see the leaps and bounds that are taking place every day in the retail industry for example, which we can experience with a few taps of our phone or a quick trip to the store, production is usually done far away...

Oct 3, 2019

Business |CEO INTERVIEW Featured

Interview: The/Studio, making small batch production easier

Amazon, Alibaba, Shopify and even Instagram have made it easier for starters to launch a niche fashion brand online. However, the “first mile” of the supply chain hasn’t changed much: the majority of fashion manufacturers still operate according to the traditional model, in which collections are planned up to 1 year in advance and ordered in...

Jan 17, 2019

Fashion |INTERACTIVE TIMELINE Featured

The industry is coming home - how after 3 centuries shoe production has come full circle

The shoe industry has reinvented itself over the last 3 centuries. The production process of shoe making started with tailor-made pairs, with shoemakers producing shoes by hand until the early 19th century. Almost a century later, the production process had become less customised and almost completely automated. In the 20th century, the...

Mar 29, 2017

Business

Alexander Wang relocates 30 percent of manufacturing to Europe

US designer label Alexander Wang has its sights set on bringing part of its manufacturing closer to its main markets. In 2014, 90 percent of the label manufacturing took plan in Asia - today this amount has been dialled down to 70 percent as 30 percent of the designer's collection are currently produced in EU countries like Italy, Spain,...

Feb 4, 2016