Fashion Industry Essay

INTRODUCTION:
Industry Overview:
The apparel industry is a really important industry in terms of investment, revenue and trade and employment globally. Within the industry there are short product life cycles, an immense product portfolio, unpredictable customer preferences and opaque supply chain processes. (valueline.com, 2013)
Market value:
The global fashion industry grew in the last 3 years in average 2.76%.
Year
$ Billion
% Growth
2010
1,180.7
2.2%
2011
1,211.9
3.5%
2012
1,249.3
2.6%

The industry sells its good through 3 channels and their sales with the market share:

(http://www.mmh.com/wp_content/sdi_wp_content_073013.pdf)
Supply Chain:

In the following table you can see the major fashion manufactures, importers and exporters in the fashion industry.

http://www.businessvibes.com/content/apparel-and-accessories-overview

5 Forces Analysis:

Nowadays it is more important to act Corporate Social Responsible, since customers are more sensitive due to the pressure put on the issue. Especially in the retail industry the companies have to deal with immense public pressure, having the main focus on labor standards and working conditions in the factories within the supply chains. Companies operating within the fashion industry, are facing immense competition, and have to update their collections according to the changing preferences of their customers, but also maintain the efficiency.
Even though some companies of the industry are trying hard to act socially responsible, there are still companies facing problems with the implementation of CSR policies. Traditionally companies owned their factories, which enabled them to react fast to changes, but nowadays companies outsource parts of the supply chain to various su...

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...to be compiled, as industries vary greatly in particularities concerning stakeholders. The most renowned standards in the textile industry are: World Wide Responsible Apparel Production (WRAP), Fair Labour Association, Clean Clothes Campaign, Fair Wear Foundation, Workers Right Consortium, Control Union/Skal certificate and Oeko-tex 100/1000 standard.
Not only industries have their own standards in CSR, also regional conglomerates like the EU implement their respective initiatives to tackle the issue in a proactive way. Therefore, the EU developed the EU Eco Label standard that was brought to the public’s attention roughly 15 years ago and acts as a template to help consumers get a clearer picture of the company they buy products from. The Eco Label tackles the entire supply chain and thus is a solid sign for a responsible business all the way through.