Fashion industry

Producers of clothes today do their business in conditions of rapid dynamics of changes and unstoppable trend of globalization, with many innovations and large competition. Whole world is treated as a potential source of production, and at the same time as a unique market of garments with the following characteristics:

- consumers - demands are getting bigger and changes of customers’ needs happen very quickly, thus strengthening their influence on business,

- competition - it is stronger and more able every day (every new fashion item is just a “temporary monopole”),

- new technologies - new technology, new machines and different cultures change potentials and needs,

- purchase - producers of clothes are getting more dependent on the chain of supply due to continuous changes and matching the offer to the customers’ needs, and also because of compulsory increasing of efficiency and decreasing of costs as the basis of competition (no supplies, no mistakes, no delays…),

- market - business ethics is a changeable category, and intentions and trends of competition are hard to follow.

Fashion industry is very fast, whereas life cycle is very short. Whole industry is based on latest fashion trends and consumers’ pleasure. For that reason, the market is extremely inclined to competitions. But the future in fashion industry has been planned maybe more than in any other period of history. Taking successful world fashion companies into consideration, we can conclude the following:

1.  Large, vertical integration of production–business system  in order to shorten the process of making clothes.

2.  Companies with 200 to 500 employees produce only for known buyers in fashion seasons, particularly basic fashion items (e.g. shirts and trousers).

3.   Those who are very operative are producers of wide range of garments, i.e. those who produce so-called high fashion, large sizes, medical clothes, unique items and high-tech sportswear. They have a developed network of stores throughout the world selling products according to individual orders and their production and sale are very flexible, of good quality and 4 to 5 times faster than of other producers.