Asia is the biggest stakeholder in the global garment manufacturing industry. Seven among the top 10 garment manufacturing countries are located in Asia. Fast fashion retailers depend on Asia for manufacturing their apparel products. This manufacturing hub is witnessing an immense transformation as global consumers are moving from cheap knitwear apparel products to value-added sportswear and manmade-synthetic fiber-based fashion products. Also, consumers now value garments with speed, precision, traceability and adaptability over bulk. Moreover, due to fast fashion, fashion seasons have shortened and garment brands are turning to manufacturers who have shorter production times and more sustainable processes. As a result, garment manufacturers in Asia are transforming themselves with technology.

Some garment brands are moving their smart factories from the West to Asia to improve manufacturing. For instance, Adidas has moved its speed factory to Asia to bring more efficiency to the manufacturing process. As Asian countries improve their capacity in tech manufacturing, garment manufacturing in Asia is expected to become smarter. Companies are investing in new technology to shorten lead time. They are now using automated cutting machines and self-driving carts as in-house innovations and high-speed fabric inspection machines with facial recognition technology to monitor thousands of meters of fabric a day.