The global fashion industry is in a state of flux. As one of the more cost-sensitive sectors, the fashion industry is generally quick to respond to shifts in global markets and trading conditions. The sector’s supply chains, for example, have undergone shifts even before the US–China trade tensions. With production costs increasing in China, textile and garment makers were already relocating manufacturing operations to other lower-cost Asian countries. The US–China tariff war is now accelerating this trend, while Britain’s impending exit from the European Union is keeping global industry players on their toes.

These uncertainties have taken a toll on the trade growth outlook for the consumer fashion goods sector, which deteriorated significantly across key markets over the past quarter. At the same time, clothing exports from Bangladesh, Vietnam, and Cambodia have been on the rise. The value of these countries’ exports jumped 11 per cent, 13 per cent, and 14 percent respectively during 2018. In Bangladesh, the world’s third-largest clothing exporter ahead of Vietnam, the fashion sector now dominates outbound trade from the South Asian country. Europe is another beneficiary of the fashion industry’s changing supply chain. Already the second largest exporter of both clothing and textiles, the EU saw increases of 11 per cent and seven per cent respectively during 2018.