The global fashion industry is becoming more diverse in every respect. Just a few decades ago, there were easy to spot fashion trends that only changed once a year or even slower. Today’s fashion cycles are more distinct and short-lived. Especially millennials becoming the most important consumer group, seeing themselves as more individualistic, not following general trends set by big brands. American consumers are neither buying more, nor more expensive clothing for almost a decade now.
Clothing manufacturing has become a lot more accessible in recent years. Global supply chains for garment production moved to Asia decades ago, which made the cost of clothing go down significantly. Factories in Asian countries such as China, Vietnam and the Philippines have matured. After being dependent on large Western brands for managing their operations in the nineties, have moved on to work for themselves. Globalization has also helped tremendously to bring down shipping cost and the internet did the rest by simplifying the coordination. It is definitely possible to start a clothing company from anywhere these days. Abolishing the minimum order requirements by more streamlined processes has since resulted in many small brands growing their business. Large minimum order quantities had scared off many aspiring entrepreneurs in the past.

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