Fashion and design: Future trends
Posted by Textile MBSTU on Sunday, December 14, 2008
Under: Textile
At £6,078 million in 2004, fashion exports have remained reasonably steady over the past few years (£5,818 million in 2002). Industry experts have predicted that UK clothing companies will have to position themselves into one of three categories in order to compete and survive in the world market:
Niche manufacturers, supplying low-volume, high-value products.
Balanced suppliers, having a UK manufacturing base for sampling and small-batch, but sourcing larger orders to overseas manufacturers.
Purely sourcing operations, which will manage the design, production and distribution of products manufactured overseas.
UK clothing companies will also need to play to their strengths – technical fabrics, dyeing and finishing, designer wear, capital intensive manufacturing and branded clothing.
On the manufacturing side in the UK, the best opportunities may lie in continued emphasis on high quality and technical clothing.
The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) has highlighted the need for better communication and partnerships between manufacturers, retailers and graduates if the UK fashion and textiles industry is to thrive. Creativity itself is not an issue – this is something for which the UK is renowned – but more training is needed for designers in technical and commercial processes.
UK retailers face increasing competition from operations that are established within other countries. Fashion retailers are also facing ongoing and increased competition from supermarket chains.
Supermarkets have teamed up with high-volume overseas suppliers to offer food shoppers a range of basic clothing items they might previously have accessed only through high street fashion shops. It is likely that some will begin opening fashion-only stores in the near future.
The growth of supermarkets in the clothing industry means that the pressure is firmly on mid-market retailers, who are being squeezed between discount outlets and retailers specialising in premium quality clothing (UK Clothing and Footwear Industry Market Report, Key Note, 2004).
Industry analysts have also tried to predict what types of graduate skills will be required within the industry. The following competencies have been identified as important to the success of UK companies:
Product initiation: including design, innovation and creativity, computer-aided design (CAD), technological skills and product management.
Sourcing skills: including quality systems, communication, critical path analysis, financial and logistics management, technical skills, selecting and auditing suppliers.
Warehousing and distribution: distribution management, planning and management of UK processing and logistics.
General business skills: business awareness, flexibility, communication and negotiation skills and languages. These are key for all staff across the sector, including ‘creatives’.
The above competencies clearly reflect the fact that the future of the UK fashion and textiles industry is as a supplier of products rather than as a manufacturer. Manufacturing is now firmly established offshore and if the economic conditions stay the same, then this is extremely unlikely to alter. However, design, marketing and logistics will remain UK based.
Niche manufacturers, supplying low-volume, high-value products.
Balanced suppliers, having a UK manufacturing base for sampling and small-batch, but sourcing larger orders to overseas manufacturers.
Purely sourcing operations, which will manage the design, production and distribution of products manufactured overseas.
UK clothing companies will also need to play to their strengths – technical fabrics, dyeing and finishing, designer wear, capital intensive manufacturing and branded clothing.
On the manufacturing side in the UK, the best opportunities may lie in continued emphasis on high quality and technical clothing.
The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) has highlighted the need for better communication and partnerships between manufacturers, retailers and graduates if the UK fashion and textiles industry is to thrive. Creativity itself is not an issue – this is something for which the UK is renowned – but more training is needed for designers in technical and commercial processes.
UK retailers face increasing competition from operations that are established within other countries. Fashion retailers are also facing ongoing and increased competition from supermarket chains.
Supermarkets have teamed up with high-volume overseas suppliers to offer food shoppers a range of basic clothing items they might previously have accessed only through high street fashion shops. It is likely that some will begin opening fashion-only stores in the near future.
The growth of supermarkets in the clothing industry means that the pressure is firmly on mid-market retailers, who are being squeezed between discount outlets and retailers specialising in premium quality clothing (UK Clothing and Footwear Industry Market Report, Key Note, 2004).
Industry analysts have also tried to predict what types of graduate skills will be required within the industry. The following competencies have been identified as important to the success of UK companies:
Product initiation: including design, innovation and creativity, computer-aided design (CAD), technological skills and product management.
Sourcing skills: including quality systems, communication, critical path analysis, financial and logistics management, technical skills, selecting and auditing suppliers.
Warehousing and distribution: distribution management, planning and management of UK processing and logistics.
General business skills: business awareness, flexibility, communication and negotiation skills and languages. These are key for all staff across the sector, including ‘creatives’.
The above competencies clearly reflect the fact that the future of the UK fashion and textiles industry is as a supplier of products rather than as a manufacturer. Manufacturing is now firmly established offshore and if the economic conditions stay the same, then this is extremely unlikely to alter. However, design, marketing and logistics will remain UK based.
In : Textile