Industry: The Clothing Market

Have you ever stopped to think about how clothes get on the racks in the stores? I'm not talking about how they are made or what sort of transportation is used to get them from the factory to the store. I'm talking about the people behind the clothes. Well, I'm going to be honest.... I don't think it ever really crossed my mind. I guess I knew it took people to get the job done but I didn't realize how big of a role they played. In an article published within the past 5 years I discovered exactly what it meant to work in the fashion industry. There are people designing the clothes, choosing how many of each item to make, how many stores the clothes will go to, making sure the clothes get from place to place, making sure the clothes meet company standards, and keeping track of the "it" clothes to know how to arrange their inventory. On top of all that you have to have the people actually in the factories to produce the clothes and someone to create the business itself. In a second article written about H&M the author discusses how the business has been able to be so successful all these years. It had never occurred to me how much thought or planning went into my shirt or jeans. I guess it just has to do with the fact that I've always had a change of clothes to pick from in the morning and I've never had to worry about what I'm going to wear. It was shocking to me how many warehouses and production offices and buildings there are around the world for just one store. Think about how many different stores there are that have completely different looks for the same time of the year. Okay, now multiply that number by 2 or 3 and thats not even the total number of factories. That's insane! So, my challenge to you is this: next time you go to put on a pair of jeans, shoes, a shirt, socks, or even a scarf, take a minute and just think about all the people it took to get that one article of clothing to you.

http://www.citylab.com/work/2012/03/how-us-companies-decide-where-build-their-chinese-factories/1412/