From Manufacturing Garments for Ready-to-Wear to Designing Collections for Fast Fashion: Evidence from Turkey

Abstract

In this paper we discuss two distinct sets of advantages which have helped Turkey to become the world's second-largest clothing exporter: the competency-related advantages of the last decade; and the trade-and-currency-related advantages of the earlier decades. In the late 1980s and 1990s, some fortunate developments in the international currency markets, together with an unofficial trade with Russia following the collapse of the Soviet Union, resulted in windfall trade gains for Turkey. During the last decade, a shift in the culture of fashion, from ready-to-wear to fast fashion pushed Turkish suppliers to upgrade into higher value-added activities such as design. While our focus is on the latter advantage, we point out that both sets of advantages have a commonality: namely, a sustainability problem.

Competently Ordinary: New Middle Class Consumers in the Emerging Markets

“…Low labor and material costs helped Turkish firms become major subcontractors of global brands. By 2005, Turkey became the world's second-largest clothing exporter, following China (Tokatli and Kizilgun 2009). The adoption of neoliberal policies has resulted in a rapid expansion of service and consumer goods sectors.…”

“…In Turkey, as a result of the neoliberal reforms, a few local and global fast-fashion producers came to dominate the apparel market (Tokatli and Kizilgun 2009). Our informants resent that "all [people] shop from the same places" and complain that although there is "lots of stuff in Zara, Mango, and Koton," it is all the same: Ankara is a small city.…”

Connecting Local Producers in Developing Countries to Regional and Global Value Chains

“…Those countries that have been most successful in upgrading efforts have managed to develop strong backward linkages into textile production and diversified forward linkages into multiple end-markets (Frederick & Gereffi, 2011;Goto et al, 2011;Staritz & Morris, 2013;Tokatli & Kizilgun, 2009). Upgrading generally requires a strong public and private commitment to developing the necessary human capital, as illustrated in Table 5. 11.…”

Conflicting Perspectives on Speed: Dynamics and Consequences of the Fast Fashion System

“…As a result of fast fashion gaining importance, however, in addition to cost considerations, quick response concerns started to influence sourcing decisions. Geographic proximity of Turkey to main markets, such as Europe; flexibility in production and relative ease of procuring fabric due to country's high-quality cotton cultivation enable Turkish textile and clothing manufacturers to compete against lower cost competitors, such as China (ITKIB 2011;Tokatlı and Kızılgun 2009).…”

“…Since 2000, it has undergone profound transformation. One of the changes is the speeding up of the fashion system (Cline 2012;LeBlanc 2012;Tokatlı 2008;Tokatlı and Kızılgun 2009). The three-month production cycle, which often includes the time it takes to design, manufacture, and distribute clothing to stores, has decreased to three to eight weeks.…”