American Industry
With 3-D modeling the entire garment can now be designed on the screen and sent straight to the pattern-making equipment
Socio cultural
• There was not a strong demand for mass-produced women’s clothing until the early 20th century and the development of many social, political, cultural, and governmental factors that worked together to create a welcoming environment for bulk-produced women’s fashions:
i. Rise of a middle class of urban professionals
ii. Improved textile manufacturing technologies and production methods
iii. Growth of the advertising industry
Development of national markets and chain stores, in addition to mail order catalogues
A wide variety of social, political, governmental, technological and economic factors work together to create the retail apparel environment we know today, some of which are:
• Implementation of information technology; enhancing communication networks and systems to facilitate interaction between customers and companies
• Movements to better track consumer trends, and create custom made clothes quickly
• Computer aided design and automated manufacturing plants
• Seamless integration through technology of each step in the manufacturing process
• Internet sales
• Consumers demanding quality rather than lowest price/brand loyalty weak
• Most stable markets were for high-end luxury goods
• Outsourcing for lower production
• Movement to stop manufacturing seasonally, rather by clothing type
• Internationalizing production/alliances formed between countries involved in production of fashion goods
• Movement to market products in non-traditional areas, like Russia, S. Korea, Turkey, and S. America
• Many large, traditional companies having trouble (e.g., UK’s...
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