World trade evolutions confirm that European companies managed to maintain their overall position by changing competitiveness paradigm and by favouring a competitiveness based on products with high added-value and non-price competitiveness content.

There is clearly a correlation that can be made between changes in consumption and changes in imports. Retailers are increasingly relying upon just-in-time purchasing, and as far as they can, keeping the risks related to long-term purchasing down to a minimum. In effect, nearly one fourth of all the major global labels and brands' orders consist of just-in-time purchases, stock replenishments and updates made once the season is already under way.

Over the year 2012 as a whole, clothing imports to five European countries (France, Spain, Italy, the United Kingdom and Germany,) from the major Mediterranean Basin countries (Morocco, Tunisia and Turkey,) declined by an average of 3 % in value. While this decline is a reflection of the sluggishness of consumption on European markets, it has nonetheless eased off recently, as it was -7 % in late June 2012

While fashion consumption has repeatedly been spiralling downward since 2008, the one market in France that has held firm is the junior clothing market.

The picture of the French economy painted by the French National Institute for Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE) in its June 2012 economics report confirms that, based on determinants of household consumption, the economic situation is unlikely to improve over the short term. Purchasing power may even drop to an unprecedented degree in 2012 . In a context in which real wages are only progressing at a snail’s pace (+0.5 %), households’ purchasing power should decrease in 2012.

While in late March consumption of clothing and textiles was still showing promising results (- 0.3 % in value for the first quarter of 2012 in comparison to the first three months in 2011), low profits for April shattered any hopes of 2012 ending up with a positive balance sheet. In April, retailers’ turnover plummeted 15 % in value. In these still troubled economic times, the combination of the particularly rainy weather and the fact that this April had one fewer Saturday took a heavy toll...

According to the European Commission’s growth forecast released this May 11th, the economy in the European Union is going through a slight recessionary phase, but recovery may gradually be under way starting in the second half of the year.

Years of economic crisis have profoundly changed households’ consumption habits. Since 2007 —the last growth year for consumption of fashion and textile articles— retailers’ turnover has fallen approximately 10 % in value over the period as a whole, based on comparable surface area. In a context in which their economic situation deteriorated, households tended to cut back significantly on the quantity of their purchases, which has taken a toll on turnover.

While during the first half of 2011 companies’ main source of worry was coping with the rising cost of sourcing, since late summer concerns have shifted focus to the issue of dwindling consumption all throughout Europe. Nonetheless, the fact remains that sourcing costs stayed high all last year. Labour costs continued to rise in many production regions and the average price of cotton in 2011 was approximately 1.50 USD. According to the IFM study of retailers conducted late last year,...

In France, for the year 2011 as a whole, retailers’ textile-apparel sales fell 2.6 % in value, based on comparable surface area, in comparison to 2010. While the first-half results may have led us to believe that the worst was behind us, (+ 1.9 % at the end of June), the situation deteriorated sharply during the second half. The debt crisis and austerity measures put into place dragged down household consumption. In addition, the mild weather, which boosted spring purchases, put a damper on...

After having fallen about 3 % in value in 2008 and 2009, French textile-apparel consumption was almost back on an even keel in 2010. While first-quarter results for 2011 could lead us to believe that the recovery was on its way, (+ 1.9 % in value), the changing context this past summer caused a radical turnaround in this trend. The debt crisis and widespread implementation of austerity measures in Europe took a heavy toll on second-half consumption of clothing and textile articles. During...