This is marketing research on the Cut and Sew Apparel Manufacturing industry and can include information on the background, market structure, definitions, competitors, trends and developments of apparel manufacturing and is related to other topics such as clothing, textiles and fashion.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

1 Background 
2 Market Structure 
3 Market Metrics 
4 Industry Players 
5 Recent Trends and Developments 
6 Sources

Background

The apparel and fabricated textile products industry consists primarily of firms that produce and coordinate the production of wearing apparel, both cut and sewn and knit to shape, for all population groups. Apparel accounted for 70 percent of the industry's shipments in 1998, while fabricated textile products, which include home furnishings, canvas products, and automotive trimmings, accounted for 30 percent. Those shares are unchanged from the previous 2 years.

The growth of the U.S. apparel and fabricated textile products industry has been slow. The industry’s future growth depends on several factors, including the health of the U.S. economy, changing demographics, industry price trends, ability to meet the challenge of increasing imports, growth in exports, and the effects of new and expiring trade agreements. Apparel demand is influenced by a variety of factors, including demographic trends. Growth in the number of households headed by baby boomers (born between 1946 and 1964), who are in their prime earning years, accounts for a large portion of apparel sales. The members of the “echo boom” (also known as generation Y), the children of baby boomers, are becoming significant consumers in their own right. Teens have more available income than ever before and have an impact on apparel spending as they prefer to buy trendy and brand name clothes, while older echo boomers are establishing their own households. Significant growth in the population of older Americans also bodes well for apparel spending. Those consumers are less concerned about fashion and concentrate more on comfort and function, spurring demand for casual clothing.

Market Structure

The U.S. apparel and fabricated textile products industry is highly fragmented and quite labor-intensive. Of the approximately 24,000 establishments that produce both apparel and fabricated textile products, nearly two-fifths are establishments with four or fewer employees. More than half these establishments have fewer than 100 but more than 4 employees. The remaining establishments are mainly large-scale operations. In some industry segments, such as underwear and jeans, a few companies command very large market shares. Home furnishings is one of the brighter areas in the apparel and fabricated textile products industry.

The broader market - including segments beyond apparel such as textiles for home furnishings - is growing because of the boom in construction and home sales prompted by low interest rates and the trend toward consumers spending more time at home and dressing up the home to make it as comfortable as possible. Unlike apparel, the home furnishings market is dominated by a few U.S. (mainly textile) companies and traditionally was unaffected by imports because most items are significantly less labor-intensive than apparel and because shipping charges are relatively high for bulkier and heavier home textiles. Imports are making inroads in this market, however, and in 1998 accounted for over 25 percent of the market.

Th apparel manufacturing segment is experiencing an ongoing retrenchment. As emerging market countries continue to take on the workload of manufacturing, it is likely this will continue to be an American industry on the decline. The number of establishments engaged in cut and sew apparel manufacturing decreased from over 13,000 to less than 11,000.

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Not suprisingly with the continued trend to outsourced jobs outside the U.S., the number of workers engaged in the industry took a very significant decrease in only 5 years. The drop of over 50%, however, is unusually large it appears employment in the industry is now around a quarter million, down from over a half million workers.

This is not an industry with a high concentration at the top. As indicated above, there are still many establishments that employ 5 or fewer workers. The four largest players account for less than 20% of industry revenues while the top 50 represent slightly over 40% of all industry revenues.

Concentration of Revenue by number of firms in the industry is as follows:

Total Number of firms       Revenue as % of all firms in the industry


     4 largest                              18.8%
     8 largest                              23.8%                         
    20 largest                              32.6%
    50 largest                              43.9%

Market Metrics

A steep drop in industry revenues since 1998 has not abated. With the spreading effects of globalization and the movement of jobs to production sites outside the United States, it is difficult to determine where the industry's revenue decreases will stabilize. This is still a moderate sized industry with annual revenues around US $20 billion.

Industry Players

These are major players in this market, but not an exhaustive list of all key firms. Revenues, Net Income and Market Capitalization are expressed in US$ Millions.

Recent Trends and Developments

As with other consumer items, the focus in apparel spending is on value. Consumers are demanding higher-quality apparel at lower prices. This demand is being met largely through low-priced imports that exert downward pressure on the prices of domestically produced apparel. As a result of these import and pricing pressures, U.S. apparel producers are not benefiting significantly from greater personal consumption expenditures on apparel.

Sources

• Most current U.S. government sources