Apparel Industry

The global industry covering the trade and manufacturing chain involved in producing garments and apparel, spanning textile production in cotton, wool and synthetic fibers, embroidery and embellishment, fashion design, retail and the secondhand clothing market, and transformed historically by technologies such as the sewing machine and power loom. The worldwide market for textile and apparel exports reached roughly 772 billion dollars in 2013, with China the leading exporter at 161 billion dollars in 2016, followed by Bangladesh, Vietnam and India. Production is heavily concentrated in developing countries with lower labor costs, including China, Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Pakistan and increasingly Ethiopia, while retail distribution spans both traditional stores and a growing e-commerce channel, with the United States apparel market alone projected to reach 385 billion dollars by 2025.