Creating agile supply networks in the fashion industry: A pilot study of the European textile and clothing industry

Abstract

Despite the rapid downfall in the European textile and clothing industry, strategic management research within the sector has been fairly limited. European textile manufacturers have had to work hard to sustain profitability and respond to large-scale imports from low labour rate sources of production. For the European industry to survive, further research is needed to support manufacturers, distributors and retailers in creating strategies for the global textile supply chain to be managed efficiently and effectively. This paper introduces agile merchandising as a new value adding strategy for the European clothing and textile manufacturing industry. Developed from existing theory and a case study involving 11 European textile manufacturers, the concept of creating strategic agile supply networks in the textile fashion industry has been investigated. The results suggest that by incorporating the cooperative advantages of European manufacturers into the sourcing process, retailers would be better able to respond to the volatile and unpredictable nature of fashion garment demand.