During 2010 the most popular post in this blog was: “Globalisation: When fashion kills” and what Levi’s & H&M are doing to avoid it #Levi’s #H&M #CSR
Thanks to the beauty of wordpress analytics I know it’s because people want to know what is globalization of fashion. I recently came across a great article from Just-Style.com that puts Globalization of Fashion in a different perspective: Has China hijacked the global garment industry? This in-depth article prompted me to explore Globalization as it relates to Fashion.
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To use a general description, Globalisation (or globalization) is described in wikipedia as: “the process by which regional economies, societies, and cultures have become integrated through a global network of political ideas through communication, transportation, and trade. The term is most closely associated with the term economic globalization: the integration of national economies into the international economy through trade, foreign direct investment, capital flows, migration, the spread of technology, and military presence.”
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Globalization of Fashion could be interpreted in different simple ways: In a business sense in the form of trade (Apparel produced in country A gets exported to country B), or foreign direct investment (A retailer investing in either manufacturing facilities or retail stores in foreign countries). But Fashion Globalization can also be interpreted as using Cultural inspirations from a particular country or culture as a fashion trend. As example, we can take Clariant’s Global Color Card & Leather Trend book for 2011 & 2012 being inspired by a Moroccan Adventure. For this particular trend, Clairant the Swiss specialty chemical maker used around the world for dying fabrics is using a Moroccan inspiration and sharing it with the whole world.
Everything has pros and cons and Globalization is no difference.
The Pros: Socially the world has become more open-minded towards citizen of other countries. The cultural intermingling has taught everyone a little bit about everyone. Global free trade promotes global economic growth, creates jobs, makes companies more competitive and lower prices for consumers. It also provides underdeveloped countries a chance to develop their economies and in some cases improve their democracies.
The Cons: Many times opponents of globalization say it makes it easier for big corporations to act with less accountability and outsource work to countries less strict about human rights; where child labor and safety standards are ignored in order to achieve cheaper labor. Also, young consumers in underdeveloped countries lose their own heritage in exchange becoming more Americanized. Because as mentioned, a part of fashion globalization now allows for big American and European brands to open retail stores in all corners of the globe.
love that colour pallete
Great article – thanks for posting!
Great source of information
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