California Apparel News

More than 60 people turned out to find out more about export opportunities for apparel and textile manufacturers at a Sept. 26 summit sponsored by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Office of Textiles and Apparel (OTEXA) and held in the California Market Center’s Fashion Theater.

Among the speakers was James Leonard III, the deputy assistant secretary for the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Textile Apparel and Consumer Goods Industries, who discussed ways in which recent trade agreements could benefit U.S. textile and apparel makers. Treaties including the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the Caribbean Basin Trade and Partnership-Development Act (CBTPA), the African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA) and the Andean Trade Act were “created to help those countries but also created to be helpful to the U.S. textile and apparel industry,” he said, noting provisions in these agreements that call for the use of U.S. fabrics and U.S. yarns.

“This textile industry is world-class. It can compete provided it has a level playing field,” Leonard said.

Leonard, a longtime textile executive formerly with Burlington Industries, said he accepted his current position because he believed that the current administration was sincere in its efforts to help the textile and apparel industry.

“This administration has a free-trade orientation,” he said. “They’re not about protectionism, [but] they know that the domestic textile industry needs help.”

Leonard was also in town to tour some local textile facilities. He noted how the Southern California textile and apparel industries have bucked recent national employment trends.

“[National apparel and textile] employment is down by more than 50 percent in the last 50 years, and 10 to 15 percent in the last four to five years,” he said. “But textiles and apparel in California are way up—up by 30 percent—since 1980. You guys must be doing something right here.”

Indeed, with more than 180,000 apparel and textile workers in California, the industry is the largest employer in the state, said Bruce Berton, director of international business consulting for Stonefield Josephson, who also spoke at the summit.

“Southern California supplies 10 percent of all the apparel worn in the U.S.,” he added.

But in recent years, Southern California has seen a dramatic shift in production from domestic to overseas, according to Ilse Metchek, executive director of the California Fashion Association, another speaker at the event. Metchek said five years ago, 31 percent of apparel made by Southern California manufacturers was sourced offshore.

“Now more than 67 percent is made somewhere else,” she said. Still, apparel produced by local makers is perceived as a California label—no matter where it is sourced—and that carries cachet with overseas consumers.

Metchek discussed the opportunities for California labels looking to export to Asia, particularly in Japan, where “the Japanese consumer is unique—they love California lifestyle merchandise.”

But Metchek recommended that manufacturers first take into consideration several issues before jumping into a new overseas market. Issues such as sizing, changes in price policies and distribution have to be addressed before exporting abroad, she said.

As production has shifted offshore, the job market in Los Angeles has changed to reflect the shift, said Berton. “Our production capabilities have changed from how many people do you have sitting behind sewing machines to how many people do you have trained in CAD, doing time studies, doing merchandising,” he said, adding, “We are a global economy whether we like it or not.”

There were several other speakers at the event, including Dr. Ruben Jaja, president of the Africa/USA Chamber of Commerce (CCA), who urged the industry to explore the benefits of producing in sub-Saharan Africa under AGOA. Jaja recommended that manufacturers join the CCA’s trade mission to Mauritius in January 2003. Another speaker, Bobby Hines, international trade specialist for the Department of Commerce, discussed export resources available through his Los Angeles office, including a trade match service that pairs domestic companies with overseas partners.

Lawrence Brill, OTEXA’s director of market expansion, explained the benefits of exhibiting in overseas trade shows and discussed some of the services his office offers to companies that participate in OTEXA trade missions and events, including the Export Advantage program, which provides market research and trade events information, and the Foreign Buyer Certification, which pre-qualifies buyers to meet requested product and price-point requirements.

The World Trade Organization’s Alexander Kramer briefly discussed the Export by Design program, which provides one-on-one consulting, assistance in creating an action plan and market access points. Michael Ho and Mike Fiorentino, senior vice presidents of Century Business Credit, a Wells Fargo/HSBC Trade Bank, discussed financing opportunities for exporters. And attorney Michael Lindsey discussed the protection of brand names overseas and online. —Alison A. Nieder