[caption id="attachment_928731" align="alignnone" width="839"] -[/caption]
Over the past 50 years the fashion industry as a whole declined substantially throughout the Caribbean. Statistics are hard to get, but the following fragments illustrate the direction.
In Barbados, employment figures in the fashion industry dropped from 868 people in 1999 to 348 in 2008; in the Dominican Republic from 145,000 workers in 2000 to 41,000 in 2006; in Jamaica the number of employees dropped from 36,000 in 1995 to 18,000 in 2000.
In Trinidad and Tobago the fashion workforce dropped from 7,000 in 1978 to 3,700 in 2005-8, and according to our estimates the number was unlikely to be higher than 1,700 in 2013 (out of a total labour force in TT of 665,700 at the time).
Even if the industry declined in size, it still plays an important role economically, socially, and, as is increasingly being recognised, environmentally. The specific elements and proportions vary hugely by country. Exports continue to play an important role for most in the Caribbean. In the case of TT our research indicates that 44 per cent of garment manufacturers (surveyed for the TT Fashion Industry Strategic Plan in 2015) export to the Caribbean, 28 per cent export to Europe, and 26 per cent export to North America. While West Indian Sea Island cotton is a highly valued input grown in the region, especially in Barbados and Jamaica, and there are accessories produced using local raw materials, but most inputs are imported.
Recently accelerating trends
The world has become a lot more conscious of the long brewing environmental crisis and that no country is currently on track to achieve the UN SDGs by 2030. At the COP in 2018, major industry players signed up to the Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action and that movement continues to grow. Consumer values are shifting across the world, and legislators and regulators tightening on the social and environmental consequences of fast and irresponsible fashion.
Banks, private equity, institutional investors, development finance institutions are all responding to investor and societal demands; and implementing ESG (environmental, social, and governance) measures to mitigate the risks of irresponsible behaviour in the organisations they invest in. The amount of financial capital that is available to be invested in organisations that are well governed and that have positive environmental and social impacts is increasing exponentially.
[caption id="attachment_928727" align="alignnone" width="804"] A design from fashion brand The House of Argent spearheaded by Garrett Javan. Environmental sustainablilty is now a focus of the global fashion industry. -[/caption]
What are the implications?
Companies across the fashion industry have choices in responding to this. The majority are probably noticing these trends, but not sure how or if they can respond, and so continue with business as usual. Others may try to jump through new hoops in order to com
