A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE.
Four regions.
Four different answers.
The three principles were not arrived at in theory. Each was learned somewhere, and each region shows a different one at work.
PRINCIPLE 01
No two markets follow the same path.
PRINCIPLE 02
Competitiveness is built through the whole system.
PRINCIPLE 03
Human capital determines long-term competitiveness.
EUROPE
Understanding the customer.
Working with Europe's largest retailers and consumer businesses built a deep understanding of customer behaviour, buying, merchandising and the disciplines that hold a brand together. Buying, product development and sourcing decisions all end at the same place - whether the customer wanted it.
United Kingdom · France · Germany · Portugal · Spain · Italy · Netherlands · Hungary
ASIA
Capability is built over time.
Internationally competitive industries are not created through cost advantage. India, China, Vietnam, Myanmar and Thailand each developed distinct strengths - embellishment, quality systems, fine needlework, artisan production at scale - through decades of sustained investment in people and technical capability.
India · China · Hong Kong · Vietnam · Myanmar · Thailand · Indonesia · Bangladesh
AMERICAS
Connecting commercial strengths.
Brazil has a strong vertically integrated cotton value chain, yet supplying European brands still depended on whether the wider system matched the product. Trade agreements, logistics, proximity and ease of communication all entered the equation alongside manufacturing capability.
Brazil · United States
AFRICA
Building capability.
The continent has abundant raw cotton, exceptional entrepreneurial talent and significant manufacturing potential, yet much of the value created from its raw materials is still realised elsewhere. Processing capability and vertically integrated industry remain underdeveloped.
Kenya · South Africa · Mauritius · Egypt · Morocco · Tunisia
