Towards a vanishing middle: Competition in the world garment industry

The international garment industry falls broadly into two segments. One, which may be referred to as the "fashion" segment, is governed by competition based on new product introduction and quality improvements. The other segment, comprising of mass produced garments is governed by price competition. While there is some evidence that the "fashion" sector is growing in importance, our concern in this paper will be the "price competitive" sector, which has been and continues to be predominantly the main arena in which newly industrializing and developing countries participate.