Commonalities of fashion industries of Korea, Japan and China

Citation

Taylor, G. (2005), "Commonalities of fashion industries of Korea, Japan and China", Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, Vol. 9 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/jfmm.2005.28409baa.001

Commonalities of fashion industries of Korea, Japan and China

In Asia as elsewhere it is customary to discuss China’s role as a power house, both in the region and the world. Parallels are drawn with India and, when sourcing or evaluating clothing production, a variety of other, fast-growth economies which can still provide attractive cost and quality options to the buyer.

As an exporter to the world, China has unbeatable growth potential but as a regional player, options abound for closer financial and trading links with the East Asian countries. The establishment of preferential trade agreements is both bilateral and multilateral, leading some experts to expect that nations excluded from the so-called “bloc” may, in the political sense “sue for peace” to restore the balance between regions and more specifically their trade flows (Bergsten, 2004).

China Daily (2002) has succinctly outlined the country’s regional role with reference to the perceived threat of diminishing access to international markets and foreign investment, specifically in the context of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Their correspondent notes:

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  Asian countries are seeking regional economic cooperation in mainly four forms: the ASEAN free-trade area; ASEAN’s cooperation with China, Japan and South Korea (10+3); ASEAN’s cooperation with China (10+1) and Northeast Asian cooperation between China, Japan and South Korea.

It is the latter of the four options which has prompted great interest as each country has complimentary trade flows (for example, electronic parts and machinery from Japan to China, textile products and electronic parts from China to Korea (Lim, 2004). The contrary argument, generalized in trade terms is that the proliferation of regional agreements leads to the so-called “spaghetti” (Yue, 2004; Krumm and Kharas, 2004) – or in this case “noodle” bowl effect (Scollay and Gilbert, 2001), in the consideration of building or stumbling blocks query the issue of trade arrangements which have the potential to jeopardize, for example, the US and EU roles in the region, noting “ … it may be possible to make faster progress toward liberalization through negotiations between smaller groups of neighbouring or likeminded countries.”

China, by its own admission, has opted for original equipment manufacturing (OEM) and is outflanked by both Japan and Korea in the value-added race. The tendency to concentrate on far-distant markets such as the USA, and the late-stage development of its domestic market, have limited options such as original design and original brand manufacturing (ODM/OBM). The economic crisis of 1997-1998, a review of trade patterns after the catastrophe in New York in 2001, and China’s accession to the World Trade Organization in the same year have, on the other hand, broad-ranging consequences for industrial and technological cooperation between the three countries. Pledges of greater cooperation have been made at the summit meetings of the Association of South East Asian Nations and the Bali “Concorde II” agreement paved the way for the East Asian Free Trade Area (ASEAN, 2003).

Korea, the self-acclaimed “shrimp among whales” has increased its investment to China since the resumption of diplomatic relations in 1992 and, in a period of ten years concentrated on the manufacturing sector, inclusive of textiles and apparel. Japan likewise boosted direct investments to Korea between 1992 and 2002, focusing on the manufacturing sector, and similarly, textiles and clothing. Compromises between each of the three nations’ domestic and global strategies have been inevitable, especially in respect of R&D/product development, but the exchange of knowledge, technology and capital between them has had enormous consequences for the region due to the follow-on effect (Archibugi and Pietrobelli, 2003). In China alone, for example it was estimated that in the apparel and footwear manufacturing enterprises, adoption of “foreign technology” raised productivity by 30-62 per cent in collective enterprises, and 20-59 per cent in state enterprises (Ianchovichina et al., 2004). This opens the door for the “regional production network” with contributions from neighbouring countries, plus further intra-trade arrangements.

Moving towards the “global equilibrium model” China, Japan and Korea take into account the socio-cultural exchange issue which is so critical to regional cooperation. This has far-reaching consequences for fashion, and is becoming a hot topic for all of the creative industries, inclusive of music, performing arts, film and designer fashion. A development in Hong Kong, spurred not by ASEAN +3 but rather the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA), has been to export “creative services” mirroring, for example the popular exports of anime and pop culture from Japan[1].

Korea has its lustrous Milano Project, which was launched to create a central hub for the textile industry in the Northeast Asian region, and has worked hard to propose both macro- and micro-scale plans for the revitalization of the industry. Japan, having graduated from a technological to fashion orientation in the 1980s has considerable influence on both regional and international fashion circles. The effect of both exclusive and popular fashion design on Chinese and Korean societies in particular has been considerable, with studio-based fashion designers, for example managing what has been described as a form of “unique kind of haphazard innovation and design anarchy” popular at home and regionally.

In China, a studied attempt to introduce the equivalent of “centres of excellence” has resulted in the dedication of the production capacity of towns, cities and districts to single product categories such as lingerie, knitwear or men’s suits. Gu and Gu (2004), for example note the development strategy of Zhejiang province and related specialization in line with the clustering model. China is rapidly developing its arts and design education to accommodate new demands for locally-produced fashion collections and, from the competitive perspective, demonstrate that “Orientalisme” is not solely the preserve of Paris.

All three nations have shown voracious appetite for imported, luxury goods inclusive of fashion apparel, the sheer strength of numbers in China making this a most attractive target for European and other exporters. In the interests of country-to-country trade, the imports of cultural goods based on cross-fertilization of indigenously-derived creative ideas can nurture a new and WTO-friendly source of exchange. This should serve, in the light of intellectual property disputes and other contractual, standard-based reservations about the trading of manufactured textile and clothing products, to overturn objections raised at Cancun (Sung, 2003) and elsewhere. Likewise the recent loss of lives and destruction of property caused by the tsunami in this region may have unexpected, positive results, such as bringing governments together to focus on their shared regional loss and subsequent responsibilitie[2].

CEPA, web site of the Trade & Industry Department of the Hong Kong SAR Government, at www.tid.gov.hk/english/cepa, cited in Taylor, G. (2004), “Vision of fashion industries of Korea, Japan, and Hong Kong/China”, invited paper published in the Proceedings of Asian Fashion in a Global Society: The 21st International Costume Congress, Jeju, Korea, 18-19 August, 2004, pp. 53-80 (in English, Korean and Japanese); see also “Creative industries in Hong Kong”, Hong Kong Trade Development Council, 5 September, 2002, available at: www.tdctrade.com/econforum/tdc/tdc020902.htm

The tsunami, which created havoc over the Christmas weekend incurred substantial loss of life and destroyed the livelihood of millions of people in the region. The consequences for manufacturing and trading remain to be seen; nevertheless the disaster has prompted regional governments and the ASEAN in particular to work more closely together in the future. In Hale, D. (2005), “Waves of change”, The New York Times, 7 January, available at: www.nytimes.com/2005/01/07/opinion/07hale.html?oref=login&th, reference is also made to the role played by the internet in assisting donations to reach the nations hardest hit by the disaster, one of the few positive details in an otherwise overwhelmingly depressing week of news.

Gail TaylorInstitute of Textiles & Clothing, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong