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In 1978 Jackson and Al‐Douri published a paper which analysed aggregate demand for clothing in the UK in the period 1964–74. This paper has three aims: —to update the analysis in the case of the UK — in particular to cover the two recent recessionary periods —to extend the analysis to a second country — Sweden —to draw comparative marketing lessons from the experiences of the two economies. It is a particularly appropriate time to conduct the analysis because of the important changes taking place in the trading environment in the 1990s which are foreshadowed by events in Sweden and in view of the impact two recessions have had on the demand for clothing since 1978.

In many respects the clothing industry and clothing market in Sweden provides a useful guide to potential trends and strategies which might be expected to prevail in other European countries following deregulation of the clothing trade early next century. The paper aims to explore two issues — sourcing practices particularly as utilised by a small company and price trends following the removal of important controls.

The concepts of supply chain management and quick response manufacturing systems have been forwarded in the clothing sector as a route to competitive advantage for manufacturers based in high labour cost countries. An integral part of the advantage gained via such systems is reduction in inventory throughout the supply chain. The aim of the paper is to examine the movement in inventory in the clothing sector relative to the average as obtained in the manufacturing sector as a whole and to use the results to test the hypothesis that supply chain management has progressed in the sector.

As a world leader in the textiles and clothing trade, Hong Kong has played an important role in world denim products trade. To obtain a sound understanding of the current status and position of Hong Kong in the world denim trade, the authors carried out a comprehensive statistical survey of the Hong Kong denim industry. This paper reports detailed analyses on the production, sales and trade of denim products in Hong Kong. The analysis on trade covers imports, domestic exports and re‐exports of denim fabric and apparel products.

The concept of globalisation has received wide currency in the literature on international business strategy. Authors such as Levitt and Ohmae argue that, in the future, only global companies will succeed. This paper examines the theoretical concepts and their applicability to clothing products and then studies the global spread of the UK clothing industry's exports and overseas investments. It concludes that the applicability of the concept of globalisation to this sector may be limited by the nature of the product and that, in practice, the global spread of export and investment activity as exhibited by the UK clothing industry reveals some potentially disturbing features; notably an over concentration upon the EU. This is the second part of a paper which was published in the previous issue, JFMM Vol 2, No 2.

This review is divided into three sections describing the state of the Canadian clothing market; the trade situation and the penetration of the market by American retailers, giving an interesting insight into the ongoing internationalisation of the sector. It is based upon articles published in Apparel Insights (The Canadian Apparel Market Newsletter) and the material is reproduced with permission from the aforementioned ‘Apparel Insights — A Canadian Quarterly Apparel Market’, a newsletter published by Apparel Management Insights, PO Box 694, Postal Station B, Ottawa, ON KIP 598, Canada (publisher: Constantine Campaniaris; editor: Jim Heppell). Data from the Canadian Apparel Market Monitor were provided by Randy Harris of Kormos, Harris and Associates.

The outlook for the UK clothing market is currently quite good in that it is being driven by a strong upward trend in consumer income and spending. However, the market remains extremely price competitive. Prospects for employment in the UK clothing industry are, by contrast, extremely poor as more UK‐based producers switch to offshore locations and the degree of import penetration continues to rise.

The aim of this paper is to demonstrate how an imaginative sourcing policy can be used to provide a competitive advantage for clothing manufacturers based in high‐cost countries. The paper shows how Chorus Line Corporation implemented their sourcing mix, through a combination of production in different regions, to maintain and develop their competitive position in the womenswear market in the USA. The company's basic data and decisions are outlined as an example of how one privately owned company views the sourcing and production decision. In this way the paper will help firms to develop their own global production strategies with balanced sources to meet their business and market strategies.