Matching Manufacturing and Retailing Models in Fashion

The aim of this chapter is to examine the interdependencies that have been established with reference to the manufacturer-retailer interaction in textile and apparel (TA). Retailers’ strategies seek to reduce the risk of losses from unsold stock, mark-down policies, and stock-outs. These strategies call for manufacturing suppliers to adopt new practices for fulfilling orders flexibility, rapidly, and efficiently. The practices of “lean retailing” imply new manufacturers’ strategies, mainly in term of “lean manufacturing.” We examine the implications of these processes on the evolution of the relationships between industry and distribution. The chapter addresses the repercussions of the development of lean methods on the development of other formulas having a significant impact on the relationships between industry and distribution, specifically in TA. We then discuss further developments that may be proposed in TA and its channel relationships by shifting from a perspective of supply to one of demand.