Read on Twitter
Ask any buyer from Primark, Marks and Spencer, Next etc how quickly they can react to a global trend.. I reckon you could get most PPE delivered within 6 weeks. If only there’d been a few weeks to prepare eh.. https://twitter.com/steven_swinford/status/1249356527300947969
When I say “I reckon” it’s because a I’ve spent 20 years working in production planning in the fashion industry. It’s not just a hunch.... ie it’s based on experience.
It’s ridiculous. All a factory needed was a graded pattern and a current supplier could have copied that and DHL’d it to factories all over the world within 48 hours. Then all they need is a poly/cotton. Indonesia produce tens of thousands of metres daily. Many mills have huge
stocks of cloth sitting there. Might be the wrong colour, might not be logoed buttons etc. But who cares!
Chinese factories re-opened around 25th March. Production could have started then...
I think there’s a preconception that fashion buyers are pretty girls who like clothes. It’s bollocks. It’s an industry like any other. Logistics, shipping, accurate communications and production...
Doesn’t need to be shipped back in on the water. You could airfreight it. Save 4 weeks shipping on the lead time and pull it through customs without clearance procedures holding it up.. Come on!
