It never ceases to amaze me how quickly the playing field for custom apparel sourcing changes. In the late 1980's it was all about Puerto Rica (936 legislation) and then the Carribean Basin, with Jamaica and Costa Rica leading the way. Then the tides turned to Mexican maquiladoras, as NAFTA legislation was enacted. Mexico fell out of favor in just 3 years, as Central American countries like Nicaragua, Guatemala and Honduras offered better infrastructure and less restrictive labor laws. Haiti and the DR had some presence throughout these periods, with Haitis lack of stability being a never ending issue. In 2005 worldwide quotas were dropped, and, suddenly, the world was flat. As China woke up and waved its "full package" capabilities the surge to Asia left a backdraft far stronger than that "giant sucking sound" Ross Perot envisioned. India recognized the urgent need to improve their supply chain, and came on strong a year later. Players like Myanmar, Phillipines and Malaysia saw market share drop as the behemoth countries built infrastructure. Vietnam came late, as final acceptance by the WTO came only several years ago, but has now exceeded India in apparel exports to the USA. Cambodia is also strengthening.

This sourcing shift is now furthered by the declining dollar and the cost of freight. A full container from Macao cost about $2,500 in 2005. That same container today is over $8,000. These dynamics are forcing companies to look much closer at Central and South America once again. Proximity is a much greater strength today than it used to be. Enhanced textile supply is being addressed by the building of textile plants across the region. Full package is a language they are all now speaking.

These transformations are dizzying, but we have an obligation to stay on top of it. Servicing low minimum custom private label apparel customers is what we are best at, and we constantly strive to find resources that will service smaller import clothing requests.