Mike Flanagan
Here’s What’s Coming Around the Apparel Retail Bend for 2017
As the rocky retail roller coaster of 2016 draws to a close, leaving bankruptcies, store closures and layoffs…
Op-Ed: Does Automation Threaten Bullish Claims for Apparel Job Creation in Asia?
Over the past couple of months, two major international organizations—and the government of the world's…
Op-Ed: Would a President Trump Really Stomach a TPP?
A recent article for Sourcing Journal looked at what might happen with the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)…
Op-Ed: Free Labor is a Far Greater Problem for Apparel Brands Than Forced
A recent report looked at the major ethical challenges faced by apparel buyers in their sourcing, and…
Op-Ed: Why TPP Will Stay a Dead Duck for Some Time – And What to Do About It
Few observers believe we'll see much serious progress on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) until after…
The State of India’s Textile Sector
On May 26, 2014, Narendra Modi became Prime Minister of India. In his victory speech, he promised that "10…
Op-Ed: So Who Are TPP and TTIP For, Exactly?
Supporters and opponents of the two major trade deals America is negotiating–the Trans Pacific Partnership…
Op-Ed: Ethiopia: Well-Written National Textile Policies Don’t Sell Garments
According to a new survey from consultancy McKinsey, a worldwide sample of apparel chief purchasing officers…
Chinese Manufacturers’ Alleged Relocations: A Wild Goose Chase?
Certainly, many spinning, weaving and dyeing companies are seriously looking at new plants overseas, where…
Where’s the Next Selling Hotspot?
In many apparel manufacturing countries these days, though, there's a constant stream of appeals to…
Op-Ed: Onshoring Creates New Textile Jobs, but What About Apparel?
Jobs in America's apparel making industry fell year-on-year by nearly 5,000, or 3.4%, in March 2015. That was…
Op-Ed: Managing When the Truly Unexpected Happens in Sourcing
The huge problem with apparel sourcing is that it's too new an industry for experience to be a guide every…
Op-Ed: A Tale of Two Transport Policies
On Feb. 22, a freight train arrived from Madrid in Yiwu, China, after a 16,000-mile round trip. It joins four…
Op-Ed: FTAs: Who Needs Them?
For all the fuss about free trade agreements (FTAs) and duty-free concessions, in 2014 they had a peculiarly…
Shifting Apparel Sources: Reality Doesn’t Reflect Myths
Ask someone who reads the apparel trade press a bit how brands and retailers in rich countries have changed…