Made in Spain: Developing slowly, but surely

Tomatoes which appear to be identical to one another have lost their eternal appeal to the public, who now search for tasty tomatoes grown closer to home, even if they are more expensive. Children need to learn once more that milk comes from cows and not from supermarkets. The veggie and health food

trend has become tantamount to local production. Now it's high time that the fashion sector follows in suit. But do we still have the knowledge and technological possibilities for local production? Can we make jeans in Europe, produce bags and purses and knit sweaters? And where? In this new series FashionUnited investigates garment production in six European countries: Spain, the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy and France - to shed light on the production possibilities that lie within our backyard.

The

slogan "Made in Spain" has gained momentum and fashion brands whose products are entirely manufactured in Spain now proudly show off the national origin of their collections. Other companies manufacturing their products abroad plan to bring back production to the country, but the idea seems only feasbible for major global Spanish chains with the largest turnovers in the industry.

In the 1990s, Spain had over 300,000 textile workers. Now, this amount has dropped to a little over 135,000, which is primarily due to the relocation of manufacturing facilities to Asian countries, China in particular.

At such times, many established and traditional Spanish companies chose not to relocate their production facilities abroad. Some, because they lack the credit to subcontract abroad whilst others, mainly those with a larger industrial infrastructure, prefer to increase control of the manufacturing process in Spain and focus on quality to remain consistent with their brand image.

This is the case of the Galician firm, which has been manufacturing Pili Carrera children's clothing in Mos since 1963. "Manpower in certain countries is still cheaper than in Spain. However, we focus on producing a high level of quality, despite high local production costs," explains Salomé Carrera, director of the brand.

Some companies, who previously had their products manufactured abroad, are starting to relocate their production back to Spain, including areas like Lenita (for bathing suits), Dándara, Vega Cárcer (for handbags) and Rebeca Sanver (for footwear), for several reasons. One of the main reasons behind this change is the increase in cost for production in Asian countries.

Nevertheless, the number of companies returning to produce in Spain remains relatively small in relation to the whole fashion industry in Spain, although this does not cease to be symptomatic. According to Ángel Asensio, president of the Spanish Manufacturing Company Federation (Fedecom), 15 percent of production which was previously offshoring production returned to Spain and Portugal in 2013.

There is also an increased amount of initiatives backed by institutions to support and promote Made in Spain products, including one fostered by the Spanish Confederation of Fashion Creators together with the Government to create a line of credit aimed at production relocation. In addition, in some regions that used to be textile production centres, such as Igualada in Barcelona, re-industrialisation plans have been established and are now being implemented to bring back local textile production.

Advantages

and disadvantages of "Made in Spain"

What are the advantages of manufacturing products in Spain? Raúl Juiz, director of the knitwear firm, Viriato, which operates in Galicia, explains: "Our process allows for one product to be manufactured in four or five weeks, which is very important as initial purchase orders are becoming smaller and smaller and only increase during the campaign. This is a comparative advantage to purchase orders in Asia, as it improves service time and amounts to be supplied."

The footwear company, Coolway, that transferred part of its production and now produces a larger number of its collections in Spain, recognises that the public is more aware of the origin of products and demands higher quality. "The economic situation in Spain over the past years has also placed Spanish products in more competitive price and design range", commented the firm's marketing director, Paola Dezi.

However, production costs abroad remain lower than local production costs. Roser Ramos, director of the children's fashion firm, Cóndor, believes that the price is one of the main disadvantages of manufacturing in Spain, particularly for companies like his own that allocate part of its budget to production research. As things currently stand, "we must make further adjustments to our cost breakdown and have a lower margin to be competitive," commented Ramos.

Another problem faced by "Made in Spain" production is the diminished ability of the semi-assembled industrial network. "This is a serious problem for the eventual return of production to Spain," commented Juiz from Viriato. "The closure of important factories and auxiliary workshops combined the reduction of qualified workers who became unemployed or went to other sectors, makes it complicated to reactivate the industry."

It will require huge investments in avant-garde equipment and staff training in new techniques, added Asensio from Fedecon. A study conducted in 2012 by Cluster Development and published by the daily newspaper, El País, stated that there had been such a great loss of manufacturing capacity, that many companies who wanted to manufacture their products close to home were not able to do so and therefore chose to produce in Portugal or Morocco.

"The impact would be greater if large chains like Mango, Inditex or Cortefiel, which still produce over 90 percent of their products outside Spain, decided to focus more on domestic production," states the study.

It is true that fashion retail giant Inditex increased its orders to Spanish suppliers from 2,000 to 3,400 million Euros between 2011 and 2012, but these suppliers do not only include local businesses working in the textile sector but also security, consulting or transport services. Mango, on the other hand has started to order large cuts to be made to Igualada workshops.

Meanwhile, with signs of recovery just starting to emerge despite the economic crisis, at the end of the day prices are still a driving factor for consumers when it comes to purchasing fashion products. Concerns regarding the origin of a product is still considered a to be a matter of luxury, reserved for the wealthy.

This is the first part of FashionUnited's Made In series. Tune in next week for the second installment: Made in the UK.

Pictures: Cóndor, Inditex production facility