The apparel and textiles business comprises a wide variety of skills and industry sectors, from fashion designers to contract manufacturers, from basic textiles manufacturing to distributors. In addition, a large number of major retail store chains have a major influence on the apparel and fashions business. Rapid changes have taken place in apparel manufacturing in recent years. The vast majority of clothing sold in the most affluent nations, such as the United States and the United Kingdom, is manufactured in foreign lands—China in particular. Contract manufacturing and outsourcing is booming, and import/export trade issues continue to lead to heated debate.

Plunkett Data provides complete apparel and textiles market research, business analysis and competitive intelligence tool-- everything you need to know about the business of apparel, textiles, fashions, design, clothing retailing and distribution, as well as manufacturing, technology and logistics including:

1. Clothing and fashion design and designers
2. Textile manufacturing, offshoring and outsourcing.
3. Clothing manufacturing, including apparel, shoes and accessories.
4. Globalization of the apparel and textiles industry, including contract manufacturing in such nations as China, Vietnam and the Dominican Republic.
5. Retail store chains in the fashion and apparel industry, including major department stores, shoe stores, clothing stores and specialty retailers.
6. The growing use of private label fashions (store brands) at major retailers.
7. Discount retailing of apparel at such chains as Wal-Mart and Kohl’s.
8. Growth in e-commerce sales of clothing and accessories.
9. Significant trends in clothing and fashions, including men’s, women’s and children’s clothing, shoes and accessories.
10. Global trade agreements, CAFTA, WTO.
11. The growing use of nanotechnology based textiles (nanotextiles and nanofabrics), and the use of smart fabrics.
12. Apparel industry technologies.
13. Clothing distribution logistics and direct-to-store inventory methods, use of RFID.
14. Apparel industry software.

Whether you purchase the printed almanac or buy a subscription to the online edition, you will find a complete overview, industry analysis and market research tool in one superb, value-priced package.

We provide you with our famous industry trends analysis, statistical tables, and a glossary, along with a database of industry contacts including associations and professional societies. And you receive our proprietary, in-depth profiles of hundreds of leading companies in all facets of this industry—public and private companies, U.S. and non-U.S. based.

Electronic Access to Company Profiles: Our online data enables you to search, filter and view selected companies, and then export contact data into text or Excel, including executive names with titles, plus the company addresses and phone numbers.

Migration from CD-ROM to Online Tools: 2010 and earlier editions of our printed almanacs (published before June 2010) come with a CD-ROM that contains a complete database of company profiles. For 2011 editions (published June 2010 and later), we have migrated to a special set of online tools provided to book buyers at no additional charge. Buyers of these newer editions receive a form enabling them to register for 1-year, 1-seat online access to special tools at Plunkett Research Online, including the ability to view the market research/industry trends section and industry statistics. In this manner, you have online access the very latest data posted to Plunkett Research Online for one year. With either the CD-ROM or the online tools, you will be able to access the company profiles to search, view and export company data and contacts.