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Creative Destruction: De-industrialisation
or a ‘Fashion Capital for the Creative Industries’ in London
Yara Evans and Adrian Smith
Department of GeographyQueen Mary, University of London
London E1 4NS
Synopsis
London, Fashion and the Creative Industries
The Clothing Manufacturing Industry in UK/London
Garment producers in London and ‘Worlds of production’
De-industrialisation and community restructuring
Creative Destruction: creative industries, marginal communities and the clothing industry in London
London, Fashion and the Creative Industries
Agenda for London: development of creative industries
Fashion design: a central plank in agenda
Designer fashion: central to ‘creative London’
Public and private agencies: ‘London as a fashion capital’
Initiatives: LFF, Capital Fashion, London Apparel Resource Centre
Issue with new agenda/policies :
• emphasise significance of designer fashion in clothing industry
• sideline the diversity of clothing manufacturing (CMT/Design)
Need to recognise linkages and interactions between
‘worlds of production’ (Storper 1997)
The Clothing Manufacturing Industry: UK and London
UK: major economic sector/ source of jobs but in decline
Employment: 800,000 (early 20thc); 59,000 (early 21thc)
London: important economic activity/source of jobs but in decline
Structure of industry :
• functional (vertical): buyer/agent; manufacturer; CMT
• ethnic:recent immigrants as business owners and employees
• subsectoral: women’s outerwear (casual, light, heavy); leather
Industry’s specific spatiality:
Production base and ethnic workforce: North and East London
Other features of industry:
‘sweatshop’; unregulated/ informal practices
De-industrialisation of Garment Manufacturing in UK/London:
• market forces
• domestic policy
Market Forces (1970s):
• globalisation of clothing production: new, low-cost producers in East Asia, North Africa, Central/Eastern Europe
Domestic Industrial/Trade Policy (1980s)
• ‘Sunset’ Industry: no protective measures; industry’s contribution to economy limited by informal practices
Outcomes:
• large-scale outsourcing of production in UK to new producers
Marks & Spencer: ‘Made in UK’ policy: 90% (1980s); 10% (2003)
• increased importing of ready-made garments into UK
The Clothing Manufacturing Industry: UK and London
‘Worlds of production’ and Garment Producers in LondonAnalysis of empirical results of research on garment producers in London through Storper’s notion of World’s of Production (1997)
•‘market’ world of production
uncertainty/competition/downward pressure on prices
‘interpersonal’ world of production
•design-intensive activity/close interaction/sharing of knowledge/ideas
Framework helps understand the dynamics of change in industry
Results reveal two main trajectories of change that mirror
interconnected worlds of production:
•decline (dominant trend):
•growth (smaller trend):
Table IV –Two narratives of change in London’s clothing industry, 2004 (% of surveyed firms)
Key variablesDecline
(over the last five years)Growth
(over the last five years)
Annual output 55.0 % 32.5 %
Annual turnover 61.4 % 27.3 %
Order size 56.1 % 19.5 %
Number of employees 55.8 % 14.0 %
Number of customers- 20.0 %
Source: Survey of Clothing Firms, London April-June 2004.
Moving across Worlds of Productions: Market/Interpersonal
Survival and growth through use of various strategies:
•changing position in supply chain
•moving to short-run, high-value, quick response production
•subcontracting production to firms abroad
•developing higher-value design-led clothing production
•spreading risk across a range of activities
Table V - Mix of Activities, Garment Makers, London 2004Activities Firm A Firm B Firm C Firm DLocation North London East London North London Central LondonTime in business 10 years 22 years 20 years 22 yearsTurnover (2003) £150,000 £600,000 £2.5 m £2 mOutput (2003) 10,000 30,000 Undisclosed 60,000Design Yes Yes Yes YesLocation London London London LondonType of Garment Women's designer Womens's evening Evening gowns Women's designerQuality High High High HighOwn Label Yes No Yes YesManufacturing No Yes Yes YesSubcontracts - Yes Yes YesLocation - China,India,Romania Bulgaria Bali ,China, IndiaOrder Size - Small Runs Small Runs Large RunsCustomer - High St Retailers H St Retailers Retail/WholesalersCMT Yes Yes Yes NoProd Location London London London -Type of Garment W's/children's fashion Evening gowns Casual W's -Quality Good/High High Basic -Order Size Small to large runs Small Large -Customer Designer chain H St Retailers H St Retailers -Source: Fieldwork, London, March - August 2004.
Change in the Clothing Industry : Decline and Deprivation in London
Industrial decline and manufacturing job loss: dominant trend
Relationship between
• de-industrialisation of clothing production
• socio-economic marginalisation in declining areas
Clothing employment in the ten most important London boroughs, 1998-2002
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
1998 1999 2000 2001 2002
Barnet
Camden
Enfield
Hackney
Haringey
Islington
Newham
Tower Hamlets
Waltham Forest
Westminster
Table VII - London Districts Ranking: Average Scores, Income and Employment, IMD 2004Borough England
Rank:Average
Score
LondonRank:
AverageScore
London Rank:Income
London Rank:Employment
Tower Hamlets 4 1 2 6
Hackney 5 2 3 4
Islington 6 3 11 8
Newham 11 4 1 2
Haringey 13 5 5 5
Southwark 17 6 6 3
Camden 19 7 15 11
Lambeth 23 8 4 1
Westminster 39 9 21 18
Greenwich 41 10 13 14
Barking and Dagenham 42 11 18 21
Waltham Forest 47 12 14 15
Source: The English Indices of Deprivation 2004, ODPM (2004)
•Correspondence between:
geography of industrial decline and de-industrialisation
geography of deprivation
•Worst affected areas in both processes:
North and East London
Policy for sector (e.g. Haringey City Growth Strategy):
bring together designers and manufacturers to produce short-run, high-value design garments
Change in the Clothing Industry : Decline and Deprivation in London
Disjunction: industrial decline, impacts and policy emphasis• On the one hand:
empirical results:
industry in decline but survival of minority of firms
large-scale industrial decline associated with deprivation
• On the other hand:
policy emphasis on small-scale production of high-value, design clothing
Disjunction:
• focus/reach of policies for the industry
• extent and socio-economic impacts of local de-industrialisation
Creative destruction or a future for the creative industries in marginal communities in London’s clothing industry?
Argument:
Contribution of small-scale, flexible production of ‘creative’ fashion design in London to declining clothing industry: limited
• job creation: short of what’s needed
• designers: creative talent but incipient business skills
• clothing producers: sceptical about working with designers
• new businesses: no permanence
Policy emphasis on creative industries/fashion design for clothing industry in London ignores wider issues of social exclusion and economic justice.